Three Day Until October

Three days left in September.
Three months left in the year.
Is there anything to fear?

The answer to that question is probably yes, but since I don't know what it is I'm not going to worry about it. As far as I know, I got everything mailed for renewal of my SNAP card last week. I haven't heard anything from my case worker yet so I'm going to go ahead with more mundane things such as making coffee and mopping floors.

October is going to be a busy writing month because I'm planning my NaNoWriMo novel. I have two ideas for this years novel and I have to pick one before the end of September. The working title for one of the novel's is The Dragon Wars and the other is The Search of Intelligent Life. I had planned to base the novel on a short story I wrote called The search for Intelligent Life, but last week I wrote Winged Vengeance which is the first story in a fantasy series about Dragon Wars.

This week I plan to write another short story about the Dragon Wars series. I also have to go back and reread The Search for Intelligent Life. Since my printer is working now (at least I think it's working) I can print of the science fiction story to start the rewrite on it. Once I look at a hard copy then I will be able to determine what my NaNoWriMo novel is about. Check back next Saturday or Sunday for more on this subject.

September 11: A Poem

Memories
replay across my mind,
videos recorded 14 years ago
when I was sitting
behind the desk in a computer lab.

My stare fixed
upon the computer screen
I watched,
unable to comprehend
the sudden transformation
of my world into chaos.

I remember seeing the smoke.
I remember seeing the towers crumble into dust.
I do not remember which news website I was watching.
I do not remember anything else about that day.

Eventually
I returned home,
parked in my driveway,
went into the house
and turned on the television set,
so that I could,
at least hear,
the news.

I turned up the volume
so that I could hear the news anchor
while I prepared supper
and took my food into the living room
to eat in front of the T.V.
because there was no eating at the dinning room table
that day.

As I write these lines,
I wonder
how long it took
for the shock
to depart.

I can remember,
when my mind went into shock
on September 11, 2001,
but I cannot remember
how many hours
or how many days
the shock lasted.

Wednesday Word: September

September
a magical month
the first day of fall,
the autumnal equinox,
the month summer waves good-bye
and triple digit temperatures drop
into double digits.

September
a time to pause
and evaluate your progress
in accomplishing
January's New Year resolutions,
if you can remember
what they were.

The Last Saturday in August 2015.

Writing, reviewing
going to see the doctors
themes for poetry.

It's the last Saturday in August 2015, with the first of September only two days away. August was an interesting month for writing and reviewing. I written three stories, four or five poems, and several blog entries. I will finish another story today and then I have to plan for September.

Interesting life
August a successful month
writing, reviewing.

September is writing.com's fifteenth birthday celebration. This means I will focus my writing and reviewing on birthday themes. I also have three doctor's appointments each on Tuesdays. On the first I have an afternoon appointment with my podiatrist. On the eight I have to have a blood test and on the fifteenth an appointment with my kidney doctor. I'm not worried because I'm feeling good today. I've been feeling good for several days. I'm presuming this is a good sign.

September coming
more writing and reviewing
life is beautiful.

 

On The Last Day of September 2014

On the last day of September,
I contemplate the swift passage of the year.

I ask myself
what have I accomplished in the nine months
since New Year's Day 2014.

In nine months
a woman gives birth to a child
and I have given birth
to many poetic children
in the last nine months.

On the last day of September,
I ask myself:
Did I let go of the past?

Yes and no;
today I gave away a blouse
that I could not wear,
but had kept because
my mother made it.

I gave it away
when I realized that
Mom made the blouse
for someone to wear...
now someone will wear the blouse.

Unfocused Friday

It is Autumn. It is Friday. It is the first Friday of Autumn. It is the last Friday of September. I have drink my coffee. I have eat my cereal. I have managed to sporadically focus on writing between unfocused moments of mind wandering. I accomplished approximately 1/2 of my word count goal this morning, which is good since I have been battling depression and unfocused thought.

I do not think my responses I made to the blog prompts on writing.com rambled excessively. I will know when I reread them on Saturday or Sunday. I do not know how long I can focus on this entry. I do not know if anything I am writing makes sense or sounds logical. Neither my mind nor my muse wants to cooperate with me because when I have to get out of my chair in the middle of writing they wander off into parts unknown.

