"This work is unlike any other, in its range of rich, conjuring imagery and its dexterity, its smart voice. Carroll-Hackett doesn’t spare us—but doesn’t save us—she draws a blueprint of power and class with her unflinching pivot: matter-of-fact and tender." —Jan Beatty

Archive for the ‘Bless the Day’ Category

Happy National Poetry Month! <3 The Language Issue by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill

Another favorite poem, and poet. 

The Language Issue
Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
translated by Paul Muldoon

I place my hope on the water
in this little boat
of the language, the way a body might put
an infant

in a basket of intertwined
iris leaves,
its underside proofed
with bitumen and pitch,

then set the whole thing down amidst
the sedge
and bulrushes by the edge
of a river

only to have it borne hither and thither,
not knowing where it might end up;
in the lap, perhaps,
of some Pharaoh’s daughter.

leaf boat

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Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Gratitude, Love, One Love, poetry, Writing

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Daily Prompt Love <3 What My Parents Gave Me

1 April 2017

Daddy reciting Yeats  Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild: With a faery, hand in hand. For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand…and I went out to the hazel wood,. Because a fire was in my head….

Mama reciting Kipling  Though I’ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!…as she mopped our lil trailer floors….

and Wordsworth and Coleridge and Blake…Little Lamb who made thee. Dost thou know who made thee. Gave thee life & bid thee feed…the sing-songy hopefulness of Edgar Guest, the inquiry and longing of Emily Dickinson  I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too?….and Poe  But we loved with a love that was more than love— /I and my Annabel Lee—

and always, always, always Frost  Something there is that doesn’t love a wall….Say something to us we can learn/By heart and when alone repeat./Say something! And it says, ‘I burn.’/But say with what degree of heat….

and the one they both would use to reassure and encourage their odd and poet daughter, who even then, they understood, would have to scuff and stumble to find her own way

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Oh and Whitman!!!  Still the poet I read most frequently, still the singer of my wild child’s heart

Thank you, Mama  Thank you, Daddy   I owe all the poetry in my life to both of you. We had very little materially, but oh the poetry

Make art about what your parents gave you. 

multitudes

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2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Family, fiction, freedom, Gratitude, Love, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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National Poetry Month Prompt Love! Join Us on Facebook for 30 Prompts for 30 Days!

Happy National Poetry Month! Ain’t gonna lie–Kinda really love that Poetry Month is the same month as my birthday 😀 

So my daily prompts will continue, but if you’d like to get a bunch of prompts at once, join us in the Better Than Black Friday Writing Group on Facebook, where I’ve created and posted a whole list of prompts for those who want to write every day for Poetry Month 🙂  30 Prompts for 30 Days! 

Join the Better than Black Friday Writing Group Here!

poetry together

 

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2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Gratitude, Love, One Love, poetry, Poetry Month Poems, workshop, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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Happy National Poetry Month! A Blessing

Has to start with one of all time favorite poems ❤ 

A Blessing
by James Wright
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness   
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.   
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.   
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me   
And nuzzled my left hand.   
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
ponies

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animals, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, freedom, Gratitude, Love, Nature, One Love, poetry, Poetry Month Poems

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Prompts to Celebrate National Poetry Month! Join Us on Facebook and Write Something Beautiful Every Day :-) Collective Creative Power Is Magic! <3

My daily postcards to my elected reps have been mailed, my phone calls made, but my most important action today is to support and empower and encourage my community of writers and artists, however I can 🙂

Tomorrow, April 1, begins National Poetry Month, and I run a writing group on here providing art and writing prompts to anyone who passes by and is interested. For the nonwriters here, we have a tradition of celebrating Poetry Month by doing something called PAD–Poem a Day 🙂 But whether it’s poems, stories, dreams, or journal entries, celebrating spring by writing something every day is both inspiring and empowering, and I think, needed now more than ever, this beautiful raising of our collective voices, strengthening our creative spirits in a political culture that seems determined to dim them.

So please come play with us 🙂 Celebrate spring and the power of your creative spirits! You’re amazing! And we need you! ❤

Celebrating National Poetry starting tomorrow!

15 Brand New Prompts Up at the Better Than Black Friday Writing Group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1512919158978356/

creativity

 

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2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Family, freedom, Gratitude, Love, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, workshop, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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Friday Call for Submissions Love :-) <3 Peacock Journal

Seems appropriate 🙂 

Peacock Journal a daily online literary & arts magazine highlighting beauty in all its forms, seeks original submissions of Fiction, Flash, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Translations, Music, Art and Photography from emerging and established writers and artists.
“We want to see your most beautiful work. Submissions are read year round. Pieces may also be selected for inclusion in our print anthology.”
Please see the website for guideline details.
Submit work using the online submission form at: peacockjournal.com.  

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2017 Prompts, animals, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Call for Submissions, Creativity, Dreams, fiction, freedom, Friday Call for Submissions, Gratitude, litmags, Love, Nature, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, publishing, Writing

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Daily Prompt Love <3 Eyes of the Stars

31 March 2017

Twice this week, I’ve dreamt of peacocks.  I also saw one alongside of the road.

In Greco-Roman mythology the peacock is identified with Hera (Juno) who created the peacock from Argus whose hundred eyes (seen on the tail feathers of the peacock) symbolize the vault of heaven and the eyes of the stars.

In Hinduism the peacock is associated with Lakshmi who is a deity representing benevolence, patience, kindness, compassion and good luck.

Similar to Lakshmi, the peacock is associated with Kwan-yin in Asian spirituality. Kwan-yin (or Quan Yin) is also an emblem of love, compassionate watchfulness, good-will, nurturing, and kind-heartedness. Legend tells us she chose to remain a mortal even though she could be immortal because she wished to stay behind and aid humanity in their spiritual evolution.

In Babylonia and Persia the peacock is seen as a guardian to royalty, and is often seen in engravings upon the thrones of royalty.

In Christianity the peacock symbolism represents the “all-seeing” church, along with the holiness and sanctity associated with it. Additionally, the peacock represents resurrection, renewal and immortality.

Themes of renewal are also linked to alchemical traditions to, as many schools of thought compare the resurrecting phoenix to the modern-day peacock. Along these lines, the peacock is a colorful symbol of transformation. Like the phoenix, the alchemy peacock can remind us that we can rise out of our darkest moments. It’s a metaphor that speaks about dying to the ego-self, and being reborn into a new life of awareness, spirituality and illumination.

Make art inspired by the peacock. 

peacock

Category:

2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Dreams, fiction, freedom, Gratitude, Love, Nature, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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Daily Prompt Love <3 Rise

30 March 2017

Make art about empowering others, about being empowered, about sharing empowerment, about how we rise. 

Abstract blue and purple light background

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2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Family, fiction, freedom, Gratitude, Love, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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Daily Prompt Love <3 If Only

29 March 2017

Make about being heard, about needing to be heard. 

hear me

Category:

2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, fiction, freedom, Gratitude, Love, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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Daily Prompt Love <3 In the Distance

28 March 2017

Make art inspired by this line.

“In the distance someone is singing.”-Neruda

distance

Category:

2017 Prompts, Art, Artists, Bless the Day, Creativity, Dreams, fiction, freedom, Gratitude, Love, Nature, nonfiction, One Love, poetry, Writing, Writing Coaching & Workshops, Writing Prompts

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