You have to wonder about a mom who has kids named Bubs, Stinky the Pyromaniac, and Little One. I can understand names like Bubs and Little One, but Stinky the Pyromaniac, predicted to burn down the state of Iowa one day? Who would nickname a child that? (Only a mother who really knows.) (For some odd reason, I think she identifies with Stinky.)
Erin Kilmer blogs at Together for Good. She’s a wife (to husband Art), mother of the aforementioned three, a writer and a poet. She also takes photographs, mostly of the family she’s obviously crazy about (see "Behold the Easter Cuteness").
She tells stories with humor (read “The Rat” or “Maybe I Should Change My Blog’s Title to Together for Random”); she tells stories with deep insight (“On My Head” or “They Are Listening”); and with love and pride in family spilling out all over the place (“The Spelling Bee” or “In Which the Pictures Are as Overwhelming as the Lack of Content”). We also know her children come by it honestly (“Because You Needed Proof of the Crazy”).
Then there are her poems.
Erin is a regular contributor to our poetry jams on Twitter, which we assemble over at TweetSpeak Poetry. But take a look at her poetry blog to see what she writes and how she writes. Take a look at “Branch,” “To That Humble Cot Upon Which I Daily Lay My Head” (a sonnet!), “Us, Together,” and “Boundaries.” You will be challenged, encouraged, impressed and moved – and often all in the same poem.
So check out Erin’s blog and poetry blog, and follow her on Twitter. It will be difficult to miss her incredible enthusiasm for family, for life and for God.
(In December, a number of us participated in the “Twelve Days of Community” - see the button at the top right - sponsored by The High Calling Blogs. The purpose was to highlight the blog or web site of someone other than ourselves during the season of Advent and Christmas. I liked the idea so much that I’m continuing to do that -- highlight a blog or web site of a person whose thoughts and writing have had an impact on me and others.)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Fragments
I call these short poems "Fragments" because they are pieces from other places -- comments I've left at places or just some doodlings.
Inside Out
She stares at white paper,
unsure, a bit tentative
at first. And then she finds,
or stumbles upon,
a stone to cross,
a stone to turn
inside out.
On Notice of “To Be Published”
These words from stones,
from a life lived,
from bits of data
infinitesimally small,
to pages shed by woods,
cycled and recycled to use
for beauty,
encouragement,
inspiration;
to help us see
what is there
and to savor the life
of the
infinitesimally
large.
from a life lived,
from bits of data
infinitesimally small,
to pages shed by woods,
cycled and recycled to use
for beauty,
encouragement,
inspiration;
to help us see
what is there
and to savor the life
of the
infinitesimally
large.
Pieces
The pieces are souls;
the shards, hearts.
The inside story begins
with a blue mist,
but warm.
the shards, hearts.
The inside story begins
with a blue mist,
but warm.
Spin Top
I once knew a man who
had a spin top like
the one the woman had in
her closet with a
window and
he loved it.
had a spin top like
the one the woman had in
her closet with a
window and
he loved it.
The Poetry Editor
I have good
friends, who
tweetly
alliterate and
alliterately
tweet. I
only collect the
tweets and
see what hatches.
friends, who
tweetly
alliterate and
alliterately
tweet. I
only collect the
tweets and
see what hatches.
Photograph by Nancy Rosback at Poems and Prayers. Used with permission.
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Gentleness of Attila the Honey
Eight years span the births of our first and second children.
There is a reason for that.
Our firstborn is the one people say you should have second, because if you have him (or her, but it’s usually a him in these situations) first, you may end up with an only child.
He was four-on-the-floor from the get-go. A salesman, the life of the party, Mr. Totally Gregarious born to two quiet, relatively introverted writers and readers.
He walked at nine months old, and he walked for one day. Then he ran. He never stopped. And he was quick.
He loved (loves) sports. During the 1984 Olympics, we must have depleted two rolls of masking tape so he could “burst through the ribbon” and win the race. About the same time, we found him awake one Saturday morning at 6 a.m., watching golf on TV. Golf!
Mr. Rough-and-Tumble played soccer, and basketball, and baseball (his true sports love). The way he played, basketball was a contact sport; he always looked so surprised when the refs called a foul on him. And baseball was the most intense experience anyone could ever have.
Gentleness was about the last word one would use to describe him. Except we, his parents, knew better. We knew his tender side.
That’s why we called him Attila the Honey. (I’ll take credit for the nickname.)
The University of Missouri survived Attila, and he went on to gainful employment. He eventually landed in Phoenix, helping to manage a semi-pro baseball team in a new league. His ability to network was amazing. His ability to talk to anyone was even more amazing.
