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IT’S NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! Something for everyone – yes, you too!

ByLee Ann

I hear you celebrating out there – try to keep it down, OK, poets are busy writing!

The Academy of American Poets started National Poetry Month in 1996. You might not know that it has grown to be one of the largest literary celebrations in the world. Readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and—of course—poets take part in a variety of activities and events in order to recognize and promote the value of poetry. Many poets – me included – challenge themselves to write a poem a day during the month of April.

The League of Canadian Poets launched National Poetry Month in Canada in 1998. The League defines a theme every year, inspiring poets and poetry lovers alike. This year, it’s WEATHER.

Well, there’s a theme that never stops inspiring Canadians…!

Mother Nature got right into the spirit of things last week, blowing up a huge storm across Ontario and Quebec that dumped about 15cm of wet snow on top of all the spring greenery that had started to poke up in my garden. It all melted 24 hours later, but meantime, my poetry prompt of the day was metaphor and I certainly found myself inspired!

While you may not be inclined to scribble some poetic lines of your own (and why not??) there are plenty of ways to get into the world of poetry this month. Read some Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein to your kids or grandkids. Sing in the shower or the car and marvel at the lyrics behind the music. Take a poet to lunch! (Just kidding… sort of…)

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy “Snowsuit.”

Lee Ann

What Else is New?

Now that Nature has had her last hurrah, you’re probably as keen as I am to get out to the garden. Just in time, the Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton have launched their popular garden lecture series. Each hour-long Zoom session is delivered by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable Master Gardener. You don’t have to live in Ottawa to benefit from these informative and fun sessions, offered in partnership with Friends of the Central Experimental Farm (FCEF). Bonus poetry prompt: write a verse about your favourite weed or bug.

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STILL GROWING (and a draw for you to enter!)

ByLee Ann

Getting Inspired by Growth

Hello there!

In this post, I’d like to turn your attention for a moment away from the havoc Nature has been inflicting across the continent: drought, floods, relentless heatwaves, wildfires… I think that sometimes, after we’ve done whatever we can for those in peril, we need to refresh by pulling our focus inward, closer to home. In my backyard this season, plants are especially large and lush; overall, it seems to me to have been one of those glory years for my garden. Is it the same in your neighbourhood?

Bounty from my backyard in August

And there is more growth and beauty to come! Autumn already hints at her arrival with the cooler nights of September, bringing the first tinges of colour to the maple trees at my cottage property. When I can keep my gaze out of the headlines and focus on my own personal landscape, the feeling is of happy anticipation for the fall season: blazing leaf colour (not actual flames); fresh, crisp air (instead of wilting heat); fall’s bountiful harvests (versus devastating losses.) Summer may be over, but there’s still plenty of potential with the fall season!

All this reminds me of something the English novelist Mary Ann Evans (writing as George Eliot) famously wrote:

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

Isn’t that fabulous? (Can you think of something this might inspire you to try?)

I’ve been inspired lately along these lines, and I’m excited to share some things that I think reflect what Evans/Eliot was talking about:

  1. My latest Poetry Art, “Still Growing”. A reminder of what can happen in our glorious “autumn years”!
  2. My new feature: Gardening Advice for Your Own Backyard. There’s a timely article available for you, “What to Do and Not Do in the Fall Garden.”
  3. A free event: I’ll be reading some poetry at the League of Canadian Poets New Member Reading, Thursday, November 9, 7:30-8:30pm., EST. This is an online event and you can get a free ticket here.
  4. Most exciting is this newly transformed website, packed with offerings, new information, free resources, plus a shop where you can buy my books and artwork. Click on my name above to get to the home page, take a look around and do let me know what you think!

Enter to Win!

To celebrate new growth and the new website, I’m having a draw! Let me know your favourite thing about the redesigned site (layout? features? Blog?) In particular, what would you would like to see more of from me here? Which of the “Creative Works” are you most interested in? I would love your feedback.

Contact me with your thoughts and I’ll enter your name into a draw for a chance to win one of my Poetry Art chapbooks. There are three to choose from – you’ll find out all about them under “Books”.

