Thursday, September 19, 2024

Welcome! Poetry Friday Is Here!

 


             

  • "A smile is a welcomed sight that invites people in."

  • Do you feel me smiling? I am, because I'm delighted to welcome you to this Poetry Friday, two days before the first official day of Autumn.

Want to know what Poetry Friday is? Here is an explanation that Renee LaTulippe shared on her blog, No Water River

          Many of you know that I am the Volunteer Coordinator at a non-profit used bookstore run entirely by volunteers. Except for a few "new" books we purchase, every book in the store has arrived through donations. It's an amazing and wonderful place. In addition to those donations, some interesting things come in the boxes of donations and in the books, too! Sometimes, there are postcards, special notes, and photos. Other times, we find lots of sticky notes, boarding passes, receipts, playing cards, and certainly bookmarks from bookstores everywhere.  
          One thing recently left in an older book, not a bookmark, was a pressed leaf. And, I've kept it, imagining who kept it, when and from where. So I have it on a shelf, remembering the time I created a leaf book when I was a child, excited for the coming season.  I know many of you are, too, a time of change and beauty as we say our goodbyes to another beloved season of sunshine and lazy days and vacations. 




Clock Watching

 

Summer yawned before us in June.

We leapt into time spent our way,

with neighborly talks,

July outside walks

at the shore enjoying the spray.

 

Days filled with flights or blue highways, 

picnics with family and friends.

Gardens are growing

because we are knowing

how quick summer slips to its end.

 

Earth at its maximum tilt

brought hours full of buttery sun.

Yet weeks circle by,

now we give a sigh

at the signs summer’s had its full run.

 

Linda Baie ©


A Reminder - Here is the #PoetryPals challenge for next week, the last of September!

             Poetry Peeps! You’re invited to our challenge for the month of September! Here’s the scoop: We’re wandering through Wallace Stevens’ “13 Different Ways of Looking…” at something. Maybe it’s not 13 ways – maybe it’s only seven. Maybe it’s not a blackbird or anything alive, but something inanimate. Whatever happens, your way of looking will be different than mine, and I’m here for it. Are you in? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on September 27th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals.




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9 comments:

  1. What a wonderful, heartfelt poem! I'm in love with "buttery sun and outside walks and the shore enjoying the spray." Seeing summer go is always a bit sad and I swear it's the fastest season! I'm delightfully full of good memories and looking forward to pumpkin spice :) Thank you for hosting this week. I love your stories of the book shop. What a great endeavor.

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  2. Oh, Linda, what a lovely, wistful poem about summer's end. :) I love "Summer yawned before us in June" — it always feels like it will last an eternity and then, poof, it's gone! Thanks for hosting!

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  3. Love your poem, Linda. Hard to believe summer's over (it flew by, didn't it?). Last stanza is my favorite. Sigh . . . Thanks for hosting this week!

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  4. I laughed when I read about your leafy discovery--every fall I press a few (or many) favorite leaves in books, and many are still there the following year. Hard to believe that that yawning summer has had its full run. Thanks for hosting and the lovely poem.

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  5. Hard to believe we're already at this point in the season, and you do a fine job of bringing us into your thoughts. Thanksf or hosting, Linda!

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  6. I'm definitely going to make a leaf bookmark in your honor, Linda :) Unlike other folks, I am so excited for fall! Whew, cooler weather! Thanks for hosting!

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  7. Thanks to all you early birds! Yes, the time zips along. We have cooler weather starting this weekend, and I wonder if the eighties will return! It's such fun to read about the leaf keeping, leafy bookmarks, too. I'm sure I have a few tucked into books in various places, just unsure where! Happy weekend!

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  8. Linda, your bookstore sounds like an amazing place, and all your finds are so interesting! I loved your poem from its yawning June through its last sigh. Thank you for hosting this week!

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  9. Linda, I always love to hear about the treasures you find at the bookstore. You created a great ending for your poem: "now we give a sigh/at the signs summer’s had its full run."

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Thanks for visiting!