M
A
R
C
H
Leann's Sketch Notes 2009
Sketch Notes
is my Web
site's seasonal
page where I
can just get
creative and
have fun.
(No rules.)
In This Issue-
Windy and unpredictable, March is a month of transition, filled
with change and inspiration. Now Winter's firm hold is finally
weakened, giving over to the promise of rebirth and renewal,
and of warm, sunny days and balmy, moonlit evenings soon to
come.
It begins first in the blustery breezes that rattle through bare
branches and sleeping earth to awaken the life within, finally
winning over all with the first tiny blossoms that then open,
greeting the world with an infusion of color and aroma.
I like to think of this month as an inspiration:
March does not end--it triumphs.
May you find a little inspiration within the wonderful writings
featured here in this month's Sketch Notes.
Oh--and may the luck o' the Irish be with you always.
~Leann
with change and inspiration. Now Winter's firm hold is finally
weakened, giving over to the promise of rebirth and renewal,
and of warm, sunny days and balmy, moonlit evenings soon to
come.
It begins first in the blustery breezes that rattle through bare
branches and sleeping earth to awaken the life within, finally
winning over all with the first tiny blossoms that then open,
greeting the world with an infusion of color and aroma.
I like to think of this month as an inspiration:
March does not end--it triumphs.
May you find a little inspiration within the wonderful writings
featured here in this month's Sketch Notes.
Oh--and may the luck o' the Irish be with you always.
~Leann
| Having Fun By Cindy Tuttle Today is a day to have fun Fun? With all the bad news you say Yes. Today I am going to laugh at myself when I make a 'mstake' I am going to see the world as an adventure and look at the simple pleasures, such as the smile someone gives me or a small kind gesture I am going to look at nature and I may even sing a song or two So, how about it? Do you want to have fun today too? |
| March By Kathy Jewell March is the time for breezes and wind, For kites to fly, for sails to bend. March is the time for skies full of blue, For fresh, green grass and buds very new. The crocus and tulips come out of their beds! The bees come buzzing to tell they're sleepyheads! Yes, March is the time for frolic and fun- When all comes to life in the warm, yellow sun! |
| First By Liz Cosline First It is a dream A childhood wonder Then still thought about It becomes a vision Of how things might be Of possibility Then The feeling stirs There seems to be a way The obstacles don't matter It is about you About your life About your essence Your reason To be filled you must follow Because It started with --First. |
| Dog Walk By Eileen Clemens Granfors It's a way of life. Dog Walk On the dog path, it is the straight and narrow. Choices are easy, turn left, turn right, or break tradition By starting in the middle and doing two loops. Each walker, each dog follows the rhythm of the day. We nod and smile and laugh at our pets, Who know one another in their doggy ways. The humans are acquaintances, not friends. Away from the path they have made more difficult choices. Some carry regrets as heavily as their back packs. Others walk tall in the wind or rain or sun Undeterred by their other lives, off this striped path, Taking chances, walking in zigzags, looking up and around, Fearless. |
| Pot Of Gold By Stacey Chillemi Pot of Gold Optimistic voice of one's soul brings a sense of hope into world Blocking the negativity from one's eye's And focusing on the joys of life that bring happiness to one's heart When one holds happiness in their heart they are able to deliver their happiness to others Teaching them the importance of happiness in return Love and friendship bring a new meaning to one's life. They help you see past the clouds on a glooming day They bring sunlight everyday Each day has so much more meaning when they're spent with people who believe. Happiness is when you are with people who love you for who you are not what you should be, This is the true meaning of love and friendship, Each day you are reborn with love and joy when you realize that you have people by your side that care. It is wonderful to know that people care for each other. Our life becomes one happy dream. People teach you the true meaning of love through their actions It is important to give back others Having a heart filled with gold is useless when you have no one to share. Find a heart and deliver your pot of gold. |
Wide flush the fields; the softening air is
balm;
Echo the mountains round; the forest
smiles;
And every sense and every heart is joy.
Thomson
balm;
Echo the mountains round; the forest
smiles;
And every sense and every heart is joy.
Thomson
The wind has a language, I would I could learn!
Sometimes 'tis soothing, and sometimes 'tis stern,
Sometimes it comes like a low sweet song,
And all things grow calm, as the sound floats along.
