Merry Wishes All Around

           My first day of the holiday break, the day before the earth changes once more, and our days begin the turn toward spring.  Happy Solstice everyone!  Run over to Buffy Silverman's blog to see what others have for you this week, and to enjoy the 'snappy' poem she's written about her Venus Flytrap!  Thanks for hosting, Buffy!
           This year, again, I had the pleasure of swapping poetry with several wonderful people, both during the summer, and now for the holiday/winter swap!  Thanks to Tabatha Yeatts of The Opposite of Indifference who started this marvelous idea.  This holiday, I was excited to have Irene Latham as my swap partner.  I've read and loved her books, the children's fiction and the adult poetry (you can find them here), and look forward to her new poetry book, The Sky Between Us, out very soon!



            Not only did I receive a beautiful and heart-felt poem written by Irene just for me, but she also created a collage for the poem, and framed it. all ready for a special place on the shelves in my office.  Writing a poem for someone is rather like sharing a big, long hug, and that is how I felt when I read Irene's poem.  It is a treasure!  FYI-I live on Poplar St.

 The Sweetness of Letting Go

        Past the black hole
        a galaxy unfolds:

       nebulas pulse and glow,
       their sherbet rings

       tingling with hope.
       The archer arches

       with a dancer's grace,
       unleashes a silvery

       shower of star-flowers
       to feast on all night.

       The moon swoons
       behind cotton-candy clouds,

       and from a window
       overlooking Poplar St.

       someone takes a breath
       and tastes tomorrow.
             Irene Latham, ©All Rights Reserved

   I'm going to take some time off, will be back in the New Year.  Here are a couple of old-fashioned Christmas poems for you from the antique postcards I have, and a quote I love every time I read it.  Hope you do, too!  
          

From Charles Dickens: Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!