Tag: poetry

poetry

Sunday Share: National Cookie Day

Mona Alvarado Frazier

I hope you’re all doing well and taking a breather for at least part of your day.

Today is National Cookie Day. It’s also National Cabernet Franc and National Sock Day. But let’s stick to cookies.

I am not a baker. My family knows this, but every December, my grown daughter, says, “Let’s bake Christmas cookies,” as if we have a tradition.

We do not.

A roll of sugar cookie dough, sliced and decorated, is my evergreen suggestion.

She scrolls through Instagram cookie photos and holds up her phone. The expertly taken photo displays an array of decorated Santas, gingerbread people, and stars.

My perennial response is, “Go for it; I’ll help.”

“I’ll find a super easy one, okay?” she says.

Maybe this year, we’ll actually bake cookies from scratch.

Photo by Nikolett Emmert on Pexels.com

A cookie poem: 

does my fortune cookie know

“An old love will come back to you,”
said my fortune on the table,
but does my fortune cookie know
that I’m emotionally unstable?

“Learn Chinese- Expensive.”
that’s the word my cookie taught
but does my fortune cookie know
I had to sell all I had bought?

“Lucky number 41”
the first number that was listed
the exact amount left in my wallet
now isn’t that twisted?

“Lucky number 5”
the number of deaths I faced,
does my fortune cookie know
they’ll never be erased?

“Lucky number 12”
the 12th glass I am drinking,
does my fortune cookie know
the drunk thoughts I am thinking?

“An old love will come back to you,”
that’s what my fortune said,
but does my fortune cookie know
my only love is dead?

Victoria Ruth

Newsletter News:

My ninety-five-year-old mother and I took an ocean cruise together. The shift in our mother-daughter relationship was a subject in the November newsletter.

Subscribers to my newsletter have a chance at a giveaway for an Advanced Reading Copy of my YA novel, The Garden of Second Chances. I’ll mail the book to the winner in the USA.

You still have time to subscribe. The giveaway ends on December 8, 2023.

Native American poetry, poetry, Writing

Sunday Share: Photos, Poetry, Prose

Mona Alvarado Frazier

The week began with a text that barely made a sound, but I knew it was from my son. He was on a train from the east coast to the west coast. It’s a long story to explain why he prefers a train to a flight, so I won’t.

My children are young adults, but they’re always my kids, with every concern and hope for their safety. So when my cell vibrated, I grabbed it.

Clicking on the text opened up a gorgeous photo of the sunrise. The cotton candy clouds swirled over silhouetted mountains captured the moment’s symbolism. My son was entering California. He was coming home.

The image filled me with gratitude and peace.

Later in the day, I glanced at the books stacked behind my computer. American Sunrise by Joy Harjo met my eyes. The title, the colors, and the photo of people, who I interpreted as family, greeted me.

I flipped through the pages to one of my favorite poems by Rainy Dawn Ortiz- even her name refers to a sunrise.

Directions to You

East

The sunrise,

Red,

Morning heat on our face even on the coldest morning.

The sun creates life,

Energy,

Nourishment.

Gather strength, pull it in

Be right where you are.

Have a wonder-filled week. Sign up for the monthly newsletter, which arrives on the fourth Saturday.

Soon, I’ll receive advanced reader copies (ARC) of my debut novel, THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES. Subscribers will have the first chance at a giveaway, using a random generator, for an ARC. I’ll mail this to the winner, if within the USA.