Category: Writing

Family Time, Writing

Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig

Technically I came home more than a week ago. I intended on making my first blog post then with a summary of our big Eastern European trip and a thoughtful essay on things I’d learned about myself while I was away. Then the jet lag hit like a wall made of far sterner stuff than I was made of and I instead spent a week lying in bed dozing and pseudo-watching re-runs of Pretty Little Liars (I like the music on that show; it’s easy to sleep to) while the children ran amok and ate all the granola bars in the house.

So now even Nick is back – he left for Brno, Czech Republic the day David and I arrived back in the US – and we are settled back in to our regular summer routine. Well, almost. We spent a lot of yesterday at the local state park with his family and the kids came home exhausted, so they are sleeping in today: hence this blog post.

New things around here:

  1. We gave up on the themed days. The kids were not as enthused by the scheduling as they’d thought they’d be. We did a few days of it, but mostly what they wanted to do was have totally free days where they got to play all the games they wanted and watch all the tv they wanted and eat all the granola bars they wanted. So, last week they had that. This week we are going to have a different kind of schedule, just a bit. I have an idea of what kind of outdoor work needs to be done, so we’re going to do some of that. We’ve got a dentist appointment, and we’ll plan a couple play dates. My parents are unexpectedly here, yet again, so we’ll have to plan around that as well.
  2. I got a Fit Bit. I’m sure you’ve noticed the stats coming through the blog. I thought I’d set it to weekly, but it went daily. Ah well, technology.  In any case, I now weigh more and am more out of shape than I’ve ever been. I wanted something to jumpstart me into some more accountability in my physical wellness and everything I learned online lead me this direction (Well, to be honest, I’d thought about the Garmin band as well, but I couldn’t find one in town that day and it’s main advantage was the I could swim with it and I’ve currently no access to a pool, so that’s a moot point anyways.).

…..

So now the kids are all up and I need to be directing them towards clothing and breakfast.  Hopefully I can get back into blogging with some regularity again now that we are home and things are more settled. 🙂

 

Around the House, What I Love, Writing

NAPOMO # whatever

I’m not even bothering to catch up. 🙂 I am having an unanticipated quiet day at home, due to lost keys. I’m listening to the DVD of yesterdays musical adventures and cleaning up from all the fancy dinners.

Here’s an untitled poem from another quiet day this year:

I can hear:

tick   tick   tick

chime     chime   

HUMMMMM

No cymbals,

No shouts,

No tinny music

Just this:

tick   tick   tick

chime     chime   

HUMMMMM

No machines, 

No requests,

No frantic running.

Only quiet sounds:

tick   tick   tick

chime     chime   

HUMMMMM

Lisa Holcomb 2014

Writing

The problem with poetry

Here’s my problem with posting my own poetry: I never feel like it’s DONE. Not the posting, but the poetry itself. I start to post it and then I realize, ooh, I could tweak this line or that line and it will be better. It’s never-ending.  So yesterday’s post is still under construction. (And then there’s the post that is stuck. I have no idea why it won’t post. I’ve hit “publish” a half dozen times and it still sits there saying “draft.”)

 

So…anyways…

 

The next few days are super busy in Lisa Land, so if I don’t post or if my posts are weirdly short…that’s why. Today’s chock full of BSF, Flex day at the middle school (PTA does a party for kids with good grades, basically), and finishing the raking at my mom’s house (the kids job, but I have to facilitate). Tomorrow is a PTA meeting for the elementary school (I’m the president, can’t miss it) followed by chaperoning the middle school band to their UIL contest.  Friday is therapy (whee) and getting ready for the weekend. Sunday is Passover (we arranged for babysitting for the church – hope they show up), Monday night we’ve got guests for dinner. Tuesday is church all day.  Since there’s so much church going on, I’ve also got to practice my vocal music for ladies ensemble, my clarinet for instrumental ensemble, my piano for the duet I’m doing with my mother-in-law…. aie, I think I just worked myself into a tizzy.

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, Writing

NAPOMO #8

good people share faith, love, intimacy

…  so trust the knowing in me

with effort, I metamorphosed myself…

synergy an interesting challenge…

into determined socializing.

 

and maybe eventually everywhere

the inevitable reward

my purpose:

i’m loved

our time is playful

so trust the knowing in me and maybe eventually everywhere the inevitable reward …

 

Inspirational web poem #2

Lisa Holcomb 2004

 

Lifelong learning, What I Love, Writing

NAPOMO #7

The Wind That Shakes The Barley

There’s music in my heart all day, 
     I hear it late and early, 
It comes from fields are far away, 
     The wind that shakes the barley. 

Above the uplands drenched with dew 
     The sky hangs soft and pearly, 
An emerald world is listening to 
     The wind that shakes the barley. 

Above the bluest mountain crest 
     The lark is singing rarely, 
It rocks the singer into rest, 
     The wind that shakes the barley. 

Oh, still through summers and through springs 
     It calls me late and early. 
Come home, come home, come home, it sings, 
     The wind that shakes the barley.

 

Katharine Tynan Hinkson

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

NAPOMO #6

he can reach

the top of the table

under the crib

behind the piano

with ease

 

he grabs

a toolkit

a nail clipper

some cheerios

with tiny fingers

 

he finds

beads

rhinestones

plastic clips

in the shallow carpet

 

he’s just tall enough to choke.

 

 

Lisa Holcomb 10/27/04

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

NAPOMO #4

NANOPOMO #4

Image Poem entitled “Jelena”
Lisa Holcomb 2013

 

My eldest son was doing a poetry project for school, so I did it alongside him. One of the prompts was to write a poem inside a picture of how the poem made you feel.  It was interesting to do. Mine was depressing.

 

Writing

NAPOMO, day two

phone call

licking panic off my lips

     uttering the

               swollen words I wish i’d said

 

when I talk

         to you

i’m always stiff as yesterday’s cake

 

I sit here and eat the

       silence

like sky and caramel

 

we’ve rotted in this embrace

 

and now you spend time

     cursing in the corner

         and looking up at the

                  ceiling as if it has all the answers

 

we’re sitting under this

           plague blanket

brick bruises on our hearts

                  refusing to say the words we mean

         and saying all the ones we don’t

 

——-

Lisa Holcomb 1998

Family Time, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

NANPOMO

It’s National Poetry Month…and therefore I must share poetry. Some days I’ll share my own and some days I’ll share famous works and others I’ll share works of lesser fame. Who knows what the day will bring?

 

Today, because it’s on my mind, a poem about adoption (I’m an adoptee and a friend called tonight to ask about my experience): (click on the image to enbiggen)

 

2difkindsoflove

Writing

Dear brain,

Dear brain,

When I told you I wanted to dream about my writing, I was not asking you to send me a whole other story to write; I wanted help with what I’m currently working in.

No love,
Me