And the forest is lull'd by the dreamy strain,
And slumber sinks down on the wandering main,
And its crystal arms are folded in rest,
And the tall ship sleeps on its heaving breast.
L.E. Landon
Sometimes 'tis soothing, and sometimes 'tis stern,
Sometimes it comes like a low sweet song,
And all things grow calm, as the sound floats along.
And the forest is lull'd by the dreamy strain,
And slumber sinks down on the wandering main,
And its crystal arms are folded in rest,
And the tall ship sleeps on its heaving breast.
L.E. Landon
Articles
"Wearing of Green" from Wikipedia
Poetry
"March" by Katherine Jewell
"Having Fun" by Cindy Tuttle
"First" by Liz Cosline
"Dog Walk" by Eileen Clemens Granfors
"Pot of Gold" by Stacey Chillemi
"Weather Wise" by John Howard Reid
"Birdsong" by Phyllis Jean Green
"The Scheme of Things" by Max Babi
"Magnificent Pudding Called Life" by Jerelyn Craden
"To the Oak Framing the Wind" by Alexandra*One Light*
"Magic" by Leann Marshall
"Wearing of Green" from Wikipedia
Poetry
"March" by Katherine Jewell
"Having Fun" by Cindy Tuttle
"First" by Liz Cosline
"Dog Walk" by Eileen Clemens Granfors
"Pot of Gold" by Stacey Chillemi
"Weather Wise" by John Howard Reid
"Birdsong" by Phyllis Jean Green
"The Scheme of Things" by Max Babi
"Magnificent Pudding Called Life" by Jerelyn Craden
"To the Oak Framing the Wind" by Alexandra*One Light*
"Magic" by Leann Marshall
| Weather Wise By John Howard Reid Not all the poems in my anthology, "ANYONE FOR LOVE?", are humorous, but I couldn't resist sharing this one, which also happens to be true . This actually was grandfather's world-wise advice. “Always talk about the weather, Johnny,” was my grandfather’s constant advice. “It’s my number one favorite topic, because it’s a subject that’s safe and nice. Always steer clear of controversy, particularly in a position like mine, on the Board of Control of Little League, ever since auld lang syne. “No noses get struck, lips split, chins punched, if the sky doesn’t stay blue. Voices raised in anger, true , but to God, not to you! No-one ever blamed me if the sky didn’t remain calm and serene. Not a man in a hundred would claim my fault the sun lost his sheen. “And who’d dare assert I’d sent the rain out of spite to ruin Little League and turn day into night? It’s human nature to shift the blame, look for a scapegoat if games go lame, but the Board of Control has no say in the sky. Much as we’d like to aspire that high, our powers are limited to hiring and firing, fixing and nixing, matching and umpiring. “Already quite a load for our busy-beavers’ Board of Control. We stamp out ticket scalping and sales of alcohol, build barriers to deter free admissions and spectators crowding the pitch; plus passing the hat for donations among the powerful, wealthy and rich. “So, my advice, Johnny, I’ll repeat it again: Save yourself heaps of trouble and pain— never discuss politics, money, the plight of the poor or a taxing campaign— make wind, rain and sunshine your constant refrain.” |
Wearing of green--from Wikipedia
According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain
the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish.
St. Patrick's Blue, not green, was the colour long-associated with St. Patrick. Green,
the colour most widely associated with Ireland, with Irish people, and with St.
Patrick's Day in modern times, may have gained its prominence through the phrase
"the wearing of the green" meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing. At many
times in Irish history, to do so was seen as a sign of Irish nationalism or loyalty to
the Roman Catholic faith. St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to
explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. The wearing of and display of
shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the
saint's holiday.The change to Ireland's association with green rather than blue
probably began around the 1750s.
According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain
the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish.
St. Patrick's Blue, not green, was the colour long-associated with St. Patrick. Green,
the colour most widely associated with Ireland, with Irish people, and with St.
Patrick's Day in modern times, may have gained its prominence through the phrase
"the wearing of the green" meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing. At many
times in Irish history, to do so was seen as a sign of Irish nationalism or loyalty to
the Roman Catholic faith. St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to
explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. The wearing of and display of
shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the
saint's holiday.The change to Ireland's association with green rather than blue
probably began around the 1750s.
Birdsong
By Phyllis Jean Green
Rated "PG" by the Author.
