Category Archives: Arizona

by | May 7, 2024 · 5:15 am

Imayo for Rikka: #TankaTuesday

Colleen at #TankaTuesday suggested writing a syllabic poem for Part I, The Beginning of Summer, (May 5 – 19) Rikka 立夏. I tried an imayo.

Summer begins brilliant blue; sometimes clouds frame it

but mostly fresh greenery—saguaro seeks bliss

closer to heaven than earth, offering rare

gifts

as palo verdes erupt, showering sunshine

The hole in the saguaro is the entry to an occupied bird nest.

These palo verde blossoms end up all over the ground.

The duck in my pool yesterday.

Thanks to Christal Rice Cooper and Donna Biffar for editing an exciting poetry anthology. Volume 2 of The Power of the Feminine I is now available. Both volumes are jampacked with contemporary poetry that comes from a feminine perspective. The poetry is not written only by women either. I have two historical poems in volume 2 (and one in the first volume): A Lizzie Borden poem and one about European women in 1533. $3 for kindle version!!! My poems start on pages 90 and 309. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Feminine-poems-feminine-perspective-ebook/dp/B0D2WX6TY7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16ESMVENBHW7U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lhKKLBk4OYONnpqAujXo1Ig50Do583AFm6JtVNC8EQ0_TaCv4F8ZAcJhxIsYfJQn.BMHoWPUTekccHF9OsWxgC4z41skHv5Enp5xpswPpXUk&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+power+of+the+feminine+i+poetry+anthology&qid=1714920222&sprefix=The+feminine+I+%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1

Guess who tries to sleep in the baby’s bassinet when he’s not here? Perry, of course. The baby still ignores the cats. For now.

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by | April 29, 2024 · 5:15 am

Arizona Blue Sky

Yesterday when I started on my walk, before I even left my driveway, I encountered several critters. First, a very light green plump lizard with smooth skin ran into the bougainvillea. I can’t find him on Google, so I don’t know what kind he is. Then a male and a female quail ran across the drive down into the wash. At the end of the driveway, on the little pony wall, a mourning dove took off in flight.

It could be the mother who has a nest in the hanging pot outside my house. My son took this pic of one of the babies with the mother.

Here’s a pic on my walk of a cactus in bloom and the brilliant blue sky above. This is the color of our Arizona sky. I still can’t get over it, and I’ve been here seventeen years now!

It’s getting warm here, but if I walk early enough it’s not yet a problem. That may change in a month or two. But I have another issue. At least six months ago I started getting a painful leg. it was weird because last year my other leg was so bad that for two months I couldn’t walk at all. Now the symptoms are somewhat different, but getting worse. My entire lower left quadrant, so to speak, is very painful and sometimes can be a NINE in pain. Most of the time it fluctuates between 2 and 7. I saw a pain doctor, who diagnosed me with a pinched nerve, so I will get a back MRI. In the meantime she wants me to start PT and take Gabapentin on top of my Extra Strength Tylenol. I’ll hold off on the Gabapentin as long as I can because I can’t afford to add more dizziness (a side effect) to my Vestibular Migraines. (Gabapentin brings up sad memories of my dear Pear Blossom’s cancer before she passed away several years ago).

Because the worst of the pain is while lying down and walking, the pain doesn’t prevent me from taking care of my cutie pie grandson while his parents are at work. He turned three months on Friday and has been stacking up a big list of “firsts.” First time he rolled over onto his stomach himself. First time he reached for me to pick him up. First time he started trying to form sounds with his mouth. First time he held a stuffed toy and rubbed the fur on his skin. Yes, I’m obsessed.

Yesterday I did a little art because I hadn’t in months and wanted to do something creative with my hands. I feel bad because I have cute fabric for a book cover to make a junk journal for the baby’s parents, but taking care of him has made that impossible at this point.

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by | April 15, 2024 · 5:20 am

Spring Walk and Grandma-ing

I’m writing this blog post on Sunday, although I don’t intend to publish it until early Monday morning. I want to write about my walk this morning while it’s fresh, but I have stuff going on after I write it.

Now that it’s warmer in Phoenix, it’s more refreshing to walk in the morning, so I went out at ten, wearing a sundress and brimmed hat. It’s already getting too warm for long pants, and I don’t wear shorts. The temperature, slight breeze, and all-around perfection made me feel so grateful to be living in this climate at this time of year. Nothing more beautiful than April and October in Phoenix.

Green and purple hummingbirds were flying in and around the yellow-blooming sweet acacia trees. The palo verde trees’ blossoms are just wiggling out. A songbird slid into a little round hole in a giant saguaro to visit her nestlings. Everywhere I walked I heard various sections of the symphony of birds making music together. I recorded some of it on my phone so I can try to isolate what type of birds I was hearing. On my way back, a family of quail ran quickly across the street to safety, and on the wooden gate to my yard, a baby lizard sunned itself.

In my yard, the cacti are in flower. Each one is spectacular, but my favorite is the coral one. Of course, since coral is my favorite color!

I’ve been taking care of my baby grandson each week for four days of 9-10 hours each (with a wonderful baby sitter who gives me a short break in the middle of most days). It’s very confining and exhausting at my age, but I love knowing he’s safe and learning. Perry has grown to love him, and will nap with him on the baby’s activity gym (which is on the ground and where he also practices “tummy time,” a phenomenon that wasn’t around when my kids were little). Baby Hudson’s favorite activity is swinging in his little mechanical swing.

What really strikes me about the baby is that he only cries to communicate. Luckily, he doesn’t have any chronic issues that cause crying (like colic). If he cries, I need to figure out what’s wrong, remedy it, and the crying stops. So while I was a bit concerned ahead of time that he would cry so much it would annoy me or especially the cats, not so.

As it gets warmer out, I intend to go for my walk very early (right after I give the cats their breakfast) and take Hudson in his stroller.

I’m getting zero art done and not enough writing, but I wouldn’t miss this experience for anything.

###

I have a flash of menstruation lit in the hilarious anthology Bloody Funny.” Thank you to Editor Sophia McGovern. Hope you like it!

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by | February 14, 2024 · 2:48 pm

UPDATE: Early Spring in Arizona and Writing News (#TankaTuesday)

In this post I forgot to mention a reading that Storyteller Journal had this past weekend. I read one of my poems from Kin Types, a poem I’ve never read aloud before. Here’s a link if you’re interested. My poem is at the 20 minute mark.

The challenge for 24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge, No. 21 is Early Spring, Part II. I wrote a Butterfly Cinquain because I liked the name and the idea of it for early spring. I have bolded the kigo words, “coming of spring.”

The Weather Has Shifted Toward Spring

Today

I celebrate

the coming of spring days

the sun has turned up its wattage

I smile

without even realizing

so glad for sun-kissed skin

for blossoms tipped

upward

###

The Power of the Feminine I, Volume 1, a poetry anthology edited by Christal Ann Rice Cooper and Donna Biffar is one of the most exciting anthologies I’ve read. The perspective of each poem is from a feminine speaker, and the inspirations come from mythology, history, the female body, and the contemporary world. The breadth of subjects is astonishing, and the poems well-crafted. I am thrilled to have a poem in this book, keeping company with work by many of the finest poets. I expect Volume 2 to be just as exceptional as this one.

My poem is about a healer woman accused of being a witch. I’ll have two more in the second volume. But SERIOUSLY this is a book you want. I am so impressed with all these wonderful poems. It would also make a great gift for anyone interested in women’s voices, women’s history, feminism, etc.

This thick book is only $10.99 on Amazon–or if you prefer a Kindle version, only $3!

The Lothlorien Poetry Journal has published a new volume. Five of my poems are in there, along with lots of poetry by other poets.

If you’re reading this today, February 14, Happy Valentine’s Day. Currently, my Valentine is my grandson, who is the cutest baby the world has ever known.

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by | January 16, 2024 · 4:13 pm

Sonoran Blossoms Haibun: #TankaTuesday

In the 24-season syllabic poetry challenge for #TankaTuesday we have Poet’s Choice, as it’s the third week of the Early Cold season. My kigos are “Amaryllis” and “cold light,” which can be found in the haiku portion of the following haibun.

***

Sonoran Blossoms

The two gardening seasons in the Sonoran desert are warm and cool. We plant flowers in the spring, which can be from February though May, for summer blooming. In the fall, we plant cool season flowers, which last until May. Our months of choice are generally October and May. My yard is one acre with a wash running through it. On one side of the wash the land is slightly higher than the other, and because cold air sinks, some winters the lower side may experience a slight freeze that lasts until mid-morning, while the other side rarely freezes. The flowers may freeze to death occasionally, if they are not covered by frost cloths. However, many winters we get no freeze at all. Because of the mild weather, we can plant blossoming indoor-outdoor plants outside after they lose their flowers.

amaryllis blooms

fade under winter’s cold light

time to plant outdoors

pexels-photo-66947.jpeg
Photo by NO NAME on Pexels.com

Sometimes people get creative with protecting plants when the temperature hovers uncomfortably close to freezing in the early morning hours. This person uses Santa hats usually, but this year after New Year’s they replaced them with multi-colored beanies!

Recently, I participated in an Ugly Art Club event and in Care December from Everything Art. I’ve mentioned them both before. This is the Care December journal I finished. Each spread is an exploration in emotions and self-care, rather than being an attempt to create art. So there is a lot of hidden meaning behind each one. And, yes, the idea for me was to create another GRUNGY journal, as they are my favorites. The theme this year was the color blue in all its meanings.

