Tigerlily

Soft and majestic,

your orange spotted petals

flourish in a ditch. 

~ ~ ~ 

Today's haiku is inspired by the prompt for NaPoWriMo Day 5: "Today, I challenge you to spend some time looking at the names of heirloom plants, and write a poem that takes its inspiration from, or incorporates the name of, one or more of these garden rarities." I didn't exactly follow the prompt, but it inspired me to write something about my favorite flower, the tigerlily.

January Blues

For Day 4 of NaPoWrimo, I followed the prompt to write a poem about what I think is the cruelest month and why.

January Blues

It's after Christmas, and the New Year has settled in.
The days are short. The nights are long.
The cold seeps into my bones.
I shiver. I shake. My muscles ache.
And my heart isn't far behind.
I feel lonely and trapped inside these walls,
Too cold to want to go outside,
Too tired to try to socialize,
Too sad to make an effort.
There's no sun to give me warmth.
It's trapped behind the clouds.
The snow doesn't fall here often,
So I miss building snowmen
And snowball fights and sled riding.
I'm a loner in the winter months,
Preferring to stay inside under heavy blankets
Rather than taking walks with friends
Even though being alone makes me sad.
January is a cruel month.

A Good Night's Rest

I've fallen a little behind on NaPoWrimo, so I'll be posting 3 poems today. For Day 3 of NaPoWriMo, I went off prompt and wrote a poem about sleep deprivation.

A Good Night's Rest

I just need a good night's rest.
No more crying. No more screaming.
No more "I wet the bed."
No more night time feedings.
No more diaper changes,
Especially the ones with poop.
No more "I need water"
When you can reach it yourself.
No more asking for stuffies on the floor.
Seriously, get it yourself.
No more crawling in my bed at night.
No more waking me up at 2 am
And 3 am and every hour after.
No more cute wide-awake smiles
And wanting to play in the dark.
I just need a good night's rest.
Please go back to sleep.

Family Portrait

Here is my poem from Day 2 of NaPoWriMo. I followed the prompt to write a poem in the form of a family portrait.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Family Portrait

Gray eyes like the calm after a storm,
Arms full of strength and comfort,
A goofy smile and kind heart,
A loving father of two:
My husband brings laughter and peace to my world.

Gray eyes and a face like her father's;
Bright blonde hair, an angel by sight
Though full of mischief and a stubborn will;
Full of questions, of why's and how's;
Playful and curious and kind and smart:
My daughter brings wonder and light.

Light brown hair and brown eyes like mine,
A giggle that brightens our days,
A voice that refuses to be ignored,
A not-so-good sleeper with a strong will of his own,
Hair puller, toy thrower, and slobbery kisser:
My son brings joy and sleepless nights.

Brown hair, brown eyes, big heart.
Always cleaning. Sometimes singing.
Wipes away tears and boogers and dirt.
Answers questions. Tickles feet.
Feeds others before she can eat.
Plays and holds and hugs and kisses.
Folds clothes, washes dishes, and brushes teeth.
Reads books and colors and cuddles.
Usually tired, sometimes grumpy, but still happy.
Just trying not to screw things up:
I bring love and unity to our beautiful mess.

NaPoWriMo 2016

NaPoWriMo 2016 begins! I'm following NaPoWriMo.net for the daily prompts. Today I'm writing a lune, a poem with three lines having a 5-3-5 syllable count.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A little girl asks

her mother.

Will you play with me?

My Bucket List

In high school I wrote a bucket list of dreams, things I wanted to accomplish before I even hit 30. Well, I don't remember where that list went, so it's time to make a new bucket list, especially since The Daily Post prompt for January 3rd asks what the 11th item is on my bucket list. Life turned out a bit different than I imagined anyway.

My Bucket List

1. Get my driver's license. My test is in two days, so hopefully I'll be marking that off my list very soon.
2. Visit Dublin, Ireland. 
3. Visit Paris, France.
4. Write a novel during NaNoWriMo.
5. Visit Rome, Italy.
6. Adopt a child.
7. Write a second children's story (I already have the plot in mind.).
8. Go on a cruise.
9. Touch a tiger (a lion, leopard, cheetah, or other big cat will do).
10. Visit Greece.
11. Renew my wedding vows on our 10th anniversary.
12. Live long enough to meet my grandchildren and great grandchildren. 
13. Take my mom on vacation to a destination she's always wanted to visit. I'd take her on a cruise, but she refuses to stay on the boat once it starts moving.
14. Finish my scrapbooks I've already started. I think I have 5 or 6 just waiting for me in my dining room.
15. Learn how to crochet.
16. Learn how to knit.
17. Might as well learn how to sew.
18. Make a positive difference in someone's life.
19. Raise my children to be good people.
20. Teach God's love to my children.

It's actually harder than I thought to make a bucket list. I'm just writing these goals as they pop in my head. I think 20 goals is a good start. Obviously some of these goals are going to take a while. As I get older I'll probably have more to add to this list, so I'm going to write out my list and put it somewhere I can see to remind myself to make the effort to achieve these goals.

At the Stroke of Midnight

My sister-in-law shared an Ebook of 365 writing prompts on The Daily Post website that she found. The prompt for January 1st asks where we were when the clock struck midnight on the New Year and if that's where we wanted to be. 

- - - - - - - - - - - 

I sat in my rocking chair, rocking my son to sleep as he soothed at my breast. My husband walked into the nursery and stood in front of me staring at his watch.

"3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Happy New Year!" He whispered to me.

"Happy New Year," I whispered back, trying not to wake our son. My husband then reached down to cradle our son in his arms. The baby whimpered a little bit, but he settled down in the warmth of his daddy's arms. I watched as my husband put him in his crib and waited expectantly for the cries to start.

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . And the cries began. Our son would not sleep in his crib, hadn't for the last two weeks. The minute his body touched the crib, he'd wake up and wail until we picked him up again. Two weeks of struggling to get him to sleep in his crib had taken its toll on me. I was just exhausted.

I left the room to brush my teeth, letting my husband try to get our son to fall back asleep in his crib. I came back to get a New Year kiss. Then I settled into my bed, pulled the covers up, and played a game on my tablet for a few minutes before finally deciding to go to sleep. At that point, I didn't care if my son was still awake. I knew my husband could handle it. He would be awake for a few more hours anyway because of his work schedule. Within minutes I was fast asleep, so tired that I didn't even wake when my daughter crawled into my bed and cuddled with me at 2 am (so my husband told me later). Though I did wake up at 5 am to feed a hungry baby.