Tag: boston

• A Letter to My Missing Sunglasses

  Dear Sunglasses I Lost (Maybe 6 Months Ago), Where did you go? I last saw you near my home—I think I’d put you down by the forest and forgot you there, but I can’t be too sure. The only animal I could think of might’ve taken you was a fox…I’ve never seen a fox, with…

  04/24/2022 7:18 pm

  21st century, boston, egypt, english literature, free verse, free writing, letters, literary salon we keep, lost things, may ziadeh, memoir, memoir stories, narrative, ode, philosophy, poetic, poetic forms, poets, prose poetry, writing exercise, writing process, writing prompt

• III. A Persian Buttercup A-blossoming

  

  04/22/2022 6:20 am

  21st century, boston, creative process, english literature, garden, gratitude, literary salon we keep, memoir, morningtime, my photography, nature, philosophy, poetic, poetry, poets, sky, sun, wellness

• II. For Lingering with the Blossoms’ Fruits and Natural Honey

  

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  04/16/2022 7:14 am

  21st century, boston, catholic, english literature, garden, gratitude, home, interior design, longfellow, maine, memoir, memoir stories, morning, my photography, nature, new england, philosophy, photo series, poetic, poetics, poetry, poetry books, poetry month, poets, prose poetry, sky, spirituality, tea

• I. For Blossoming

  

  04/15/2022 1:43 pm

  21st century, boston, catholic, garden, gratitude, handmade, meditate, meditation, my photography, nature, photo series, poetic, poets, self portraits, spirituality, sun, wellness, yoga

• Many a Thing…(A Trip to the Antiques Shop)

  

  Tues. Apr. 12, 2022 photo from Tues., Apr. 5th—“Pants by Peeko 🐱,” a perfectly good hemming this time, Peeko helping on his own when I got the pants ready (just ‘loungewear’, shown in previous post.) He was proud of both the task and his own joke: sitting like this holding the pants in place and…

  04/12/2022 7:28 pm

  19th century, 20th century, alarie tennille, ameen rihani, antique shop, antiques shop, art, art history, beach, book reflection, book review, books, boston, childhood, dreams, egypt, england, english, english literature, free writing, fruit, fruits, garden, gratitude, herbs, home, interior design, j.r.r. tolkien, Kahlil gibran, kansas, lebanon, literary salon we keep, literary theory, longfellow, may ziadeh, meditate, memoir, memoir stories, missouri, morningtime, my mystical experiences, my photography, narrative, nature, new york city, novels, peeko, poetic, poetry, poetry books, poets, prose poetry, psychology, reading, tea, wellness, writing process, writing theory

• “I Wondered if I Had Been a Bird”

  

  April 7, 2022 featured photo is a painting by Franz Marc, “Birds” (1914) b. Feb 8, 1880 I Wondered if I Had Been a Bird by Jade Nicole Beals —for May Ziadeh (b. 1886 – 1941) I was very disturbed when what I’d found logical what could explain all this is that I could’ve been…

  04/07/2022 7:00 pm

  20th century, 21st century, abstract expressionism, arabic, art, audio poetry, books, boston, catholic, dreams, egypt, france, franz marc, french, germany, gratitude, home, love, lovingkindness, may ziadeh, memoir, memoir stories, my photography, my poetry, nature, new york city, poetic, poetry, poetry reading, poetry three, poets, soulmates, spirituality, supportive, wellness, writing process

• Five Favorite Songs and a Tea

  

  “Ain’t it crazy what’s revealed when you’re not looking all that close?” 🔥💕🎶 …🌊💕 My own review of 🍃”Ali Shan“🫖 green oolong tea from Adagio: Sweet, dewy and refreshing! Takes you to the top of the waterfall, green-oolong leaves unfurling fully at the bottom of the tea pot, warmed as if by the very sun.…

