Welcome to my April 2025 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with pictures), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, A is for ...Aubade.

An Aubade is “a love poem or song welcoming or lamenting the arrival of the dawn.” Personally, I am not welcoming dawn unless I have had at least two cups of coffee, and this morning I was actually out before dawn running mom to an appointment after only one cup of coffee. So, here is a picture and a poem, a lament aubade of sorts.

They call it the crack
of dawn, but I don’t know why.
There is no crack,
only silence gently broken
by pattering rain.

Six a.m., I shudder
in the April
morning chill,

awake only by virtue of coffee.
I drive in darkness
devoid of life except
for dim lights behind
curtained windows.

——

Thanks for visiting my 2025 A to Z Challenge – Letter A.

Welcome to the Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z 2025 Theme Reveal!

This is the 14th or 15th year of the challenge, I can’t rightly remember which, and I’ve been a participant since 2014.  Like last year, and every other year, I will be writing my posts on the fly!

Before I reveal my 2025 theme, here are themes from challenges past:

• 2014:  I blogged about our house, and the befores and afters of the renos we did and changes we made after buying it.
• 2015: I blogged about interesting places in Victoria (all close to home).
• 2016: I blogged about learning to use my DSLR
• 2017: I blogged about my ‘hood in Welcome to James Bay!
• 2018: I blogged about the wonderful world of wabi-sabi in photographs.
• 2019:  I blogged about A picture-story a day (in the life, so to speak)
• 2020: I blogged about female photographers
• 2021 I blogged Photos and Stories
• 2022 I blogged Photo editing apps!
• 2023 I blogged My life in first drafts!
• 2024 I blogged A poem a day (with a picture)! 

This year I am going completely rogue and flying by the seat of my pants with A to Z poem a day with pictures, and of course, we must remember that April is Poetry Month too! I will go in order from A to Z, but the words I choose will likely have little rhyme or reason, but it will give me purpose for a month and keep my mind from insanely stressful workplace issues going on right now.

So, I will see you tomorrow for my first post! 

This post approved by Elliot.

Welcome to my April 2024 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with picture), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, the final day, the final letter, the final poem for National Poetry Month!  Z is for…Zappai. “Zappai poems are like haiku, but not. Or maybe more appropriately, they’re like senryu, but not (or maybe they are). This poetic form definition may sound kind of wishy-washy, but zappai are poems that have a 5-7-5 syllable pattern that do not contain the seasonal reference expected of haiku. In other words, zappai are all those haiku people write that haiku poets recognize as not being haiku. Again, senryu could fit this definition as well, but senryu also can have a looseness with the syllables, much like haiku, so that 17 syllables are not mandatory. Zappai should still be poetic, but they’re 5-7-5 poems that don’t include the seasonal reference. Final answer. I think.“

I actually explored a few Z forms for this post (unlike many topics in past A to Z challenges, there are MANY Z options) and each one was more convoluted than the next. I will have to go back and try some of them though – I have discovered in this challenge that the complicated forms are actually a lot of fun, kind of like big word puzzles. Anyhoo…here we go!

The End

Today marks the end
of poetry challenges
Time to move along

Thanks for visiting my 2024 A to Z Challenge – Letter Z.

Guess I’m kind of going rogue too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2024 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with picture), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, Y is for…Yadu. “The ya-du is a Burmese poetic form. Here are the guidelines:  Quintains (or five-line stanzas).  Four syllables in the first four lines.  The final line has either five, seven, nine, or 11 syllables. The fourth syllable of the first line rhymes with the third syllable of the second line and the second syllable of the third line. The fourth syllable of the third line rhymes with the third syllable of the fourth line and the second syllable of the fifth line. The fourth syllable of the fourth line rhymes with the final syllable of the final line.  Subject usually deals with seasons. Most ya-du are written in three or fewer stanzas.”

Today

Sun peaks behind
flowers. Find peace
And mind, the rain
passes pain. Spring
will reign and summer bring.

Thanks for visiting my 2024 A to Z Challenge – Letter Y.

Guess I’m kind of going rogue too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2024 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with picture), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, X is for…Xenophanic. “The word xenophanic is an adjective used to describe itinerant poets (poets who wandered from place to place) who wrote poems that were witty and often satirical. Satirical is when something is funny at first but upon closer inspection there is a deeper meaning to the joke. Whereby the joke is merely a cover up for a more serious issue at hand.“

Is it flu?

It wasn’t while
I waited there
for basic tests.
I did not care.
Nor did I worry
I would get
what fellow patients
needed checked,
until the sign
became a portend,
true prediction,
genuine…
…it was indeed the flu.

Thanks for visiting my 2024 A to Z Challenge – Letter X.

Guess I’m kind of going rogue too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2024 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (A poem a day…with picture), and of course, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, W is for Waka. “The waka is a Japanese 5-line poem (or stanza) that is often considered synonymous with the tanka, because both have a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable per line structure. However, the waka groups its lines together in a particular way. The first 2 lines should make up one piece, the next 2 lines should make the next, and then, the final line can stand on its own–or as part of the second group.“

Sick

Starts with tickly throat
blossoming to hacking cough.
Sleep eludes me as
sinus drip and fever join.
Will this cold never finish?

Thanks for visiting my 2024 A to Z Challenge – Letter W.

Guess I’m kind of going rogue too…although I do like using the “official” letters…