Letting Go of Dad

 “. . . a time to be born and a time to die, . . . “

Letting Go of Dad

By Christopher J. Jarmick

1.

   “ a time to plant and a time to uproot,”   – Ecclesiastes 3

Bye Dad.

Thanks for the calls

the encouragement, the support,

the need to keep in touch.

Thanks for getting things in order,

for trying to make things easier,

less complicated.

Thanks for living long enough

so that we could mostly understand,

reconcile and forgive.

Forgiveness is a blessing.

It lightens the load we carry

And as Catholics, too familiar with guilt

our backs appreciate lesser loads.

Your faith grew stronger,

blessings were understood.

‘a time to mourn and a time to dance. . .

a time to tear and a time to mend. . . ‘

Losing your parents

is never easy

but you were in our lives

a long, long time.

We are all complicated,

misunderstood at times,

never patient or gentle enough,

but if we remain willing to learn,

there is hope.

2.

You were raised by parents

unhappy in marriage,

who did not accept you as a blessing,

did not grow up as quickly as you did.

No one is born with the skills,

the tools, the experience, to be

good partners, loving parents.

Some prepare, some don’t, some start the journey

with much less than needed, others with too much.

How do you express affection?  How do you share love?

How do you forgive?  Overcome bitterness?

How do you compromise?  Balance work and home?

How does anyone handle more than one child?

It was important and the right thing

to be a better husband, a better provider, a better parent

than your father had been.

It was a tough challenge.

You had help, a good partner.

That is a blessing to all of your children.

But there was more…

It took decades

but you opened your heart

you listened, you learned

there was a lot to know about love.

We the children have and will complain.

There is hurt, there is blame,

there is pain.

3.

“A time to love, A time to hate

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them.”

 

The scattered children gather,

remember,

appreciate the efforts, special moments,

the messages of how family is most important of all.

Most important is having, accepting, and understanding

unconditional love.

Sleep well, Dad.

Sleep well.

(For  Dad – Robert E. Jarmick  February 2, 1928   to  July 9, 2020  and LeJene, Bob, Jackie, and Jen.)

NaPoWriMo April 29, 2020 Prompt for day 30 and a bonus

I’m restless. Things are calling me away. My hair is being pulled by the stars again.”― Anaïs Nin

 

This is it!  NaPoWriMo 2020 is almost yesterday.  Do keep the habit of writing every day.  Do read each and every day.  In a few days you may discover some more posts on this blog.  There is a Writing Prompts page available on your right.   Hope you’ve had fun and challenged yourself.  Keep writing.

 

Promp 30

UP

Lie down and look up at the sky… are there clouds… stars…. Write about what you see, what you imagine, what you feel, the shape of things that are or could be. . .

 

BONUS PROMPT –  31

Make a found poem from some of the lines you wrote in your NaPoWriMo poems.  Use at least 8 different poems and write a poem at least 10 lines long.  Yes you can combine half lines too.

 

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it;

Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 29

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

What can we take for granted again

and when can we take it for granted.

Is there a cost for too quickly

taking things for granted again.

Will normal be new again?

Whose new normal will it be?

 

“Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it.” ― Basho

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk  by Kathleen Rooney; Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

 

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century by John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967 by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

NaPoWriMo April 28, 2020 Prompt for day 29

“I never dreamed the sea so deep,

The earth so dark; so long my sleep,

I have become another child.

I wake to see the world go wild.” ― Allen Ginsberg

 

It is  penultimate prompt day for NaPoWriMo 2020.  Keep writing!

 

Prompt 29

Jazz

 

April is also Jazz month and Kenneth Rexroth used to do Jazz and poetry together.  That’s the idea, let one of your favorite Jazz compositions inspire some poetry… the words should blend, mesh, work somehow with the Jazz.  Make it tasty.

 

“The poet, therefore, is truly the thief of fire. He is responsible for humanity, for animals even; he will have to make sure his visions can be smelled, fondled, listened to; if what he brings back from beyond has form, he gives it form; if it has none, he gives it none. A language must be found…of the soul, for the soul and will include everything: perfumes, sounds colors, thought grappling with thought” ― Arthur Rimbaud

 

Poem Starter CV19 -27

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

No flour?

No Toilet Paper?

No baking soda?

No eggs?

What will they be out of

this week at the grocery store?