  04/07/2022 8:39 am

  acoustic, angels, books, boston, california, folk music, garden, gratitude, hip hop, home, home design, impressionism, inspiring, interests, interior design, monet, morningtime, music, my photography, nature, ohio, over the rhine, philosophy, poetic, pop, pop music, singer-songwriters, spanish, spirituality, sun, tea, wellness

• “A Villanelle for the Times”

  

  You might remember when I was writing a villanelle poem, wanting to try another traditional form, as I’d written my first ghazal at the time and a sonnet, but I didn’t like the draft or that particular form for the idea. I transformed that villanelle into a ghazal, and I was happy with that latest…

  04/05/2022 3:04 pm

  21st century, boston, english, english literature, fairies, fairytale, french, fruit, garden, ghazal, gratitude, inspiring, kansas, literary salon we keep, magic realism, my photography, mythology, narrative, narrative poem, nature, philosophy, poetic, poetic forms, poetry, poets, sky, villanelle, writing process

• Morning Tea in Honor of My Grandma on Her Birthday, New Flowers and Poetry

  

  *** Flowers found and brought home this weekend from local garden shop, purple pansies and white fragrant climbing blossoms scented with a little more honey than florally; I received care directions from the garden staff for this potted variety…I will find out the fragrant one’s name today, flowers in time for spring and my grandma’s…

  04/04/2022 9:04 am

  20th century, 21st century, birthday, books, boston, brooklyn, catholic, english literature, food, garden, grandma jean, gratitude, italian, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my photography, nature, new england, novels, poetic, poetry, poets, reading, sky, sun, tea

• Happy Poetry Month, Gothic Novel Read, Poetry Collection by Jason Preu

  

  two books by Jason Preu upon table, morningtime, captured within bright flashes of sun After I’d completed reading a new poetry book from author Jason Preu, one I’d picked to read first, The Avocado Among Other Fruits and wrote down my immediate impressions, I realized then it is April 1st and so begins Poetry Month!…

  04/01/2022 12:49 pm

  18th century, 21st century, ann radcliffe, book reflection, book review, books, boston, english literature, fairies, france, fruit, gratitude, home, italy, kansas, literary theory, morningtime, music, my photography, nature, novels, philosophy, poetic, poetry, poetry month, poets, prose poetry, reading, sun, wallace stevens, William Carlos williams

• Delighted Like a Teddybear Cat, in Gray, Spa Spring Days

  

  Peeko rests like an elegant, long floppy-armed teddybear and lounges with me during tea time. He loves Spa Days and Spring Celebrations—Day 12 today. I had given myself a pink pedicure and filed my nails last night, chamomile cleansing lotion a nice cooling rinse upon skin/body. I dried my shampooed hair, rinsed under highest pressure…

  03/31/2022 2:57 pm

  21st century, boston, catholic, fairies, gratitude, herbs, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my photography, narrative, peeko, philosophy, poetic, spirituality, tea, wellness, yoga

• A Mid-Literary Salon Mystery and then the Cats Close This Post

  

  photo by me taken at the Fine Arts Museum, Boston. I liked this porcelain tea set out of the ceramic pottery. No, I cannot afford to buy it! At the Tuesday literary salon hosted at my home often we’ve enjoyed a segment of ”silent reading.” I’d imaginatively considered for fun if the salon host, May…

  03/31/2022 8:08 am

  18th century, 20th century, 21st century, ann radcliffe, art museum, boston, edna st. vincent millay, egypt, english literature, fiction, french, gratitude, home, literary salon we keep, maine, may ziadeh, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, museum, my mystical experiences, my photography, narrative, novels, peeko, poetic, poetry, poets, reading, tea, wellness

• Mysteries and Spa Days

  

  Today is Spring Day Six! And Spa Days at Home continues…I’d combed my hair throughout the day on different occasions and with my fingers…and stood out on the balcony letting the daylight touch my skin. Looking out over the railing, I could see a gathering of water on the ground in the forest on the…

  03/25/2022 10:46 pm

  18th century, art, books, boston, english literature, france, handmade, italy, memoir, memoir stories, music, my photography, narrative, nature, novels, peeko, poetic, reading, sketch, wellness

