Poetry Friday, Week 44: Taking the November Challenge by the Inklings with a Tie In to SJT11/8/2024  Linda at A Word Edgewise hosted Spiritual Journey Thursday last week and her prompt was "world". She also shared her prompt for the The Inklings: As we enter Native American Heritage Month I ask that you respond to Joy Harjo's Fall Song in any way that makes your heart happy. I needed this prompt. Have you read Harjo's poem? It's so good. It has been fuel for three poems.  Thank you, Linda for this incredible poem. There are so many juicy lines in this. I was Between the election and the passing of a friend, it's been a week. I turn to writing and art in times such as these. Today, I'm sharing two with the focus on Linda's prompt for SJT. Thank you to Cathy at Merely Day by Day and her powerful poem, "In the Mourning". The Greyness of Winter The earth is slightly damp with rain From “Fall Song” by Joy Harjo I voted. Then bided my time for the results to come in by digging in the earth. Planting bulbs to contrast the greyness of winter. Is it too early for hope? I slightly pat down the mulch with a damp hand. The one with cramps from the letter writing. My eyes spill rain. ©jone rush macculloch, draft, 2024 When the World is Unhinged
Is there another word for ‘‘divine’’? From “Fall Song” by Joy Harjo Our world is unhinged at this moment. There is anger, fear, and worry for one another. It feels like actions and words of the our better angels cannot compensate for the collective sadness of now. How do we contact the divine? ©jone rush macculloch, draft, 2024
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Thanks to Leigh Anne Eck for hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday and Tabatha Yeatts for stepping in to host Poetry Friday. The theme of SJT is change/transformation. Autumn is such a great time for this theme, Days are getting shorter, leaves are changing, and the mornings have a crispness to them. The sky even seems bluer. I am returning to SJT and Poetry Friday after being gone for about six weeks. As it often happens, while taking a rest, a break is good, returning always feels like a change, a groggy, sloggy return. Can I still write? Are there poems that eke out onto the page? What I planned to do while in Japan: sit, sketch, and write, didn't really happen. I was acclimating to heat and humidity, figuring out the trains and subways, and monitoring the impending typhoon. What calls to me is this quote :The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tse This is where I am. Taking that first step. Reaching out to my writing pals. Last Saturday, I was in an hour long writing session. I found Georgia Heard's Write Bites class to engage myself. Re-dedicating myself to reading the Two Sylvias Muse weekly newsletter. Last week, I also took another step in the area of returning to the practice of yoga. In Poetry Friday news, I was pleased to return home I early September and find my Haiku Society of America's (HSA)members' anthology. I have a haiku in this journal. Last May, I witnessed the aurora borealis and was so taken by the experience, I wrote this:
sky ribbons flutter I inhale aurora borealis If you were gifted the experience you know,
Carol is hosting the topic “pause” for August’s Spiritual Journey Thursday. It’s a fabulous topic for August. When I was teaching, August 1 signaled it was time to pause before the beginning of the new school year. In Celtic tradition, August 1 is Lunstal (Scottish Gaelic, pronounced “loo-nas-til”), the midpoint between Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox. It’s a time to pause as the berries are ripening and harvesting is beginning. One of my favorite Bible verses is “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) We are reminded to pause. I also found this quote: Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God.” Arvo Part. I feel this so much when I walk in the woods or on the beach. There are times in the day in which I practice a pause. Every morning, I take the dog outside and I am so glad, I pause to find the moon and watch the first light of day. Each afternoon I nap. I don’t really fall into a deep sleep, it feels more meditative. What would our world be like if more people take time to pause? Laura at Poems for Teachers has the weekly poetry round-up. She’s sharing her new book and a terrific poetry prompt.  I loved that I captured the moon this morning. What a beautiful pause.
Thank you for your patience today. I love each season as each one is gives a different lens to look upon life. May 1 is the halfway point between spring and summer solstice. The days are still lengthening, the soil is warm enough for the starting of crops, and I am watching as the juncos return to the nest. It's a time of expansion
which contains part of my OLW, expand. “When you expand your awareness, seemingly random events will be seen to fit into a larger purpose.” Deepak Chopra I am learning to sit and rest to expand awareness.. In a period of spring's rapid growth, taking time to rest and be idle has its benefits. You can hear your breath, watch as the bumblebees busy themselves in the Rhododendron blossoms. I make myself sit daily and rest even though, the writing calls and the art calls. It's vital as a creative to take this time.
I love this poem by Christine Valters Painter
Spring Ephemerals The lambs have appeared overnight smelling of salt and soil. Where just yesterday bellies were still heavy with growth, soft mouths suckle, so full of longing, tiny “o”s of joy. Sparrows form a choir, coax the sun awake, thrum of blackthorn blossoms where before was only branch and bud. A yellow festival of daisies and dandelions blanket a fragrant meadow, swath of primrose announce themselves with pink fanfare. The river reveals she is my sister as she rushes into the arms of the sea. White horses galloping across sky are my brothers, and soon I see even the delicate bone left from a swallow as part of me, white gleam of belonging, how I am no longer Earth-and-me but one wild love for this world. 
Please share your verses and thoughts on growth.
Welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday (late edition) and Poetry Friday. How are we into week ten of the year? I'm a tad late as yesterday's dubbing job was a whirlwind of checking in books, meeting with students. Then leaving early as my husband has a dental emergency which requires the pulling of a tooth. so unexpected.
This month Ramona from Pleasures from the Page asks us to reflect on 'Gather". I instantly thought about how the Poetry Friday community gathers each week to share from our little corners of the world. We gather words family friends We gather observations the weather the seasons We gather goodness faith wonder creating poems from moments of this life ~jone rush macculloch, 2024 For Poetry Friday, Laura at Laura Purdie Salas is gathering us all and sharing news of her latest book, Oskar’s Voyage . it looks to be a very cool adventure. I have had the opportunity to teach poetry in two different classrooms in the last month. The first graders were to write snowman poems in January but we were snowed out. So when February arrived, the teacher asked if it was still winter and could we do the snowman poems. we also created our snow people. He has seventeen students but not everyone was in the room when we wrote the poems. 
Later in the week, I was asked to sub in a third grade class where they had been working similes (it shows). I used a poem from my WIP as a mentor text on How to Have a Friend.
 I'm combining Spiritual Journey Thursday and Poetry Friday. Patricia J. Franz is hosting SJT with thinking about the word love. Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading has a secret to share. Today is the Irish holiday, St. Brigid, patron saint of poetry as well as dairy farmers, cattle, midwives, babies, and blacksmiths. So today, I thinking about how we are at the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox.
The word love is a perfect word for these days, we need more for the world. A book I dip in and out of is the Adam Cara by John O'Donohue. I was taken by this quote on love: “When you send that love out from the bountifulness of your own love, it reaches other people. This love is the deepest power of prayer.” ~John O'Donohue And there was this one: “Love opens the door of ancient recognition. You enter. You come home to each other at last. As Euripides said, ‘Two friends, one soul.‘” ~John O'Donohue Recently, I've been seeing the arrival of dandelions, St. Brigid's flower and sign of early spring. I thought about the dandelion photo I took in Kildare, Ireland and that first sentence in the second quote. 
Welcome to December's Spiritual Journey Thursday. I am so honored to be hosting today.
Little did I know that when I signed up in January how an event earlier this week would modify what I was planning to write. On Monday, I awoke to news that three shining stars on earth moved to the heavens. This Mom and her two wonderful daughters (my former students) were victims of a mass shooting by their husband/father. Their uncle also was shot and then the shooter turned the gun on himself. It made me think of this quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881): The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief, the closer is God. We are in the season of darkness and waiting for the light to return. My grief is a bit deeper this week. When I look at the night sky, three stars will be shining in remembrance of these three souls. 
Husband and I had a reservation to lo have dinner and enjoy the Christmas ships Monday night, I saw this.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu Finally, I discovered this site and found this blessing at the Unitarian Universalist. (Linking is not working well.) A Blessing of Darkness and Light Delicate branches, at night, surround the light of the moon Blessed is the dark, in which our dreams stir and are revealed. Blessed is the dark of earth, where seeds come to life. Blessed are the depths of the ocean where no light shimmers: the womb of all earthly life. Blessed is the light into which we awake, the light that sparkles on the waters: that calls the tree forth from the seed, and calls the shadow forth from the tree. Blessed are we as we move through darkness and through light. Amy Zucker Morgenstern How do you honor/embrace this time of darkness? Where do you find the points of light in your life? In a few weeks, winter solstice will be here, how do honor this and Christmas? How do you use this time of year for self-reflection?  I'm doing double duty today as I am at the coast (perfect for the SJT theme of renewal). This post will serve for SJT and PF. My mare-stanes (hag stone) at sunset at Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Fran of Lit Bits and Pieces is hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday this month. She has a moving post about renewal and says, "In choosing the theme of renewal, I note that one definition of the word is resuming an activity after an interruption." When I heard the topic of "renewal", it was an "aha" as I have always viewed renewal as a spring time word. As I study Scots Gaelic, and the Celtic Calendar, we have entered a new year. Autumn is also renewal. The harvest is finished.Now it's the time of fall's decay, the returning to the earth. The cold months are necessary for cleansing the land, for the renewal of the earth. And it's fitting that the Gaelic name for winter is An Geamhrachd, which is the Celtic word for cold. At Faith & Worship, I found a wonderful prayer for this time of renewal: For the promise of harvest contained within a seed we thank you. For the oak tree within an acorn The bread within a grain The apple within a pip The mystery of nature gift wrapped for us to sow we thank you I found an article on A Focus On Nature by Chloé Valerie Harmsworth. She has wonderful illustrations in the article. I used the "A Time of Renewal: Autumn and Winter" for the following found poem.  A Time of Renewal: Autumn and Winter Nature Found Poem From the article by Chloé Valerie Harmsworth change the clocks have moved back the days short the nights deep and long the atmosphere seems to alter so do I mist, chilling creep through the cracks I swaddle an instinct to hibernate saving energy a constellation of warm, breathing bodies, waiting for the dark to pass strengthened this yearning of mine. we can enjoy simple peaceful activities go on life-affirming walks so much to learn the days and weeks descend into deep winter my attention turns to the trees’ naked beauty arms reaching out to the sky noisy, chattering corvids bring energy to the moment the earth’s reawakening shoots burst with spirit this period of rest and contemplation allows me to open like the first snowdrop ready to restart, refreshed and rejuvenated. ©Jone Rush MacCulloch, 2023 draft I am looking forward to hosting December's Spiritual Journey Thursday. as we head toward the shortest day, longest night, I am thinking about the importance of light in the dark of winter.
