Tag: poetry

Inspiration, National Poetry Month

Get Inspired: 10 Engaging Ideas to Celebrate Poetry Month

Mona Alvarado Frazier

The month of April brings showers, flowers, and poems!

This poster was designed by Marc Brown, creator of the famous Arthur book. The artwork incorporates an excerpted line from one of my favorite poets: “Carrying” by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. 

Ten Ways to celebrate Poetry Month:

  1. Sign-up for Poem-a-Day, curated this month by U. S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, and read a poem each morning.
  2. Record yourself reading a poem and send it in a text to your child, grandchild, friend, partner, or all of the above.
  3. Post the same poem to your social media. Use @poetsorg on Twitter and Instagram.
  4. Read about your state poet laureate. Give them a shout-out on social media!
  5. Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore, stroll to the coffee shop, and enjoy the read.
  6. Share a book of poetry by donating it to a little library in your area.
  7. Attend a poetry reading, open mic, or poetry slam via Zoom.
  8. Take a walk and write a poem outside. Try a Haiku.
  9. Share a poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 27, 2023, on social media using the hashtag #PocketPoem.
  10. Encourage your writing, blog, or reading community to write short poems or haikus to be performed at your next meeting. You can even create a prize for the most creative entry.

April 4th was Maya Angelou Day. This quote is from the famous poem “Still, I Rise,” which she wrote in 1976.

“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.”

Maya Angelou

The poem speaks to the idea that even when we come from a place of oppression or pain, we have the power to rise above it and create a better future for ourselves and others.

Book Stuff:

In my latest newsletter, I wrote about Guns to Gardens. This was about an organization forging buyback guns into garden tools. What a brilliant idea. And keeping with the garden theme, I wrote about how plants grow good vibes. I can attest to that finding. I’m happier when I’m out in my garden or in nature.

For my newsletter subscribers, I had two ARCs (in print form) given via a raffle. They were the first to receive the code for the e-Arcs of THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES.

This month, I’m sharing the codes with blog subscribers. 

If you’re a NetGalley member, my novel is now featured on their front page. I’d love for you to read it and leave a review.

Click on this link to Goodreads. Scroll to my book cover, and click “Vote for this book.” It takes you to June 2023 Books. This pushes my book up to higher levels and gains visibility.

While you’re there, you can add it to your Want to Read stack.

Lastly, I wrote a prequel for TGOSC. It’s a short ten pages.

If you subscribe to the newsletter, I’ll send it to you. Use the home page to subscribe.

Thank you for reading and helping out this debut author. Be well.

Inspiration

The Magical Mystery Tour of DST

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Ugh, Daylight Saving Time. That magical mystery time of year when we all lose an hour of sleep and gain an hour of confusion.

Maybe you handle this better, but I stumble around and am out of sync for a few days.

In the six months between Fall Backward and Spring Forward, I forget how to reset my coffee pot, microwave, and the clock in my car. But my iPhone does the springing or falling automatically, so I am grateful for the little things.

If you’re in California, do you remember that we voted to keep the clock the same throughout the year, or did I dream it?

This week may turn even the cheeriest person into a grumpy Gus. We’re all cranky from losing an hour of sleep and feeling out of step with our world. I usually need an extra cup of coffee to perk up (no pun intended).

And didn’t medical professionals say the springtime change has been linked to an increase in cardiac events?

I read a study that DST disrupted sleep and found an increase in hospitalizations for atrial fibrillation in the days following the springtime transition to DST.

The same study cites that more people have problems falling asleep, mood disorders, and fatal car crashes during DST.

Maybe we’re grumpy because we can’t sleep, have heart arrhythmia, or stay up worrying about car crashes.

I hear the case to standardize the time to year-round has made it to the Capitol with the bill The Sunshine Protection Act. I’m not holding my breath.

The American Medical Association put in their dime (because, you know, inflation means it’s not 2 cents anymore):

our internal clock is not as well aligned during daylight saving time. “Light in the morning is very important,” she says. “Restoring permanent, year-round standard time is the best option for our health and well-being,”

Dr. Jennifer Martin

Daylight Saving Time is a weird and confusing time of year. It’s like the universe is playing a cruel joke on us, messing with our sleep schedules and our sense of time.

But at least we can all commiserate together, grumbling and complaining until we finally adjust to the new time. And who knows, maybe by the time we do, it’ll be time to switch back again.

A poem:

The Day After Daylight Savings Time

Blue numbers on my bedside clock
tell I forgot to change the hour.
This sets routines on haywire.
 
Like a domestic goat staked
to its circle of earth,
I don’t do well untethered.
 
I have no hunger for early dinner,
become confused by the sound
of children who seem out
 
too late for a school night.
They’ve found an extra helping
of daylight to romp on new grass
 
and can’t contain themselves,
strip off jackets, scatter
like a rag of ponies.
 
Whatever time says,
their joy insists
on springing forward.

by

Margaret Haase

Take extra care of yourselves this week, and be well.

PS: If you’ve signed up for my monthly newsletter, it will come out on the third Saturday of March instead of the fourth to include news of special promotions and events.