Shirley's Soliloquies

March 15

Dance video, love those core moves!
Bachelor Brad Womack picks Emily.
Hope they have a Happy Ending!

I love having this time off.
Who knew spring break could feel
this good!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 14

Happy Birthday, Louis Goldstein,
mentor, friend!
Miss you! You were a positive figure
in Maryland politics, a role model.
You are greatly missed. I so enjoyed
the summer I worked in your office,
cataloguing all your books,
and reading some too! I remember
fondly all the times you came to my schools.
What a star! Thank you
for enriching my life!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 13

Wrote two new poems today, including
"All for the Love," my tribute
to Johnny Horton, country music star,
my first love.

Felt so good to sleep in today!!

We turn the clocks tonight!! Hurray!!!
My favorite time of the year begins!!
Jubilation!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 12

Happy Birthday
to my dear friend, Elaine McCarthy,
who passed away suddenly
in October, 2009.

Elaine, I wrote a poem
about you, called "Wild Girl."
Yesterday, I submitted it to
The Comstock Review.
I hope they publish it!

I miss you, and am grateful for
33 years of friendship, and many
wonderful adventures.
Tell Cooper I said,"Hi."

Love,

Shirley

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 11

Today, a huge earthquake
and tsunami devastate Japan.
Grief is global.
We are all so fragile.

Love to you, dear people of Japan.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 10

Heavy rain, those clouds
are peeing
all over my universe.

Thank heaven
for my leopard umbrella.

Accessories brighten
the darkest days.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 9

Today, a new dose of blonde!
Forgive vanity, forget the gray
roots.
I'm addicted to Emidio Vincenzo's Escape!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 8

My chiropractor fixes
my subluxations, and
to my body
that's relaxation!

Thanks, Dr. Dorn,
for spine-tingling treatment!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 7

What I love is
the anticipation of Spring,
knowing there's a bluebird
in my near future.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 6

A stunning production of "Les Miserables"
at the Hippodrome Theatre. I am so fortunate
to be a volunteer usher, and see shows for free!
This show moves me more than any other.

"Bring Him Home"

(Valjean is standing over Marius at the barricade)

VALJEAN
God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 5

Poetry group at Lalita's -
a lovely gathering of 11 writers,
coming together to share, workshop,
and revel in our words.
We laughed about "gonads"
and "the uninvited guest."

My Al Pacino poem
is getting better and better!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 4

Poets and Painters Reading at
The Artists' Gallery in Columbia.
Great Night! Big crowd!
I felt like a celebrity
dazzling with words and a voice:

Not Your Mother’s Clothesline

-after a photograph by John Stier

Don’t give me laundry, give me Costa Rica,

where art billows and bleeds on the line;

Matisse hues riot in the open air.

Brilliant blues, a taste of lime,

an indiscretion of red—

I lose myself in a silken maze.

Butterflies, toucans, erotic petals

sizzle in heat. I succumb to color,

become part of the prism.

Wrap me in a sea-scented scarf. Drench

my senses. No ordinary tourist,

accessories replenish me.

Ban beige, I cry out, as rainbow

fabrics blaze in the tropical sun.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 3

When you volunteer at WYPR,
they feed you well!
This evening, a silver bag
from Sascha's:
tuna pesto sandwich, gourmet chips,
apple, cupcake, Sprite,
and Baby's Breath!
Oh, and pink tissue paper!
You might call it a "wrap."
Public Radio Rocks!

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 2

Warm spring-like day, I'm feeling
that March rush.
Think I hear tulips
pushing up from the Underworld.

Shirley's Soliloquies

March 1

Concert at Peabody Institute:

Tubas, trombones, trumpets-
enough to make you horny!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 28

Rainy Monday! Still, I went to the gym.
Woman of Dedication and Grit!!

"The King's Speech" won the Oscar last night for Best Picture.
Hurray! A celebration of finding one's voice!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 27

Successful poetry reading at the Writer's Center
in Bethesda with Laura Shovan and Kat Hellen.
Lovely audience, beautiful poems,
the exquisite intimacy of words.
Afterward, an Espresso Hamburger at "The Dizz."

It doesn't get better!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 26

Poetry returns...a new poem
in the Stephen Pitcairn series.
This one called "Reminiscence."

