A Comfy Kind Of Restless

Hiya 😊

The NaPoWriMo site said:

Our (optional) prompt for the day is to write a sijo. This is a traditional Korean poetic form. Like the haiku, it has three lines, but the lines are much longer. Typically, they are 14-16 syllables, and optimally each line will consist of two parts – like two sentences, or a sentence of two clauses divided by a comma. In terms of overall structure, a sijo functions like an abbreviated sonnet, in that the first line sets up an inquiry or discussion, the second line continues the discussion, and the third line resolves it with a “twist” or surprise. For more on the sijo, check out the primer here and a long list of examples in English, here.

I found this tricky.  I wanted to write something quickly because I started late, but I had to slow down and think about how I was supposed to construct this Sijo.  How annoying, huh?

So:

3-4-4-4 (15)

3-4-4-4 (15)

3-5, 4-3 (15)

is the syllable pattern outlined in the first link the site gave me, and it has to go: line one = theme  line two = elaboration and then line three = twist and conclusion.

this was my first one:

A perfect, well-positioned, all mod-conned out, marital home.

Village life, four gorgeous kids, decent cars and a well-paid job.

Alcohol.  Covid takes its toll. Sudden lay-offs – depression.

Unfortunately, it’s clunky and cobbled together.  I had one more try:

In my tree, the fluffy clouds form pictures and sometimes birds come.

I stay still, listening hard.  It smells like rain and foliage.

My children call me down for tea.  I hid my pills by the swing.

There’s so much to poetry that I only learn through these prompts!  I like the second one better, but I’ll still not be winning any competitions with a Sijo just yet 😉

It’s nearly kid collecting time again!

Take care and I’ll ‘see’ you on the flip side…can you believe that’s me two thirds of the way through NaPo for another year?!

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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How Do?!

This was napowrimo.net’s prompt:

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a humorous rant. In this poem, you may excoriate to your heart’s content all the things that get on your nerves. 

I’ve spent a lot of time talking/texting with another of my inspirational friends over the last three weeks or so.  Her commitment to taking action and working through problems is amazing.

So, what is getting on my nerves the most?

Yours truly!

It’s actually quite often the case, if I burrow down into my disgruntledness.  Endlessly boring, but there you go.  I wrote a rant anyway (not like me, lol).  It’s not particularly funny.

I’m sick to death of being ‘me’

the things I think about! I see

the worst that could go wrong, and yes

the grains of truth in every jest.

(To hear me speak you’d never guess

that I’m incredibly blessed)

I analyse the faintest hint

someone has found out that I’ve lint

where one would oft expect a brain.

My indolence provides no gain.

My reticence is in the spots

it shouldn’t be, and I have lots

of places where I should hold back

and don’t; so they then all attack

my sense of worth.  I talk too much

without any true point as such,

and think too far, but get nowhere;

hoard crafty stuff with undue care;

cry buckets at the simplest things;

hatch schemes that never comfort brings;

toil for hours with no pay, but

claim employment churns up my gut.

Watch all the influencers list

ways to catch up on all I’ve missed,

so get fired up, do twenty chores

(for which I’m usually too bored)

and end resentfully, in bed,

my pelvis aching, and my head.

But Jordan Peterson extolls

the best way to myself enrol:

it’s just to bargain (not to rule

as if I was thrown back in school

would even listen to the gist

when standing shaking cranal fists).

Just be fair (and even gentle)

on myself, and don’t go mental!

He doesn’t get my game is lost

before it starts, despite the cost:

Self-sabotage is waaaay too fun –

who doesn’t love a frantic mum?!

Just to underline some of the points above, this poem took so long to construct that I am going to have to throw this on the blog and scarper to collect the kiddies (I’ve done some housework today too, however 😉 )

Take care and I’ll ‘see’ you for Day 20. Byeeeeee!

Monty X

[Pic is from here]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hello!

Hope you are all well?

The prompt for today was:

to write a poem based on the title of one of the chapters from Susan G. Wooldridge’s Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words. The book’s table of contents can be viewed using Amazon’s “Look inside” feature.

[from here]

I chose the title “catching myself” and actually wrote a few poems trying to ‘catch’ a thought.  None of them please me, but the below is probably the best of a bad lot:

I can’t trust my reality:

staring into eyes that are not mine.

Wearing dull clothes.

