pulling threads

If you'll come,
I'll show you in
A Daily Sketch
a lot of life

pulling threads
from the
Pattern

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For the erasure poem |commentary, the fellows at OED have given us the word 'gym' to start the new year. A happy 2011 to all.

gone by five

late december —
the king salmon sunset
gone by five

a brief flight

form + space
time for just a brief flight
Half afraid

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'cyberspace.'

it's a surprise

‘where am I going?’
‘It's a surprise.’

Comedies & Tragedies

the heart does look
and linger
and Day-dream

Life...so solemnly ridiculous

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The OED word of the day is 'search.'

the ticket

‘Hurray! Hurray!
Long live the Mystery!
this shout
fill'd the Heavens

Life...
a Wild jubilee
and A Solitude—
Everything
in grand confusion,
blindly joyous

the ticket was everything

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As usual, the erasure poem is based on the OED word of the day: 'hurrah | hurray.'

essence

In full celebration
of creativity and faith,
the new year's
Essence
steals up
and pinches you

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary is 'Kwanzaa.'

joyful

the Northwest landscape
Joyful with imagination

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is... 'putz.' PUTZ?!?!? On Christmas Eve? Really?? Putz??!!?

...Oh, I see. Putz, in the Pennsylvania German tradition, is an ornamental display representing the Nativity scene, traditionally placed under a Christmas tree. NOT to be confused with the noun/verb with the Yiddish etymology.

Or, as noted in the wiktionary entry, the Portuguese slang used to emphasize something that has gone wrong, as in "Putz, my battery is dead."

Gotta love the language. Happy holidays to all.

faith/love

Faith in Art /

week after week,
month after month,
urged on
by the ever-present hope
that perhaps
colors,
Poems
& spirit within
will see to it that
I'm painting with Love

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'knowledge.'

sanctuary

with ingenuity or wit
Poems
of deep wisdom,
suggest a Sanctuary,
a way of life.

Be better.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'ingine.' No, that's not a typo of engine, it's a noun meaning genius or ingenuity. Per the citations, it was last used about the same time that last lunar eclipse occurred on the solstice -- in the 17th century.

enchant the gods

Live,
enchant the gods
in an Age
of Poetically
strange Creation

Do not fear
change
its motion
synonymous with growth

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem on Tuesday was 'metamorphosis.'

eclipse

at o-dark thirty
a solsticial eclipse —
midday nap

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Even if tonight had not been the first full lunar eclipse occurring on the (northern) winter solstice in 372 years, I would still have had to create my own poem. Today's OED word of the day is 'word,' the citations for which run about 19 pages. Tomorrow being the shortest day of the year, I'll hope for a shorter entry from the boys at Oxford.

tradition

the Christmas cookie jar —
tradition Sublime

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'language.'

sit daily

to live whole
open the door,
prefer nothing.

attention is the way to learn.

sit Daily.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'classroom.' Aren't we always in one?

a new woman

December —
I come back a new woman
having seen the Sun

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Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem was 'new.'

Sorcerer discovered

vocalizing
the great unwieldy
Holy Grail,

Poems One day
might be important
To distinguish
black from white
from reality

Sorcerer
Beyond the curtain,
discovered

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary was 'discover.'

mirth

Poems brought
a delicious Mirth
to Nature,
an indestructible
Spirit of ‘feast’,
a pure Love

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary was 'achievement.'

colored by tales

wand'ring
in a Paradise colored by Tales

Some unexperienc'd Fool
Eyes Mischievous India,

Loving at First Sight
in Poems not his own
his life in its new meaning

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Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'explore.'

demands

Art Demands
the service of mind and heart.

simple subjects are good.

the desired end
[to look at familiar vistas
from a new angle]
is the breath of life

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'creative.'

Staying inside today, I'm still playing with images of Jaipur's Amber Fort. Trying to be creative...

second hand

There are times for silence:
to be attentive and to wait.

I have (yet) to learn all The truth of it.

This Writing is All second hand
But I can Sketch tonight.
The frequent practice of this exercise
must be a keen and deep Catechism.

success is a foregone conclusion.

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For this erasure poem | commentary, Sunday's OED word of the day is 'learn.'

rained in

rained in
my imagination plays
in mughal forts

halcyon years

later were the halcyon years,
and I was happy
(also) unaware

We had a little holiday in Florida
every year

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'techie.' Gee, yesterday WWW, now this. It's much easier to find poetry in Shakespeare citations than in quotes from Wired magazine...

in search of an idea

The World
quietly in search of an idea
to help

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is none other than "World Wide Web."

Grace

change,
naturally,
is embedded in any journey,

Grace
has safely brought us
to this day.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'beginning.'

a red glove

december —
a red glove on
the path

attention

attention awakened,
I took up my Pen,
Where birds sang and rustled in the trees.

There is nothing like making a good start.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary is 'start.'

the Song

understanding the Song
Is
in truth
The ultimate freedom;

perfect and absolute understanding

Serenity opens the door,
laughter a shortcut.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary is 'enlightenment.'

she had longed for more

A wide road
for a fresh state of mind

How she had longed
for More
than living the life
of a 1950s TV show

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'arrival.'

Marvel

Winter is here to stay.

Rest a little while and attend to
a Seattle woozy, reverbed sound
in the heart of December.

Marvel at the beauty.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary was 'digital.'

resolutely Independent

Poems …and Other Thoughts
inspired by Life
gave the crowd
a taste of Music
imagined in excitement,
a sound that's champagniness

warm sweet air,
light and bright and exhilarating,
Adventures in Good Words
coming from the heart
of a life resolutely Independent

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'champagne.' Cheers!

December

December
With great restraint quietly
waited for the Moon

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The online OED word of the day for the erasure poem is lift-off.

FYI, it seems the Oxford boys have changed their website format. The word of the day is now linked from the home page.

living large

Living large —
walking with a good friend

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem |commentary is Malacca.

touchstone

to designate perfection
Nature provides a touchstone
a single flower

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is monotelic — be glad you aren't! :)

flowers

flowers in the field
saree-clad

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Chilly gray Seattle posts will resume tomorrow. If you want something hot & colorful, I've put my India sketch journal online.

Indian red

changing my palette
to marigold yellow
and Indian red

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Duh: I had never made the connection between the color Indian red and the place. In fact, the term for the color dates from 1792 and derives from the red laterite soil found in India (lots of iron oxide).

This blog will be on hiatus while I'm painting there...

the boldness of things not seen

in the boldness of Things not Seen
there is nothing but pure Poetry

On a fine night
I can smell
the Equinox:
the delicate sensation
of fall
becoming
a clear tranquility

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is (was, if you are reading this after 4pm PDT) 'pungency.'

sunlight

a continuous stream of creation —
sunlight with no interruption

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'free energy.'

blue

election day —
if nothing else
the sky is blue

baldness

november rain —
autumn pattern baldness

Imaginary Conversations

obey all who would be messengers

children at the door

Imaginary Conversations,
when only the spirits appear

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'apparitor.'

Happy Halloween!

shadows

Sunrise shadows
sparkling cold dug up
personal weaknesses

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'ghoulish'.

skeletal

Halloween weekend —
golden leaves hanging on
skeletal frames

my grasp relaxed

the flow of Art
through every pore in Nature
when my grasp relaxed

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The OED word of the day for the erasure haiku is, ironically, 'regurgitate.'

curtain call

the mountain
taking one last curtain call
to end the season

alchemy of October

sun and rain perfectly joined
the Alchemy of October

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Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'consume.'

good flowers

Faith
is a morning and an evening
in which GOOD,
distinguished by its peculiar complexity,
flowers.

Sometimes in contemplation of
the swiftness of This Life
I Paint pictures.

I am primed for a spirited game.

Come, get ready.

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'duplicate.'

mad joy

art
This mad joy
and Poems
delight

I stand
in The expression of Fall
Making this day a song

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'dole, dool, dule.' Actually, why stop with just those spellings. Most of the citations are over 500 years old, and include deol, duelle, dol... well, you get the idea. And none relate to 'dole' as currently understood; it's all about mental distress. Sometimes this is a lot more about 'mad' than 'joy.' :)

dreams entangled

Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'collide.'

Finally getting some autumn color, along with the first big storm of the season.


dreams come together
(without conflict)
passions
 e
  n
   t
  a
 n
  g
   l
    e
  d

I have to do what I know now

as if it were an everyday occurrence
we race through a beloved spot of loveliness

Mornings
nourishing and strengthening and
Painting and finding hope

present

Our purpose is solely to try our best
Having your work occasionally rejected is not a bad thing

I have to do what I know now

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'review.'

moonstruck

Moonstruck
beside the Stillwater —
dahlia garden

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Moonstruck and Stillwater are two of the many types of dahlias in the Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden I saw today. An oil painter was doing a good job of capturing this showy garden.

messenger

a Star
The first messenger
is just now arrived,

Drawn by my Night-walker Muse
awakened by the
sudden GOOD sense
to draw

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The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'postilion,' now "chiefly historical" you'll be stunned to hear.