“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
— Carl Jung
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/24/one-liner-wednesday-life-interrupted/
#1linerWeds badge by Nearlywes.com
I have been trying to balance my poetry and blog writing time – not terribly successfully as various personal and family health issues intervene.
Still, there are a couple of things I need to get done by Wednesday afternoon to prepare for a couple of poetry workshops.
And, I’m going to get to them, in a few minutes.
Really. I am.
What I spent my creative time this morning doing was writing a prayer.
In the days when I served on liturgy committee, I used to do this with some frequency, but it has been over a decade since I’ve done it on a regular basis.
Yesterday, I got a call asking me to write a prayer for the dedication of Mercy House, a new home for people who are dying but aren’t able to stay in their homes. Although the idea came from a local Catholic parish and it is housed in a former Catholic church complex, Mercy House is non-sectarian, accepting any person in need of their services. Still, it is appropriate for there to be a prayer at the ribbon-cutting and open house scheduled for this Sunday.
I thought about it yesterday and last night and wrote and edited a draft this morning. I sent it out and just got a call saying that the priest for whom I had written it loves it. I’m grateful for the opportunity to use my writing to serve others.
And, now, back to poetry…
Thank you, Jennifer, for opening this poetry sharing thread. Friends at Top of JC’s Mind, please join in by visiting Ink and Quill and adding links to your favorite poems.
Share a link here of your favourite poem/s, which you have written or a poem written by a fellow poet. Or both!I want to support my fellow bloggers, by sharing their work.
A small way of saying I appreciate you.
I’m happy to announce that I now have 700 followers at Top of JC’s Mind!
Of course, the usual caveats apply. Some people get counted twice if they follow my page on Facebook as well as following on WordPress. Or if they follow my twitter. Or also subscribe directly by email.
I also know that there are people who read my posts without being official followers. I am sometimes taken by surprise when a friend will mention something that they read in one of my posts. It’s a reminder that followers and readers are not the same thing. While I know that only a small fraction of my 700 followers read any particular post, there are readers who are not followers who read every post I put out.
Whether you are a follower, a regular reader, or someone visiting Top of JC’s Mind for the first time, thank you so much for sharing in my blog. I couldn’t do it without you!
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This post is part of Linda’s Steam of Consciousness Saturday. This week’s prompt was to begin the post with a contraction. Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/
I’m pleased to announce that Silver Birch Press has published my poem “Crowning Glory” as part of their MY MANE MEMORIES series.
The link is here: https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/crowning-glory-poem-by-joanne-corey-my-mane-memories-poetry-and-prose-series/
Besides the poem, you can enjoy a photo of me taken this month in our yard, featuring my “mane”!
Enjoy! Feel free to comment here, at Silver Birch Press, or on Facebook.
PS I managed to copy the photo! But please read the poem at Silver Birch Press, too.
PPS I already did a post for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday, but this post qualifies, too, so I am adding the pingback here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/
The middle of last week, I came down with a cold.
In my younger days, I would have kept going full-tilt and powered my way through – which sometimes worked and sometimes resulted in developing bronchitis or a sinus infection or another not-so-fun complication.
Now, being older and not having so many other people depending on me, I decided to do the wise thing and cancel some of my activities, rest more, eat soup and drink warm beverages, not push myself to work out with my Wii Fit, and generally take care of myself and let B help to take care of me, which, I might add, he does superbly.
I thought I could get well faster and be back to normal strength and activity level in a week.
It’s not quite working out that way.
While I have been able to do more over the last few days, I’m still tired and cold and sniffly and achy and a bit hoarse.
I had hoped to go to poetry open mic tonight. I have been AWOL for months due to travel and other conflicts, so I had hoped to go tonight and read before the next batch of obligations hits.
But, no.
I don’t want to drag myself out in the cold (and possible mixed precipitation) and go on a coughing jag in the little bookstore and mess up the other poets’ readings.
So, I’ll curl up under a throw and rest and try to take it easy for another weekend, hoping to have some voice for chorus rehearsal on Monday. I missed rehearsal last week and can’t afford to miss again.
Don’t I deserve some reward for trying to take better care of myself?
I am thrilled to spread the news that Anne Harding Woodworth has been chosen as the 2015-16 COG Award winner for Poetry by judge A. Van Johnson. The poems are from her soon-to-be-published chapbook The Last Gun. You can read more about Anne and four of her poems here: http://www.cogzine.com/#!anne-harding-woodworth/p81np
I met Anne when the Smith College Alumnae Chorus toured in Sicily in 2011. She is such a warm and welcoming person! When I later turned to poetry, she very graciously encouraged me and gave me advice. She is one of my poetry fairy-godmothers!