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 28

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Business rent and home mortgage due

Credit card, car payment, cable

Electric, water, sewer, gas, garbage,

insurance, too… again.

Gas is cheaper though

still over 2 dollars a gallon

Not a lot of places to go.

Uh oh.

 

“Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life.”― Maya Angelou

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here.

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk  by Kathleen Rooney; Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century By John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967 by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

NaPoWriMo April 27, 2020 Prompt for day 28

“There is darkness in light, there is pain in joy, and there are thorns on the rose.” ― Cate Tiernan

There are just 3 prompts to go for NaPoWriMo 2020.

 

Prompt 28

You can quote me!

Consider a quote you appreciate or re-write a quote and let it be part of the poem that it inspires.

 

“I want to see thirst

In the syllables,

Tough fire

In the sound;

Feel through the dark

For the scream.” ― Pablo Neruda

 

 

Poem Starter CV19 -25

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Long leisurely walks

Good for you.

Relaxing.

Even better when

someone you love

is by your side.

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 26

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Let’s play fetch

I’ll throw some common sense out there

You avoid the nonsense

don’t be a knucklehead

find and keep some common sense

for yourself.

 

“there isn’t enough of anything

as long as we live. But at intervals

a sweetness appears and, given a chance

prevails.”  ― Raymond Carver

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk  by Kathleen Rooney; Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

 

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century

By John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967

by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

 

NaPoWriMo April 25, 2020 Prompt for day 26 and 27

“The difference between the poet and the mathematician is that the poet tries to get his head into the heavens while the mathematician tries to get the heavens into his head.” ― G.K. Chesterton

 

It’s the 25^th day of  NaPoWriMo 2020 and time for prompts 26 and 27.

 

Prompt 26

INDIE BOOKSTORES

It should have been independent bookstore day (last Saturday in April, now moved to last Saturday in August).  Let’s assume you love or have loved an independent bookstore.  Write a poem in praise or appreciation of independent bookstores in general (or specifically if you want).

 

“I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words.”― Ovid

 

Prompt 27

RECIPE

This one from Brendan McBreen of the Striped Water Poets in Auburn Wa. : create a recipe poem dedicated to someone you don’t like.

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 24

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

I miss handshakes and hugs,

I have how obsessed I’ve become about NOT

touching my face, my eyes, my nose.

And look at those knuckleheads playing basketball

ignoring social distancing cautions.

How many will get sick and suffer because

their young and invincible?

 

“Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice?” ― Virginia Woolf

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk  by Kathleen Rooney; Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century by John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967 by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

NaPoWriMo April 24, 2020 Prompt for day 25

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of

Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” ― Rabindranath Tagore

 

Happy Last NaPoWriMo 2020 weekend!  Hope you’ve been able to write each and every day this month and perhaps challenged yourself with some of the prompts that have been shared.

 

Prompt 25

Rhymin’ Turtles!

This is from Auburn based writer, poet and artist Brendan McBreen:  Include a turtle, two vegetables, three machines, and four colors in a rhyming poem.

 

“A poet is a man who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times.” ― Randall Jarell

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 22

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Here is the church

And here is its steeple

Open the doors and

Hey! Where are the people?

They are home in quarantine

Social distancing and

keeping hands washed and clean.

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 23

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Taking  ImpeachRumps advice

the bad boys are huffing Lysol

and shooting up disinfectants

while baking themselves under cancer causing UV lights.

Most will die sooner than later

But not of the virus…. just stupidity.

 

“Saints have no moderation, nor do poets, just exuberance.” ― Anne Sexton

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk  by Kathleen Rooney; Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

 

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century

By John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967

by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

NaPoWriMo April 22, 2020 Prompts for days 23 & 24

“You read and write and sing and experience, thinking that one day these things will build the character you admire to live as. You love and lose and bleed best you can, to the extreme, hoping that one day the world will read you like the poem you want to be.” ― Charlotte Eriksso

 

And now we are in the final week of NaPoWriMo 2020.  Hope your able to write every day.  Remember it’s even more important that you are reading every day too.  In fact you’ll lower your stress and anxiety if your reading books on a regular basis.  And reading books will help you become a better artist and  writer.

 

Prompt 23

Home

So most of us are living in some form of quarantine.  What does the ideal home look like, feel like and what is the home’s personality and attitude?  Create a poem about a home with a colorful personality.

