#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Monarch in the Meadow

Fortunately, tonight, I check my e-mail just before blogging. It’s been on my mind all day, but I forgot anyway, to send a poem for a workshop I’m going to take while I’m teaching at the IWWG Annual Summer weeklong that starts a week from today. So, a quick decision, followed by a quick revision. Wrote this poem a few months ago, a spring poem, and workshopped it a couple of times. As soon as I sent it off, I looked one more time and could see all the flaws. Oh well, I will look forward to the feedback. (I like this poem a lot.) This morning I had a delicious long ramble in the sunny warm meadows and woods with Charleston and saw my first monarch of the season in the milkweed! I’ve been watching this meadow patch of milkweed for the past week, as I often see monarchs here. There she was! I had to wade around in the thick and high weeds quite a bit, following her, being quiet and patient, to get this pic. Today I felt a lightness of heart and also a tiredness. I let myself be tired. Tonight, after dinner, Frank and I sat outside in the summer evening. Just sat. I so rarely just sit. And relaxed, and chatted. Watched the planes in the sky. Sat for a long time before cleaning a few things up and going in. Today I also had a very nice e-mail from the journal that’s publishing four of my poems and an essay any day now. The editor saying he had only picked three poets to feature in this issue and how glad he was that I was one of them. The monarch in the milkweed, a very hopeful sign.