• Spa Time at Home and a Couple of Phrases to Mend

  

  Feb. 11, ’22, needs improvement 🙂 March 22, ’22 I have taken out my newly-written ghazal poem (on my laptop) ‘tho I’d first thought it might still be too hot to my touch but it wasn’t and was ready to read. Reading it aloud I can see it is almost complete, but just one line…

  03/22/2022 7:57 pm

  book reflection, books, boston, english literature, frances hodgson burnett, ghazal, home, inspiring, literary salon we keep, meditate, narrative, novels, poetic, poetic forms, poetry, poetry three, reading, self portraits, sky, wellness, writing process, yoga

• This Particular Moon in My Window—…For You

  

  Mar. 18 The moon calms me, especially this one. This is a moon I wouldn’t have imagined looking exactly like this one. I send a kiss toward it, one single kiss like the single word refrain, that I mean very much. 😊💖🌕😴 Mar. 19 (Forget the gray security belt.) Imagine awakening to the scent of…

  03/19/2022 8:27 pm

  art, art events, boston, dreams, full moon, gratitude, home, memoir, moon, museum, my photography, nature, poetic, poetry, prose poetry, sky

• The Tea’s Ready

  

  The tea is ready (Sencha green) and the book is ready too: a reread of mine, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. 🍃😊🌺🗝🍃☕️

  03/18/2022 7:44 am

  20th century, angels, books, boston, england, english literature, frances hodgson burnett, garden, gratitude, home, india, inspiring, interior design, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my photography, nature, novels, poetic, reading, tea

• An Island Novel I’d Read And My 1 Minute Impromptu Play About Writing Poetry

  

  my cat Peeko was sure to get to it first This is the first novel I’d read (titled The House at the Edge of Night), which combined mainly southern Italian characters with some British ones, as in a British man gets swept up onto the coast of this remote Italian island, Castellamare, during wartime. I’d…

  03/17/2022 8:42 am

  21st century, book reflection, book review, boston, catherine banner, creative process, england, fiction, italy, memoir, memoir stories, mythology, narrative, novels, peeko, plays, poetry, poets, villanelle, writing process, writing theory

• The Sun in My Cup, Draw What You See, A Morning of a Little Creativity

  

  There’s the sun in my cup of green-oolong tea…😊☕️This is a new one I’d tried and I am glad I remembered how much I love green-oolongs; this one’s called Ali Shan. I really like Ti Kuan Yin green-oolong and Golden Flower. I gave myself an assignment with my sketchbook—Pick something, place yourself somewhere (seated or…

  03/14/2022 11:57 am

  21st century, art, art events, boston, creative process, fairies, fiction, food, gratitude, home, home design, inspiring, may ziadeh, meditate, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my photography, my sketch, nature, poetic, poetry, poetry events, poetry forms, poetry reading, poets, sky, sun, villanelle, wellness, writing process, writing theory

• It’s Been A Little Quiet Here—Let’s Hear Some Music!

  

  March 12, 2022 *I know this may not be scientifically possible in terms of shuffle algorithms that I don’t know much about, but for this, think not science, but sentiment!!* 😊💕💗🎼😇😊* For fun! I’d created a music playlist for author and poet, May Ziadeh, music to share with her, not necessarily directly related to her…

  03/12/2022 7:55 am

  20th century, 21st century, boston, catholic, celtic, chamber music, classical, classical music, claude debussy, creative, creative process, emad sayyah, french, german, gratitude, inspiring, irish, jazz, lebanon, linda perchacs, may ziadeh, melody gardot, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, music, new york city, poetic, poets, pop music, schubert, spirituality

• The Prairie Post: Willa Cather’s Set of Novels, O Pioneers!….