 

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or a love sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” ― Robert Frost

 

Prompt 24

TO READ LIST

We should of course be reading every day and you may have a to read soon stack of books near you right now.  You probably have several books your considering reading.  Use the titles and as many words of those titles in a poem.  Can you create a poem primarily made up of just words taken from the book titles you are planning to read?  That would be challenging and interesting.

 

Poem Starter CV19 -21

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

As soon as the number of cases decreases

for 14 days in a row and we can test

a significant number of people

we can twist again in a stadium full

of people, shoulder to shoulder

sneezing, coughing, laughing, spitting….

but then again, if you want to play it safe

stay inside, wash your hands often,

don’t shake hands, social distancing

until everyone is on the same page

and/or we have a vaccine.

Just sayin’

 

“when man determined to destroy

himself he picked the was

of shall and finding only why

smashed it into because”

― E.E. Cummings

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; and Blythe Randolph, Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM by Peter Bart ; NIGHT SKY WITH EXIT WOUNDS by Ocean Vuong

 

Recently read and recommended:   Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice Of The American Century

By John Loughery, Blythe Randolph ; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson; A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan; Poems, 1960-1967

by Denise Levertov; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni ( all 7 of his Tracy Crosswhite mystery thrillers set in Seattle area, are good and it’s best to start with #1  My Sister’s Grave); The Deaf Republic (2019) by Ilya Kaminsky

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

NaPoWriMo April 21, 2020 Prompt 22

“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.”― William Butler Yeats

 

And it’s the 21^st of April in the 2020 year of NaPoWriMo.  Hopefully some of your daily writing has been interesting and you can see potential to make some of these writes into keepers perhaps worth submitting in the coming year.

 

Prompt 22

Magniloquence

So let us make rhetoric poetic today.  Persuade or be persuasive in your writing, sell an opinion but turn any bombast into poetry.  How?  Well now…  try.

 

“i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses”

― e.e. cummings

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 20

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Two lies do not a truth make

And 6 lies doesn’t even

make a nap for god’s sake

But don’t tell that to Steven

another name for that thing

Pretending to be a leader

 

“Poems are a hotline to our hearts, and we forget this emotional power at our peril.” –― Andrew Motion

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Dorothy Day by by John Loughery and Blythe Randolph

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

 

NaPoWriMo April 20, 2020 Prompt 21

“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.” ― Mary Oliver

 

Another day in NaPoWriMo April to write something that might eventually turn into a wonderful poem.

 

Prompt 21

Take a hike!

Think of a nearly perfect walk you took (hopefully recently) and share something you saw or did on your walk and or something particularly memorable.  Can you include all 5 senses in your poem?

 

“If we surrendered

to earth’s intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 19

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

And that moment when 2 year old

English lab May Mae

runs as fast as she can toward me

with big smile, tongue, ears flapping

pure joy.

 

“We ran as if to meet the moon.” ― Robert Frost

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Dorothy Day by by John Loughery and Blythe Randolph

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!

 

NaPoWriMo April 18, 2020 Prompts 19 & 20

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” ― Charles Bukowski,

 

If you are just starting  to write a poem a day for NaPoWriMo 2020 – welcome.  Enjoy the challenge, develop the habit of writing every day.

 

Prompt 19

Short and Sharp

 

Write a poem using only single-syllable words to mimic short, sharp, precise actions.

 

“I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!

They ’d banish us, you know.

 

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!”

― Emily Dickinson

 

Prompt 20

Triffids

Develop a menacing plant metaphor or two and use it in the poem you write today.

 

 

Poem Starter CV19 – 18

by Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Ah….manufactured drama, tweets, aspirational deadlines

fighting words, finger pointing, mixed messages

political games, posturing, positioning, messaging

and the clouds roll in with a little rain for the

flowers and trees.

 

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”― Leonard Cohen

 

Thanks for supporting your friendly neighborhood independent businesses.

 

BookTree is Kirkland, Washington’s only new and gently-used bookstore and right now it offers curbside delivery, direct by mail books, and gift certificates.  Email: booktreekirkland1@gmail.com    BookTree Website here. 

 

Currently Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann ; Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson; Dorothy Day by by John Loughery and Blythe Randolph

 

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

KEEP WRITING!