Then at his church, in a young adults group, he met Stephanie. We met her when we spent Christmas in Phoenix in 2006. And the “honey” side of Attila the Honey began to become plainly evident. She brought out the tenderness and gentleness in him.
Not quite two years later, they married. And about a year and a half after that, they came up with Cameron.
To watch Attila the Honey with his infant son is one of the sweetest joys I’ve had as a parent.
It defines gentleness.
If you’d like to read other posts on gentleness, stop by the One Word Blog Carnival over at Bridget’s Chumbley’s place, One Word at a Time.
There is a reason for that.
Our firstborn is the one people say you should have second, because if you have him (or her, but it’s usually a him in these situations) first, you may end up with an only child.
He was four-on-the-floor from the get-go. A salesman, the life of the party, Mr. Totally Gregarious born to two quiet, relatively introverted writers and readers.
He walked at nine months old, and he walked for one day. Then he ran. He never stopped. And he was quick.
He loved (loves) sports. During the 1984 Olympics, we must have depleted two rolls of masking tape so he could “burst through the ribbon” and win the race. About the same time, we found him awake one Saturday morning at 6 a.m., watching golf on TV. Golf!
Mr. Rough-and-Tumble played soccer, and basketball, and baseball (his true sports love). The way he played, basketball was a contact sport; he always looked so surprised when the refs called a foul on him. And baseball was the most intense experience anyone could ever have.
Gentleness was about the last word one would use to describe him. Except we, his parents, knew better. We knew his tender side.
That’s why we called him Attila the Honey. (I’ll take credit for the nickname.)
The University of Missouri survived Attila, and he went on to gainful employment. He eventually landed in Phoenix, helping to manage a semi-pro baseball team in a new league. His ability to network was amazing. His ability to talk to anyone was even more amazing.
Then at his church, in a young adults group, he met Stephanie. We met her when we spent Christmas in Phoenix in 2006. And the “honey” side of Attila the Honey began to become plainly evident. She brought out the tenderness and gentleness in him.
Not quite two years later, they married. And about a year and a half after that, they came up with Cameron.
To watch Attila the Honey with his infant son is one of the sweetest joys I’ve had as a parent.
It defines gentleness.
If you’d like to read other posts on gentleness, stop by the One Word Blog Carnival over at Bridget’s Chumbley’s place, One Word at a Time.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
My Western City, Dreaming
“How many times I saw my western city/Dream by her river.”
--Sara Teasdale, “Sunset: St. Louis” from Flame and Shadow
"A mourning figure walks, and will not rest..."
--Vachel Lindsay, "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight"
That’s what old river towns do,
dream by their rivers, dream of the
days of glory and wealth and triumphs,
when the making of things was important
and the shipping of things was vital and the
banking of things was critical and the litigating
of things made and shipped and banked was lifeblood;
and now old river towns doze and occasionally half-wake,
with ears closed and one eye open, dreaming by their rivers,
and with ears open and one eye closed, dreaming of the
mourning figure walking
the prairie streets.
This is a poem for the Random Act of Poetry sponsored by the High Calling Blogs. L.L. Barkat provided the prompt: Begin with a sentence with a picture in it, like from a poem, and then write from a memory or event or simply what comes to mind. I chose the lines above from the Sara Teasdale and Vachel Lindsay poems, both of which are featured today at TweetSpeak Poetry for National Poetry Month.
And Louise Gallagher at Recover Your Joy got inspired by all of this and wrote "River Deep."
--Sara Teasdale, “Sunset: St. Louis” from Flame and Shadow
"A mourning figure walks, and will not rest..."
--Vachel Lindsay, "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight"
That’s what old river towns do,
dream by their rivers, dream of the
days of glory and wealth and triumphs,
when the making of things was important
and the shipping of things was vital and the
banking of things was critical and the litigating
of things made and shipped and banked was lifeblood;
and now old river towns doze and occasionally half-wake,
with ears closed and one eye open, dreaming by their rivers,
and with ears open and one eye closed, dreaming of the
mourning figure walking
the prairie streets.
This is a poem for the Random Act of Poetry sponsored by the High Calling Blogs. L.L. Barkat provided the prompt: Begin with a sentence with a picture in it, like from a poem, and then write from a memory or event or simply what comes to mind. I chose the lines above from the Sara Teasdale and Vachel Lindsay poems, both of which are featured today at TweetSpeak Poetry for National Poetry Month.
And Louise Gallagher at Recover Your Joy got inspired by all of this and wrote "River Deep."
Empty
It was empty, that
small cleft in the
rock;
it was empty, that
morning, that day.
