The history of Prosperous Snow written for the group Reminiscences |
Jamál (Beauty), 7 Qawl (Speechr), 173 BE - Sunday, November 27, 2016 AD about 8:00 AM Pacific Standard Time exceeded my NaNoWriMo word count goal on Saturday, November 26, 2016, by 1,036 words. I could stop now and claim my award; however since (including today) there are four more days left in November I am going to continue writing in this journal. There are several things I need to put into this journal. Yesterday morning I start discussing some of the poems I've written and what inspired them or what I thought inspired them. Therefore for the rest of November I'm going to focus on the poems. Wildflowers in Bloom was inspired by a documentary on the Las Vegas PBS station channel ten sometime in 1995. I don't remember the name of the documentary or anything else except the beautiful wildflowers that were filmed for that documentary. After looking at the poem, I think it should be a haiku rather than just a straight free verse poem. Wildflowers In Bloom Yellow daisies Waltz in the breeze White flowers sway Morning dew kisses Blue cactus blossoms Ruby blossomed cactus bloom The red dawn reflected In red flowers and dew Winter in Las Vegas is one of three poems I've written about winter in this area of the country. I'm not sure, but I think this was the first one. The other two are posted in my writing.com port. I'm not sure when I wrote this so I don't know where I was living at the time I wrote it. Winter in Las Vegas Cold air awakens a longing for summer As the night wind echoes the cries of lost souls. The wind is a knife cutting through your thoughts Severing any hope for warm happiness. The wind's cold laughter sends joy flying; No snow; No rain; No sleet; Only the glacial wind of night. Winter's Child is one of three poems I wrote on this subject. I don't know what year I wrote this poem, but I do know it was written as a part of a longer poem that focused on the four seasons. The other three poems were title "Autumn's Child", "Spring's Child", and "Summer's Child". The forms of those poems are similar to this form. Winter's Child Winter's child sets In the frozen meadow of lost hope Composing eulogies To dead dreams. I found numerous poems in the bottom left-hand drawer of my computer desk. Several of the poems I'm posting in this document because they are important to the way inspiration strikes me, as well as showing what poets influenced me. Most of the poems are free verse or experimental forms while others are specific poetry forms. Because I'm posting some of them in my port, I'll have to do a little port housekeeping in December to make room for more items. I don't quite have enough GPs to purchase a 12-month premium plus membership. Juxapositional Poetry: To Jean Valintine was written sometime in 1992. I was inspired by the poems of Jean Valintine and the names of the poems that inspired it are underlined. This is an experimental form and I haven't decided whether I'm going to rewrite it or leave it as is. I may use this as one of the poems in my autobiography that demonstrates where my inspiration begins and, if that's the case, I doubt that I will rewrite it. Juxapositional Poetry: To Jean Valintine Air-raid alarms sound Children move in slow motion Images in The Second Dream Tell me The past is an illusion To those who didn't witness it The world moves at such speed Present can't reconcile past and future Much less the poet illusion and reality Death and the underworld Darkness that is named light Images in Oepheus and Eurydice Tell me It is our illusions Which form our reality It is the language of silence Which reconciles The unreconcilable Little ones smoke or burn in water Questioning the purpose of life Images in Pilgrims Tell me We are unwilling to accept Our destiny Notational strategies help poets Cope with the language of silence Sleeping in a kitchen Asleep on a bus Images in After Elegies Tell me That we live in our dreams Notational strategies confuse The reader unwilling to let go Thoughts formed into word pictures Live in a well known room Images in Knife Tell me Appearances deceive Notational strategies aid The conscientious reader to participate The shame forgiven A ghost bestows pardon Images in The Forgiveness Dream: Man From The Warsaw Ghetto Tell me Our choices effect The space-time continuum Notational strategies allow Poets to compare opposing concepts Preserved in peat The physical body is immortal Images in The Field Tell me Our reality Isn't found in material existence Notational strategies allow Poets to contrast complimentary concepts The father who is dead The messenger a half-brother The hill is climbed Images in The Messenger Tell me Memories are kept But remembered differently By