Experience Writing

Calming Winter Cocoa

Today I made some yummy cocoa and attempted to capture some of the steam, and then some magic. The great part is I also got to drink the cocoa!

New Poem

Today’s Poetry Form prompt from dVerse Poets Pub is a bit of a challenge. This is the last dVerse prompt of the year as the pub is shutting down for a couple weeks of holiday. So I’ll be coming up with my own prompts for the next couple weeks. Grace came up with a couple ideas for today: to write a Kwansaba or a response to David Whyte’s Blessings poems. I went with the latter and continued with the Changing Focus Blogging Challenge theme of Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation.

Blessing For Sleep
~ after David Whyte

I thank you
for transporting me
from the worries of the day,
the cold demands and expectations
of order and rationality
and whisking me away
to a colorful world of chaos
while secretly doing your work
in the background, cleansing my mind,
letting the bits of useless
sensory information break down
and slough off into the abyss
and thank you for mending
and repairs, the small scabs
from scratching at itchy skin
magically made whole,
tired sore eyes that wouldn’t
stay open, now perceive all
the values of light
surrounding me in the day
and though I failed you
last night, falling back
to the comfortable habit
of staying at the surface
waking often and not
letting myself let go
I know that tonight
we will try again
and you will come without
judgement or expectations,
but offer surprising combinations
of today’s perceptions
I thank you for breaking
the rules and the barriers
to show me other realities,
fantasies and possibilities
tamed through dream experience
my mind a shiny suspension bridge
my hand the tollgate into this world

If you’ve enjoyed the photographs I’ve been taking, I’ve added some to my RedBubble store and I’m excited about the new products. The abstract bokeh really lends itself to product design. So fun. While you’re looking, please click the hearts to like the images on the RedBubble site. It will help my work get attention. Thank you.

December Daily Prompts by Maria L. Berg 2021 Please leave your links in the comments. I hope you will join me.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Winter Traditions

Today I tried my snowflake filter with some traditional Christmas lights.

Colorful Traditions by Maria L. Berg 2021

New Poem

I finished my soothing sounds for my Changing Focus project. December’s theme is Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation. Now I have to decide if I want to read a poem over it. I really like the collection of sounds how they are. I might just type a poem over the visuals.

Hibernation

Winter has let itself
into the house
It did not knock
or call to tell me
it was coming
It sneaked under the doors
and through the windows
Frost nibbles at my toes
in the kitchen
Shivers crawl over me
on the stairs
I want to Winter
like the cat
grow a thicker coat
and curl up in it
to sleep these days
of darkness away
in happy naps

Happy Reading and Writing!

Each Snowflake is Unique

Snowflakes on the Lake by Maria L. Berg 2021

Yesterday I cut a bunch of intricate snowflakes to try as filters. The effort was a bit wasted since only the very centers show up in the photographs, but they are still interesting.

New Poem

Today’s prompt from dVerse Poets Pub is a selection of words from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

One Underlying Hammer

Wasn’t that always the point
why? Why? Did I look back.
All forgiven through your
fluffy perfected disdain, that’s all
I am left behind
craxis overwhelming
the warm stillness

Happy Reading and Writing!

Stuffing Stockings

This morning I made a Christmas stocking filter and started by turning the neighbors’ security lights into stockings.

Stockings Stuffed with Light by Maria L. Berg 2021

New Poem

Today’s prompt from dVerse Poets Pub is Quadrille #142. The quadrille is a poem of 44 words and Mish challenges us to put some tinsel in it. The only time I remember decorating with tinsel was the year I lived in Sweden. However, Mish provided other definitions of tinsel which look fun. I’m liking tinsel as a verb.

She Wants to Tinsel Everything

She wants to tinsel the world
put a silvery sheen on it
make it sparkle, but
not like he does
with false promises
denial and delusion
She want to emphasize
what is already there
with a thin, metallic shimmer
wrapped around
the branching minutiae

Happy Reading and Writing!

I Hear Hooves on the Roof

This morning I cut a new filter. I made a reindeer and I really like how it turned out. I had so much fun making reindeer fly around outside.

New Poem

There’s a fun prompt over at Poetic Bloomings today. Prompt #364 – The Muse in Music challenges us to pick a Christmas song title and use it as the title of a poem.

I Hear Christmas

I hear Christmas in the crackling fire
in the wind at the window
tap, tap, tapping to get in
in the chime of the doorbell
the creaking of hinges
the clanging of silverware
and scraping of plates
in the turning of the record player
the fun familiar songs of youth
the somber traditional songs or yore
of birth and death and forgiveness
in the tearing of paper
and crumpling of bows
in surprised laughter
and disappointed woes
I hear Christmas coming
like lights turning on
each day another room
until all the brightness at once.