The only presence,
silent, a
few cloth strips,
stained;
the only presence,
moving, the
dust particles
filtered by
the sun,
floating, pulsing from the
life created from
death,
the life created from
nothing, from
the emptiness in the
small cleft in the rock.
As in the beginning…
small cleft in the
rock;
it was empty, that
morning, that day.
The only presence,
silent, a
few cloth strips,
stained;
the only presence,
moving, the
dust particles
filtered by
the sun,
floating, pulsing from the
life created from
death,
the life created from
nothing, from
the emptiness in the
small cleft in the rock.
As in the beginning…
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Saturday Good Reads
There were a considerable number of good things to read on the web last week, with a special section just for Easter.
Poetry
Marcus Goodyear’s “The Poetry of Money.”
Two by Melissa at All the Words: “En route” and "What Face Now."
Two by Justinian: “Brokenness” and “Not too sure.”
“Chew on This” by nAncY at Poems and Prayers.
“Redemption” by Susan Etole at Just…A Moment.
“Short,” by Kelly Langner Sauer.
“Reason to Write” by Phoenix Karenee.
“Pieces” by David Rupert.
"Acid Washed Love" by Phoenix Karenee.
And two sonnets:
“To That Humble Cot Upon Which I Daily Lay My Head” by Erin Kilmer at Together For Good.
"Lenten Sonnet" by David Koyzis at Evangel.
Easter
An Easter egg hunt. “Finders and Hiders,” by Billy Coffey at The Master’s Artist.
Chrystie Cole's “The Whole Earth Sings.”
“Does Christ Have Fans or Followers: On the Road to Calvary” by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.
“Easter: Expectations” by Shaun Groves.
“The Real Meaning of Easter?” By Chaplain Mike at InternetMonk.
“A Son’s Wisdom,” another good one by Billy Coffey.
“Peeps: The Epic Battle,” a review of Easter candy by Kathy Richards.
"Good Friday," by Sarah M. Salter. Great collection of Easter songs on YouTube.
"One Brilliant Show," by David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers.
Easter Video
There are a lot of videos about Good Friday and Easter posted this week; this is one of the best I’ve seen. “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming,” the famous sermon put to video and posted at Christian Manifesto. Really, really, good.
Prose
Louise Gallagher at Recover Your Joy: “If you don’t like what you’re doing: Stop it!” and “Leaving the World Better Off.”
“I Was Normal, Then I Wrote My First Story,” by K.M. Weiland at The Master’s Artist.
“Top 10 Worst Creativity Tips of All Time,” by Demian Farnworth via Kathy Richards
“Whitman at Gettysburg,” by Andy Whitman at The Image Journal.
“10 Things I Did on My Retreat,” by Cassandra Frear.
Poetry
Marcus Goodyear’s “The Poetry of Money.”
Two by Melissa at All the Words: “En route” and "What Face Now."
Two by Justinian: “Brokenness” and “Not too sure.”
“Chew on This” by nAncY at Poems and Prayers.
“Redemption” by Susan Etole at Just…A Moment.
“Short,” by Kelly Langner Sauer.
“Reason to Write” by Phoenix Karenee.
“Pieces” by David Rupert.
"Acid Washed Love" by Phoenix Karenee.
And two sonnets:
“To That Humble Cot Upon Which I Daily Lay My Head” by Erin Kilmer at Together For Good.
"Lenten Sonnet" by David Koyzis at Evangel.
Easter
An Easter egg hunt. “Finders and Hiders,” by Billy Coffey at The Master’s Artist.
Chrystie Cole's “The Whole Earth Sings.”
“Does Christ Have Fans or Followers: On the Road to Calvary” by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.
“Easter: Expectations” by Shaun Groves.
“The Real Meaning of Easter?” By Chaplain Mike at InternetMonk.
“A Son’s Wisdom,” another good one by Billy Coffey.
“Peeps: The Epic Battle,” a review of Easter candy by Kathy Richards.
"Good Friday," by Sarah M. Salter. Great collection of Easter songs on YouTube.
"One Brilliant Show," by David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers.
Easter Video
There are a lot of videos about Good Friday and Easter posted this week; this is one of the best I’ve seen. “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming,” the famous sermon put to video and posted at Christian Manifesto. Really, really, good.
Prose
Louise Gallagher at Recover Your Joy: “If you don’t like what you’re doing: Stop it!” and “Leaving the World Better Off.”
“I Was Normal, Then I Wrote My First Story,” by K.M. Weiland at The Master’s Artist.
“Top 10 Worst Creativity Tips of All Time,” by Demian Farnworth via Kathy Richards
“Whitman at Gettysburg,” by Andy Whitman at The Image Journal.
“10 Things I Did on My Retreat,” by Cassandra Frear.
Friday, April 2, 2010
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