poetry

Saint Patrick’s Day (Friday’s Free-for-All)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

An old man once told me, “Saint Patrick ran the snakes out of Ireland and now they rule the world.”

I thought I would share that belief along with a little history. Oh, and a little poem.

St. Patrick’s Day, feast day (March 17) of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century, he was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned about 432 CE to convert the Irish to Christianity. By the time of his death on March 17, 461, he had established monasteries, churches, and schools. Many legends grew up around him—for example, that he drove the snakes out of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity.

Source: Brittanica

Poem by Janna Hill.

It’s officially Autumn (Summer Adieu)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

BTW A happy belated birthday to Stephen King, the king of horror. 👑 Yesterday (September 21st) he turned 75 years young. Here’s to many more. 🥂

🎉🎈🎈🎈🎈 🎈🎂

I was going to post 75 candle emoji’s but my finger started cramping. 😉

Without further adieu, let us recognize this, the first day of fall, with an aging poetic piece.

Summer Adieu

It’s out of the flip-flops and back in the Reeboks

and long pants dug out of the dust 

So long to the tank tops, bikinis and cut offs 

and lawn chairs left lying to rust

Adieu to the sand dune, the pelican and plain loon

My loves, we’ll see you `fore long 

Leaves drop as trees swoon, long past the crop moon 

With the scent of a sweet autumn song

Let’s all take a big swill to ward off the night chill

Winter’s a season away 

Crank up the camp fire; avoid the ole quagmire 

With children perched high on the hay 

Poem from Getting Me Back

More about the Autumn Equinox at National Geographic

In the Storm (April is National Poetry Month)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment
The Storm

(#NPM )

In the Storm

I reach for you…

With every crack of thunder 

I hear you laugh…

Your smile is every bolt of lightning.

The drops of rain, you touching me,

with unsalted tears…

No more pain; no more regret.

I raise my arms, 

as a child beckoning to be held

and it pours.

My grief is washed away by

stinging pellets of a spring rain

Leaving behind a clean slate

with only memories of the most mundane,

most cherished moments of my life.

Available at your favorite retailer.

Credits:

I created the cover from a photograph I had taken.

The heading image (The Storm) was created from a compilation of images I found at Pixabay. (Thank you Pixabay contributors).

The poem, In the Storm was taken from this twisted book of poems. And… guess what?

For a limited time my partnering experiment with Smashwords lets the reader decide what they will pay. Yep! You decide. Check it out.

And don’t forget to follow my podcast

Just keeping it real. 😘

Another Spring (Another #NPM )

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment
Audio podcast available

Another Spring

You were hiding,

waiting there beneath the frost

so much more patient than I.

My soul beckoned from a wintry slumber

Fretful and anxious

Weary and depressed

fearful you had abandoned me and then

as promised,

you appeared.

Breathing life into the naked limbs; into the bare breasts of Mother Nature

until Summer’s heat met autumn’s leaves
and reminded us that change is inevitable.

Now…

too soon,

you will be nothing more than a bright spot

Getting Me Back is available at your favorite retailer.

Write on!

As If #NPM

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

As If

As if your shoulder brushing against my breast

in a crowded room meant anything to me…

As if your smile would thaw my frosty heart…

As if your constant assurance could overcome my cynicism…

As if the invisible boulevard would never rise up and beckon.

The street lamp glows in the bleached mist only three floors below us.

I blow streams of smoke into the black night and hum to the drone of the unseen road.

Be steel my bleating heart!

Be quiet! Be silent, hard steel.

As if wearing your tee-shirt made us lovers.

You can listen here.

From Getting Me Back (The Voices Within)

It’s April 1st and That Means …

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Yep!

It is time to kick off National Poetry Month. #NPM Sooo- let’s get this party started.

Why Poetry (from Getting Me Back)

Because it hurts deeper

Tastes sweeter

Laughs louder

And lets me know I’m alive

The view from my wilderness sanctuary.

Write on!

Listen throughout the month via podcast