In late November, while walking at dusk with the moon rising, my husband and I witnessed thousands of geese migrating over us….we lost count at 30 groups, moving higher and higher as they sang their glorious song of farewell. This poem was created on that walk. I will be taking a hiatus from blogging for a few weeks to devote time to enjoying the season without the rush. I’ll see you after the New Year.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Kiss the Sky. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I wrote this poem as I thought about those first true warm spring days where the light, and sounds and scents all change and add such an excitement. And I am dreaming of those spring days now and that light, and the sounds and especially the scents. All are gone in winter….replaced by a different canopy.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Spring’s Song. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I started this poem late last fall when winter started. And this past week, winter has come too early with 3 storms in a row and 2 feet of snow with frigid temps in the teens and 20s…..making me lament for a bit more fall as we have had very little.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Landscape is Released. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I am thrilled to be back blogging and writing again. It has been over 4 months, and I am feeling healed and much better. I aggravated an old back injury, had vertigo and then blood pressure issues (not related to the vertigo).
I started this poem when life had me down and the weather seemed to amplify the sentiments. With this rainbow last week, on a particularly warm November day, I was remembering what is important in my life if I am to live it to the fullest even on the darkest days.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Surrendering to the Light. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I wrote this poem a few years ago while waiting a full day to testify in a labor case for a former employer’s dispute. It was frustrating waiting in a room for 6 hours with nowhere to go and no phone…..just a book and a pen and paper.
As I wrote it, I thought of all the times I have had to wait in long lines…..the end wasn’t quite developed but I was able to revisit the poem and find a perfect ending recently.
These pictures are from a recent trip waiting hours for flights….a perfect illustration!
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about The Waiting Game. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I found this poem that I wrote a few years ago, in an old journal. It may have come about when I was trying to work out some of my family’s ancestry. I thought it would a great poem in honor of my my father’s family on this Father’s Day here in the U.S.
The top picture is of my father’s family in the early 1930s. He is pictured lower right and my Irish grandmother, Margaret, behind him. The other’s are my aunt (grandmother’s sister Esther), uncle (Fred, Esther’s husband) and cousins (Esther and Fred’s children, Myrtle and Fred). The bottom picture is from around 1901 and is my grandmother’s baby picture. We are discovering many old pictures of family we do not know or cannot recognize as the only one left now is my mother who has the accumulated history of her family and my father’s. It is sad to have lost these family stories with each relative who is gone now.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Lost Stories. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
As I was contemplating recent readings, the term Wild Child came up and this poem poured forth. It is autobiographical, and it is a song to all of us who are working on our inner selves. I offer it to all who are called or feel like a ‘wild child’ as I move into my 61st year.
And yes those pictures are of me when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Both pictures hold very fond memories, as I loved to swim, and go fishing. That was the first big fish I caught, a lake perch.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about The Wild Child. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
The idea of this poem was originally written as a birthday tribute for a true flower woman who creates fields of flowers from seed. I kept the idea, but changed it to reflect the birthday of another gardener/flower woman, me. I am celebrating my birthday next week, and am pleased to have lived and loved for 61 years now.
The pictures are of native lupines. They were seeded in my meadow by this flower woman’s hands. They symbolize imagination. So apt as I imagined creating this beautiful meadow, and have not been disappointed.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Flower Woman. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
This is a poem that was started a few year’s ago, and like the poem says, it drifted in and out of my consciousness until it fully formed recently. Poetry can come easily or be a bit elusive….but I don’t obsess about it. I keep a journal of phrases, lines, ideas, and revisit them until they decide to rain down fully into a poem.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about The Drought. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
This poem has a double meaning for me…the expectancy of spring and spring planting, and the expectancy of growth along my personal path as I read, learn, experience and share my life lessons.
As the full moon is upon us, I am reminded that spring planting by the phases of the moon is said to enhance harvests. Some gardeners suggest sowing seeds for crops that yield an above ground harvest between the new moon and full moon. Root crops are best planted when the moon is going from full moon to new moon. While I have never tried this, I have gardener friends who swear by this planting method.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Expectant. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
On this Earth Day, we celebrate 48 years of awareness about being kinder to our home planet….to protect our environment even in the wake of the horrible policies and environmental agenda of this country. This poem has many levels….a renewal of my garden, the earth and of me personally that always happens in spring with new growth.
The pictures are of early organic lettuce growing in my garden last year. With our cold spring I have not started my lettuce in the garden yet.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about A Renewal. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
You are the best part of me~of all of us. And we desperately need to let your light shine out from our hearts and souls now more than ever. I am feeling lost, forlorn and deeply dark within as your light is being overshadowed by hate and fear.
You have taught me that to know you, to be part of you, I must make a commitment. For you are a practice~one I must exercise daily or become atrophied, rotted, forever in despair. And only with practice can I know you better, can I become more accomplished at letting your light shine.