And a generic, pouched skin

(as if I bought it

with some giftcard)

My movements: backwards.

My motives: blurred.

Catching myself thinking: “that reflection must be me…?”

I gravitate instead

into the arms of my children’s chattiness.

I drink them in,

wishing 40 years could fall from me.

Running wild and free,

two madcap big brothers

showing me the ropes.

I’d still be a third wheel,

but I’d probably squeak less.

Annnnnd tomorrow is another day 😊

Take care, and hopefully I’ll get the rest of the week’s posts out before lunchtime each day as the kids are back at school as from tomorrow!  I can’t really believe we’re going into the summer term already, the last of P3 and P6 for our boys ☹ They are getting far too big…

Monty X

[author’s own pics]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hi 😊

How are you all this weekend?

I was glad it was quite a simple prompt that napowrimo.net set, as I had lots to do:

Today, I’d like to challenge you to stop fighting the moon. Lean in. Accept the moon. The moon just wants what’s best for you and your poems. So yes – write a poem that is about, or that involves, the moon.

I saw in the comments of the prompt that it is actually National Haiku Day too, so I took that as a nudge towards extra brevity!

Here is my first offering:

A reflected moon
pulls tides of tears from my eyes.
We’ll wane together.

then a second one asked to be formed:

His waxed moon, over
the rim of the packed rock stage,
induced lunacy.

And with that, my pencil became still 😉

I got caught up in furniture construction and rearranging for hours, so I apologise that this post has gone up much later than planned!

Take care and I’ll catch you tomorrow,

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hey there 😊

The prompt on napowrimo.net was:

…today I’d like you to relax with the rather silly form called Skeltonic, or tumbling, verse. In this form, there’s no specific number of syllables per line, but each line should be short, and should aim to have two or three stressed syllables. And the lines should rhyme. You just rhyme the same sound until you get tired of it, and then move on to another sound.

I basically just had a bit of fun, because one of the first things I did this morning was watch this lady talk about the pubs opening up. 

I myself haven’t drunk alcohol in years, after my last hangover (at 39) decided to stick around for several days – I’d only had three small glasses of red over the course of a night out!  I was never that fond of alcohol anyway, so no major loss.  (I’ve recently given up fizzy drinks too, but that’s another ramble)

Bumbling.

Rumbling.

Tumbling.

Now my keys I’m fumbling,

as home from pub I’m stumbling –

my social standing crumbling.

Yes! Alcohol-fuelled bumble!

My stomach starts to rumble,

I’ll prob’ly take a tumble

from these stupid heels, then fumble

to the creaky stairs (and stumble.

Give up.

Sad-scoff apple crumble)

If you have been given a bit more freedom where you live this weekend, enjoy yourself but don’t get into too much trouble, will you?!

Take care, and I’ll meet you back here tomorrow!

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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Copyright © 2021  Montaffera All Rights Reserved

Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hiya 😊

It was a frustrating morning of trying to get our internet connection to behave, so I’ll get straight to what napowrimo.net tasked me with before my laptop gets taken again:

Today’s prompt comes to us from Juan Martinez. It asks you to think about a small habit you picked up from one of your parents, and then to write a piece that explores an early memory of your parent engaged in that habit, before shifting into writing about yourself engaging in the same habit.

This is the quick poem that came up for me (it doesn’t totally meet the prompt, but I was due to go read to the kids!)

Mum sings when she’s busy,

Mum sings when she’s sad,

(She sang while in labour

when pains suddenly got bad)

I hear myself singing,

or humming,

or talking

more than I thought

when I’m crafting

(or walking!).

We copy street noises,

and put on weird voices,

and realise: sometimes

these weren’t even choices!

Love ya, mum! 😉

I’m rushing off again, my lovely friend is keeping an eye on our kids at the park, so I’d better go retrieve them when I said I would before she has gremlins on her hands 😉 take care and I’ll ‘see’ you later, ‘gator!

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hi 😊

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that delves into the meaning of your first or last name. [from here]

Well, this is internetville, and I don’t write under either of my given names, so I went with “Jayne” as it’s my middle one.  I didn’t really ‘delve’ into it, but I refer to some delving, so that might count?!

Another poet (who is amazing, please go check her out here) and I always have interesting discussions, and one big topic we’ve touched on recently is “religion, beliefs and the levels of  tolerance shown around them”.  So it made me chuckle reflecting on what my middle name means.