Normally, I have no problem focusing on what I am writing because my mind continues thinking about the subject  while I am doing something else for a short time.... I also seem to have problems remembering the next sentence. I do not know what is causing the problem today. An unfocused mind is no excuse not to write something. Since I cannot remember what else I intended to write I am going to post this entry.

Monday Matters: Half Past September

It is half past September,
the month is flying fast
there are something I want remember
before this month is past.

In the first fifteen days of September, I wrote thirteen poems. Of those ten were form poems and three were free verse. In addition, I wrote my first steampunk poem, which was an effort because I had to use a specific form. I wrote the poem as part of a challenge and it had to be a form poem. I used decuain form for Lord Claymore's Contraption.

It is half past September
a month to remember,
a month to celebrate
and to commemorate
because I stepped
outside the walls of my box.

I like writing form poem because I can focus on the form and the subject without worrying about anything else. Writing form poetry takes my mind off my troubles and helps me worship God through the use of stanza and line.  I believe that work performed with the proper attitude is worship of God and writing form poems helps because the form has to be perfect when it is complete.

Success Saturday: I wrote everyday during this week

I wrote something every day between August 17 and August 23, 2014 I did not let the depression stop me from writing responses to the blog challenge I am a part of at writing.com. I made several entries in my blogger blogs and I wrote a poem for a contest on writing.com. I also composed some poems for my Facebook status update.

Writing every day
helps keep depression at bay
scatters the darkness.

Before going to Smiths' Food & Drug Store I responded to the blog prompt for the blog challenge on writing.com. After posting that piece of writing, I ate breakfast, took a bath, and went to the grocery store. The trip to the store made me tired, but I did not let that stop me from writing. Before composing this entry, I wrote another entry for another blog contest I on writing.com. I have written over 1,000 words so far today and my word count goal is 2,000. If I have no difficulties making the goal next week then I will raise it to 2,500 words a day in September.

Dream Of September 28, 2013

In this traveling dream,
I am driving a school bus
with a broken door.

This is the first dream I have remember in a while. This is the first school bus dream I have experienced. I used to dream about going to school or being in class. I suspect this may have been a stress dream because I am in the process of moving.

I am driving a yellow bus
and my nephew has to hold
so it will not fall off.

While I am driving, I take a wrong turn and get lost on a two-lane dirt road. It is after dark, I do not know which way I am going. Ahead I see the lights of a restaurant, I decide to stop there to find out where I am and how to get back onto the Interstate highway. I wake up before I reach the restaurant.

The Last Thursday in September

On the last Thursday in September,
I listen
to the house noises
wondering if the bump in the night
is a ghost
or just the house settling.

On the last Thursday in September,
I wish for enough money
to fill my gas tank,
so that I can drive out of Las Vegas
to to a high mountain peak
where I can see
star sparking through the night.

Welcome to September

Welcome to September,
a month to remember,
a month with 30 days,
so there must be at least 30 ways
to commemorate September.

How do I commemorate September 2013? I guess the best way to honor the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar is to write about all the events and history of sweltering month (at least in Las Vegas) is to write about them. One of the dates to remember is September 11, the question is “How am I going to commemorate this day?”

Should I write a poem about that day? Should I write an article about that date in history? I know that I can say a prayer for the departed and the survivors, but what else can I do on Wednesday, September 11. I have ten days to decide; however, if I write a blog entry I have to start noting down what I want to say on that day.

Perhaps I am making the planning part more difficult or involved then I need to. A simple poem or prayer written from the heart is all that may be necessary to remember the day and the First Responders. I do not believe I have written a poem dedicated to the First Responders. I will have to check my poems to see, but I think I would remember if I had written a poem with about First Responders.

Friday at last

After a long and stressful week it is Friday at last. I am looking forward to the change of pace and sitting up my writing goals for the coming week. I should also consider my goals for October, but that is a little over seven days away and right now I can only focus on a week at a time. Since next week is the last week in September it will be busy and stressful if I allow worry into my life.

I have too much to do to worry. If I worry then I will not accomplish any writing much less anything else. I think that is why I did not accomplish much this week because of worry; I can change my worry habit, but it takes work and focus. If I focus on the task at hand whether it is writing a blog entry or doing the laundry I worry less.