I feel my head tilt back with yours
and let the sweetness find its way
in again. Again slip nectar
to you, thrum to your
thrum. As one,
we fly as a hummingbird flies.
Bit tipsy on power, bit proud
of the racket we make.
At the crest, morph to
an eagle, swooping,
rapacious.
Sated, are slow parting
doves.
Time and again, we find
each other, no matter how strong
the wind or dark the cloud.
Funny how a pair of odd birds can
soar.
How much electricity can throb
under thinning feathers,
how much lightning and hail
we fight off. Loss or no,
look who is back to rebuild
their nest. Less like swans
than albatrosses, but both
in it for life. Not caged
like pet lovebirds, but free.
Fly, baby, fly!
By Phyllis Jean Green
Rated "PG" by the Author.
I feel my head tilt back with yours
and let the sweetness find its way
in again. Again slip nectar
to you, thrum to your
thrum. As one,
we fly as a hummingbird flies.
Bit tipsy on power, bit proud
of the racket we make.
At the crest, morph to
an eagle, swooping,
rapacious.
Sated, are slow parting
doves.
Time and again, we find
each other, no matter how strong
the wind or dark the cloud.
Funny how a pair of odd birds can
soar.
How much electricity can throb
under thinning feathers,
how much lightning and hail
we fight off. Loss or no,
look who is back to rebuild
their nest. Less like swans
than albatrosses, but both
in it for life. Not caged
like pet lovebirds, but free.
Fly, baby, fly!
| The Scheme Of Things By Max Babi (and-his personal site) Every thing in nature seems pre-ordained, unusual events speak of an imperceptible force. Like a seed bursting through the soil, like a bud flowering into smiles, like an aged root tearing a slab of concrete apart every next move in my life seems pre-ordained. Somehow. |
| To the Oak framing the Wind By Alexandra* OneLight*® Authors & Creations Ancient, as quiet as wisdom giant, as gentle as subtlety oak in the light, as soft as strength dichotomous, as life and death time as a rock cast by a sling and hitting space between the eyes. Lichened surface, as rugose as purpose grey greens and browns, as muted as calmness and flights and feathers, preludes on boughs where leaves will sprout and shade will perch when arched radiance brushes of warmth and equinoctial yellows both meadows and sky. Sing to me silent touches of the wind you frame and my veins will open for kinship to flow in semblance of blood with the youth of sap oak in the light, as real as all dreams erected by breaths coherent as one whom the past has framed as future will gust in utterance of love – from my lips, shaping now what others will echo and have mused before. |
Note: All of the original writings are copyrighted, belong to those who
created them, and should not be used in any way without their permission.
created them, and should not be used in any way without their permission.
"Don't Forget to
Bookmark Sketch
Notes!"
Bookmark Sketch
Notes!"
| In spring, the axis of the Earth is tilted toward the Sun and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name.--Wikipedia |
| Magic By Leann Marshall Waking, slowly... Wrapped—no, rapt In yellow light Smooth windows of my ice castle Become as mortal eyes Weeping now Rigid form giving over To a gentler self Glistening All the magic slipping down To lie in crystal pools Uncovering All forgotten treasures Left behind Then soothes the earth beneath Still ragged with the struggle Still, Tender with Life |
Magnificent Pudding Called Life By Jerelyn Craden Embracing life. Young man with a game leg pushes a food cart down the street A food cart to keep him from falling over No cane no gold for a cane No silver for a wheelchair A food cart will do And it does fine An old woman in a bathing suit shuffles in slippers along Spillway 3 She sags in her memories yesterday in her eyes Black boy in a white store Clean as a top on a freshly polished creamer Careful unsure Wants no misdemeanor Slips out of sight in the night Charlie needs friends He’s lonely on his motorcycle No one to suck wind with No one to drain beer with No one to tempt fear with Charlie needs friends Pregnant she waddles in an oversize t-shirt Couldn't care less, no need to flirt World’s going on inside her That’s what’s real that’s the deal Snippets, snapshots Kings, crooks, crackpots Angels, demons, all between-ments Beautiful, perfect, stunning, dear when clear of illusion and fear |
I feel within me
A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience.
Shakespeare
A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience.
Shakespeare
Click on the book to find a varied
selection of good reading!
Visit the Book Shelf
selection of good reading!
Visit the Book Shelf