Deadline to enter is October 1, 2023. Have fun and remember when you contact me with your entry, to tell me which chapbook you would like when you win!

Good luck everyone – and may we all keep growing with the help of strong feedback!

Lee Ann

JUNE

ByLee Ann

Every gardener has their favourite season. What is yours? For me, it’s spring, and in particular, early spring. When daffodil time overlaps with the riot of tulip colour, I’m more energized, hopeful, and renewed than I am at any other time of the year.

The burst of energy that is early spring

Far too soon for me, the daffodils droop. Then the tulips start to fade and I wander the garden, snapping their blooms off to feed the bulb for next year.

The passing of this early spring season reminds me: change is the only constant.

No deep philosophy here, I’m just reminding myself to savour every season as it takes centre stage. (Okay, yes, I mean in life as well as in the garden!) To me, that means observing closely, noticing and maybe writing about what’s happening, or taking some photos. This savouring, I’ve found, seems to extend the length of the season. It also helps me to remember, which is another form of savouring.

As the tulips fade the irises start to show their colour

Here’s something else I’ve discovered. When I observe closely, not only do I see what is, but I can also see the next season waiting in the wings. The tulip petals fall and I notice sturdy stalks of iris, the edges of their fat buds already showing colour. So I get this delicious little hint of delights to come. Have you noticed that, in life as well as in the garden?

Right now in my garden, as if to temper the loss of spring, is the glory that is June. Not for nothing has this month been celebrated by artists of all stripes for all time. It’s the prettiest of seasons, I think, and the most lush. It also marks the end of the brief time when not much has gone wrong yet – no drought, no insect infestation, no mistakes by the gardener – and all is possible. June is the blush of youth in her prime!

May you savour the beauty of June in your neighbourhood. May you also enjoy to the fullest the gifts of whatever phase of life you may be living! And please take a moment to savour my tributes to this gorgeous month: haiku with photos, “Irises” and “Peonies.”

Lee Ann

P.S. For those of you who are curious: a haiku is a structured poem first found in Japanese literature in the 17th century. It consists of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. Aren’t you glad you asked?

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ARTIST AS WITNESS

ByLee Ann
This entry is part 10 of 11 in the series The Creative Process Unmasked

A key role of any artist is as a witness to life. Artists do more than live life. They observe life. They reflect about what they observe and they transform those observations and reflections into art. Think about it: a poem, a song, a dance, a painting – any form of art can be triggered because an artist first witnessed life.

Lucky us! Art in any of its manifestations can provide us with a thoughtful, clear depiction of what life was like in a place and time far different than our own.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because a book of my poetry and photography has been accepted into the Ottawa Archives COVID collection. This collection – of photos, correspondence, artwork and other records – has been created to show future generations what it was really like to live in Ottawa through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course I am delighted to think about people 50 or 100 years from now looking through my Poetry Art! (Sample here.) More than that, I find myself grateful for artists. By their very nature, in their role as witness, they create all types of evocative work. We all then benefit from their observations, their reflections and of course, their ability to transform these into art.

Here are two of my favourite examples of artists in their key role as a witness to life:

  • John McRae. In his famous poem, “In Flanders Fields,” he gives us his observations of the battlefield and then transcends this into a rallying cry from the dead.
  • Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Their musical, “Come From Away” depicts Gander, Newfoundland taking in 6700 people diverted by 9/11. The actual hardships are transformed into words, music and dance.

What about you? What artist-as-witness piece(s) of art impress you?

Lee Ann

SIGNS OF SPRING and A GENTLE MANIFESTO

ByLee Ann

Hello again! It’s been awhile…

As you know (my faithful followers!) I am on a mission: to find, photograph, and be inspired to write from the beauty in my everyday world. Through this, I hope to provide a small respite for you, a moment of calm and inspiration in the form of pictures and words.

First bloom soon!