  

  I will be reading my poem tomorrow, Friday, March 11th at Indelible’s online Poetry Launch event that will take place at 10 AM EST. This scene, from my balcony in Massachusetts, of at first, very thickly-frosted pine trees all morning giving way to dripping and trickling onto the melting ground with such warm winter sun,…

  03/10/2022 11:37 am

  20th century, book reflection, books, boston, colorado, dubai, english literature, fiction, garden, inspiring, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my photography, narrative, nature, nebraska, novels, philosophy, poetic, poetry, poetry reading, prose poetry, reading, sky, sun, willa cather, writing process, writing theory

• Indelible Magazine Poetry Launch—Reading My Poem, ‘Droplets Slide Down the Pine and Land Upon the Grass Within a Slow Dance’

  

  Originally posted March 14, 2022 Updated to include end of post section, “Who’s May Ziadeh? ”* It’s here! Link: https://youtu.be/Cr-CsXJWum0 🎥🎤📜 I am on just around the 28:50 mark.😊💕. Afterwards, you may also see me give a pretty long answer to a surprise question that I was happy to answer. —And there is something too…

  03/09/2022 2:18 pm

  20th century, 21st century, arabic, boston, catholic, dubai, egypt, french, gratitude, italian, Kahlil gibran, lebanon, literary journals, literary salon we keep, may ziadeh, my poetry, philosophy, poetry books, poetry read by me, poetry reading, rumi, spanish, spirituality

• Two Poems of Mine Published in Indelible

  

  My two poems, “This Ring” and “Droplets Slide Down the Pine and Land Upon the Grass Within a Slow Dance” are in print today in the latest issue of Indelible, an online literary and arts magazine, Issue #6, “The Feminine.” To read my two poems in Indelible, click This Ring and Other Poem, by Jade…

  03/08/2022 7:09 am

  21st century, art, boston, egypt, french, ghazal, hedy habra, literary journals, literary salon we keep, may ziadeh, morningtime, my poetry, nature, poetic forms, poetry, poetry forms, poets, short stories, tea

• Birthdays, Birthdays!, A Literary Salon Day, and ‘The Marching In’

  

  I awoke to the very lightest touch of blush in the dawn sky; it was seen only by looking more closely. It is Tuesday night and in recent weeks there has been lots of fun with paintings or pictures, a free sketch one night in my blank sketchbook from imagination, and painting from my imagination…

  03/01/2022 8:33 pm

  18th century, 19th century, 20th century, ameen rihani, birthdays, boston, colorado, creative process, edna st. vincent millay, egypt, england, english literature, f. max muller, home, jane austen, lebanon, literary salon we keep, may ziadeh, memoir, memoir stories, morningtime, my birthday, my mystical experiences, my photography, narrative, nature, new york, novels, peeko, poetic, poetry, poets, sky, spirituality, willa cather, writing process, writing theory, yoga

• My Own Home Design: A Place to Create Art and Rest

  The library corner…complete! With Monet’s “Flower Beds” painting on canvas displayed by my reading chair. … I didn’t think this book would be laugh out loud funny, but I am still smiling when I think of a certain little story—Monet getting cranky with his own art failures and one day hiring cooks to make him…

  02/23/2022 11:28 am

  20th century, angels, art, books, boston, creative process, finances, garden, home, impressionism, interior design, library, massachusetts, memoir stories, monet, moon, morningtime, my photography, narrative, nature, new england, nonfiction books, ocean, peeko, reading, van gogh, wellness, writing process

• Author and Poet, May Ziadeh’s Birthday

  

  Happy birthday, Mayy! 😊💕136 never looked so good! (…and that is earth years.) 😊🎊 b. Feb. 11, 1886 in Nazareth, lived in Egypt and Lebanon, d. Oct. 17, 1941 in Cairo. May Elias Ziadeh was a writer and editor, author of poetry, biographies and fiction, knew nine languages, was a speaker, translator, and tutor, and…

  02/11/2022 4:27 pm

  19th century, 20th century, Aisha taymur, arabic, art, boston, catholic, dreams, egypt, french, garden, greek, handwritten, home, interior design, lebanon, literary salon we keep, may ziadeh, memoir, memoir stories, moon, morningtime, music, my photography, nature, nazareth, non-fiction, poetic, poetry, poetry by may ziadeh, poets, self portraits, sky, spirituality, sun, turkey, writing theory, writings by may ziadeh

