What language do you wish you could speak?
Bloganuary Prompt for January 26, 2023
reading haiku
all the places we live
all we have in common
I was reading from Haiku Society of America members anthologies, and posted my haiku at Poems For Bulletin Boards last year.
As I wrote here, “I studied French when young, from 6th grade through the beginning of college at UW-Madison. I remember singing carols in French” (December 24, 2014).
How are you creative?
Daily Prompt
The years go by, and our creative gifts grow and can be expressed in new ways.
I especially love language. “In the beginning was the Word . . .” from John 1: 1.
Saturday morning
day begins early
and in a quiet way
from prayers to plans
for kitchen work today
And I remember this poem:
peaceful morning
a prayer from childhood
still with me
Published in Bundled Wildflowers, Haiku Society of America 2020 Members’ Anthology. Bryan Rickert, Editor. The Daily Haiku: Nov. 10, 2020 at Charlotte Digregorio’s Writer’s Blog.
(Post from November 2021)
What is your favorite part about yourself?
Whatever gifts I may have are a gift, by God’s grace. I try to take good care every day. For example, I have an appointment with my eye doctor next month; and I may need new reading glasses. Sometimes I adjust the print on my computer, so I can read more easily.
Karl and I went to Walmart in Sheboygan last week, and I bought a new Bible with larger print. And I am praying the Psalms again, with good light.
Sometimes I reprint poems in larger print, as others may appreciate these posts, or know someone who would be able to read better with the large print.
At our site, Easter And Spring Poetry, this year I am reviewing posts and reprinting some poems in large bold print. I am grateful for the many ways to design posts and sites. So much more to learn!
I have always loved language.
“In the beginning was the Word . . .” John 1:1
seasons speak
their own language
cold days here
and yet the light
tree branches
in wind and February
next week . . .
reading poetry
and more light
falls on journals
across the room
to read and reread
Karl took these photos in 2013. I made the needlepoint picture a long time ago, and then had it framed professionally. The kit was high quality, and the picture is from a painting by Paul Cezanne. We still enjoy the picture in our home.
I began again with needlepoint after I was blogging here for a time. To remember how, I looked at an unfinished piece by my grandmother, Grace, who died a year before I was born. My mother gave me a few of her mother’s handmade aprons. I think my art is from Grace, and my love of language is from my mother. All gifts from God.
Ellen Grace Olinger
cover art
more beautiful books
on my desk
than I can read
thoughts of my mother
and our shared love of language
some spaces only God can fill
language and books
and all the conversations
among artists who
may not know
one another
fill my heart too
and Spring today
from my April archives:
beginning
in the area
where we had
to take a tree down
new peony leaves
Peonies: wpclipart
Poems: Ellen Grace Olinger
Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin 