POETRY CORNER
– 11/28/18
Hosted by Kathabela Wilson
Introducing the wonderful Otherworld of Debbie Strange (Manitoba, Canada). All the Images in today’s Corner are by her. A celebrated poet/artist, and dear friend, she ‘makes art, tanka and haiku as a daily meditation which connects her more closely to the world and to herself. She believes a little colour and imagination can help to lift our spirits even on the darkest days!’ Inspiring us with her images she quotes Khalil Gibran: ‘Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colours; let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow.”
at high tide
the call and response
of waterwe are made of this,
but we are also,
other~Debbie Strange
Here, poets are the ‘others’ who respond, at high tide in their imaginations, with impressions and personal reminiscences of important life moments, looking within and beyond her mysterious images with their words.
~ Kathabela
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Benita Kape
of life’s
purple shimmerand mystery
beyond spectral trees…
water and air
our two worlds meet
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Michele L. Harvey
the gloaming
as sunset gives way to dusk
at night’s brink
where imagination
opens her gossamer wings
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Wendy Bialek
Fellers Pond
just turned eight, saving my allowance for many winter months to buy the red and yellow plastic rod, reel and net fishing set …that i dreamed about through the glass store windows at Woolworth’s five and dime store…so when it was warm, the long walk to Fellers Pond with green sand pail in one hand…rod in the other…going fishing. the first fish shows through the clear, shallow water…so silvery, wiggling slowly towards my hook…i could not bare to hurt it…had to use my nifty net to keep it alive i filled my pail with pond water and placed her very gently into it. we walked all the way home together, my new fish friend and i. couldn’t wait to tell and show mama my new fish friend and how we met. mama took one look into the pail and said, the fish is sad…she misses her family and friends in the pond. with that said, she drove us back to the pond:
into its water
we watch the fish
become happy againletting go of a friend
i just met
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Pravat Kumar Padhy
pelicans, kingfishers
and other migratory birds…
with gentle pace
I enter my remote hut
enjoying their foreign language
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Pat Davis
a dialogue
with trees and water
rising mist
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Michael H. Lester
our rowboat
drifts into a purple haze
which transports us
into a strange universe
where all things become one
Ο
Otherworldly: Quotes and Credits
Benita Kape, Gisborne, New Zealand: “I can not but look at this beautiful picture to again reflect on my dearly loved late husband. It is now ten years and some months since he passed away. I miss him every day.”
Michele L. Harvey, NY,: “Twilight opens the mind’s door to possibility. By doing so it also raises the odds of probability. For the artist of any stripe, that is nothing short of an invitation.”
Wendy Bialek, Prescott Valley, Arizona: “This is a true story that has been swimming around my head, waiting for a reason to be pulled from its grieving waters and shared with the world. A few months ago, when I learned of the passing of poet, author and too brief friend, Jane Reichhold, I paired the tanka to the story.”
Pravat Kumar Padhy, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: “Bhubaneswar is barely 60 miles away from Chilka lake. Every year thousands of birds come to Chilka lake, Asia’s largest inland saltwater lagoon along the east coast of Odisha, India, as goodwill ambassadors from far off places namely the Capsian Sea, Siberia, Mongolia, Central and South East Asia carrying the muse and magic of love and friendship.”
Pat Davis, Pembroke, New Hampshire: “I placed myself in the rising vapors and felt I could speak with the spirit of this place. We told each other secrets.Thanks for giving us the opportunity to transcend this troubled world.”
Michael H. Lester, Los Angeles, California:: “Oftentimes, we find ourselves feeling like strangers in our own homes with our own families. I wonder if this is a transcendental, or otherworldly experience, or just a moment of self-reflection.”
Debbie Strange‘s cherita “at high tide,” as quoted in my introduction, won a Cherita Lighthouse Award, The Cherita, September 2017. Debbie says: “As a writer, photographer, and artist, I am always striving to look beyond the ordinary in search of the extraordinary!” You can see more of Debbie’s writing and artistic images, here and follow her on Twitter, where she posts new work, thoughts and images in real time.
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♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.
Congratulations to Debbie Strange whose strange ethereal landscapes are born of vapors.
That shroud, mind you, was twelve
hundred count and showed in the finest of
detail my ethereal perspired extinction.
by Alex Nodopalka
A thousand thanks to Kathabela, the gracious host of the Colorado Poetry Corner, and to each of the gifted writers who responded to my work with such wonderful words!
shine on,
Debbie