Happy Reading and Writing!

#2021picoftheweek: An Open Book

For Of Maria Antonia’s Photo Challenge #50: An Open Book.

I have seen this shot many times, but not tried it. This prompt inspired me to give it a go.

Colorful Book Love by Maria L. Berg 2021

#SoCS: Mistletoe and Other Tree Parasites

Yesterday I discovered a new technique through another happy accident. I left my lights on after the shoot yesterday, and noticed how they reflected in the glass of the sliding door as if they were outside. I used that to create bokeh in the trees this morning. It’s a great discovery for taking outdoor bokeh on a rainy day.

Stream of Consciousness

It’s stream of consciousness Saturday. The prompt for today is “tree.” In preparation for today’s photo prompt, I read up on mistletoe, and learned that it is a parasitic plant that grows on trees. It not only strangles its host tree and hurts its growth, it is also toxic to humans. Romantic, right? Makes you want to kiss someone? Since it’s toxic, it’s been used medicinally in many cultures. The whole kissing under it appears to be spawned of male toxicity, as in the white berries are a sign of virility because they represent sperm? Oh, creepy traditions.

New Poem

For today’s new poem prompt I repeated what I did last week and browsed my WordPress Reader and found:

Fandango’s One Word Challenge (FOWC). Today’s word is Certify.

Paeansunplugged’s Ragtag Daily Prompt Saturday is Crimson.

Molly Shea wrote a fun Cleave poem called Gym Membership. A cleave poem might be a fun challenge for today.

Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #239 is Smuggle. This challenge includes a word limit of exactly 66 words.

That was a fun bit of discovery. And I think I’ll try to wrap that all into my sleep theme for December. Let’s see what that all inspires.

Crimson Morning Light

Even when certified, I must sleep
officially declared possessing, my eyes close
meeting certain standards, my breath slows
no law covers this nightly transport
the dream smuggler of kermes vermilion
a scale insect, a sap parasite
writhing with nymphs, squashed to crimson
the color of the light behind
my closed lids, the pulsing blood
singing the sun, rising to greet
sneaking through curtains, the day begun

Kisses in the Trees by Maria L. Berg 2021

If you’ve enjoy the photographs I’ve been taking, I’ve added some to my RedBubble store and I’m excited about the new products. The abstract bokeh really lends itself to product design. So fun. If you get a chance to take a look, please press the hearts on the images you like. It will help my work get noticed. Thank you.

The Changing Focus Blogging Challenge

December’s theme is Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation.

Motivation and Reward: The pleasant dreams calendar is working. Look at all those stars. Last night was the first night so far that I slept through the night, and I remembered a small part of a dream.

Tools: Still having a cold, and thus being tired, really exhausted, appears to be the only sleep tool I’m using at the moment.

The multi-media project: I started playing with the soothing sounds I’ve been collecting, and I could listen to the kitty purring with rain and wind all day. Here’s the beginning of what I came up with so far:

Soothing Sounds by Maria L. Berg 2021 (recommend listening with headphones).

I’m starting to explore my feelings about sleep in my daily poems, and since I rediscovered my Z filter, I’m catching lots of dreamy Zs in my photos. So some imagery is starting to take shape.

Dreamscapes One and Two by Maria L. Berg 2021

Happy Reading and Writing!

Goodwill Toward

It’s fun to have a mix of specific and abstract words for prompts. When I think of “bells,” I have a specific image in my mind of what bells look like, but what does “Goodwill” look like? I had fun exploring different ideas.

New Poems

Today I’m going to continue to explore Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation as a poetry prompt for the Changing Focus December project.

The Dream Harvest

I dream of reaping
a deep sleep
a sleep so deep
that I can’t crawl out
until morning

to make it deep
I heap the blankets
on the clean sheets
on the queen-sized bed
and fall in

in the room
of perfect heat
for my feet
I’ll meet an ease
in degrees of appeal

and a treat so sweet
to keep sleeping
through the stream
of scenes that seep
and leak through

the sheer veil
I’ll seek meals
of meaning there
in my deep sleep
when I’m dreaming

I also grabbed my Z-shaped filter and caught some Zs.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Making Icicles

This morning I finally tied up the other mirror and turned the mirrorworld into a triangle. This created some nice borders to attempt some light icicles.

New Poems

Today is Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub. I think I’ll start exploring Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation as a poetry prompt for the Changing Focus December project. This image I made this morning “Freezing Mist” makes me think of REM sleep.

