Welcome March 2016

Welcome March 2016
a month of celebration
and writing.

Because of my stay in the hospital, I still have a couple of stories to finish. I'm not sure what else I need to catch up, but whatever it is I'll do it by the end of March. One of my goals for March is to write a poem each day between March 2 and March 20. Those are the day of Fast; however, due to medication and recovering from my hospital stay I can't Fast. Instead of Fasting I'm going to write a poem each day plus give up something that I like to eat or drink.

Vernal equinox
begins another New Year:
What are my writing goals?

I'll have to think about that question. Every year I make a goal of writing 2,000 words a day. Sometimes I accomplish this goal and sometimes I fall short. I have about nineteen days to consider the writing goals I want to make for Naw Ruz.

Success Saturday: I Successfully Celebrated Naw-Ruz Today

This morning I went to a Naw-Ruz celebration at the Baha'i Center on the west side of Las Vegas. It is the first party or celebration I have been to in 2015, which makes me extremely happy. I enjoyed myself socializing with other people. In commemoration of this wonderful experience, I wrote the following poem.

A bird is singing
proclaiming Happy Naw-Ruz
to humanity.

Gray clouds decorate
the blue sky of the New Day
a chilly wind blows.

Glowing from within
buds of green, pink, blue, yellow
cast love across God's garden.

Proclaiming Happy Naw-Ruz
lovers of God's Glory
celebrate a New Year.

Flowers of humanity gather
beneath the dome of God's love
in celebration of a new heaven and Earth.

We set with eyes closed
listening to prayers ascending
to the throne of God.

Celebrate Naw-Ruz
raise your voice in praise of God
and of His Glory.

Listen to the violin
intoning its praise
and gratitude to the Glory of God.

Thoughts on a Dying Year

It's Winter Solstice and there are ten more days in 2013. The year is passing swiftly, soon the New Year of 2014 will make its appearance. Most people will be celebrating and making resolutions. I won't be celebrating because I don't celebrate a New Year until March 21, which is Naw-Ruz.

What I will be doing in January, February, and most of March is deciding on the goals I want to make on March 21. It's been a tough year and I need to focus on spiritual and financial matters. This means I have to get all my debts together, figure out a way to pay them off, and find a part time job to increase my income. I have to set a fixed amount for contributions, I have to decide on the scripture book or rather books I want to read, and I have to come to a firm decision on my daily word count goal.

This is a lot to do in only 2 1/2 months, but I have to do it because I have to stop drifting. Drifting maybe an overstatement, but I feel that for the last several months I've been float in an ocean, pushed by the currents or the winds. I'm  tired of the feeling and I need to focus on what I want to do with the rest of my life, which is an odd thing to write at 66 almost 67.

Right now, the only thing I really want to do is write, but that could change over the next few weeks. I expect to move into a new place soon. A place that  is smaller, easier to take care of, and cheaper to live in. This will give me more money to work with during the coming months.

An old year is dying,
a New Year is being born,
it's time for a change
in attitude.

Year of the Poem

Fidál (Grace), 5 Baha (Splendor), 165 B.E. – Tuesday, March 25, 2008 about 2:50 PM PDT

I am five days into a new year. I celebrated a New Year on March 21 and begin writing a poem every day. I have always wanted to write a poem every day for a year. I have written a lot of poem since I began writing poetry several years ago, but I have not actually written a poem every day for one year.

In the past I have gone several days and months without writing a poem. I have started this project twice before, but did not succeed in writing a poem every day. I analyzed where I failed and come to two conclusions. First, I did not pray every day for the success of the project. Second, I did not begin the Year of the Poem at the proper place.

Before this year I began writing either on January 1 or midpoint between January 1 and March 21. This year I begin writing on Naw-Ruz. In fact, I begin writing poems at the Naw-Ruz celebration on the evening of March 20. I am looking forward to completing a chapbook of poems containing 365 poems bay March 21, 2009.

The document I am putting my poetic efforts in is called the Year of the Poem 165 B.E. In that document I am putting an individual not about each poem. I pray for the success of that project and other projects I am working on.

Happy First Day of Spring 2008

Istijlál (Majesty), 19 ‘Alá (Loftiness), 164B.E. – Thursday, March 20, 2008 about 9:23 AM PDT

The sun crossed the vernal equinox and spring began. This is a wonderful time of year, there is new life blooming everywhere. Trees are budding with new leaves, flowers are blooming and life is renewed. I will celebrate a New Year with the arrival of Naw-Ruz. There is hope of a better year and new projects to start.

Life is wonderful. Today I will go to the DMV and renew my tags. I will write my first spring poem of 2008. Not sure, what form it will take yet, perhaps a haiku. Haikus work well with seasonal poems. The form fits the season any time of year.

Wishing my readers

a joyous spring with all the

beauty of the year.

I wrote my first Garland Cinquain

11 'Ilm 164 B.E. - Friday, October 26, 2007 about 4:44 PM PDT

I wrote my first Garland Cinquain this week. A cinquain is a poem of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllable lines. A garland cinquain is constructed of 6 stanzas. One line from each of the first five stanzas is in the last stanza.

Theme of the Poem

The theme of the poem was my favorite season. I wrote about spring. The poem called Happy New Year, is in my writing.com port. I named it that because spring is when I celebrate a New Year. I celebrate Naw-Ruz, which means New Day, as the new year on March 21,