This is not a new mission; I’ve been doing that and sharing the resulting Poetry Art on this site and at the owaa Art Gallery in Ottawa for years. Yet somehow, here and now in April of 2022, I find myself needing to review and renew my commitment to this mission. Chalk it up to a particularly dark, cold winter season – and I’m not talking weather. COVID-19 lingers. Ottawa is still feeling the effects of February’s 24-day occupation of the city. War escalates in Ukraine with terrifying implications.

All events that affect you and me and that we have very little influence on. A terrible feeling, yes? One that I find has crept over me like some kind of sinister spell this winter, causing me to lose faith in my belief in all things lovely and good in the world. Maybe this is how you’ve been feeling too. I hope not! But in any case, upon review, I’ve decided to renew my commitment to my mission. And further, I’ve decided that my recommitment will take the form of:

Morning Light
  • taking 10 new photos of beauty in my neighbourhood during the month of April (some of which are here in this post!)
  • exploring new options for sharing my Poetry Art (stay tuned for updates), and
  • posting more regularly on this site. I’ve missed doing so and want to provide you with some fresh, new, positive content that reaffirms there’s beauty in people, and in the world.

This month’s Poetry Art has taken the form of a gentle manifesto as I move ahead with renewed energy. I want to remind us that, like the arrival of spring every year, beauty is real and can be counted on.

Here’s I Lost My Rose-Coloured Glasses. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback!

May your spring season be full of the lovely and the good.

Lee Ann

Spring Migration at Sunset
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THE CREATIVE PROCESS, PART 5: How Confinement Can Expand Creative Expression

ByLee Ann
This entry is part 5 of 11 in the series The Creative Process Unmasked

COVID has taught us something that I think relates to the creative process: being confined can lead to greater creative expression. We can’t get together with friends for dinner, so we sign up together for an interactive cooking class online. We have to wear masks everywhere we go, so we find some fabric that makes a statement or makes us smile. Europe is out of bounds, so we discover new places we didn’t know existed, right in our own neighbourhoods. This is how, in the pandemic world, confinement can lead to new creativity.

I am a poet whose typical style is free verse. By definition unstructured, free verse has few rules beyond those that relate to good writing. But sometimes I feel the need for a poetic structure with very specific rules. Surprisingly, it’s that very restriction that can expand the creative expression in a poem.

There are so many forms of structured verse that entire fine arts graduate courses are taught on this. Structure can be found in rhythm, in rhyming sequences and in the number of lines or stanzas in a poem, to name a few.

How Shakespeare Did It

For example, Shakespeare’s preferred rhythm structure is what is known as iambic pentameter. The best way to think of iambic pentameter is that it’s like a heartbeat. It goes like this: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. Here’s one of Shakespeare’s more famous lines in iambic pentameter (see if you can get the rhythm structure):

If music be the food of love, play on.

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Nice, eh? Shakespeare, of course, was a master of rhythm, using its structure to help express all kinds of different emotions.

When Every Syllable Counts

Haiku is a structure that consists of three lines, the first line with five syllables, the second line seven syllables, the third line five syllables. Here’s one that I wrote after my dad passed away:

LAMENT FOR MY DAD IN HAIKU FORMAT
We always ended
phone calls the same way. Now, for
all time: “love you, ‘bye.”

From the straightjacket of those three lines can come very big thoughts and emotion.

Repeating Lines

When I started writing my most recent COVID poem, I was feeling the squeeze of Ontario’s latest stay-at-home order. The first draft was in my usual free verse, but I was unhappy with the result. It did not convey the constriction I wanted to express, so I turned to structured verse. A pantoum uses four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first.

Demanding? Yes. Constricting? Actually, no! I found that pantoum’s structure itself provided the sense of restriction I was feeling. That sense became an integral part of the poem, without me having to spell it out. So, structure allowed me to expand the creative expression in the poem, beyond what I could have done with free verse. This is how, in poetry, confinement can lead to new creativity.

I hope you’re finding innovative ways to live within the restrictions of COVID. Maybe this structured poem will help you to appreciate how sometimes, being confined can lead to greater creative expression. Here’s Hope and Chaos; I’d love to know what you think!

Lee Ann