Spot the nod to the Firefly series in the second line, too 😉

“God is gracious” says her name

And here, this woman they call ‘Jayne’,

Walks through her life and meets friends’ pain

And gently holds it.

For who is she to e’er deny

The feelings strewn when life’s awry,

Or callously to walk on by

When she could just sit?

Together with those friends she can

The voids explore, for linings scan,

Phoenix flames help powerf’ly fan

Ride out their shared s**t.

It does occur to me often that God is supposed to have given us women more pain in childbirth, bid us be subservient to men and lots of other patriarchal motifs; but, as a consequence of all that, the connections we form with each other can be very transformative and life-affirming.  It is played out over and over again in front of me and I love to, no need to, hear about the machinations, minutiae and momentous faced in other women’s lives to keep seeing the worth in my own struggles when they arise.  There is so much beauty and, yes, grace that can be unlocked and tapped into when women share things.  Being the bearers of life in so many different ways than “just” giving birth is such a responsibility, but an honour, too. So that’s where I was going in the poem.

Take care of yourselves, as always, and I’ll be back soon with Day 15 😊

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hiya 😊

How are you all?

I had a rude awakening this morning, with a massive bee somehow having got into the house!  It was making a LOT of noise and luckily it was just outside our bedroom door on one of our landing’s lampshades, and not in the room with me, as I had first thought.  I woke hubby rather abruptly and made sure the boys’ room doors were tightly closed, then coached from the sidelines while hubby caught the bee in the jar I had provided.  The bee was NOT in a good mood, but conveniently landed on the stairs for a breather so (she?) was able to be scooped up unhurt.  Hubby says it gladly flew away when he opened the jar outside!

All our windows were closed overnight as it was a bit chilly, so I take it the bee had been kipping over somewhere in the house?! Bit too much excitement for 6.15am, I feel.

Anyway, on to the prompt:

write a poem in the form of a news article you wish would come out tomorrow.

This was my response:

CANCER MAY SOON ‘NOT EXIST’

Thanks to ‘wonder-plant’ of bliss

that can be grown anywhere

(despite it once being deemed ‘rare’).

A tincture of the special leaves

rejuvenates and, one soon sees,

symptoms desist and health restore;

terminal patients sick no more.

It’s thought this feted foliage

works on cancers at any stage,

an outcome more than could be hoped

in science before, and has provoked

a flurry of experiments

and joy at this turn of events.

I tried to pop a text box around it, but my formatting is being silly!

It’s lunchtime again here (I wrote my poem after the bee incident, then lay down for a bit while the kids snoozed on…) so I’m going to have to hurry up and post this, as usual 😉  I have promised both boys I’ll go for separate wee wanders with them after lunch as there is yet more glorious sunshine today!

I hope you enjoy yourselves whatever you get up to, and I’ll meet you here for day 14.

Take care,

Monty X

[pic is from here]

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Copyright © 2021  Montaffera All Rights Reserved

Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hey 😊

I wrote my poem before 8am, got showered etc, went out for a walk about 10.20am, came back for a quick lunch around 1pm and then took the kids to the park 2pm-5pm!  Youngest came in and immediately took my laptop off to play Fortnite with one of the friends he’d just seen in person, then it was dinner and all the shenanigans of getting kids down…so this post is going up much later than usual.

The NaPoWriMo site said:

 This prompt challenges you to write a poem using at least one word/concept/idea from each of two specialty dictionaries: Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary and the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction. 

I chose the words ‘flitter’ and ‘filk’ from the sci-fi dictionary and ‘Dictys’ from the Classical one (see the screenshots I took from the dictionary links).  My poem is a nonsense really, but it pleases me 😉

From the Classical Dictionary P284, explaining who Dictys was.

From the Sci-fi dictionary, P9, explaining Filk.

from the sci-fi dictionary again, P9, explaining Flitter.

Dictys, that Cretan!

Causing shockwaves

by spewing forth

history to Shepherds

from beyond the grave.

Why is it always Shepherds

with their tall tales?!

(Rivalled only by fishermen)

Do these green men flitter down,

their filk songs

blasting through the sky;

or is sheep dung

on a campfire

good for opening third eyes…?