The First Monday in September

It is Labor Day. It is a holiday, so Mom stays home from the adult daycare center. I managed to convince her to take two of her morning pills. It should be easier to get her to take the other two pills after she eats something. Right now Mom is eating her usual bowl of dry cereal without milk. Mom does not seem to like milk on her cereal, so I put the cereal in a bowl and she eats it that way.

It is mostly cloudy this morning. I do not think it will rain; however, I need to go out and make sure I rolled my car windows up just in case I am wrong. The sky may clear as the morning advances it does that sometimes.

Morning sky cloudy
The sun hides its smiling face
A cool Labor Day

The beginning of a busy week

It is the first Sunday in September. It is the beginning of a busy week. Tomorrow is Labor Day, so Mom will not go to the daycare center because the center is closed. Today we ate pizza for lunch, but I am not sure what to fix Mom tomorrow.

Then the next four days, I will spend driving across town on business. My life sounds boring. I need to do something different. I need to get out of my rut. It is not impossible to write in a rut, but it is difficult. The only view I have is the view from my living room window. I need a different view I need an office.

I have a spare room, so I could set up an office in there, which I could set up as an office. However, I need to be in the main part of the house when Mom is home. Even if Mom is asleep in her bedroom, I have to remain in a room where I can hear her cries at night. I have to leave my office in the living room so that I can hear Mom in the bedroom; therefore, having an office in which I can close a door is not a good idea. My office stays in the living room. The one thing going for the spare room is that it has a nice view of the backyard.

October and Autumn

The first day of autumn is in September; however, October is the month you notice the seasonal change. September mornings are warm with the thermostat reading about 80 degrees. October mornings the thermostat reads 75 degrees all though it feels colder.

The central air unit did not come on during the night. If the temperature remains this way for the rest of October, I will turn the cool air off. I will turn the unit off all together because 70 or 75 degrees is too warm for me to turn the heat on. I will put a blanket on my bed tonight, when I am up and working the heat is unnecessary. However, at night a blanket is nice to keep the evening chill out.

October morning
the season's chill has arrived
I need a blanket.

Friday Thoughts

On the last Friday in September

the predawn sky seems darker

as the year draws swiftly to an end.

Only three months left in 2009, it seems like only a couple of months ago we celebrated a New Year. The year is aging time passes quickly. Autumn is here soon harvest begins. I don't have a garden or live close to any farms. My memories of fall and harvest time come from my childhood in Oklahoma.

In the field crops wait

for the arrival of farmers and farmhands

winter approaches.

Those are my thoughts on this last Friday in September 2009.

Warm Summer Afternoons in Las Vegas

Afternoons have been nice lately. Sometimes we have clouds and sometimes it's clear. This afternoon it was warm not hot. This morning I did a load of laundry and hung them out. I didn't get the cloths in until mid afternoon. Usually the weather is hot, but this afternoon it was warm.

Las Vegas summer
warm September afternoons
locals celebrate.

I'm looking forward to Labor Day, I'm not sure why because I won't take it off. Holiday or not I still have laundry to wash and floors to mop. I still have stories and poems to write and submit. I'll probably take of September 13, Grandparents' Day. Mom and I haven't been out in a long time. My mother is a Great Grandmother, so I think we'll go somewhere and have ice creams to celebrate.

Happy Skyscraper Day

September 3 is Skyscraper Day, which is only one of about thirty Bizarre September Holidays. I am not sure how a person is supposed to celebrate Skyscraper Day. Maybe find the tallest building in town, go to the top of it and look out over the city.

I am not sure which hotel-casino in Las Vegas has the tallest or highest tower. I know it is one of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. Therefore, instead of celebrating Skyscraper Day by going to the tallest building in town, I will write a poem.

Towers rise into
the hazy Las Vegas sky
tourist plan their day.

September Holidays and Days to Remember

The first Monday in September is Labor Day, which falls on the September 7 this year. The first Sunday after Labor Day is National Grandparents' Day (September 13). Patriot Day, World Trade Center Remembrance Day, is on Friday, September 11.

If you Google "September Holidays" you will find that every day in September celebrates or commemorates something. One of the more intriguing holidays in September falls on the 16th, this is Collect Rocks Day. A writer doesn't have to worry about writers' block or blog block in September because of all the interesting days that fall in that month.