POETS SALON
– 12/23/20
Hosted by Kath Abela Wilson
Usually everyone is so busy for the holidays we have to cancel our usual events. This year we are not cancelling anything. Instead, we will boldly hold our usually scheduled poets meetings on Zoom. Our handmade community, for inspiration, consolation and celebration.
lockdown holiday
we invite the world
to our living room~ Kath Abela
Begging Bowl, handmade by Joyce Futa.
Joyce Futa
a lump of clay
and a deep desire
she fashions
a begging bowl
that asks for nothing
Ο Ο Ο
Wreath on front door (Photo – Cynthia -Anderson)
Cynthia Anderson
The Departed
Every December we place the same holiday wreath on our front door, made by my husband’s father over 40 years ago. Some of the pine cones have frayed with age, and the old-fashioned plaid bow has faded—but somehow, still, it all holds together. We don’t change a thing.
winter chill
hanging on
to long-lost souls—a kind man
who made sure
his son felt loved
Ο Ο Ο
Handmade by Briony James
Briony James
Learning to paper-piece quilt in the quiet of quarantine, the origami crane seemed to be a beacon. Hope resonates through the folds. Can I do a thousand?
walking feet over fabric
bits become a whole
angels of memory
quilted into time
my fingers stitch my heartΟ
hook
and cotton stringtwist and loop
another
ornament,
a new smileΟ
hand sewing details
finishing touches on a year
in need of light
a slipped stitch
marked, a tiny drop of blood
Ο
Handmade Holidays: Quotes and Credits
Joyce Futa lives in Altadena. Her new project has been to learn ceramics and has been handbuilding her holiday. She’s author of a book of tanka prose, Lit Windows: A Book of Haibun and Tanka Prose, Blue Light Press, 2017.
Cynthia Anderson, a pagan with Buddhist leanings, spends the holiday season breathing in and out with the rock, plant, bird, and animal spirits of her Mojave high desert home.
Briony James lives and writes in Altadena, and hopes everyone is staying safe and remembering that masks come off, distance can be breached but only if we try together. Keep each other under the wings of care.
Ο
Origami crane by Briony James
Send short poems, haiku, senryu, tanka, cherita haibun, tanka prose, short prose poems, etc., or your own unique approach, to Kath Abela by Facebook message or click here to email her directly. We can feature your work again after five months. Multiple Submissions can be saved to appear later:
- Send a short bio, comments on the theme.
- Send photos or artwork by you, if possible.
- No attachments except photos.
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The salon couldn’t be more lovely… We keep creating… We create more…
Yes, thank you Toti and you are a great inspiration in this with your work versatile, in the present, emerging from your own daily life and yet built with the past– your poems your paintings your objects– all have that vitality and connection! Thank you for coming to read for us in the midst of these strenuous and unusual days– your voice caries the power and breath of beauty and creativity– building with the past– and taking us deep into the future… true works of art. Thank you for reading the works here too! In tune with your aims and vitality always!
To Joyce:
with deep desire
she asks for nothing
and says it with a bowl
a bottomless container
it all flows through
to nourish many
Beautiful Sharon.
A rich interpretation…
Of a bowl
That gives
More than receives…
And Joyce’s poem too!
Thank you for loving the image poem and poet!
Sharon… what a wonderful reply to the Beggar’s Bowl.
Thank you for sharing your response.
Peace and love
Siggi
Thank you so much Wafic and Kathabela! Merry Christmas, Happiest of Holidays and a Hopeful New Year to one and all!
Thank you Briony it is a joy to share your wonderful work with everyone!