Our host for Poetry Friday is Buffy Silverman who is celebrating the arrival of her new book! Ramona at Pleasures From the Page is hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday today. Her theme for today is “A Glad Heart”. Ramona shared some great questions:
 Such great questions! What i immediately thought of was my grandmother’s favorite Bible quote: Psalm 118:24, New King James Version: “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” She began everyday by saying it as prayer. It’s one I lean on every morning. I am so thankful that I am an early riser and that I witness the sunrise most mornings. This Psalm is part of that as well. On my wall, I have this piece that I created a few years ago. It speaks to me much like the Psalm.  Gladness for me comes by following the seasons and being in nature. I have no favorite season, I love them all and love how each season unfolds into the next season. Like now, the leaves are transforming in colors and soon they will let go as we get deeper into autumn. My Irish-Scottish Celtic roots are attuned to the solstices and equinoxes as well as what are called the cross-quarters: October 31(Samhain (SOW-in)), February 1(Imbolc or St. Bridg’s Day), May 1 (Belatine) and August 1 (Lughnasadh (LOO-na-saa). This was never more clear than when I traveled to Ireland and Scotland last year. So it isn't a surprise to find this Celtic blessing: May there always be work for your hands to do. May your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine upon your window pane. May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near to you and May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you. A website that I really like and have followed since my trip is Abbey of the Arts which integrates contemplative spiritual practice and creative expression with monastic spirituality. Computer gremlins were at play yesterday as I attempted writing this post. Was it as Patricia's SJT"ps title says: "Life at the speed of grace?" Wednesday night I hadn't slept well. Grace was telling me Go. To. Bed. Plus, I was all over the map with this prompt. How does grace meet me and how is it in my life? One quote I lean on is "For the grace of God, there go I". If you and I were sitting together, sipping tea or coffee, and if we were talking about our teen and young adult years, you would learn that grace protected me over some really dumb choices. (So GLAD there were no cell phones with the capability to record that period of my life!) Thanks to Ramona, I was lead to this poem, "Everyday Grace." at The Poetry Foundation. This line resonated with me: "...Suddenly an ordinary day becomes holy ground..." ~"Everyday Grace" by Stella Nesanovich. Late August, I had my blood drawn. I walked into the little room, greeted by 'Aloha", the room decorated in a Hawaiian theme. The lab technician was from the Big Island. As she drew my blood, I asked if she was affected by the Lahaina fire. She nodded, a great auntie perished. In that moment, I felt a shiver in my body, the shift, the day becoming holy. we honor, welcome in a hug her new ancestor  This is the photo from this week's Wordless Wednesday, Week 35. A secret heart, evidence of grace A stranger feels safe sharing her grief The bushtits have returned to the suet feeder A friend confides about her struggles Morning's coolness sends messages that autumn is arriving soon Blood tests reveal I am in great health Grace abides Please head over to Amy at The Poem Farm who is dishing up poetry advice. I love her photo of the stones, having just played with some myself.
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AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
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April 1 Mary Lee Hahn, Another Year of Reading April 2 Heidi Mordhorst, My Juicy Little Universe April 3 Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference April 4 Buffy Silverman April 5 Rose Cappelli, Imagine the Possibilities April 6 Donna Smith, Mainely Write April 7 Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche April 8 Leigh Anne, A Day in the Life April 9 Linda Mitchell, A Word Edgewise April 10 Denise Krebs, Dare to Care April 11 Emma Roller, Penguins and Poems April 12 Dave Roller, Leap Of Dave April 13 Irene Latham Live You Poem April 14 Janice Scully, Salt City Verse April 15 Jone Rush MacCulloch April 16 Linda Baie, TeacherDance April 17 Carol Varsalona, Beyond Literacy Link April 18 Marcie Atkins April 19 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in My Orchard April 20 Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes April 21 Sarah Grace Tuttle, Sarah Grace Tuttle’s Blog, April 22 Marilyn Garcia April 23 Catherine, Reading to the Core April 24 Janet Fagal, hosted by Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference April 25 Ruth, There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town April 26 Patricia J. Franz, Reverie April 27 Theresa Gaughan, Theresa’s Teaching Tidbits April 28 Karin Fisher-Golton, Still in Awe Blog April 29 Karen Eastlund, Karen’s Got a Blog April 30 Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, and Writing |
