Tag Archives: mental health

Poetry, Writing

AI and Hands

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(Poem 81 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/fWy0Ra

AI is puzzled by human hands.
They are used for grasping
objects and gesturing,
typing on keyboards and
petting animals, holding
teacups aloft and shielding
the eyes to protect from
bright sunlight, but mostly
they hang strangely from
the end of human arms
without purpose or form.
How many fingers is anyone’s
guess; where one hand ends
and another begins cannot
be determined by the
greatest minds in computing.
All the hands touching
one’s face must be the way
to show comfort to another.
Perhaps a hand should sprout
from an ankle, to better
touch the earth’s surface with.
And don’t even get AI started
on the fingernails; we’ll be
here all day trying to figure out
the what and where of those,
never mind the why…

@Home Studio – 81st poem of the year

Runner ups for the AI hands photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Sunrise in a Jar

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(Poem 80 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

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

I once caught sunrise in a jar
and was tempted to keep it,
put it on my bookshelf next to
an Asian vase and a picture of
a peacock I got off Marketplace.
I held that jar, warm as a cup
of tea, and felt the hum of
life dawning between my palms.
Regret at trapping such a being
immediately overwhelmed me,
and I unscrewed the lid lefty-
loosie until nothing hindered
egress, yet sunrise remained
in the jar as though appreciative
of a pause; so, we sat together
a little longer, sunrise and me.
Though brief, the moment was
poignant, and I am ashamed to
admit I sometimes wish I had
kept the lid screwed on tight.

@Home Studio – 80th poem of the year

Poetry, Writing

Gingerbread House

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(Poem 79 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/MYQd8h

There’s a real life
gingerbread house
down the road and
around the bend.

I used to babysit
a boy who grew into
a very tall man who
married a wife
and had some kids
and lives there now.

Once my charges
were fed and bathed,
stories read, I’d eat
their parents’ snacks
and watch MTV—
when it was actually
about music videos
like Thriller and
The Police,
Tears for Fears,
Madonna’s
Papa Don’t Preach,
Aha, and
Careless Whisper.

I appreciated the
pocket change I
earned from my
first childhood job,
but my real paycheck
was the chance to
watch ZZ Top and
Duran Duran.

Those blessed reels
were my lifeline to
Sweet Dreams in the
Still of the Night
and the soundtrack
of my adolescence.

@Home Studio – 79th poem of the year

Poetry, Writing

Snail

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(Poem 78 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

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

The flame of wisdom
is held aloft by an aged
snail who carries a galaxy
on her back as she glides
through the universe
leaving a trail of stars
in her slow-moving wake.
The wax that drips forms
rings around planets and
her eyes see through
time to the essence of
reality’s lover—authenticity.
She’s best friends with
both integrity and prudence
and the enemy of hubris.
When she tires, she rests
on the banks of compassion
until her spirit is restored,
then resumes her course.
Her gravity is the perfect
balance of curiosity and
contentment, and her laughter
creates starquakes like
cosmic fireworks brilliantly
painting heaven’s expanse.

@Home Studio – 78th poem of the year

Runner ups for the snail candle photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

The Tree that Holds up the Moon

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(Poem 77 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/a1SThn

The tree that holds up the moon
had to be reinforced last month.
A branch broke and the light of night
nearly came tumbling down to earth.
We wept and prayed, wished we
had thought of something sooner.
Then the women gathered their
tools and began the tedious work
of stitching the bark strong where
the wound remained from the
gaping hole the bough left when
she fell away and broke our hearts.  

@Home Studio – 77th poem of the year

Runner ups for the tree moon photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

Sweet Inspiration

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(Poem 76 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/FJuDC4

Sweet inspiration flows inward,
filling every cell and synapse with
translucent nectar that branches
into spirals of peaceful fragrance.
There are notes of earth and rain,
warm melons sitting ripe in a field,
flower petals lingering long after
being wilted by the moon’s tears,
golden bread fresh from the oven,
and the vellichor of parchment.

@Home Studio – 76th poem of the year

Runner ups for the inspiration photos to accompany my poem:

Health, Poetry, Writing

Lesson 12 The Way of the Wizard

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(Poem 75 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

“Wisdom is alive and therefore always unpredictable.” -Deepak Chopra’s The Way of the Wizard    

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com  https://gencraft.ai/p/dVT3Jv

We must learn to contain
both chaos and order,
swirling atoms, firing neurons,
never ceasing electrical storms
matched only by coherent thought
and organized cellular function.
A rose in seed form looks the
same as a bean or a violet.
Only invisible twisted twin strands
delineate its inevitable destiny.
Yet, we worry about becoming,
spend struggle and effort to
assert our determined uniqueness.
Why not surrender to fate?
A rose by any other name
(and all that) is a universal truth.
When pressures push this way
and other, we try to impose order.
Yet, attempts at control run
counter to the grain of life.
Learn to accept the unpredictable,
make peace with entropy,
embrace all potentials, so the
opportune impulses can flood
like inspiration into life, and the
bud naturally unfold into a rose.

@Home Studio – 75th poem of the year

Chopra, Deepak. The Way of the Wizard: Twenty Spiritual Lessons for Creating the Life You Want. New York, United States of America, Harmony Books, 1995, pp. 85-89.

Runner ups for the rose bud photos to accompany my poem:

Fiction, Poetry, Writing

Cheetah and Dahlia

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(Poem 74 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/FJuDC4

The epic battle between
cheetah and dahlia
lasted more than two moons.
No one knew who fate would
favor, though all took sides.
Spider and owl both fought
valiantly on the side of dahlia.
Scorpion and crow stood with
cheetah, as they do to this day.
Allegiances were forged,
lifelong friendships shattered;
the forest was never the same.
Some say dahlia attacked first,
jealous that cheetah was not
faithful, others say cheetah
was the original aggressor,
retaliation for a lost cub.
Whoever initiated matters not,
for the havoc and destruction
was total, the bloodshed dire.
Had serpent and beetle not
teamed up, all would have
been lost in the bloody mire.
As cheetah lay dying from
serpent’s bite, dahlia fell,
devastated by beetle’s hunger.
And to this day, there is
animosity among the animals,
where once there was union.
Such are the ways of love
and war; there are no victors.  

@Home Studio – 74th poem of the year

Runner ups for the cheetah flower photos to accompany my poem:

Health, Poetry, Writing

Sleep is My Favorite Activity

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(Poem 73 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/GCc85W

Sleep is my favorite activity.
I think it always has been.
It’s just a little harder now
to reach the perfect bliss.
When I was young and firm,
sleep came easy, just dripped
like candle wax on my pillow.
Now I need my cpap machine,
a supersonic fan on blast,
the right kind of darkness
that blocks out memory,
the right kind of quiet
that sets the stage for dreams,
the perfect temperature set,
all my pillows plumped just so,
my grounding sheets tucked,
and my husband by my side.

@Home Studio – 73rd poem of the year

Poetry, Writing

Dragon Kitty

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(Poem 72 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

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

Some dragon kittens hatched
in a nest outside my window.
The mother displayed them proudly,
like she wanted to share with me
the satisfaction only one mother to
another can ever understand.
Her eyes glowed red with pride
when we locked gazes and
the silence was filled with our
shared love for our babies.

Runner ups for the dragon kitty photos to accompany my poem: