Let’s celebrate poetry because it’s National Poetry Month. I’ve written poetry since 1986–forty years! Lin just told me he’s been avoiding poetry for over eighty years. Which camp do you fall into?
Disclaimer for Lin
Even though he doesn’t care for poetry, Lin has read all of my poetry books. In fact, he inspired my five-book poetry series.
If You Don’t Like Poetry
In school, so many English teachers assaulted curious minds with bad experiences with poetry.
I remember not reading much in school but when we did, the teacher’s interpretation was the only correct one—no room for me or anyone else to interpret the many nuances any poem offers.
Later, at the university when I got my English degree, professors opened up possibilities after they offered prescribed interpretations. But I had the opportunity to see myself in the poem. That’s when the magic happens, but so many students/readers never had that. They got shamed or totally discouraged and become anti-poetry.
Maybe rhyme seemed silly. Maybe you couldn’t figure out iambic pentameter. If that’s all you saw, you missed a whole different world of possibilities: free verse.
If You Do Like Poetry
Bless You! Someone in your life opened a door to all the possibilities out there. The good news is “According to data from the American Booksellers Association, poetry book sales saw a 7% increase in 2023 compared to 2022.”
When I read poetry, I have to suspend my logical mind and let the images, the tone, the nuances speak to my heart. Then I feel wrapped up in the words and know something I have never known before—because of that poem.
And writing poetry has become my go-to genre for many years. Here’s a haiku I wrote about the wonderful mixture I am:
Who am I really? Manure and paper clips. Earth and words mingle!
So, no rhyme but fitting a form: 3 lines: 1st line – 5 syllables, 2nd line – 7 syllables, 3rd line – 5 syllables.
When I taught my poetry unit to my students, they wrote haikus and blew me away with their images and thoughts. Yes, a three-line haiku is poetry. Having to be selective about word choice forces the poet to work through words and language to arrive at the correct count per line and for it to make sense. What a challenge!
Is a Horse Poetry?
Today I shocked Lin, my husband, that I wasn’t writing my whole blog about the amazing Horse Parade we attended —100s of horse—to celebrate the 115th Anniversary of Boquete, Panama. Another observer told me, “No, at least a thousand horses.” Can I write a poem about a horse, horses? Can a horse be poetry?
Here’s a haiku I just wrote about that experience:
Horses everywhere! Bridles, saddles, quirts and bits! A black horse prancing so!
So does it work? Does this haiku give you images about horses or a horse?
Lastly,
Poetry has always been meant to be read out loud. Because this National Poetry Month, I have and will be sharing videos of me reading some of my poetry. Hearing the poet read her own work has its own magical power too!
Here’s some samples:
From my newest book which is book #2 in a five-book poetry series, Time Measured Out!: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry, listen to “Spirit Coyote” about an experience I had:
From the first book in the five-book poetry series, Was It A Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry, I play with thoughts about words in “Playing With Words.” Listen here:
From my multi-awarding winning book, A Time To Grow: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir, listen to “What Words Capture My Loss?:
Life in Panama overflows! Finally, we were able to go to the Tuesday Market which we have heard so much about. It didn’t let me down—another full week, and a major birthday celebration!
Monday, September 15
Lin didn’t feel well all week. He had a deep cough and a hoarse voice! So he laid low a lot of the week, but we had errands we needed to do. John, our neighbor took us to Boquete and we walked to Servitechnics and learned how to use their service to receive packages from the USA.
Then we walked to Value Motors and talked to Victor, the owner, about our driver’s license status. We offered to help us get it situated. Then Lin sought out a fellow-Jersey boy, George. We had a delightful time meeting George and he offered lots of information about just about everything a newcomer to the area needs to do! We continued our walking which is a great way to get acquainted with our new town of Boquete. Lin reminisced about doing that when he moved to Costa Rica twenty-seven years ago! You just don’t see the same world from a car driving by!
Then we met John at a ice cream shop. Afterwards, we visited two pharmacies searching for a specific cough medicine and found it.
When we got home, a massive storm covered the area. Our electricity went off a couple times for a limited time, then it went out for a longer time. During this time, we wisely used our time off any devices—we measured windows in the living room. Then we measured possible spaces to add end tables in the living room in a variety of ways. We also measured the area in the kitchen where we want to add some shelves to store groceries and our dishes. The we moved to our office to measure a space for a possible book shelf!
So, I canceled my Zoom Writing Group from New Mexico because of the electricity. Our neighbors invited us out to dinner because the restaurants have generators they use when there’s an electrical outage. We had a delightful dinner at Blanctierra Restaurant. We moved out writing group meeting to this Monday—hopefully, we’ll have electricity!
Tuesday, September 16
The long-awaited Tuesday Market was fantastic! This weekly event spans Tap Out Bar. It includes all kinds of wares: vegetables, prepared ethnic food, jewelry, local artistry and more. Here’s a kaleidoscope of pictures I took.
The vendors are locals, expats and there was one woman from Venezuela traveling through Central America with her jewelry.
After looking at every table, I bought some items, but next week, I will buy more fresh vegetables and who knows what? Yes, it’s an every week event that people support!
Wednesday, September 17
Ruth invited me join her in a trip to David that was a “Girls day Out!” There were five of us: a mother and her two daughters joined us. The main focus of the trip: Ruth wanted to buy the oldest girl a pair of shoes for her birthday that had just passed.
On the drive there, the oldest daughter asked me lots of questions in English—her English is beautiful. Her younger sister doesn’t speak much English. Her mother is learning! What I truly loved about her mother is when I spoke Spanish to her, she gently corrected my verb tense for example. Then when we were in the mall, she pointed at something and asked me what it was in Spanish—she’d be a great Spanish teacher! But she wants to learn English, too!
So, we completed our task then celebrated with ice cream. What a wonderful day it was! When we left them at the house, they gave me a piece of birthday cake for Lin and me—what a kind gesture.
Ruth and I then picked up Lin who had walked to Boquete—quite a feat, so I guess he was feeling better, but the daily afternoon raining would be beginning soon, so he didn’t want to walk home in the rain.
My brother and his elk
I got a text from my brother that he had shot an elk—we love elk meat! As we talked about it, he said we’re going to have to figure a way to get some of this meat to you in Panama!” Lin said the same thing, so I’ve researching—yes, it’s expensive, but I’m sure it will be worth it!
Thursday, September 18
I got up early and went to a garage sale Ruth told us about because they had a bed frame for sell. We bought a teakwood frame for our bed.
Afterwards, we went to the Thursday Market and shopped around. It’s much smaller the Tuesday Market but a fun place to meet new people and try out different foods.
Then later in the day, our landlords picked up our new bed frame for us and helped set it up in our bedroom. They took out the two twin bed frames we had been using, and suddenly our room exploded—we had much more room! The frame came with a mattress, so we just put our mattress on top of it because otherwise we’d be almost sleeping on the floor.
Our bed with the new frame
Friday, September 19
Ruth and John gave us their day—such great neighbors—so off to David we went for three major tasks: open a bank account, buy another dehumidifier, check out drapes for the living room and go to PriceMart (like CostCo).
At the bank, we found out we needed more paperwork to verify that we are trustworthy people, so we have work to do before that happens.
During the week, I bought some supplements for arthritis and a printer at Amazon, but I didn’t understand where to send it. I sent it to our PMB—personal mail box in South Dakota. No, I was supposed to send it to Doral, Florida where a shipping company here in Boquete has connections. First, I felt stupid and Lin didn’t help. Then I checked the progress of it on my Amazon account, and it hadn’t shipped yet, SO I CANCELED IT.
When we went to Panafoto in David to get another dehumidifier for our office, we bought a printer! Yeah! I haven’t had a printer since early in August—the longest I have gone without a printer in my life!
More on Friday, September 19—Lin’s 85th Birthday Celebration
My husband, Lin, had looked forward to celebrating his 85th birthday in Panama, and his wish came true. Our friend, Ruth, suggested we eat at The Rock because they celebrate special events. I spent the week inviting our new circle of friends.
So we gathered at The Rock at 6:00 PM. There were seven of us: Ruth and John, Lorrie and Kenny and Jason, our tour guide turned landlord. Four friends weren’t able to come: Jason’s wife and daughter and Neville and Lawanda. The setting was wonderful—the way it’s designed, it feels like you’re sitting outside even when you’re inside.The food was delicious. The conversation warm and hilarious about moving to Panama and life here.
After dinner, the waiter presented Lin with a plate decorated with “Feliz Cumpleanos” — Happy Birthday in Spanish—and a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream. The waiter lit a sparkler on top while we sang the Happy Birthday song to Lin. It was a memorable evening. As we were leaving, they gave each of us a long stick with a huge marshmallow on it. In an outside area, they had fire pits to roast the marshmallows!
When we got to the car, John had a flat tire, so Jason took us home. John and Ruth brought there dog, Noche, because of the thunderstorms. He didn’t like riding the back of Jason’s SUV, but we made it home safely.
Saturday, September 20
I have continued to stay connected to my life in the states in a variety of way. I joined my CoDA meeting on Zoom and enjoyed the recovery talk and my friends.
Then I spent a lot of the afternoon setting up our new HP printer. It seemed connected; the app on my desktop said it was ready but my desktop computer and laptop didn’t recognize the printer. I researched and researched, trying all the suggestions.
Finally, Lin came in and asked me if I needed our NordVPN (Virtual Private Network), so he tried to print off his laptop that the VPN turned on. Guess what? It worked. So I loaded NordVPN on my desktop and laptop and it worked! OMG! That simple!
Sunday, September 21
I attended my church, Hope in the Desert Episcopal Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico via Facebook Livestream. Then it was a wrestling match to get Lin’s football team, the Philadelphia Eagles’ game on Dazn.com, but we did and it worked wonderfully on our TV. So, I thought I was all set to watch my Denver Broncos’ game right after the Eagles’ game. Last week, I bought one week on Dazn.com, but that subscription was still viable for Lin’s Eagles game, but not my Broncos’ game. So, I purchased a monthly subscription to Dazn.com so I could watch it, and I did. Sad ending again this week!
Lin watching the Eagles’ game
Finally,
So, VPN has to be “On” to use our FireStick on the TV to get the American programs we enjoy. Our computers have to have the VPN “On” to print, but to get our NFL games on Dazn.com, it has to be turned “Off!” OMG! What a mishmash!
In the midst of this week, I have been laying out my second book in the five-book poetry series, Time Measured Out! If you would be interested in joining my ARC team for this book, email me at larada@laradasbooks.com and you will receive a FREE .pdf to read ahead of publishing. In exchange for this FREE book, I ask that you write a blurb that I will add to the front of the book and also a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
What an amazing adventure we are having as we transition from our traditional life in the states to our life here in Panama!
