Voice of the Sublime

In this month’s entry for the A and I Poetry Challenge to write a short 5-line poem, I thought I would try the version of a cinquain as used by Adelaide Crapsey, an early twentieth-century poet. Her form had 22 syllables distributed among the five lines in a 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 pattern. Her poems share a similarity with the Japanese tanka, another five-line form & another favourite of mine, in their focus on imagery and the natural world.

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Oojamaflip

Oojamaflip: a wonderful word to capture a state of mind I find myself in all too often lately. For one who thrives on words, struggling to remember the name of a thing should cause great frustration. Except that it has become a constant game of Charades; everyone joins in and enjoys laughs in the process.  Once again, laughter trumps grumpies!

After all, a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet;  in my case, a Frangipani, my photographic contribution’s to Debbie’s One Word Sunday. Thanks Debbie, for a new word under my belt with which I can use to refer to all sort of good things whose names I have temporarily lost!

Feature Photo: grove of Frangipani Trees in the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Five Minutes with a Railway Remnant

Found myself along the Bukit Timah Hill portion of The Green Corridor this morning. I have run past these railway track remnants many times before, but looking at them from a different angle gave me pause for a smile. Thank you, Debbie, for hosting this One Word Sunday Challenge.

The Changing Seasons: May 2018

This feature photo is taken outside the The St Regis Singapore. The frontage of this hotel is a treasure trove of sculptures by Botero, Li Chen, and this one by Singapore’s own Anthony Poon, called Sense Surround. It captures for me the vibrance of life, the twists and turns of the startling red metal against the building and the shrubbery.

Despite living in a fast-paced city, I have spent much of May in contemplation. Time spent in the nature parks have given me ample time & space to think on the cycle of life, how beginnings are so very exciting, but endings tend to fizzle out and lack lustre. Fairy-tales end with “They lived happily ever after”, but never quite tells us what happens at the real end;  there is a reason most sequels don’t often do well – we don’t tend to like to get into the nitty-grittys of our heroes living their lives out.

Searching Our Archives #4: Appreciating the Little Things

Breakfast with a friend from high school: precious couple of hours catching up.

Younger Daughter read her poetry last night at Playeum: our Butterfly flexes her wings: a poet & advocate has emerged.

Explored Chestnut Nature Park: the joy of re-discovery!

Sitting on the sofa, just musing: appreciating the little, and not so little, things!

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This is written in response to Searching My Archives, which I have decided to do once a month this year.  If you do decide to join me, pingback to this post so I can find you.

Feature Photo taken at Chestnut Nature Park, southern trail.

All things bright and beautiful

Loving Husband has a green thumb and has kept our balcony plants alive without a whole lot of effort.

The above is a Butterfly Plant (oxalis triangularis) which he grew from a cutting kindly given by a colleague.  It has since flourished and flowered many times over.

The flowers are quite small so you’d have to look rather closely to appreciate its beauty & details.

What little things have surprised you lately?

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Through the glass darkly: A and I Poetry Challenge May 2018

Notes:

Battling Dragons with Joy: 3-Day Quote Challenge #3

Challenges exist to be overcome!  Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness and our hope-filled commitment.

~Pope Francis, “The Joy of the Gospel”, 2014`

As May rolls along, I continue on the Ignatian Prayer Adventure.  Apart from prayer & reflection, I also spend time reading the writings & biographies of Jesuits past and present.  Since he was mentioned several times in this weekend on various occasions, I thought a quote from Pope Francis would be appropriate.

Battling dragons can become all-consuming, so much so that we become so focused on the task at hand that we forget all else. This quote reminds me not to forget why we battle them dragons in the first place, and to hold on to our humanity & the joy that comes with fighting for a cause.

Walking the Talk: 3-Day Quote Challenge #2

“Love is shown more in deeds than in words.”    ~Ignatius of Loyola~

I’ve thought on Walking the Talk for a long while now.  It became especially poignant when the girls started asking those interesting questions that children are prone to do.  We were challenged to think about how we felt on many issues, then had to find ways to explain it to them, and finally, we had to determine how we would Walk the Talk as an example to them.

I am a Work in Progress: 3-Day Quote Challenge #1

I am confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.  ~Philippians 1:6~

I reflect on these words today from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians, as part of my 30DayChallenge for May with Ignatian Spirituality.

We are each a work in progress.  On one hand, it is comforting to know that we are far done: after all, there is still so much to learn, so much of the world to experience!  On the other hand, to wonder wistfully what completion would feel like; the feeling that we indeed have so very far to go! How does this make me feel? How do these thought affect how I treat others when I remember that they, too, are works in progress?  What do you think about being a Work in Progress?

Surprised by the Unlikely

If you told me I was going to be running repeats on a track, I would have rolled my eyes and laughed!  Loving Husband has long extolled the benefit of repeats to improve speed and endurance, but the thought of arduous discipline made me so tired.

In the spirit of trying new things (or new old things), I went to the track a few weeks ago. Surprise, surprise, I actually enjoyed it!  Don’t get me wrong, it was hard work, and as I rounded the track for the 4th time (my goal was to go 6 rounds), I did consider maybe cutting short the workout.  But I finished the plan, felt strong, and it wasn’t as mentally laborious as I’d feared.  I’ve been back since, and have managed to feel rather zen as I complete my rounds.