By Barbara Leonhard | Featured Contributor Dear Friends, most of us would agree that this past year has been extremely challenging if not tragic. Many of you have documented your pain and grief in poetry, fiction, and essays. St. Patrick’s Day is today and Easter is coming up, so it’s a good time for us to transmute…
A Blessing for You — PhoebeMD: Medicine + Poetry
Thank you, Phoebe, for publishing my blessing!
Dear Friends, most of us would agree that this past year has been extremely challenging if not tragic. Many of you have documented your pain and grief in poetry, fiction, and essays. St. Patrick’s Day is on Wednesday and Easter is coming up, so it’s a good time for us to transmute our sorrow and fear into blessings. It’s spring, a time of rebirth as we see the daffodils blooming. Although daffodils are sometimes pelted by one last snowfall, they are resilient. Indeed, spring is full of promise as four-leaf clovers await our search for good health and fortune. The fourth leaf, luck, adds to the trinity, so even if we fail to find the four-leaf clover, we are truly never alone. With love, I offer this blessing.
May you be blessed.
May good luck follow you always.
May you be healthy and thus wealthy.
May your heart be filled with grace
not grief.
May your home be filled with love,
not languor.
May your days be filled with mystery,
not misery.
May your back never bend in storm.
May friends and family gather at last
in your welcoming arms.
Feature Image: by artistlike on pixabay.com
Image of the daffodil: by MrGajowy3 on pixabay
Issue I: hebe (the fountain of youth) is now available for download! Get your copy of our first issue here. Our issues are free to download but if you wish to donate in receipt of your copy, you can use the Donate page. Currently, donations are used to pay for the domain and for the […]
Issue I: available for download — Free Verse Revolution:
I am pleased to share the first issue of Free Verse Revolution: A literary magazine. My poem “The New Girl” is on page 58.
Dark Poets Club (London, England) accepted three of my poems. Today they published “The Visitant”. Thank you, Dark Poets Club, for liking my work! (I put this poem up on my blog in the past. Dark Poets Club accepts poems from a blog because they feel poetry should be shared widely. Give them a try!)
https://www.darkpoets.club/post/the-visitant
12 days and it will be yours to read and enjoy! Below is a reminder of our incredible Issue I contributors: Donate
Release date for Issue I — Free Verse Revolution:
We hope you are as excited as we are about the release of Issue I: hebe (the fountain of youth)! To tease you a little further, below are the incredible writers, artists and photographers whose work will be featured in our first issue. The cover reveal will be released this Sunday coming at 2pm GMT. […]
Issue I: contributors — Free Verse Revolution:
I am excited to be able to contribute to the launch of a new literary magazine!
To all my peeps… some of my poetry and art for the new year! Happy New Year! May 2021 lift us to new heights! To soar!
May 2021 lift you out of depleted soil.
To soar. To soar in sun.
Free. Free in sheer air,
Where you dream. Dream.
Not despair,
Not dread.
Not drown in storm.
May you rise. Rise.
Rise!
Collage art and poem by Barbara Leonhard extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog
May your holiday season
be filled with sweets
May you be blessed with good health & wealth
May the new year be magical
as your mystery unfolds
May the new year be loving
as kindness kindles transformation
but most of all
May all dreams be fulfilled, my friend,
but allow for surprise around each bend
May you find peace in your heart
though the world be apart
May you find solace in loss
& a healer in grief
May you be courageous & fierce
in the face of fear
May your heart open
to the dizzy impossible
May your way take you
to the quiet now
as birth awaits you there.
♥️♥️♥️
poetry & collage art by Barbara Leonhard
Hello, my friends,
I’ve been away too long! This year has been challenging as you must know. However, I am getting back into my soul work. Here is my latest episode. The theme is mental health, and Denise shares her journey of recovery with a lot of great advice and links.
Memoirs of Denise Fletcher (podbean.com)
This episode highlights the memoirs and concerns of the poet and blogger, Denise Fletcher. Check out her author page on Amazon.com and her amazing blog.
Denise Fletcher is a freelance writer and artist. Her creative works have appeared in Bards Against Hunger, Kaleidoscope Magazine and numerous publications in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Blog: Poetry Curator, poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0084KZMCE
Her book, Thread of Hope, can be found in the link below, and she returns all the profits to aid in causes related to mental illness. The book “explores the boundaries of the mental health system”. It includes “semi-autobiographical poetry, prose, and art which demonstrates the healing power of creativity and spirituality” in mental health recovery.
To access a free copy of Thread of Hope and other free books and materials:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bvXlCPAmVR-1fk03GqB-K86C4k1UwBmK
Mental Health and Wellness Resources Recommended by Denise Fletcher https://poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com/p/wellness.html
Depression-free for Life: A Physician’s All-Natural, 5-Step Plan
by Gabriel Cousens https://www.amazon.com/Depression-free-Life-Physicians-All-Natural-5-Step/dp/0060959657
Other Links
CDC Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill: https://nami.org/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
Barbara Harris Leonhard is a writer, poet, and blogger. Her work appears in Phoebe, MD: Medicine and Poetry, Well Versed 2020, Spillwords; FREE VERSE REVOLUTION; Heretics, Lovers and Madmen; Go Dog Go Café; Silver Birch Press; Amethyst Review; Pillbaby.com; and Vita Brevis. She is the author of Discoveries in Academic Writing, which is based on her years of teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Missouri.
Blog: extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog
Podcast: meelosmom.podbean.com
To submit your poetic memoirs and concerns to this podcast, follow this link for the submission guidelines.
Cymbidium I. He gifts her an orchid. Says, Three ice cubes a week So as not to drown it. Her joints sound of cracked ice As she gingerly accepts My lush pink blooms Of wet lips open For drink & good light. II. The house has no sun. Unpruned branches of wild flora Cluster close […]
Cymbidium – a poem by Barbara Harris Leonhard — Amethyst Review
Image by JacLou-DL from Pixabay
