Wednesday, February 28, 2007


My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Most Serene Highness Lady Sherry the Nimble of Under Yockenthwaite
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title


yes, it's true. i've bestowed yet another title upon myself!
i think spring might just be coming soon.

my chipmunks are awake and racing around, chasing each other
and looking frisky!



and the robins are back!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

EUREKA!

no, haven't got the poem started, tho i have been thinking about it while making an apricot braid.

i REMEMBERED what i was doing in the pic from new year's eve.
(besides looking demented! HA!)

i was trying to get a friend to get up off his tush and dance with his wife.

well, at least i did finally remember, altho i can't recall if he did get up and dance with her or not!



i bought new bedding the other day.

bob (and layla)like it.

they do not care 1 fig that it was not a gift for them!
i've had a poem floating just beyond my reach for DAYS now.
a few words, an emotion.
i just can't reach them. they float about 5 inches from my outstretched fingers.

they disappear and come back hours later laughing at me.
drives me fucking crazy. yes, "fucking" is THE right word here.

( a scream and then a whimper )
yes, can you tell i'm putting off working on a poem that has me tearing out my hair??? hummmm???
just to prove that poets can be fun!

(but strange in my case)
be kind about the photo below, o.k?
it was way after midnight and way past my bed time.

and obviously i need a keeper with me. HA!

got this photo from a friend. it's me(duh)
on new year's eve. i have no idea WHAT i am doing here!
i had nothing but coffee to drink.

now i'm puzzled. i can see that i'm biting my lower lip tho.

next year maybe i should stay home and watch it all on t.v.

Monday, February 26, 2007

the head of the scholarship committee that i am on was given a beautiful engraved watch yesterday in appreciation for all of his efforts on behalf of the committee and the kids.

congrats andy, you deserve it. many thanks.

this is a picture from the little borough outside of pittsburgh where i was born and raised.
my parents still live there.
it came this morning in my e-mail in a newsletter from the town.
this street looks much as it did when i was growing up. now tho
it's lined with trendy upscale shops and i would not be able to afford
to shop in most of them or live there anymore.
life is funny. ; )
a rainy, grey pittsburgh monday. packed dirty white snow is melting
and patches of grass and dirt are showing thru.

Sunday, February 25, 2007


been a busy day. went to a meeting of the scholarship committee i am on. we picked 5 finalists out of 19 and now have to wait for the recommendations for each of the finalists before making any more cuts. the 2nd scholarship applications for a separate award aren't being released until this thurs.
then i came back and tried to acquaint myself with the duties of a list administrator for the PK list. i dearly wish i was better at computers than i am.
i want to do well.

Saturday, February 24, 2007


shine on, my love

like one of the stars dawn touches
unafraid of the coming light,
you reach for the rose tinged morning
to find the warmth hidden
in the softening blue
bright and beautiful still.
willing to risk all
for the sun's promise
of another day together.



this is an older one. thought i'd post it and hope that you like it.

Friday, February 23, 2007


an extra friday joke just because i can!



Where do tadpoles change?


In a croakroom!

"A good heart is better than all the heads in the world."


Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Thursday, February 22, 2007


joke below, joke below, dive, dive, dive...







What do you call a grizzly bear with no teeth?


A gummy bear!

Looking For Each Other


I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
since I was a little child.
With my first breath, I heard your call,
and began to look for you, Blessed One.
I've walked so many perilous paths,
confronted so many dangers,
endured despair, fear, hopes, and memories.
I've trekked to the farthest regions, immense and wild,
sailed the vast oceans,
traversed the highest summits, lost among the clouds.
I've lain dead, utterly alone,
on the sands of ancient deserts.
I've held in my heart so many tears of stone.


Blessed One, I've dreamed of drinking dewdrops
that sparkle with the light of far-off galaxies.
I've left footprints on celestial mountains
and screamed from the depths of Avici Hell, exhausted, crazed with despair
because I was so hungry, so thirsty.
For millions of lifetimes,
I've longed to see you,
but didn't know where to look.
Yet, I've always felt your presence with a mysterious certainty.

I know that for thousands of lifetimes,
you and I have been one,
and the distance between us is only a flash of though.
Just yesterday while walking alone,
I saw the old path strewn with Autumn leaves,
and the brilliant moon, hanging over the gate,
suddenly appeared like the image of an old friend.
And all the stars confirmed that you were there!
All night, the rain of compassion continued to fall,
while lightning flashed through my window
and a great storm arose,
as if Earth and Sky were in battle.
Finally in me the rain stopped, the clouds parted.
The moon returned,
shining peacefully, calming Earth and Sky.
Looking into the mirror of the moon, suddenly
I saw myself,
and I saw you smiling, Blessed One.
How strange!