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by | January 9, 2024 · 9:25 pm

Verse Envelope Haibun: #TankaTuesday

In the 24-season syllabic poetry challenge, we are now at Part II, Early Cold (January 5 – 20) Shokan 小寒. The request was to write a haibun, so I decided to try a verse envelope haibun where the prose passage is bookended by haikus. Generally, my haibun are prose passage followed by one haiku. My kigos are bolded. I think the first haiku is stretching the definition of haiku, but it’s what I wanted to say.

***

new year is now old

new beginnings are over

the routine is back

We approach each new year with anticipation, hoping for something to stir us. We want to feel renewed and ready for a spark to keep us placing one foot ahead of the other. But we are only in the second week of 2024 and already we have resumed the labor of our jobs, the routine of our personal care and feeding. For most of us, our relationships have not changed. But divinity willing, within the next 2-4 weeks I will have a new relationship with a grandson.

after we meet, I’ll

introduce you to snow crows

and sweet acacia

***

This tree is in my yard. Notice how its scars are hearts. Can’t wait to show that to the kid!

(I had to go back to classic editor to add the photo because I was getting an error message. “This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed.” Has anybody else been getting that message and do you know anything about it?

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by | January 4, 2024 · 5:09 pm

Best Small Fictions 2024 Nominee

What a thrilling morning. The Dribble Drabble Review has nominated my micro story “Historia de La Iglesia Católica del Sagrado Corazón” for Best Small Fictions 2024. This is a huge honor, and I am so tickled.

Here is the story, which I have posted before.

I know I don’t talk about rejections very often, but I sure get them. I had fun with one of them, making an erasure out of it and posted in on Facebook where it was seen by the editor of the amazing MacQueen’s Quinterly who posted it with some other rejection erasures. They are all funny so take a quick look!

http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ21/Rejection-Erasures.aspx

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by | January 3, 2024 · 5:15 am

Shadow and Light: #TankaTuesday

In the 24-season syllabic poetry challenge, we are now at Part I, Early Cold (January 5 – 20) Shokan 小寒. I suppose even in Arizona this is true. We are now colder than we were. On my daily walks I wear a lightweight neck scarf, a thin cardigan, and a rain-type jacket. It is not really winter wear, but it is a far cry from the heat of our summers when I only want to wear the lightest sundress I can find.

This winter’s cold light,

crisp and startling, throws shadows

on glistening grass.

Have you seen the cat lady portraits by art photographer Brooke Hummer? Gorgeous and smart. https://apanational.org/inspiration/entry/brooke-hummer-cats-women-and-art/

The gardener and I have an anniversary on Friday. We have been married so long the kids need to plan a party for next year! Also in news: grand baby is coming in a little over three weeks! I’ve been working on my grandma name. Thinking of the Dutch “Bomma,” but still mulling.

I submitted the second section of my unpublished memoir to the Tucson Festival of Books contest. I received notice that it is a finalist for the contest. Last year the first section was a finalist in the same contest. I have been joking that I’m “always a bridesmaid,” although I am grateful that it is

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by | December 18, 2023 · 5:20 am

Incident at Shady Acres

In October I discovered that my flash story “Incident at Shady Acres” was first runner up in the Julia Peterkin Literary Awards sponsored by South 85 Journal. Now the issue has been published with the winning story and the runners up.

I hope you like this ecofiction story. Pretty pleased with this one. https://www.south85journal.com/winter-2023/incident-at-shady-acres-by-luanne-castle/

Here’s an adobe preview image of a haboob.

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by | December 7, 2023 · 3:34 pm

Of the Season: #TankaTuesday

This is the 1st week of the  Heavy Snow (December 7 – 20) season for Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday challenge based on the 24 Japanese seasons.

I wrote a chōka and followed it (as is the custom) with a short poem called an envoy. I included a senryu, which is like a haiku but about human foibles, not nature. We are supposed to find all the kigo we can in the above painting, but I took it as a very loose guide.

anticipation

the sky more shaded, nuanced

a hawk soars above

what lies in store before end

of year and new times

preparing for Hanukkah

lighting the darkness

winter birds fly overhead

taking our troubles with them

*

Hanukkah candles

are lit in the darkest month

to lead a new path

I focused on Hanukkah because it starts tonight and lasts for eight days. The kigo words/phrases that I used are anticipation, hawk, preparing, Hanukkah, lighting the darkness, winter birds. The photo image I chose was something I see on my walk everyday, the mighty Arizona saguaro. I think they look similar to giant menorahs.

If you remember my bad knees poem from last month, I am excited to tell you that it was in the top ten read poems on One Art in November. Yay!!!! https://oneartpoetry.com/2023/12/01/one-arts-top-10-most-read-poets-of-november-2023/

cactus plant
Photo by Thomas Plets on Pexels.com

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