each person The master of notational strategies Allows her reader to use intuition The eye speaks in silence The day glides by Images in Silence: A Dream Of Governments Tell me Each of us Determines our own view of reality The master of notational strategies Uses intention and implication Emmanuel Christ a star Images in December 21st Tell me Each of us Must have our own relationship With the Deity OK, I think this does need a bit of rewriting because of the redundancy and repetition. A little bit of repetition in poetry is alright, but I think there is too much in this poem. I'm not sure how to rewrite or edit this poem without changing its meaning. Perhaps changing its meaning is a good thing; I'm not sure about that right now. About 1:08 PM Pacific Standard Time Jamal: To Táhirih is one of the poems I've written about Táhirih, the Pure One, was inspired by the history of the Baha'I Faith. I wrote this poem sometime in 1993. The English translation of Jamal is Beauty. I intended to write a series of poems about historic figures in the Baha'I faith with titles that reflected the names of the Baha'I months. I have a lot more poems to write. I also have to consider whether I want or need to rewrite this poem. Jamal: To Táhirih The wind of God blows Across the Garden of Paradise Carrying to the lover's nostrils Attar of rose Blessed is the Pure One Who inhales the scent of faith Solace of the eyes Who sees the Beauty of God The Living Letter Who hears the Lord of the Age And enters through God's Gate Joyous Laughter is another poem inspired by the Baha'I Faith. I think this poem needs rewritten, but I'm not sure what else I want. Maybe this poem is complete because I don't think I intended for it to say anything else. I wanted to emphasize that God created the universe. Joyous Laughter When God created the universe, The earth, And all there is, There was joyous laughter throughout the celestial sphere. Kamál (Perfection), 8 Qawl (Speech), 173 BE - Sunday, November 27, 2016 AD about 6:44 PM Pacific Standard Time Evening Thoughts I was doing some reviewing this afternoon and I realized that I haven't been writing many poem about the Baha'I Faith, Baha'u'llah, or the Baha'I Holy Days. I've written some poems, but not many. I think I also need to write something about why I don't celebrate Christmas anymore. I need to determine how I feel about Christmas because I haven't had that many good experiences with that particular holiday. I think that's due to some experiences from my childhood. After Mom became a Baha'I we stopped celebrating Christmas. I give away the Christmas tree and most of the decorations. I found a place for them at one of the Community College Campuses. I don't know how long they kept the artificial tree or the decorations. I really don't care what they did with them after they took them down the year I gave the decorations to them. It was a relief to get rid of the times and let someone else enjoy them. I kept a tree top angel for a while, but then got rid of her. I don't remember who I gave her to. It doesn't matter because I'm sure whoever got her enjoyed her. The angel didn't cost very much when we bought her. In fact the only reason I purchased her was because Mama wanted her. I think we might have purchased the angel at Walmart or someplace like that. So now how do I write an essay about Christmas? Do I write an essay about Christmas? I think I'd rather write something about one of the Baha'I Holy Days instead of Christmas. I've written Christmas related stories and poems in December, but this year I'm not sure if that's what I want to do. I think I would rather write something about Baha'u'llah or The Bab. Maybe I should research what Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'le-Baha had to say about Christ and write something about that. For some reason I think I need to start focusing on themes that have more to do with unity or Baha'I themes. I've been thinking about this for a couple of three weeks now. The closer to December I come the more I think I want to focus more on themes that reflect my spiritual beliefs now instead that represented my childhood beliefs. Today I managed to get the newsletter finished before 7:00 PM, but now I have to decide what I want to write for next month. My next edition of the fantasy newsletter is due on Monday, December 28, for a publication day of Wednesday, December 26, which is about five days before New Year's Eve. Then the January newsletter is due on, Monday, January 23. My last scheduled newsletter is on Monday, February 20. I need to decided before then if I'm going to continue the newsletter after that. I've been writing it a long time and I think I'm running out of ideas or perhaps I'm just getting tired of editing it. |