• A Note About What’s Just Beneath that Repetition

  When I find I am repeating something I’m ‘excited about,’ I’ll often hear uneasiness, and that’s often been more about a doubt of my own that is worth listening to…even if I may want to dismiss it all as pure excitement—Re: Beginning to write a novel? ’Now may not be the time.’ Time can be…

  02/09/2022 11:53 am

  21st century, art, artists, boston, creative process, home, interior design, literary salon we keep, memoir, memoir stories, moon, my photography, philosophy, poetry, poetry books, psychology, spirituality, wellness, writing process

• Pure Fun, New Moon, Writing Notebook

  

  Last night Monday…Peeko sitting in my chair with such pride. And he might show up at your job as your new Project Manager, you never know. Last week I could sum up with the line, Reason for Exhaustion: Writing sonnets all day. One Shakespearean. One Petrarchan: complex rhyme scheme sent me crashing by 4 pm.…

  02/01/2022 2:24 pm

  20th century, 21st century, boston, creative process, edna st. vincent millay, english literature, fairies, food, gratitude, hedy habra, keith waldrop, library, literary salon we keep, may ziadeh, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, moon, morningtime, my photography, narrative, new moon, novels, peeko, poetic forms, poetry, poetry books, poetry forms, poetry three, poets, reading, sonnet, tea, virginia woolf, wellness, writing process

• A Moon So Near

  

  Before dawn, the moon so close to my face and near to my gaze; I closed my eyes and slept some more, smiling within. This morning… ‘Rumi’ black tea with a splash of almond milk in a teacup my Grandma gave me and Collected Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, a gift I so welcomed…

  01/27/2022 7:24 am

  20th century, 21st century, boston, brooklyn, childhood, edna st. vincent millay, grandma jean, maine, medieval era, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, moon, morningtime, my photography, my sister, new york city, novels, poetic, poets, rumi, sky, tea

• New Book and New Author, No Land To Light On

  

  I picked up this book No Land To Light On by Yara Zgheib among the new releases at the local bookshop and noticed I was walking as if I’d already planned to buy it; that didn’t bias me when I’d began reading at home either. At the shop, I glimpsed a passage of introduction before…

  01/24/2022 12:02 pm

  21st century, art, books, boston, english literature, italy, lebanon, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, morning, morningtime, my photography, novels, philosophy, poetic, poets, prose poetry, reading, sky, turkey

• Storybooks Come To Life

  

  library garden, from this past autumn * * 🤗💗😊

  01/23/2022 2:39 pm

  21st century, boston, fairies, garden, gratitude, memoir, memoir stories, morning, my photography, narrative, nature, peeko, philosophy, poetic

• Last Night’s Dream of Thay

  

  Yesterday night, I found out my favorite meditation teacher, Thich “Thay” Nhat Hanh who was also an author and poet, had just passed away at age 95. I’d first found him 14 years ago and soon after I wished for a copy of his book Peace is Every Step, and read it fully. Last night…

  01/22/2022 10:26 am

  20th century, 21st century, audio, boston, catholic, dreams, gratitude, italian, italy, meditate, meditation, memoir, memoir stories, music, my dreams, narrative, nonfiction books, poetic, poetry, poets, spirituality

• Singing with the Morning Sun

  

  January 21, 2022 I left out a good note when I posted this; I posted it for the essence of the moment, not for my singing! 😊 A clip from this morning when I was singing “The Sway,” the singer-songwriter, Joan Shelley’s song, along with her recording…to Peeko as the morning began and he fell…

  01/21/2022 8:37 pm

  acoustic, boston, folk music, gratitude, inspiring, joan shelley, meditation, memoir stories, morningtime, music, peeko, philosophy, poetic, singer-songwriters, spirituality, thich nhat hanh