I did read somewhere that burning dung can produce harmful stuff like arsenic, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility for it also emit a hallucinogenic, haha.

I am pretty dozy myself after all my fresh air and glorious (but chilly!) sunshine today, so I am going to tootle off before my head hits the keyboard 😉

‘See’ you tomorrow for day 13, take care my lovely readers!

Monty X

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hi!

My poem prompt for today (see here) was to write a letter to a fictional or famous person and then for them to write back. 

I am a sucker for watching people give me their opinion on how to live a better life (particularly other mums) on YouTube and Instagram.  Most of what I see I really admire, some of it I cringe at and some I never subscribe to because it has a vibe I can’t really get with. 

At the outset, I will stress that I know these are legitimate businesses, I have purchased and read a lot of books (and enjoyed them!) from and because of people I have followed on different platforms (whether they be mum vloggers, psychologists, decluttering experts, crafters, TED talk givers, business gurus, artists or whatever) and I am always fascinated by the discipline and thought that has gone on behind the scenes.  I know it sometimes takes hours for me to construct just one blog post, so I don’t know how they can put out so much content and not go crazy!

Dear Mama,

Your pretty kiddies in a row

Your business – thriving!

Husband – jiving!

All your cupboards out on show…

Thick make-up, in a hospital:

a quick procedure,

tweaked some feature,

home again and chores corralled.

I see you smiling, through their noise –

Planned activity

“neat” proclivity

exercises ‘midst the toys.

Inside this blessed benevolence:

kids’ private lives?

exhausted wife?

No camera trained in evidence.

You – weeping ball of stress, unseen?

Insta-addicted?

Doubt-inflicted?

Just extrovert in the extreme?

P.S.  I do not ask in ‘hate’

with your work upon my plate

I’d crumble; so I ask in awe,

and really hope your human flaws

have space, are honoured just the same

as other mamas’ in this game;

This life of service that we have

You guys sure make look pretty suave…

Dear Monty,

Thanks for your interest

in us –

Oh!

Can you please invest

in this course, this tee, this new set

of homewares – oh, and don’t forget

my new book launches in two weeks!

(I’m so excited ‘cos it seeks

to change bad habits into wins

and all these other fabby things

So please buy…)

Oh, now, where was I?

Yes!  Your letter! I can tell

that your comments do mean well

but, really, I am one smart girl,

I’ll teach you how to get great curls,

Whip yo’self into fab shape,

Tone your abs, portion your plate,

Fix money worries, clean your house,

Menu plan, crochet a mouse…

D.I.Y shelving, paint your rooms,

Find 15 uses for old brooms…

And still get my kids’ outfits neat,

conquer my laundry, feed the street;

attend meetings, scrub my floors,

put home-made wreathes up on my doors!

So really, when you look at YOU,

Then all the things that I can do,

There is no contest – is there, chick?!

So quit moaning,

and pay me –

quick!

Please don’t take the above personally if you feel I am trying to drag other people down, (though I see a lot of the first letter’s stuff posted in comments etc and sometimes do think it myself, depending on the video).  Most people I follow are very open about their mental health and how “imperfect” life can be vs Instagram or YouTube ideals, however, and most look at advertising as “icky” in the early days of them gaining traction, but then begin slipping it into everything and it becomes “normal”. 

Every business has to advertise, and this is just the new model of doing it that society has adopted in the digital age.  I fully believe these mamas work hard for the money they get, and part of me is cheering that we are maybe finally recognising that the act of child rearing definitely needs stategy and planning – which isn’t easy!

There’s just part of me that wonders if we are falling into a new trap with it all? Hence the satire. But I still consume a plethora of this content myself 😉

Again, who am I to pipe up though, sitting on my backside writing a poetry post, whilst my hubby and Youngest sleep in til past 10am on this truly Sun-day morning?! My Eldest is whooshing about free-playing in our ‘sunroom’ with some superhero toys, and the only childreary/housework stuff I’ve done so far today is: hugged  my Eldest loads, denied him some screen time, listen to his long complicated ramble about Minecraft – and put in a laundry load full of underpants.

Plus my hair is a mess…

Take care of yourself, and I’ll catch you tomorrow 🙂

Monty X

[pic is from here]

Come visit the Facebook page and follow @ComfyRestless on Twitter

Copyright © 2021  Montaffera All Rights Reserved

Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!