Day 87 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 87 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I was thinking today about all the things we carry and this poem just barely scratches the surface. We carry so much from our ancestors and their DNA, through historical trauma, Then we pick up the opinions, judgment, and voices of others and carry that too. We carry our children, our parents, illnesses, and deaths. Everyone we meet is carrying something that is heavy. We should help each other more to lighten the load.

Day 86 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 86 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I actually wrote this poem yesterday but did not have time to type it up and sent it out. This is an ekphrastic poem that I wrote about a Mary Cassett painting titled Child in a Straw Hat. I included the painting for your reference.

I don't feel like I'm that good at writing in the ekphrastic style but the important thing is that I tried. So important to try and try again, until you get it right.

Shout out to poet Donna Isaac whose prompt inspired this poem.

Day 85 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 85 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Another version of My Body. I tried to play with some symbolism in this one.
I've been thinking a lot about solace and sanctuary and of course my garden that is beginning to bloom.

Day 84 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 84 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I'm listening to the audiobook- The Body Keeps the Score. Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk. It's really good and I'm learning a lot about myself from the book. He said something today and I wrote it down and some of it is included in the poem. He said that people who have been abused as children are trapped and have to reconstruct their inner maps if they want to change how they see the world. My Body also makes an appearance- but it's a little different than all the other poems about my body.

Healing is hard work and I'm exhausted just thinking about the reconstruction of my inner map.

Day 83 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 83 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I went for a walk on Sunday and literally saw a stone on the path, it called my name and I picked it up. It felt comforting in my hand and gave me a measure of safety. Sometimes I feel that stones are old souls. I've always been a person who stops and looks at rocks and then takes them home where they live in my garden or in a glass vase on my dresser.

Are you a collector of stones?

Day 82 of The 100 Day Poetry Challenge

 Day 82 of The 100 Day Poetry Challenge

I really wanted to write a poem about the amazing work women's bodies do when pregnant and growing the next generation. II also wanted to honor the work educators do to foster the growth of children. It takes a village - right? We educate with our bodies as well as our minds. I hope I was able to capture in this poem the amazing work our bodies do.

This is my 5th "My Body" poem in this 100-day project.

Day 81 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 81 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I wrote this poem on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to anyone who mothers or cares for children. You are so important and I value you. I spent the day with my mom and sister and then went for a hike by myself in the woods and then my son, Max took me out to dinner. It was nice-We went to a tequila bar downtown. So yummy.

I wrote today's poem about my grandma, Gertrude. She loved to play bingo and win money. We always played Bingo on holidays like today. It was so much fun.

I remember riding circles around the pool table while my dad, grandpa, and uncles. So funny to think of us roaring around the small space and the men actually trying to play pool. Honestly, they were probably just hiding so they didn't have to help do the dishes.

Hope all of you are lucky enough to have a great bingo queen in your life.

Day 80 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 80 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I love trees and their vast network of communication. I could just spend all my time in the woods if I could. The forest is a healing, calming space for me.

Tonight I'm tired, not sure if this poem works. It's been a long week and will be a hard weekend. Tonight I hope I dream of being held by my magic tree.

Day 79 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 79 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Do you ever have nightmares? If you are a trauma survivor, sleeping is hard. It's hard to fall asleep, stay asleep and the night includes nightmares. I had a nightmare every night for probably 40 years. I don't have them every night anymore but I had one last night and it's unsettling. They are hard to process and sometimes I don't want to fall back asleep for the fear of going right back into the nightmare again. I'm perpetually tired because of it.

I wish everyone sweet dreams instead of nightmares.

Day 78 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 78 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I tried to write a poem about the sunrise today and it just didn't work for me so I wrote a poem about writing a poem and added a little insight into my writing process.

Day 77 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 77 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Today I was looking through old pictures to put in my art journal and originally I was going to write about this picture I found of my grandma and her mom and I started that poem today. I also found this photo of me that I didn't recognize and have no recollection or memory of the checkered dress or the day the photo was taken. So I started writing about her and I just looked at her and thought of everything she went through. I didn't get through this poem without tears.

 Day 76 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Last night I finished reading The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by @charliemackesy (I highly recommend it) and in it, there was a line that grabbed me, "Home isn't always a place". I've known it for a long time as I always say My body is my home, I live within my skin and in my heart. Home is also a feeling you get. So I wanted to write a poem about finding your home within yourself.

I think many people are searching for home, sometimes you need to look within.

Day 75 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 75 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I read a poem by Joy Harjo that has a line that says "insect orchestra" in it. I can't remember the name of the poem but the image of an insect orchestra stuck in my head and I knew I had to create a poem to go with it. I did some research and the three loudest insects you hear at night in the summer are the katydids, crickets, and cicadas. So those are the bugs in my poem playing the tunes. The frogs are pretty loud at my house so they needed a mention too. I hope you enjoy this one.

Day 74 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 74 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

A falcon visited my yard yesterday and I saw him again today just before I started writing. He stayed for quite a while and the robins were ruffled and chirping loudly and dive-bombing him. He then flew off but he took it stride.

Today's poem is simple but the message is clear, we need to pay attention and if we don't we will miss the gifts and the poems animals and people bring to our lives.

Day 73 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 73 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

At the beginning of every day, I literally have no idea what poem will emerge by the end of the day. This poem has been ruminating for a while now. I've walked the Dakota trails by my house since I was using them to walk through the woods to primary school as a shortcut when I was a young girl. I always imagine this land bare of houses, highways, and railroads, seeing only wetlands and the villages of the Native people. I teach history and many of my students are Dakota and Anishinabe. Today on my way to work I was listening to the poems of Joy Harjo's An American Sunrise collection and I knew I had to write about Little Crow.

Day 72 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 72 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

My grandparents grew up during the Great Depression and these are things both my grandmas did on a regular basis. It's so interesting to think that their habits were born from the decade they grew up in. My grandma Kozy saved soup labels for probably 40 years, she always fed the birds leftover food and cut coupons, and washed out plastic bags. My grandma Majorie canned vegetables and fruits. She ate every pea and made me sit at the table for hours until I finished mine too (I still hate peas to this very day!) She also washed out plastic bags and reused them and wrapping paper, ribbons, and tissue paper.
At least I liked Poor man's stew! They were both amazing conservationists and at the time I didn't appreciate these gifts they gave me and the world.

People in this world could stand to remember some of the lessons we learned from our grandparents.

Day 71 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 71 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

My daughter challenged me to write a poem about a drag queen as we were watching Ru Paul's Drag Race finale on Friday. Challenged accepted and complete! When she turns 21, I told her I would take her to see a drag show in person and I hope Covid has moved out by then. Looking forward to a live drag show and yes, I have really kissed a drag queen.

Happy Pride month!

Day 70 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 70 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Today another My Body poem emerged. When I originally started this poem it was about me and it still is but I also think its a poem about race, about my students and the city I teach in (Minneapolis), and about the pain that we all carry in our bodies and don't let go of and the pain people inflict on us.