Teaching the Teacher

Zo, little one,
you are now done
with thiz making
of poemz?

“Yes, with this final piece
I am finished, finito,
kaput.”

What is thiz finito,
kaput? I have not heard
of theze thingz before…

“Oh, sorry. They are slang.
A different way of saying
done, or finished.”

And you need thiz zslang
to be better
underzstood?

“No, not really. It is usually
meant in a more playful
manner. A play on
meaning and sound.”

But kaput? Doz not zound
at all like finishzed.

“No, it doesn’t. I think
that one came from
my mother and grandmother.
They used it to say
that a task, or some activity,
had been completed,
it was over and done with
at last. They could close
the door on that one,
put it down and walk away.”

Now I can underztand
why thiz poem making
iz zo exhauzting for you.
With zo many wordz,
all with the zame meaning
how do you chooze
which one to uze?
And why do you
have zo many?

“Really good questions.
I don’t know.
Maybe because different experiences
need different expressions.
Sometimes it is the texture
of the word
and how it suits
the fabric of the poem.
The way it sits on the tongue
or rolls off of it.
The music it makes
when said aloud. “

Ahh, and do you dansce
to that muzic? She asks
with a grin.

“Only with my fingers
using a pen,
or keyboard.”
We both laugh.

Thank you for thiz leszson
about all the wordz.

Looking up at her,
suppressing another grin,
“So, in the end,
does that mean
you think
I might make
a good dragon?”

Elizabeth Crawford  4/30/2018

Notes: For this final day of April’s NaPoWriMo, I gave a list of words that were synonyms for the word final. Told the participants that they could choose any one of them. Then challenged myself to use all of the words. It was fun. The image is a digital painting I did after finishing my first poem a day April experience. It is Marananthaheth’s color, and seemed appropriate.

Posted at Waiting On Words: word for day 30 is final
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

 

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Legacy

Legacy

In a dream, I stood
in swirling mist
naked and alone.

Then saw my right hand
clasped in hand
of another woman

who stood naked
and alone,
right hand clasped by another…

So on it went
this line of descent
down through darkness

of time, til’ time
when first woman stood
naked and alone

yearning for another
woman
to talk to.

Elizabeth Crawford 4/29/2018

Notes: This is not a new poem. It is the final piece in a Chapbook, titled Singing Over The Bones. When Marianne contacted me with her suggestion for today’s prompt, I immediately, agreed, then started wondering what I could write about. This piece came to mind(it’s always been a favorite), but when I got it out, I didn’t like the way it sat on the page, so completely restructured it. For me, that’s good enough to make it new.

The image is a digital painting done several years ago. I was playing, swirling colors around, and saw several women emerge, appearing to be climbing up a mountain, toward a burgeoning sunrise. It is titled, Prayer at Dawn.

Poem is posted at Waiting On Words: Word for day 29 is  #MeToo
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

 

About the Modern World,

At the risk of being thought
a befuddled old woman,
or a turtle flipped on its back
unable to right itself,
what I see in the modern world,
confuses, bewilders, and frightens
me.

Makes no sense in its senseless
need to brutishly, viciously attack
what it doesn’t understand, rather
than quietly take a few moments
to enlighten itself. Screaming
to be heard, but never calmly asking
the questions that might allow
that hearing. Violently opposing
anything that is not carved in its
own cookie cutter image.

To this old woman, the modern
world looks much like a spoiled
brat having a temper tantrum.
Heedless to any but his own personal
desires. Might be best to hold him,
hug him gently, but with restraint,
until he sleeps in exhaustion, and
awakens refreshed and willing
to learn from these often hard, but
necessary lessons.

Elizabeth Crawford 4/28/2018

Posted at Waiting On Words: Word for day 28 is modern
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

Serendipity

Serendipity

When two things
or people,
who were never meant
to meet
come together
collide.

With a sense
of wonder and a feeling
that there is just a bit
of magic
in the making
of that moment.

Tiny electric shock
races to brain
plugs itself in
and results
in quiet flood
of purest pleasure.

Elizabeth Crawford 4/27/2018

Notes: Image is a photograph of a rainbow reflected in water, put through the kaleidoscope app. And the above explanation is why I continue to play with them. And also why I write. Watching the words come together and make sense gives me that same moment of pleasure. I also think that is what Joseph Campbell meant when he said that we must seek and find our bliss, or never know a real sense of completion. Carl Jung defined it as synchronicity and said it was when two or more disconnected things came together, bringing about a deeper sense of awareness and understanding.

Poem is posted at Waiting On Words: Word for day 27 is serendipity
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

Another Lesson

She bends down
to peer into
my questioning
eyes.

Little one, you know
I can leave
at any time?

Struck dumb by
her question
I can only whisper,

“But, you wouldn’t,
not really,
would you?”

No. But that haz more
to do with you
than my chooszing.

We dragonz come
to teach, sztaying
only az long az needed.

It iz only your
love of learning
that keepsz me.

Releasing the breath
I’d been unaware
of holding,

“Then there’s nothing
to worry about, because
I intend to continue until I die.”

She leans in closely,
And after
that?

“Perhaps, I shall become
a dragon?”

Elizabeth Crawford 4/26/2018

Notes: Image is a pen and ink doodle, with digital background.

Posted at Waiting on Words: word for day 26 is lesson
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

 

The Secret

The Secret

If I tell you it will
no longer be what
it was meant to be.

Beautiful satin ribbon
will come undone,
ragged at its edges.

Cover of box will no
longer cover and all
of the shiny surprises
inside will be loosed.

No more home, forced
to roam in search of some
dark shadowy corner.

Only knowing it is best
to remain hidden, unseen
unknown to any other.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/25/2018

Note: Image is a photo put through the kaleidoscope app.

Poem is posted at Waiting On Words: Word for Day 25 is secret
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/

 

Modem

Modem

The word itself
seems to suggest
motion, movement.

But have to wonder
if that’s real or merely
suggestion.

We each sit at this
machine, and with
just a few clicks

can reach out across
the globe and make
contact.

But, do we do that?
Too impatient to share
a few words, we’d rather

hit a like button, than
actually think to say
something of meaning.

Yes, the modem allows
us to reach beyond
our own little space

but also, somehow
isolates us.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/24/2018

Notes: Was, at first, confused about the word modem, but I just finished reading a Dean Koontz novel “Midnight”, in which a medical procedure left people with one of two choices. To regress to some state of animal existence, without thought, only hunger and sex, or to reach in and become one with their computers. Either way, becoming far less than human. The book made me uncomfortable for so many reasons.

Image is a line weave doodle, that simply started as a group of entwined empty circles. It often reminds me of another word: humanity.

Poem is posted at Waiting On Words 24: word for today is Modem
https://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/