But most of all I must not forget that kindness must be given willingly to all; nature and mankind alike. None must be forgotten, none must be left out or left behind. Nor should I forget the most important kindness, to myself. For without that I cannot hope to bring you to the rest of the world.
So as I move forward, dear kindness, I must not lose faith in you. I must remember that I do not have to live in the dark recesses of a hopeless, anguished world. Not as long as your light is stoked, fed and tended within….bringing out the best in me!
I am bringing you another epistolary poem from a letter I wrote in April of 2016. This one has been edited quite a bit in light of the world in which we live. A world that is desperately in need of kindness….for all. And not easily found.
The pictures are of a spring wreath looking out into my March spring garden covered in snow. The crystal stick is a special rainbow maker from a dear friend.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Dear Kindness. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I recently have been reading May Sarton’s, Journal of Solitude, and Brené Brown’s, Braving the Wilderness. Both books have been speaking to me of my path, my inner work. And this poem was born of that reading and work. It is how I feel myself evolving.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about I Flow Like Water. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I leave you with a few additional words about I Wonder. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
To speak your name~well rant it for a good, almost, 10 minutes.
You shook me upside down when I heard you speak. And rung my emotional bell until it hurt from my head to my belly.
But you had to come, you had to speak, Truth. And I am so happy you did.
Although next time can you add a dollop of love with your words so they don’t leave me too splayed upon the ground when you are done talking.
Yes I am glad you came and spoke, Truth, through me, from me down to my very soul.
Truth can set you free they say. It turned me inside out and landed me on my ass. But I had that coming. After all I kept you at bay for far too long, Dear Truth!
I am bringing you another epistolary poem from a letter I wrote in April of 2016. This one was freeing to write. It seems when I hold back from speaking up, the truth backs up until it bursts free. I am learning to speak up more and more especially these days. And especially to those who feel free to lie as a matter of course.
With the #enoughisenough movement, Truth is a friend to many again and speaking loudly through thousands, finally!
The pictures are of a witchball; a gift given to me by a dear friend. Historically, witchballs were hung in windows to ward off ill fortune and bad spirits.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Dear Truth. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
Even with the vernal equinox coming this week in the northern hemisphere, the first day of spring never quite arrives according to the calendar. It shows up when it is good and ready…each year a different date. And this year winter is unrelenting, and March seems to be the new February, with cold and almost 4 feet of new snow in the first two weeks. Now we are frigid again with snow piles everywhere….no spring thaw in sight for weeks perhaps. So as I wait, I am thinking about what I am yearning for when spring finally does show itself in earnest.
The pictures are of native Bloodroot from my garden. They are one of the first native flowers blooming. You have to watch for their blooms, and savor them while you can, as they fade fast.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Yearnings of Spring. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
In spring I see the subtle signs of spring….those I listed above. And this year as February ended those signs appeared. Unfortunately we had a beast of a storm on March 2nd that dropped a foot and a half of snow on us. And more snow comes daily with cold winds. So now we wait for the signs of spring to come again perhaps by March end. You can read more about the storm and my garden in this post.
The pictures here are from my garden. Snow covered back garden, and pond thawing.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Winter yielding, and spring sighing. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I am called from deep slumber
To awaken now.
A dynamic spark firing through me
Beckons me from hibernation.
Emboldens me to germinate
Seeds of inspiration.
And as the icy shield melts from my body,
I feel a creative fire building inside greeting the sunrise
On this first spring day!
As March begins, my thoughts turn to spring, a season that takes it time to show up this far north. And as I await spring, I keep preparing by starting seeds early for the veg garden in late May. And I clean and clear the garden as the weather permits.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about I Am Called. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
This poem has been rattling around in my soul waiting to break free as my anguish with each horrific day goes by with more lies, more acts of violence, hatred, bigotry and on and on with hate. And so many still stay silent as words and acts by our government bring us daily to new lows.
The irony of this poem’s opening is purposeful. They are the opening lines of the Miranda Warning said to all who are arrested. And who knows if our acts of resistance will get us arrested, but I have hope we will overcome the insanity and fear. So this poem is my rant to those who are still silent, as I give my voice to those trying to change the dialogue, and not allowing my silence to condone any more of this insanity.
The pictures are more goddess selfies I created last year.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog, and I am joining Sherry for her Thursday prompt at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads; Being The Change.
I leave you with a few additional words about You have the right. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I have long known that the ocean is my home. I come home to the ocean and am reconnected to my creator…..my soul. There is an exhilaration I cannot find anywhere else on this earth. And I long to be in its environs whenever close. So upon a recent visit to the ocean, I was reminded of this deep connection….to the creation of life in the soup of the sea. And this poem poured forth.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Born of Water. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.