Aluminum Overcast

Thirty-Thirty Poetry

For those of you keeping score, this is round 17 of writing thirty poems in thirty days. I'm sure I'll get to 20 before the end of this year, but for now I'm taking a much-needed break. Here's those titles:

1. He Said, She Said
2. The Day the Roadside Bomb Exploded
3. Stone Walls
4. A Pale Thought
5. JayJay Writes a Letter to God
6. i am always in love
7. When the Letter Came
8. mea culpa
9. God Gives JayJay an Answer
10. Windowsill and Still Life
11. Carnival
12. Everyone
13. Bee
14. Sonnenizio on a line from Bates
15. Buffalo Gals
16. Fly Away
17. Howl
18. Witness
19. Dreadful Truth
20. This is Pain
21. On the Last Day of School, 1958
22. The secret compartment of joy
23. And the Devil of Dust Spins On
24. A Long Line of Tanks
25. Baby I Would
26. Wind Song at Pueblo Bonito
27. Sonnenizio on a line from Millay
28. Lemons
29. Letter from Camp
30. haiku

Venting

As I mentioned in a previous post, the last few months have been very stressful. That particular stress is now gone, but it's no less crazy here. Two weeks ago we had Emma's birthday squeezed smack into the middle of a lot of other activities. I was in major pain from a kidney stone, but toughed it out so we wouldn't be in the ER on her birthday, finally passing it late that night. It was the second largest stone I've ever passed.

Last week was my birthday, again squeezed into a rather tight schedule that included Kindergarten Open House for Kate and Girl Scout Camp for Emma and I on the weekend. We left for camp on Friday after school and got back Sunday afternoon. I have no idea why they would schedule camp on Mother's Day weekend. It basically meant having no Mother's Day since I was too tired to do anything after we got home. Camp itself was a blast, though, and I'd go again in a second despite the lack of sleep, the sporadic crankiness of adults and kids, and the sheer exhaustion.

This week, I just feel worn out. Months of stress and weeks of nonstop activity have left me feeling like I need to recharge in a huge way. I feel like a piece of wood that's been whittled at and whittled at until it's in danger of disappearing altogether. On Monday I finished my 17th round of 30 poems in 30 days and I don't plan on going back immediately this time. I need a break. The problem is, I'm not sure how a stay at home mom of two young kids gets the kind of break I need. However, the sun is shining and we're having very hot weather today and tomorrow, so maybe a little relaxing in the sun will help...

And on a more cheerful note, I do have some nifty new knitting to show you, new publications to share, and my title list for round 17 of 30/30, all coming soon.

Wigleaf

My flash The Voice of Love is now live at Wigleaf.

Bzzzzzzzz

Today was the big District spelling bee, and wow, was it ever exciting!

Emma was in Division I (grades 1-5), which went first. They sat at big tables in front of the audience and had to write down 30 different words. They were given approximately 10 seconds per word.

After that first round, they announced that a tie breaker was needed between five of the kids. I nearly fell off my chair when they called Emma as one of the five! They were given five words and their papers were checked right there and then, leading to a second tie breaker between, you guessed it, Emma and another girl. Thank goodness there weren't any more tie breakers because I'm not sure I would have survived. Emma, on the other hand, wasn't nervous at all. I think to her, it's just fun to go and spell words.

The result: Emma won 3rd place in her division and got the very cool little trophy you see above! The audience let out a collective gasp when they announced that she's only in Third Grade and I think everyone was excited to see her do well. Her teacher was there to encourage her and give her a sense of security, and the principal from her school was there, too.

Way to go, Emma, we're proud of you!

By the way, if you look closely at the trophy picture, you'll see that it says Division II, grades 6-8. They messed up the plaques on the trophies and are going to get new ones for all the kids.

Addiction can be a good thing

when it involves writing poems! Yep, another 30 has gone by. Here's the titles from Round 16:

1. From the Windshield of a Rusty Truck

2. And the Trees are Beginning to Bud

3. White Flag

4. Hirsute

5. A Tiger's Hand

6. Fort Union

7. A Stink Like Rotten Eggs

8. An Easter Confession

9. Refraction

10. Featherweight

11. A Cowgirl's First Kiss

12. One Minute, Please

13. Pétit

14. Cape Foulweather

15. Like a Lion

16. How to Identify Human Bone in the Field

17. What Does the Wife Imagine (cento)

18. Residual

19. A Billboard for Soap

20. If Barbie were a dress shop girl

21. Vignette

22. Siren

23. Seventy-Six Hours after the Funeral

24. An End to Sunlight

25. Spring Has Come

26. Forgetting to Say Goodbye

27. Vim

28. All the Things We Might Have Said

29. shine a light, little moon

30. a reason for children