Congratulations, Anne!
“Lobbying physics is useless; it just keeps on doing what it does.”
~ ~ Bill McKibben on dealing with climate change from this article: http://www.nationofchange.org/news/2016/02/16/why-we-need-to-keep-80-percent-of-fossil-fuels-in-the-ground/ about keeping the vast majority of fossil fuels undisturbed.
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Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/17/one-liner-wednesday-snowed-in/
And enjoy our new One-Liner Wednesday badge! Congrats, Wes, on your awesome design!
#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com
Are you a fan of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday? Vote for the first ever badge for the series. You don’t have to be a participant to cast your vote. Join in the fun!
All the entries are in and now it’s time to vote for our new One-Liner Wednesday Badge! The badge that wins will be displayed here on prompt day and everywhere there is a One-Liner Wednesday post published for at least the next year to come, so vote carefully. Anyone, whether you participate in the prompt or not, can vote.
I’ll name them all to make it easier for voting purposes. Please make sure you look at all of them before you cast your vote. Here are the contestants in order according to when they entered:
Willow, with “Typewriter” https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2016/02/09/one-liner-wednesday-badge-call-for-submissions/
Dean Kealy, with “Splashes on Purple” http://deankealy.com/2016/02/10/one-liner-wednesday-badge-design/
John Holton, with “White on Blue” https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/rip-dan-hicks-1linerweds/ (it’s at the bottom of the post)
KG, with “1W” https://booksmusicandmovies.wordpress.com/2016/02/13/two-prompts-in-one-post/
Pamela, with “Squiggly Line” http://butterflysand.com/2016/02/13/design-contest/
Wes, with “Quotes” http://nearlywes.com/2016/02/14/one-liner-wednesday-badge-submission/
And Dan Antion, with “Clouds and Contrails” http://nofacilities.com/2016/02/14/one-liner-wednesday-badge/
The poll will close on Tuesday, February 16th, 2016…
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Like most people in the United States, I was surprised to hear of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday. Although he was the longest-serving justice on the current Court, he was, at 79, not the eldest, and was considered to be in good health.
He has been the anchor of the conservative justices on the Court for many years. He was an originalist, trying to interpret the Constitution as intended by its authors. I think of originalists as being akin to fundamentalists in religious interpretation. (When interpreting documents, I am more inclined toward taking into account the historical setting of the time a text was written, as well as historical-social developments since to gain contemporary understanding, which is the opposite school of thought to Scalia’s viewpoint.)
What was most shocking to me, though, was the reaction within hours by the Republican leaders of the Senate and the Republicans running for the presidential nomination that President Obama should not nominate a replacement for the Supreme Court vacancy, instead leaving it open until his successor takes office. (For those of you outside the United States, the Constitutionally-proscribed procedure is that the President nominates a person for the Supreme Court and the Senate then votes to accept or reject the nominee. Supreme Court appointments are for life and choosing Supreme Court nominees is considered one of the most important duties of the presidency.)
I was shocked first in social/human/religious terms, that the Republican Senate leadership was so immediately politicizing Justice Scalia’s death. In the first hours and days after his death, there should have been recognition of his public service and condolences to his wife, their nine children and many grandchildren, colleagues, and friends, not political wrangling about his replacement. It was sadly ironic that many of the same politicians who say it is disrespectful to the families of victims to discuss gun control legislation in the aftermath of a mass shooting had no qualms about politicizing Justice Scalia’s death before his body had even been transported back to his hometown.
The Supreme Court has been closely divided in recent years, issuing many 5-4 decisions. With Justice Scalia gone, the current term is likely to be produce a number of 4-4 ties, which means that lower court rulings will stand, but that no precedent has been set. Those cases or issues are likely to come back to the Supreme Court in the future.
If a replacement for Justice Scalia has not been confirmed by October, when the next Court session will begin hearing arguments, the country risks losing the voice of the Court for another whole year.
Our government is already suffering from gridlock; we can’t afford to make it worse.
The Congressional Republicans have been obstructing much of the normal legislative functions of passing bills and timely confirmation of executive and judicial appointments during the Obama presidency.
It has to stop.
If the Republicans delay or obstruct a Senate confirmation for a Supreme Court justice, they are violating the Constitution that they have sworn to uphold.
PS Within an hour of posting this, I ran across this segment of John Oliver discussing Scalia’s replacement. I thought you might enjoy it. Warning: there is a bit of adult language. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vt9xV9ZI74
