5 hours ago2 min read

Will Santa Know?

Happy Poetry Friday everyone! Ever since I found this group, I cannot believe how fast Fridays seem to come along each week. I haven't been able to get my act together enough to post new poetry every Friday, but I am VERY thankful for the inspiration I get reading everyone's posts.

Stop by Jone Rush McCuloch's Blog tonight for a warm mug full of poetry, sprinkled with marshmallow words. Thanks for hosting Jone!

***Nothing better on a snowy evening!***

A handful of times, when I was young, we few to Florida for Christmas with my grandparents. I remember being struck by the fact, that there was no snow and I was swimming while my friends were having snowball fights. I felt pulled between the two places I loved. I could almost imagine the cold feel of winter inside my grandfather's air-conditioned car while we drove to look at the lights hanging on the sail boats.

Inspired by this memory, I am sharing "Will Santa Know?" today. Enjoy!

One other note!

This has been an exciting week for me. After a long, empty stretch waiting for results of submissions, I had two every wonderful successes. First- My poem "Hiking to Zealand Falls" placed on the Long List of winners for Renee La Tulippe's Rhyming Poetry Contest.

You can read the poem and take a "sneak a peek"

at an early version written in verse, here :

Then a second poem, "Snowbirds" was accepted to the webzine, Dirigible Balloon.

I was so tickled about this. Visit soon and share the joy of poetry with your kids and grandkids. You can read my poem here.

Merry Christmas to all!

The poems featured in any of my blog posts, are copyrighted to Cathy Stenquist.

Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without my written permission .

Thank you!

Cathy Stenquist

5 days ago3 min read

Growing a Poem

As many of you saw on my FB page, I was DELIGHTED to hear that a poem of mine won a place of honor in the Long List (first tier judging) of the Lyrical Language Lab's Rhyming Poetry Contest.

Can you guess the title from this hint?

When you read a poem, it feels like it may have been something that just rolled off the writer's tongue onto the page, intact, full and completely finished.

It's easy... Anyone can do it...right?

Au contraire!

Though I have been writing most of my life, I am now just now working hard at understanding the art... yes, art of writing poetry.

Last fall I took a course from accomplished poet, Renee La Tulippe and her co-teacher, the amazing poet Suzy Levinson at The Lyrical Language Lab. If you have ever thought of writing rhyming or lyrical poetry, this course is a must-do. It gave me an understanding of the basics of poetry meter and how to get it right. I am a newbie, for sure, but reading many children's anthologies and investing in learning from the pros is starting to pay off. Like anything in life, you get what you put into it. I continue to be inspired by friends and poets like: Charles Waters, Irene Latham, Matt Forest Essenwine and Nancy Tupper Ling.

***What title do you think is mine? Hmmm....***

To be selected from hundreds of entries from amazing, accomplished poets was indeed an honor I will not soon forget.

Did you guess it?

My title was : Hiking to Zealand Falls

Unfortunately, my little poem did not make it into the next cut (the short list), but like the celebrities say for the Oscars... "It was an honor to have been nominated." I really mean it though, it has given me a boost I realize now that I really needed.

BTW - Big congratulations to those who made the short list!

Can't wait to find out who the winners are.

I will enjoy reading and learning from your poetry!

Now that my poem is out of competition... I thought I would share "Hiking to Zealand Falls" with you, and the journey to it's completion.

The theme for this contest was- Winter Wanderings: Nature

I immediately thought of our family's hike to Zealand Falls Hut in the White Mountains a few years ago, one cold, COLD (did I mention C.O.L.D.) February. Our reservation at the hut was a gift from my nature loving son. The poem could only be 16 lines. In order to let the words flow with my first draft, I began with writing a verse poem about my experience.

***52 lines!! I needed to revise, trim and kills "my darlings," as they say in the writing world.***

I really feel like this poem stands alone well as a verse poem. But for this contest, some revision was in order. I read and reread my text, highlighting the gems, and figured out how I could tell a small part of this story in a multi-sensory way.

After several tries, I whittled it down to this 16-line rhyming poem:

I then sent the poem to my beloved writing critique partners to give me their feedback on the meter and overall sense of the poem. Here you can see my own scanning of stressed and unstressed beats and that of my amazing friend, Tracey. ( I am definitely still learning!)

Meter is not about the number of syllables in a line, but the stressed and unstressed beats,

Having critique partners is such a blessing AND a necessity if you want to get your words to where they need to go. As writers and poets, we are so close to our work and may not see what little tweaks could make it shine.

When ever you see an amazing piece of writing,

remember to thank not only the author, but his/ her critique partners :)

*Here is a sampling of the feedback I got on the whole poem.*

Now that I had such great feedback, I took what rang true with me [the author always has final say ;)] and felt good enough about my baby to send her off.

Drum roll please....

I am happy to share with you final poem. I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for your kind words and support. Time to get writing!

Cathy Stenquist

Nov 92 min read

Let's Send Out Ripples

On my way to the laundry room, full basket in hand, the “Troop 14- Scouting for Food” flyer called to me from the table.

“Oh, that’s right,” I said to myself.

Once the washer was humming, I turned to the pantry closet and picked out a handful of cans and boxes of pasta to donate. Tied up tight, I set the bag on the entry table - the ‘weigh station’ where all things wait for their turn to leave the house.

My kindness hero- Steve Hartman and daughter Meryl.

As I turned to go, I noticed the Tupperware container full of left over Halloween candy. Immediately, the thought of a sweet little act of kindness came to mind.

In red marker, I wrote a note on the tag attached to the bag, “Thank you for doing this today! Here is a little thank you treat,” and stapled a candy bar to the tag. I set the bag on the front stoop as directed and honestly, forgot about it till this morning.

A few minutes ago, while changing the sheets on my bed, I heard a car stop in the front yard. I made my way around the bed to the window, in time to see the excited boy scout yell to his father, waiting in the car, “Dad! Dad! You’re not gonna believe it! They left me a candy bar!”

I giggled out loud, watching him open the hatch, quickly setting the bag down, and frantically tearing at the candy bar to remove it from the tag and wrapper. While the car purred and dad smiled out the window, ten-year-old cheeks looked like a chipmunk- chock full of chocolate. Smiling from ear to ear, he hopped on the back of the car and headed to pick up his next donation.

There is a lyric from a well-known Burt Bachrach song, sung by Dionne Warwick that comes to my mind. Listen here.

What the world needs now, is love sweet love.

It’s the only thing, that there’s just too little of.

This simple moment in my driveway, only witnessed by three, is the what we as a country and world need right now. Taking a minute to throw a pebble in the pond, sent kindness out into the world.

One of my all-time favorite poeple is Steve Hartman and his kids on CBS. They do a show called Kindness 101. They have even created a resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. If you are having a hard day. Please watch any of Steve's programs. It will renew your faith in people:)