Earth-Muse (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, January 15, 2025, feast day of Our Lady of Banneux, (above) Our Lady of the Seeds, Saint Ita of Killeedy, Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia, Saint Cosmas the Melodist, Saint Placid, Saint Teath (daughter of Saint Brychan of Brecknock, Saint Tarsicia of Rodez (granddaughter of King Clotaire II of the Franks, and sister of Saint Ferreolus of Uzès), Saints Britta and Maura, Blessed Diego de Soto (Mercedarian). Image from here.)

Earth-Muse

Inbreath:

Say you weave, from earth’s inside

bud on the rise

Say a breeze, kisses soul first breath

Say you swoon, soft wake tug of moon

Say you spy, ever heed

Light of sun

Say a diamond, splits a rainbow

current sky

Say a ray, slides heartward –-

pushes pen

Outbreath:

Say, pushes pen

a ray — slides heartward 

Say current sky

a diamond, splits a rainbow

Say Light of sun

you spy, ever heed

Say tug of moon

you swoon, soft wake

Say first breath

a breeze, kisses soul

Say bud on the rise,

you weave -- from earth’s inside

*From combined prompts:  Freewrite as inspired by Audre Lorde’s “Poetry is Not a Luxury”, from Daisy Barrett Nash’s Legacy Lines series, January 15, 2025; and choose a poem of yours to refine (I chose above) by posing questions or hypotheses, as inspired by "The Conditional" by Ada Limon, and "Questions About Angels" by Billy Collins, from Tresha Haeffner (The Poetry Salon)'s Write Games, January 16, 2025.

Petals (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, revisted January 2025, as considering a rose petal synchronicity awaiting my Mom upon her moving to assisted living. Originally from December 18, 2021, full moon, feast day of the (above) Expectation of the Virgin Mary, and of the Mercedarians Redeemers. Jewish calendar commemorates Abraham Ibn Ezra's receiving Letter from the Shabbat Queen in 1159, as well as Purim Hebron. Image from here.)

Petals

Sky’s mantle, She smooths it out

                 petals slip through -- 

                                       O Lamp

                                       O Staff

                                       O Root

                                       O Key

                                       O Dawn

                                       O Crown

                                       O Presence –-

                                         inevitable Her   

                                   u n r a v e l i n g 

                                  o u r  w a y

* “O…”: These stem from the seven O Antiphons, prayed during Advent. The O Antiphons are based on Isaiah’s prophecies, revealing the different titles given to the Messiah. They are also the inspiration behind O Come O Come Emmanuel.

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by Luis Eduardo Rendon’s “The Only Key to Heaven”. From Lisa Freedman's BreatheReadWrite, December 18, 2021.

At Guadalupe (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, revisted January 2025, a haiku-esqe gleaned from piece "Petals", originally from December 18, 2021, full moon, feast day of the Expectation of the Virgin Mary, and of the Mercedarians Redeemers. Jewish calendar commemorates Abraham Ibn Ezra's receiving Letter from the Shabbat Queen in 1159, as well as Purim Hebron. Image from here.)

At Guadalupe

Sky’s mantle,

    She smooths it out — 

                             petals 

                          slip 

               through… 

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by Luis Eduardo Rendon’s “The Only Key to Heaven”. From Lisa Freedman's BreatheReadWrite, December 18, 2021. 

Indigeneity (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, revisited January 2025 but originally March 3, 2024, feast of the (above) Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God, Saint Katharine Drexel and Saint Non. Image from here.)

Indigeneity

(exploring Germanic roots)

People are scared and they're confused.

They're reaching for what I call our true humanity…

– Dr Gladys McGarey, age 102

When footsteps sense pace, heart’s beat it sometimes spills over in song. When there’s time, vast fertile plain

roses etch in Cathedrals' dark nooks.

Stands to reason Heaven sees it all. Offers a spot to settle, to

sip a most balanced brew —

toast to horizon ever

and ever new

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by “In Perpetual Spring” by Am Gerstler. From Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite, March 3, 2024.

till Morning (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, January 9, 2025, afterfeast of Theophany, and feast of (above) Our Lady of Lettera (Messina) and Blessed Julia of Certaldo. Jewish calendar remembers the Passing of Ezra (313 BC). Image from here.)

till Morning

“You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!”

yes, even you

yes now, today it’s darken

Starshine, she’ll steer you 

not above the heart, no

straight on through  

through rub of clenched jaw as awake

through clutter that aches the eyes through cancer genes in the family through one wrong move, tweaks the spine through yet another blown fuse through letters that lie unsent through glance at grave, staunchly waits still,

“You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!”

yes, even you

yes now, today it’s darken  

Starshine, she’ll steer you 

not above the heart, no

straight on through — 

*From combined prompts: Explore a personal archetype/heroine, creating a simple mini myth (from Michele Manos’ Tending Your SoulCollage Deck, Winter session, December 14, 2024); And, choose a favorite line from a piece needing editing,  write many verses expanding upon that line, then select from these verses to enrich original poem— as inspired by  example “Instances of Wasted Ingenuity” by Dara Wier (from Tresha Haeffner’s Write Games, January 9, 2025).

