Tag Archives: grandparenting

Poetry, Writing

Inside Out 2

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(Poem 221 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

https://images.app.goo.gl/XiiiiMmvNwkLSmbU6

Puberty ushers in such
comrades as Anxiety,
Envy, Embarrassment,
and my favorite, Ennui.
The panic that ensues
when Embarrassment
threatens and Envy
rears her unsettled self,
resurrects Fear and
Disgust, Anger and
Sadness, leading to
complete paralysis.
The only protection
against it all is to feign
Ennui…nothing matters
because too much
enthusiasm might be
the wrong amount, and
no one would dare be
too happy in a room
full of teens trying to
fake unruffled chill.

Rebekah Marshall @Home Studio on 8/19/24 @ 10:17am – 221st poem of the year (After watching Inside Out 2 with my granddaughter in theatre.)

Mann, Kelsey. Inside Out 2. Amy Poehler, Pixar Animation Studios, 14 June 2024.

Poetry, Writing

Turtle House

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(Poem 212 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/BsWO3A https://gencraft.ai/p/FYxwx0

Auspicious stone turtles
stand guard, gargoyles of
destiny, good fortune baked
into their shells, assuring the
dwelling longstanding fortune.
The turtles in the pond
fight for bits of mushy carrot,
stale bread, and greens,
unaware of the larger battle
being fought in the sky pond
by Grummans and Warhawks.
The people swim and love,
dream and hope, serve an
emperor or a president who
demands unwavering loyalty,
and wonder when peace will
fill the turtle house again.

@Home Studio – 212th poem of the year (After reading The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill.)

Churchill, Amanda. The Turtle House. Harper Collins, 2024.

Runner ups for the Turtle House photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Inside Out

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(Poem 211 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

https://images.app.goo.gl/pzkbS6c1jv44FYwP9

If Joy and Sadness
go missing,
Anger, Fear, and Disgust
try to
take control.
And no matter how
hard we try to ride
the train of thought
to the solution,
it’s difficult to
escape danger
without sacrificing
little pieces of ourselves.
But the integration
of our most vulnerable
parts strengthens
our core memories
and allows us to reach
out from our islands
to embrace those we love.

@Home Studio – 211th poem of the year (After watching Inside Out with my grandkids and bawling like a baby.)

Docter, Pete. Inside Out. Amy Poehler, Pixar Animation Studios, 19 June 2015.

Poetry, Writing

Spinning Out

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(Poem 208 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/PTePZW https://gencraft.ai/p/Q3YLtj https://gencraft.ai/p/6T1PcL

Sitting in the eye of the storm
while the world flies past
outside the windows of this
steel box protective casing,
heart races, sinews solidify
to the point of intense shaking,
and nothing but this fixed point
matters because precious life
rests in that axis and the
breath that was held is finally
released into the stillness that
settles after spinning out.

@Home Studio – 208th poem of the year

Runner ups for the Spinning Out photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Brainstorm

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(Poem 201 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/yq5fQF

Electrical misfirings initiate
honeycomb spirals of lightning
that cascade matrix-like through
the catacombs of the mind
disturbing the precarious balance
that is control of limbs, thought,
time, consciousness, and memory.
Two halves of one whole exchange
forked bolts resulting in prostrate
paroxysms of convulsant chaos.
Abject terror seizes the onlooker
whose own backfiring mainframe
cracks from the life-altering reality
that tranquility can be upset in a
split second by invisible storms
hidden deep within a beloved.

@Home Studio – 201st poem of the year (After my grandson’s seizure.)

Runner ups for the Brainstorm photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Puffs

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(Poem 182 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

No one has ever felt as
beautiful as a little girl
with fresh-made puffs.

Her frilly pale pink dress
with shiny shoes and high-
on-the-head earmuffs

are absolutely perfect
for a family wedding she
must attend in a while.

Her little brother in shirt
and vest gets to carry rings
as the bearer down the aisle,

but you can’t tell her a thing;
she’s not in the party but  
might as well be the bride,

for the joy she feels looking
like the belle of the ball makes
her little soul swell with pride.

@Home Studio – 182nd poem of the year

Poetry, Writing

Watermelon Sugar

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(Poem 178 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

Photographs taken by Charlotte Sullivan & Rebekah Marshall 6/10/24

I love the taste of
my watermelon sugar
straight from the green rind.

@Home Studio – 178th poem of the year

Runner ups for the Watermelon Sugar photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Petting Zoo

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(Poem 174 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

Photographs taken by Erica Smith 6/22/24.

Chickens, ducks, cousins, goats,
bunnies, memories, friends, and fun—
a morning spent at a petting zoo
laughing and learning in the sun.

Parents watch and take photographs,
encourage the children to be brave,
pet those babies and give them love;
try to make that little goat behave.

A kid’s a kid, whether goat or child,
ready for frolicking on a summer day.
Each is happy to be with the other,
nothing to do but run around and play.

@Genuine Joe’s – 174th poem of the year

Runner ups for the Petting Zoo photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Hawaiian Thai Fusion

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(Poem 173 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

https://images.app.goo.gl/qJQdb6TJSSUxdzue9

Girls’ luncheon at Cilantro Grill is fabulous, filling,
a lovely time with mother, daughter, granddaughter,
grandmother, great-grandmother, great-granddaughter,
future sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law.

Kalua pork, grilled pineapple, garlic edamame,
butter shrimp, macaroni salad, spam musubi,
tom yum, Pad Thai, basil fried rice, yellow curry,
deep fried red snapper, drunken noodles, tom kha.

@Home Studio – 173rd poem of the year



Poetry, Writing

Horse Girl

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(Poem 162 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/FAMugB

My little black cowgirl
went to horse camp last
week and discovered that
there is a lot of work involved
in caring for a girl’s best friend.

She doesn’t think she
wants to run a ranch any
time soon, or train for the
rodeo, or even get a horse
of her own because…labor.

Her favorite take aways
were the cute jeans, the two-
toned brown and pink cowgirl boots,
the slow riding part of the adventure, and
petting horses while others mucked the stalls.

@Home Studio – 162nd poem of the year

Runner ups for the Horse Girl photos to accompany my poem: