a great teacher

Soliloquy —
a great teacher'll
soon show you
what's what

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'shouty.' That is a new one for me and I quite like it!

hard hat area

nesting blackbirds —
the path along the river now
a hard hat area

. . . . . . . .

First the crows in Seattle, now the blackbirds in Bend; the dive-bombing continues.

The sketch is obviously not a blackbird, but rather a kite, which is a much bigger threat to baby birds than I am. Just saying.

thunderstorm

late night
thunderstorm —

the summer-slow river
illuminated

. . . . . . . .

The unusable OED word of the day is roynish, as in scabby, rough skin. Didn't need to know that one.

one piece of advice

with Love
it is possible to
transform life

I would only give
one Piece of Advice,

make the absolute best
of what God made

. . . . . . . .

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

wild curious grace

in Poems
What I crave
is some wild
curious grace
embracing
the Present

a work of Art
in a learning process

. . . . . . . .

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

crows

fine feathered fiends —
dive-bombing crows

. . . . . . . .

I hope the local baby crows get flying soon, before I lose my head, one way or the other to their overprotective parents. Apparently my photo is on the crows' "most wanted" bulletin board.

I’ve taken to leaving home under an open umbrella; so far, the disguise is working. I’m getting a few strange looks when it’s 70 and sunny, but that’s a small price to pay.

staying indoors

staying indoors
is a problem

to increase The day,
stay up at night
and Observe,
insists the
21st Century

. . . . . . . .

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

Appropriately, Peggy and I sketched in the Japanese Garden today. Mr. Sun made watercolor challenging, as the temperature seemed to vary plus or minus 20 degrees and the light - well, I don't know how to measure light, but suffice to say it went from sublime to ridiculous and back again in any given 10-minute period.

Listen Creatively

many Play a Philosophers Game
( some a Bore )

But in the World
a great nebula surrounds
mountains of impression

Listen Creatively,

for unity of will is tested
in the next step

. . . . . . . . .

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

a classic summer

a Classic Summer —

Maybe we should
do something
about wanting one
so bad

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'pour-on.'

solstice

steady IV drip
of joy for
sixteen hours —
solstice sunshine

. . . . . . . .

A little disappointed with the OED lads' choice of 'monstro' as the WOTD, although I guess the summer solstice IS a monstro event.

café time

café Time

a foothold
to drink Life
4 the city frazzled

. . . . . . . .

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

A trend in art

A trend in art/

all these guys
that're taking over
With an emphasis on
innovative techniques,

The defining characteristic,
and its ambiguous legacy,
was self-consciousness

ambitious work swiftly going out of style emerged,

spare lines and an edgy delivery

anything at all as a means
to a more deliberately clever approach

we crave innovations
battling the known has made a lasting contribution
to the fringe

. . . . . . . .

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

compatibility

a distant
transparent end
To a future creation

compatibility

. . . . . . . .

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

spandex

mid June —
days stretch out further
than spandex

a middle course

A middle
course is
our last chance

success
or failure
is planned

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'make-or-break.'

prize-winning days

a person
Dashes at Life
with a Pencil,

a Wild Picture
suggesting

that you love life,

that visual beauty
is essential,

and that it was
one of those
prize-winning days
when Life was there

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is ‘pear-shaped,’ and once again I learn something new from the Oxford lads. In addition to the obvious uses, it’s British slang for a situation gone badly wrong. Stereotypically understated, I'd say! As to the origin of that usage, Wikipedia offers no less than nine theories.

a master travels

a Master Travels

each day
bearing fruit

spirit wove the spell

. . . . . . . .

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

If you haven't used it in a sentence lately, that may be because other than Mr. Rossetti in 1871, the last time it was used was in the 15th century. I had to update some Old English ("berynge freut") to get this vaguely Lao Tzuish erasure.

a particular color

a particular color
dangling from the
Star Blue morning

summertime again

weekends are extra

. . . . . . . .

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

bedtime

midsummer sun —
it’s a close call which of us
will go to bed first

fault lines

Phooey on Vanity

Everyone sucked in a little air
as it became clear that
emotional faultlines
have been great
crowd diversions

Daily arrogant competition
is essentially the job of
Swine behind closed doors

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'mano a mano,' which lent itself to expressing a little frustration with recent news stories.

lilacs

my head
stuck in the
neighbor's lilacs
plotting
midnight theft

amateur

Senses return
in Summer,
when I travel
in a slightly altered form

to find a picture
to explain life

an Amateur
in the present,
still

. . . . . . . .

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

Plain & Easy

How much we admire
that great and divine,
Looking Plain & Easy

Enough to play music
that would
never go away

Hallelujah

. . . . . . . .

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

flair

Dialogues in
Sketches
interwoven with
Traveling

Life:
draw.
Eat.
Walk.
and See if I can't win
some points for flair.

. . . . . . . .

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

abundant

like the warm weather,
sailboats are late-arriving
but now abundant

. . . . . . . .

Again, no erasure poem. Yesterday the OED word of the day was 'nodalize.' Today it is 'midweeker.' As Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, "there is no there there."

All I could get by erasing was its self-description, for it did indeed "Spoil an event i have traditionally considered welcome." Will hope for a more poetic tomorrow...

summer

day 2: summer

yesterday's
pasty white skin
now sunburnt —

not a good look,
seattle

sharing

sharing
what you're good at
is a given
to keep happy

. . . . . . . .

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

time

Time

a Teacher
of balance &
Security
in changes

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'non-subject.'

all's well

the taste of
Art
will encourage
Raving fools

Yet All's Well
that ends in
the Heart,
Once The imagination
has enough
to form
A dainty bit
of word-painting

. . . . . . . .

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

the ordinary

the ordinary
is bound to end
in Poems
on Occasion

thoughts saturated
with the Universal
in a sense nothing
but Common Prayer,
describing the way
our spirit arises with every thought,
mending the maker

. . . . . . . .

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