Night Battles

Fresh cool pillows
like fluffy clouds
hold my head
at odd angles,
my neck sloped
and kinked
I fold the clouds
turn and twist
them violently
Soft flannel plaid
pajama bottoms
bunch around my knees
and heat my groin
but leave a bare cold spot
at the small of my back
as if the top and bottom
are magnetically repelled
just there
I tug and squirm
trying to force
their union
Now the pillow clouds
have changed shape
and must be wrestled again
I think about the computer
something to distract me
but it is no longer allowed in
and it’s cold out there
and I unplugged the internet anyway
I roll onto my back
I can’t sleep this way
but a pillow holds my head
for a brief truce
and glimpses of colors and shapes
behind my closed lids
give me hope of fantastic
dreams, so I roll to my side
and rejoin the battle
until the cat wants out.

Making a Poetry Collection: November PAD Chapbook Challenge

I’ve started working on my chapbook and wanted to share my progress. As with my poem revision process, my creating a collection process is already changing. I had Step 2 as doing the poem reviews, but while doing my read through, I found selection and organization came first. I am really glad that Step 1 was copying the poems into Scrivener, because I am finding that Scrivener is a great tool for this process.

Step 2: Rate the poems as Yes, Maybe, No – In my Scrivener template, I set up three sections. When I copied the poems into Scrivener, I put all of the poems in Section 1. Then as I read through them, the Yes poems stayed in 1, the Maybes went to Section 2, and the Nos went to section 3.

Step 3: Read for themes – In a brainstorming section outside the manuscript, I created a blank sheet for themes and noted the themes that stood out as I read. I noticed that many of my poems had a counterpart or pair which I found exciting. These pairs had kind of a before and after feel.

Step 4: Preliminary order – After discovering my poem pairs, I started moving my yes poems around and found a preliminary order. Moving the poems around so easily was a great aspect of using Scrivener. After I had a preliminary order, I opened the General Meta-Data and assigned labels and status. For my labels I chose: First draft, Revising, and Final. For the status labels, I changed it to form and labeled my poems as free form, rhyming, or specific structure. I may change what I use that for later, but during review it’s an interesting key.

Step 5: Review

Here’s my revised review checklist from my post Revising Poetry-a Demonstration Part Two: The First Redraft. I turned this into a template page in Scrivener and use the split screen, so I can see the poem while I review. I can make my notes for revision in the Notes section under the meta-data.

Identify POV, tense, form, voice
setting, narrative
themes, moods
identify sensory details
identify best lines
mark weak verbs & nouns
words to mind map
mark areas to expand
highlight cliche language
make easy cuts
choose what to edit to (theme, idea)
brainstorm alternate titles
make notes to guide re-write
do mind maps
free-write around best lines, character and narrative
do research
write a narrative poem

I’m making some progress with the review. Listing the sensory details is already pointing me toward some areas to explore. And choosing what to edit to is helping me focus on how I want the poems to work together as a whole. I’m also excited to start expanding the ideas through writing the narrative poems. This part of the process may take a few days.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Bells Cut Through the Din

New Poem

Today’s Wednesday Poetry Prompt from Robert Lee Brewer at Writer’s Digest is to write a cut poem. This prompt instantly brought a lot to mind since already today I cut a new bokeh filter of bells.

Trimming Down

The cuts, so many cuts
dicing the unwanted
and splicing what’s left
into a new continuum
now to erase and replace
memories and beliefs
that would contradict
the revisionist
It must be exhausting work
recreating reality in
delusional contortion
I hear the constant snips
the busy sheers cutting
cutting at the shape
of me

Carol of the Bells by Maria L. Berg 2021

The Changing Focus Blogging Challenge

December’s theme is Rest, Sleep, and Hibernation. Today, inspired by my photo prompt “bells,” I turned some vases into water bells and over the next few days plan to record myself playing them with different levels of water. What I recorded today would not be called “soothing” sounds, but I hope with some reverb, maybe changing the speed, etc. I may make some sounds to add to my collection. Plus, they’re really pretty and change in the light through out the day.

Reflective Water Bells by Maria L. Berg 20221

If you’ve enjoy the photographs I’ve been taking, I’ve added some to my RedBubble store and I’m excited about the new products. The abstract bokeh really lends itself to product design. So fun. When you’re in my store, please click the heart on all the products and images you like. That will help my work get attention and hopefully help people find me. Thank you!

New Poem

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poem

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poem

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poem

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poem

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

Share this:

Stream of Consciousness

New Poem

The Changing Focus Blogging Challenge

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poems

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poems

Making a Poetry Collection: November PAD Chapbook Challenge

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this:

New Poem

The Changing Focus Blogging Challenge

Happy Reading and Writing!

Share this: