Robed in Fleece

Lately, my attempts to get back to sleep after early morning shuffles, have dismally failed.

I close my eyes, and try to clear my mind, but a switch has flipped on this poet's mind.

My muse has taken her seat at the edge of my bed.

Try as I might...

I cannot ignore her clever poetic suggestions and drift back to my sleepy "happy place."

So I rise.

Heading down the shadowed halls, wrapped in fleece, the images out my picture window catch my eye. After a deep breath of surrender, I am kind of liking this routine.

An unexpectedly, peaceful way to start the morning.

This week two poems have flowed out my heart at 6:00 a.m. so fast, that I may keep this up and see if a collection of morning imaginings will be my muse's gift.

This morning's poem...

...and one from earlier this week.

So Happy Poetry Friday everyone. Hope this morning's dawn brought you a smile.

For more lovely poetry, please visit the blog of this week's host: The Miss Rumphius Effect

 Thank you for hosting! See you next week!

Camille-Connoisseur of Culinary Delights

A finicky feline who likes fabulous, fancy flavors? Why, of course!

My beautiful Camille, was such a cat.

Sure... She ate her kibble if she absolutely HAD to. But she was also prone to turning up her nose, which led her personal chef, Moi, to get creative.

Soon, the sound of the pantry door opening, would lead to her furry form darting into the kitchen and rubbing in grateful ecstasy against my legs, for the can of tuna I was opening.

As the cranking sound of the opener tore its way around that little tin circle, she would sit and lift each paw in the air, gently licking and washing her "hands" getting ready for the meal to be served. Her aloof demeanor told of her expectations of 5-star service.

I poured the "Tuna Au Jus" she had ordered off the menu, gently over the kibble, seeping that delicious flavor of the sea into every morsel. The aroma caught her sister Angel's attention, and soon there were two customers, hoping we had not run out of the Thursday night special.

When an opportunity to write a poem about an animal for the Writer's Loft's new anthology AN ASSORTMENT OF ANIMALS presented itself, I knew exactly who I would write about...

My cultured, captivating cat, Camille, connoisseur of culinary delights.

Here is her poem. My ode to my precious writing buddy, Camille, illustrated by the SO very talented, Robert Thibeault (Check out his work here!) FYI- This was the first time, my words had ever been illustrated. What a thrill! Bob brought so much more to my character, as all great illustrators do. Thanks Bob!

So Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Much thanks to Kathryn Apel (Kat Whiskers) for hosting this week, and for her feline inspiration. Be sure to go to her blog to check out the many other beautiful poems. What a lovely way to end your week!

You can find my poem and many others from many amazing poets, like Josh Funk and Jane Yolen, in this delightful anthology, "An Assortment of Animals: A Children's Poetry Anthology" (link), illustrated by the Caldecott award winning- Brian Lies. (link)

Will Santa Know?

Happy Poetry Friday everyone! Ever since I found this group, I cannot believe how fast Fridays seem to come along each week. I haven't been able to get my act together enough to post new poetry every Friday, but I am VERY thankful for the inspiration I get reading everyone's posts.

Stop by Jone Rush McCuloch's Blog tonight for a warm mug full of poetry, sprinkled with marshmallow words. Thanks for hosting Jone!

Nothing better on a snowy evening!

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A handful of times, when I was young, we few to Florida for Christmas with my grandparents. I remember being struck by the fact, that there was no snow and I was swimming while my friends were having snowball fights. I felt pulled between the two places I loved. I could almost imagine the cold feel of winter inside my grandfather's air-conditioned car while we drove to look at the lights hanging on the sail boats.

Inspired by this memory, I am sharing "Will Santa Know?" today. Enjoy!

One other note!

This has been an exciting week for me. After a long, empty stretch waiting for results of submissions, I had two every wonderful successes. First- My poem "Hiking to Zealand Falls" placed on the Long List of winners for Renee La Tulippe's Rhyming Poetry Contest.

You can read the poem and take a "sneak a peek"

at an early version written in verse, here :

Then a second poem, "Snowbirds" was accepted to the webzine, Dirigible Balloon.

I was so tickled about this. Visit soon and share the joy of poetry with your kids and grandkids. You can read my poem here.

Merry Christmas to all!

The poems featured in any of my blog posts, are copyrighted to Cathy Stenquist.

Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without my written permission .

Thank you!