The last couplet:
Hear me; live well. Honor
your splendid gifts.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 25

Seven months since the killing
of Stephen Pitcairn in my beautiful
community of Charles Village.
His loss still felt, his potential still alive.
Soon, the trial. I set my Intention
that justice will prevail.
In Florida, his mother's heart
still broken.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 24

"The King's Speech": a speech therapist
helps a king find his voice, and believe in himself.
I spent 33.5 years in my speech therapy career
helping children find their voices.
This movie affirmed for me
the value of my life's work, the importance
of treating the whole person, and not just the
"stutter."
For the past 15 years, I've focused
on finding and growing
my own poetic voice.
"Voice" is a major theme in my life!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 23

I'm thinking it's about time
for another trip to Home Depot,
Paint Department,
where I can stock up
on those strips of color possibilities.
What shade will I be? I need
a new name to define
myself for spring:
Pink Pandemonium,
Emerald Goddess,
Yellow Blossom Radiance.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 22

Snow Day! I'm a kid
at heart
who relishes a delicious
day off.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 21

Mondays come around
every seven days.
Isn't there a law
against that kind of repetition?

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 20

Poetry agrees with me!
I'm cooking up my next gem now -
a poem I might call
"Cocktails with Claude and Henri."

Stopped at Eddie's for an Egg
and Bacon Breakfast Sandwich.
Thanks to the Hen and the Pig!

Saw a gazillion birds flying in a pattern.
Great to know
where you are going.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 19

I'm fond of this lazy Saturday
after a good night's sleep:
laundry done, old mail
tossed, and my poetic essence
nourished.

Outside, an ancient wind
howls like a banshee,
miffed because
I won't let it in.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 18

The full moon is a purse,
a luminous accessory
that complements
the perfect stars in my eyes.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 17

Poetry group reunion tonight,
presided over by Jelly Bean the Cat.
We ate and drank gourmet,
read poems, and shared
the intimate affection of joyous words.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 16

Today I begin
my late winter
walking program.
I can't wait to put on my walking shoes,
reconnect with nature,
and invent the next phase of my life!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 15

Stanley Plumly, Maryland's poet laureate, gives a lecture on John Keats at Johns Hopkins University. He reads one poem. I want to hear more poems!!

First two lines from Plumly's poem, "Above Barnesville":

In the body the night sky in ascension -
the starry campion, the mallow rose, the wild potato vine.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 14

Will the real St. Valentine please stand up?

Really now, Number Three, your pink boxer shorts give you away!!

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 13

Dear Egypt,

Best Wishes on your Freedom. I'm so happy for you!!

Shirley from Baltimore

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 12

Ushering Jersey Boys at the Hippodrome -
2.000 patrons happily seated, and I'm
loving my $80 chair.
"Oh, What a Night."

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 11

I celebrated Friday
with two White Neighbors
and two Black Russians.
Some might call that diversity.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 10

Treated myself to a massage today;
I feel like a joyful pressed flower.
Place me
between the pages of my own book.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 9, 2011

Gabrielle Giffords asked for toast.

Her wounded brain is staging a comeback.

She wants to rejoin the world, one

healing cell at a time

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 8

I judged some bad poems today,

and, no, I don’t feel okay.

William Shakespeare would spit—

Robert Frost throw a fit,

if they saw the poems that I read today.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 7

I am Paul Bunyan

lumberjacking my way

into the week.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 6

Ever try to say February with crackers in your mouth?

Listened to an interview with Terry Tempest Williams—American author,

naturalist, and conservationist—on NPR’s On Being.

She discussed her book, “Finding Beauty in a Broken World” (2008),

about the art of mosaics. Some things I remembered:

I believe in the beauty of all things broken.

It is as though sunlight has entered the room.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 5

Eleanor Moomau , my dad’s cousin, born 1909 on this date.

A feisty former nurse and social worker, she took up painting

in her 80’s. Once, when I visited her in Petersburg, West Virginia,

we crashed a wedding reception – cousins in crime. She

carried a cane, more for emphasis than support.

Rain all day. I visualize

a Puddle Party. Anyone for duck hors d’oeuvres?

Dew drop daiquiris?

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 4

My gym ritual – I grab the elliptical machine in the front row

so I can watch the 3 PM episode of “Cold Case.” I love

the premise of an old murder solved, a soul freed on the

other side. I lose calories, keep my perspective.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 3

My chiropractor has a Wobble Chair in his Waiting Room,

a seat with physiological merit. On the opposite wall -

pictures of impossible exercises supposedly accomplished

on said chair. I only know I almost fell

off.

Shirley's Soliloquies

February 2

Punxsatawney Phil – no shadow? – early Spring??

Wanna bet somebody bribed him, promised

the whole groundhog clan a trip to Disney World?

Anything to give us hope, a reason to keep

plowing through the endless snows of Winter.

Shirley's Soliloquies

Shirley’s Soliloquies February. 2011

February 1

Gray day, like a dove’s wing

Today, I’m iced in;

I prefer icing!

A pink cake with vanilla frosting –

out jumps Al Pacino!

Winter coats my brain with make-believe.