Drops of Inspira

Because of Audiobook Appreciation Month , I'm making June all about sound. I realized that I wrote a poem about the loss of sound a couple of years ago after I had an injury that damaged my hearing for a month (fun times *grimace*), but I didn't have any poems about sound in general.  If you'd like to use the above prompt for your own creative endeavors, please feel free to do so. Here is my poem about sound, particularly the sounds I hear in my neighborhood in the morning. Random question: Do you collect sounds?  What do I mean by this? I collect sounds in my memory. There's this bird that I've heard every spring since I was five. When I hear its song, that means spring has arrived. There's a certain rhythm of burning wood. One rhythm means wildfire, and one means wood-burning stove fire. There's a sound that the ocean makes at night. I know it's the same during the day, but to me, it's different. Sometimes, when the wind is blowing hard through the...

Hello and welcome to the month of June! With summer less than a month away, I thought I'd do a post on one of my favorite things to do during this season: listen to a good audiobook. It also helps that this month is Audiobook Appreciation Month,  which I thought was cool. I mean, an entire month devoted to appreciating audiobooks? Yes, please! I will try to provide links so you can find them and listen to them yourself. Here are some of my favorites. Eragon was one of the few books that my younger brother would read. He must have read it at least six or seven times. I was delighted to find this rendition of the story on audiobook. Gerard Doyle lends his voice to breathe fresh life into the cast of colorful characters. I have the CDs, but you can find it on Audible.com by clicking on the link.  2.                                                    ...

I started May coming out of a downward spiral.  I felt like I was in the bottom of a well and couldn't see where I was, but things are taking perspective.  As a result, I've made May the month of recharging both physically and mentally. This means working on all the side projects that have been pushed by the wayside. All the embroidery bracelet ideas, discarded crochet projects, attempts at drawing and the notches I've put in my TBR (to-be-read) pile are fair game this month. It's been good.  Sometimes you need to realize that hitting bottom isn't necessarily a bad thing. Hitting bottom means the only way out is up.  Which brings me to this month's poetry prompt. Please feel free to use the above prompt to make your own creative thing. We've all had those moments of life where we've felt empty. Like we have nothing left. Those moments where we've felt like quitting. For me, this was the entire half of last month.  Here is my response: If you feel you...

Once upon a time, in a land not far away, there lived a little girl and her older sister. This older sister was everything to the little girl. When she smiled, the little girl would smile. It was a sign that everything was all right.  Then one day the older sister went away. The little girl didn't understand why. All she knew was that the world was darker than it was before. After a while, the sister came back, but she wasn't as before. There was something wrong. Something the little girl couldn't put her finger on.  There were conversations with mommy and the older sister that got steadily louder and louder until the little girl had to go outside because the conversations made her shake inside. Something was wrong, but the little girl didn't understand what it was.  A few years passed and the little girl got older. The older sister had left a while back, her new love drugs and alcohol. When the little girl got to see her older sister, she didn't know her. Thi...

It's been a very rainy, foggy April. About every other day it rains from sunup until sundown.  One thing I love about the rain and fog is that they intensify the surrounding colors. The fog drifts through the tall pines, wrap its fingers around the red barn on the hill and floats over the pond.  However, I am glad for days like today where the blue sky spans the horizon, the beautiful flowers are seen clearly and the wind blows through the trees carrying with it the scent of growing things.  Even during the rain, hope is tangible. It's just around the corner. This brings me to the poetry prompt for this month, which is hope. In a world that seems to get darker and darker, I'm clinging to the hope that this is only temporary. One day the night will end and morning will be here. Please feel free to use this prompt to do your own creative thing. Here is my response taken from my poetry archives. I wrote this poem several years ago and thought it was fi...

The old rhyme goes, "April showers bring May flowers."  Lately, the world seems to be experiencing a lot of "showers", both rain and disasters. As I'm writing this, the Corona Virus, or COVID-19, is killing people every day.  Many, including myself, have lost jobs as a result, lives have been disrupted, weddings canceled, sports put on hold, etc. The list goes on. The point is, life hasn't been normal in a while. I'm tempted to look at my "forecast" and see nothing but endless rain.  At this point, quarantine is supposed to last through April. Maybe even beyond, God forbid.  Even the weather has been weird. It's been raining on and off for three weeks now in my part of the world, and more rain and snow are in the forecast for next week.  Yet, as the rhyme goes, with the showers, brings flowers. I'm hoping and praying that something beautiful comes out of this. I don't know what it will look like, but I know it will come....

Hello, I know this is highly irregular for me to be posting for a third time this month, but a lot has happened in the world as I'm sure you all know. I don't think there is one person who isn't affected by the virus that has circled the world.  I'm not sure how long it will last, but I know everything has an end and this can't last forever.  I don't understand what is going on, why people are acting the way they are, other than that they're scared. I get it. I'm scared too. About a month ago, one of my uncles died suddenly.  My dad got a phone call that he was in the hospital and was passing quickly. He died within hours. I'll admit that I didn't know how to process it. Until then, we had assumed he was fine. We didn't even know he was sick.  I was at work when I found out and tried to keep it together, but the tears came. I left work and came home with a heavy heart. The following day, I had another shift at work. I don...