After almost thirty years puttering in our small townhouse patch attempting to grow all manner of inappropriate things for the sun and soil conditions, I recognize that to be a gardener is to cultivate hope. And in the summer of 2020 more than anything, I needed a sanctuary of hope, someplace to sit and think or more likely, not think, and just breathe and be. Astonishingly, in the tire fire that has been 2020, an Asiatic lily bloomed after 10 years of nothing. All I did this year was move the plant one foot where it got just a bit more sun, enough to coax four flowers.
This fall I’ve had two acceptances for pieces of my writing. That gives me hope, too. The difference? Time. I retired on April 1 this year and I’ve had time to write, edit, research potential homes for my writing, and submit. I moved into the sun.
Fittingly, my first published poem is about hope. You can find it in Bywords, an on-line magazine published in Ottawa, Canada. “Bywords mission is to publish the poetry of current and former Ottawa residents, students and workers and to promote Ottawa’s literary, spoken word, storytelling and nonfiction activities.” Works are chosen by a panel of readers with poetry, academic and publishing credentials and to those folks I say thank you. I am tickled beyond belief that my first published poem appears in Ottawa’s own Bywords.
To quote the late English writer Osbert Sitwell: “Poetry is like fish: if it’s fresh, it’s good; if it’s stale, it bad; and if you’re not certain, try it on the cat.”
This cat found it very fresh.
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Meow meow. (Thank you.)
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Congrats on your poem being published Sue. I enjoyed it! Keep up the gardening and writing!
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Hi Jean, Great to hear from you! The gardening is done for the year but the writing goes on and on and on….
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What a beautiful, moving and – yes – hopeful poem! Congratulations on your publications and your lily!
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Thanks, Andrea!
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What a delightful poem! Glad you found it a home. You’re inspiring me today.
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Thank you, Ellen. What’s NOT inspiring is how long it took me to reply!
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Ahh Susanne! ❤ I tend to bitch about the word "hope" in response to the crises at hand but this poem is a perfect example of the opposite. Now I feel like Amore and how quickly he built a trap for my own no-longer-secret mouse hope. I teared up into tortellini.
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Aww. I love the image of your tortellini tears! Ironically, this poem was written just as I was about to retire and was more about the hope and excitement I felt at starting a new life in retirement. I think the first draft was written in early March and the severity of the pandemic hadn’t hit North America yet. Now, as you point out, it can be read as a metaphor for the hope we all need in this ongoing horror story. Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Manja. Stay well!
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I had to link to your poem in my post today. Hope that’s okay. That link is funny though, sometimes it shows other poems and one needs to search for yours:
https://mexcessive.photo.blog/2020/10/16/thursday-doors-15-10-20-tarquinia-2/
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Thank you for that, Manja! Yes, I noticed the link’s strange behaviour too. You never know what poem is going to pop up!
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Outstanding! Congratulations on your publishing success! Also, I think the tire fire metaphor is one of the best I’ve heard.
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so glad you took the time to read the poem, Maggie. For the record, I overhead that tire fire expression. Eavesdropping is a writer’s best friend!
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YAY!!!! Whoot-whoot-whoot! Whoopie! That’s what I like to see! You getting out there…long overdue. And that line…”her crooked leg dangling, an apostrophe above me”… it’s so you! Congrats 🙂
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Thanks for being so supportive, Donna. I doubt I would have become a writer if I hadn’t been a blogger first and been offered encouragement by kind readers like you.
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Congratulations on being published! And finding your place in the sun!
Deb
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Thank you, Deb. It feels great!
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Huge congratulations on your successful gardening and even more for your accepted work – such an encouragement to a gifted writer. Well deserved. The poem is excellent – what a great idea to use the mouse as your companion, and of course I would expect you to mention your shoes!
Bravo, Susanne!
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Ha! You caught the shoe reference. You are a sensitive reader, Sheila. Thanks so much for your lovely comment!
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Congratulations all round, Sue
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Thanks, Derrick. Really quite tickled today.
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Carole said it so succinctly – congratulations on 3 fronts 🙂 I love the last line of ‘Hope’ … outside the box, where hope should be!
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Thanks, Joanne. I wondered if the final lines were a bit hokey but went with them anyway. Lordy knows we need hope.
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Congratulations! What a beautiful spot you have created also.
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Hi V.J., The garden is a work in progress as I guess most gardens are – like writing! Thanks for reading.
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Welcome!
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Congratulations times three: gardening, retiring, and writing!
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I second that! Bravo!
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Thank you, MEL. I like that trio, too!
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Hi Carole,
Many thanks for the congrats! I’m so happy I lived long enough to get to this point in life.
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