Sunflower Song (WC) short version

 

(Wendy Cabell, January 8, 2025, afterfeast of Theophany, Synaxis of the Theotokos (old calendar) and feast of Our Lady of Refuge, the (above) Three Joys, Help in Birth-giving, Kykkos, and Blessed Womb Icons of the Mother of God, and Saints Julian and Basilissa. Jewish calendar remembers the Septuagint "of the seventy", the Greek translation of the Torah (246 BC). Image from here.)

Sunflower Song

(for those dark-familiar)

           moon’s tug, sway

                sun’s wriggle, soft shake

      eyes languid, upon this rise

        

                    as when world 

                              

                                first wakes

*From combined prompts:  Freewrite as inspired by “A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde, from Daisy Barrett Nash’s Legacy Lines series, January 8, 2025. Last stanza inspired by the etymology of “first”, from Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite, January 7, 2025.

Sunflower Song (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, January 8, 2025, afterfeast of Theophany, Synaxis of the Theotokos (old calendar) and feast of Our Lady of Refuge, (above) Three Joys, Help in Birth-giving, Kykkos, and Blessed Womb Icons of the Mother of God, and Saints Julian and Basilissa. Jewish calendar remembers the Septuagint "of the seventy", the Greek translation of the Torah (246 BC). Image from here.)

Sunflower Song

To be simple is 

to be like a sunflower…

--Saint Julia Billiart

Moon’s sway, gives way 

follows Sun 

Sky’s wriggle, soft shake

follows Sun 

Hope’s stretch, just a little

follows Sun 

As when world first wakes —

follow Sun 

*From combined prompts: Freewrite as inspired by the etymology of “first” (from Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite, January 7, 2025); and by “A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde (from Daisy Barrett Nash’s Legacy Lines series, January 8, 2025).

Staircase (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, January 7, 2025, feast of (above) Our Lady of Egypt. Image from here.)

Staircase

(for Jubilee year 2025)

Morning new, to-do list ancient:

Bed's make, candlelight, first thing. 

Day's tasks, one at a time.

Wiggles of any kind, even ten minutes, woven in.

Rest stops often, to read, reach out.

Sensing — even for a second —

                                                   most soft 

                                                       and gracious 

                                                                    space

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by “This Birthday” by E.J. Koh. From Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite, January 7, 2025.

Selkie-song (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, December 29, 2024, afterfeast of the Nativity, 4th day of Chanukah, feast of (above) Our Lady of Spire (impacted Salve Regina prayer), Our Lady of the Flowers, the Holy Innocents, Saints David/Joseph/James, Blessed William Howard. Image from here.)

Selkie-song 

“Such a shame to sign Anonymous!” Mr Poitier pokes his head out of the editor’s office, starts to scribble my name.  “I want it back then,” I say. It’s freshman year. I’d circled past this door once, twice, held my breath — before slipping it in. My first submitted work. One of the poems has a sketched seal, her baby fur warm in the Arctic spring. Mr Poitier sighs,  “Anonymous it is.” Then he smiles. The last verse must’ve etched itself in somehow, remains: 

like the seal I shift

change, become a new person —

yet I’m still the same

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by excerpt from Just Kids by Patti Smith. From Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite Studio time, December 29, 2024. 

Light Play (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, December 21, 2024, Forefeast of the Nativity, Winter Solstice, feast of the Virgin of Peace, Saint Peter Canisius. On Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism, Ezra's Address (347 BC), Tanya Published (1796). Image from here.)

Light Play

(Advent, 2024)

halo round garden’s pansies

                           glint in the eyes of ox and donkey

                                           flash of wings nigh to shepherds

                                       spark of star out back window

           now in paint’s splash upon Christmas cards —

warm weight of heart, eastward turning

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by “The World” by Jennifer Chang. From Lisa Friedman’s Winter Solstice BreatheReadWrite, December 21, 2024.