Ann Chiappetta

Making Meaningful Connections

A Warm Spot

| Filed under nonfiction Poem

 

Blogging about our animals is a bright  glow in our lives.  Just when I think it can’t get any zanier around here, cohabitating with two large dogs, three cats and two guinea pigs, something  happens. Thank goodness it’s usually adorable or funny.

 

Meet Luna, a petite long-haired mix. April rescued her when she was 6 weeks old and she didn’t weigh more than a bottle of water. She is about five pounds now and won’t be a large cat. She is gentle and happy and like Bagheera/Noodle kitty, travels well in her carrier and  has made her place in the pack. In this photo she found a warm spot to take a nap, I suppose a laptop is kind of like a human lap just a bit flat.

 

Below is my tribute to Luna.

 

Kitten haiku

Sprawling Feline warm

 

from hardware and data  chips

 

cat divinity

Photo: Black kitten laying  on it’s side over open laptop computer, head and paws facing camera.

Black kitten laying  on it’s side over open laptop computer, head and paws facing camera.

 

Sharing Poetry

| Filed under Poem writing

A Blessing

By James Wright

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46481/a-blessing#mainContent

 

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans.  They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more, they begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

 

Winner On a Whim

| Filed under nonfiction Poem writing

A few months ago a writing friend suggested a contest being offered by the Handy Uncapped Pen. I hadn’t submitted my work for a while and hoped this would help get me back into the submission state-of-mind again. It did help.  I won second place for my poem, “Tide”.

This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.Here’s the link:

http://www.handyuncappedpen.com/2021/06/cripendy-contest-second-place-tide-by.html

Thanks to Cheryll Romanek for the beautiful beach pic.

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Memorial Day

| Filed under Poem

Memorial Day

 

The last Monday of May commemorates Memorial Day, the time to gather ourselves and remember the sacrifices made by our Nation’s soldiers who died protecting our country. It has always been a reflective and poignant holiday for me; my father served in Korea, my uncles and cousins in World War II, Vietnam, and my husband in the assorted international conflicts in the Middle East during the 1980s and1990s. During my time as a trauma therapist working with veterans, I heard the firsthand accounts of the demands and sacrifices our men and women in the armed forces made   and continue to make for us each and every day.

 

Originally called Decoration Day, the actual day set aside to fly flags at half-mast, participate in parades, and enjoy the launch of the summer season was May 30th.

It was referred to as Decoration Day because it was chosen as the best time by many families to brush off the ides of winter and decorate the soldiers’ graves. Memorial Day was officially declared a National Holiday   by President Lynden Johnson on May 1966 at Arlington National Cemetery.

A memorial written by Civil War-era orator, Robert Green Ingersoll, eloquently captures the significance of Memorial Day for all generations of our Fallen:

 

“They died for liberty—they died for us.  They are at rest.

They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless … Earth may run red with other wars, but they are at peace.

In the midst of battles, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death.”

 

Below is a link with additional information about the history behind Memorial Day. http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

 

 

Acrostic Poem for Guiding Eyes

| Filed under blindness Guide dogs Poem writing

Hello all-

It’s always a pleasure to put my writing and performing skills to good use, like when helping out Guiding Eyes for the Blind www.guidingeyes.org . Here’s  something I wrote to help them out.

Hi my name is Ann Chiappetta and I am a Guiding Eyes graduate.

I’d like to share what Guiding Eyes means to me

In the form of an acrostic poem.

Guide dog mobility instructors who are the best in the business

Unparalleled   and internationally recognized brood and stud program

Increased independence

Doggone bestest puppy program

Excellent follow up services for graduates and their dogs

 

Developing programs for athletes

, active older adults, and people with additional disabilities

Organization who believes in the potential of it’s clients

Graduates like me who

are recipients of

confident, capable  and loving canine partners.

Thanks for listening.

Click here for the audio:

 

 

 

 

Free ebooks

| Filed under blindness Fiction Guide dogs nonfiction Poem

From March 7 to March 13 all my titles on www.smashwords.com are free.

Go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnChiappetta

To download all or any of my titles. If you want to read poetry, fiction and nonfiction, I’ve got a title for you. Poems in Upwelling, heartfelt journeys with my guide dog in the memoir, Follow Your Dog a Story of Love and Trust, essays and poems written for nature lovers in Words of Life: Poems and Essays and a short story collection certain to send your imagination soaring in A String of Stories From the Heart to the Future.

 

I hope you come along for the word journey with me and share this link, it’s only free from March 7 until March 13, 2021.

#smashwords #ebookweek21

White tail stag deer standing majestically in forest.

 

 

Poetical Repeat

| Filed under Poem

Like so many others, I’ve struggled with my personal feelings and political alignments during the most recent presidency. Rather than say anything I would later regret, I am going to quote someone else’s words. Here it goes:

“High though his titles, proud his name, / Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; / Despite those titles, power, and pelf, / The wretch, concentred all in self, / Living, shall forfeit fair renown, / And, doubly dying, shall go down / To the vile dust from whence he sprung, / Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.” -Walter Scott, novelist and poet (15 Aug 1771-1832)

by annchiappetta_nxovue | tags : | 0