Greetings, Poetry Lovers! One thing I always enjoy about the start of a new year is Jone Rush MacCulloch's New Year Poem Postcard Swap! I'm always inspired by the words and images which grace my mailbox, and I (mostly!) love coming up with something myself to send. Especially because Jone expands the New Year to include the Chinese New Year, with an invitation to incorporate whatever animal is representing that year. (This year, it'll be the wood snake, and we have until Jan. 29 to send our poems! That might also just be Jone's birthday, a little snake told me, a day before my own.) SO, my poem is written, and that's as far as I've gotten. I plan to get my cards made and out by next week.
Other members of our community are far more on the ball. I've already received a couple of wonderful cards (and a third late today, which I haven't had a chance to look at yet.) I'm delighted to share these gems from Linda Mitchell and Tracey Kiff-Judson. I'm constantly amazed by Linda's mixed media creations (as well as her poems - this one begs to be read aloud), and Tracey's bold art is lively and smile-inducing! Plus, her poem is especially delicious. Enjoy!
Year of the Wood Snake
2025
Wood snake shifting
this year's first breath.
Shimmering mist,
a welcome guest.
Bring no worry
Wood snake shifting.
No more woe, or
unrhymed poems.
Come now springtime!
Come green new shoots!
Wood snake shifting
'tween forest roots.
Bring gentle words
fresh ideas too
a good year of
wood snake shifting.
©Linda Mitchell
A New Year
Stacked with possibility,
limoncello, pumpkin, cherry
flavor awaits
Which will you choose
Lip-puckering sunshine?
The comfort of warm spice?
A bit of hibiscus passion?
Perhaps a nibble of each...
©Tracey Kiff-Judson
Mmmm.... definitely a nibble of each. And, yes, come green new shoots! (January has been frigid, with more arctic blasts on tap for next week.)
Thank you, Linda and Tracey, for these treasures. Now shift yourself over to see Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect, where you'll find the Roundup. Thanks, Tricia, for hosting!