The moon of freedom has returned to me,
everything I thought I had lost.
From that moment on,
and in each moment that followed,
I saw that nothing had gone.
There is nothing that should be restored.
Every flower, every stone, and every leaf recognize me.
Wherever I turn, I see you smiling
the smile of no-birth and no-death.
The smile I received while looking at the mirror of the moon.
I see you sitting there, solid as Mount Meru,
calm as my own breath,
sitting as though no raging fire storm ever occurred,
sitting in complete peace and freedom.
At last I have found you, Blessed One,
and I have found myself.
There I sit.

The deep blue sky,
the snow-capped mountains painted against the horizon,
and the shining red sun sing with joy.
You, Blessed One, are my first love.
The love that is always present, always pure, and freshly new.
And I shall never need a love that will be called “last.”
You are the source of well-being flowing through numberless troubled lives,
the water from you spiritual stream always pure, as it was in the beginning.
You are the source of peace,
solidity, and inner freedom.
You are the Buddha, the Tathagata.
With my one-pointed mind
I vow to nourish your solidity and freedom in myself
so I can offer solidity and freedom to countless others,
now and forever.

- Thich Naht Hahn

From " Call me by my true names"
i posted the fortune i got on here because, well,
it almost seems like a part of a poem or
a lyric from a 60's summer of love type song.

or i could just be delusional! ; )
My Fortune Cookie told me:
Remember that a penny farthing is an impractical mode of transport on the moon.
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Very Lady Sherry the Furtive of Deepest Throcking
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title



got this at blue gal's

http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com/


see how many stars you can spot.

really cool video.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007


http://www.poetrykit.org/


http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/index.htm

i'm going to "blow my own horn" here, just a bit.

dr. j. bennett has formally announced to the PK list
that i have accepted a position as a list administrator
there are 3 now, jim bennett, john howard and myself.

i am pleased, proud and a little anxious but looking forward
to whatever i might be able to do for my fellow PK'ers.

they are a wonderful group of poets and performance artists, singers and songwriters among other talents.
they are also interesting human beings that have taught me so much about poetry and life and living it to the end.

thank you jim and thank you PK'ers. i'll do my very best.

sherry
this is by one of my favorite poets. PABLO NERUDA

enjoy.







Love Sonnet XI

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.


anais nin

http://www.votevets.org/


huff puff, groan...

just me dragging out my soapbox again.

give this group a look see o.k?

SUPPORT THE TROOPS.

this would be one way to do that.

there are other groups as well.
take a look around and lets do something.



me? i'm climbing down off of the soapbox
and putting it back for the moment.

thank you.

the ice is slowly melting and rain is coming.

wet, wet, wet.

Monday, February 19, 2007

because i love barry white...

this is BUDDY. my niece's dog.
i love all animals and have a soft spot
for boxers, but beagles are the best!
they are loving and funny and gentle.
buddy is just the best!

COLE the lab, his friend is a sweetie as well!

can't forget cole!

Saturday, February 17, 2007



tomorrow is chinese new year
one of the best places i've found to buy things or to learn
things about china and amercan chinese culture is:

http://www.chinasprout.com/shop

Friday, February 16, 2007


can it be?


the voice from the recorder is unfamiliar
childlike and light
it carries about as much importance
maybe less.

it's my voice, never heard by me as it is
til now, til now til now
how now brown cow...

can it be me
oh tell me it can't possibly be.

i pick at my nails and shift uncomfortably
glancing over the room
grateful no one can hear me

trying to read my words, my words
my POEMS
with the passion and the strength
i birthed them in.
how now, silly cow...

i wanted the voice i heard in my head
the sound i imagined
that could move with a life of it's own

sounds that had fingers
to caress a cheek or a tongue to
lick at lips other than mine.

POETRY, POETRY, POETRY ALERT...


http://www.metromaniamagazine.com/


a new on-line publication
there's a very striking poem by a fellow pk'r

norman crabtree.

it's well worth a read.




this is my grandcat boris.
a sweet soul, but not too bright.
he sleeps with his face in the pillow or
cat bed and forgets that breathing is a good idea every now and then.

Thursday, February 15, 2007


What do you get when you cross a snowman and Dracula?


Frost bite!




this is one pissed off hawk!




i chased my squirrels and birds from my back deck feeder when i spotted him sitting there watching them!
yes, there are days when i write like the poem below! ; )

marshmallow

the hot chocolate teases the
chill from stiff fingers
wrapped round the curves of a
thick mug.

a slight tremble as they uncurl
and marshmallow spills over the side
teasing me warm
in a much different way
as you lick each finger clean.

"It's no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst."
--Tom Stoppard
no one will be playing in the snow today. 4 degrees out there, high today? maybe 14!



phooey!





this is my little sweetie playing in the snow!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007


“Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.”


Charles Simic
enjoy. she is just amazing, simply amazing!
cold and snowy, about 5 inches out there so far and the promised storm hasn't hit yet. very pretty, but that is such a fleeting thing.

Monday, February 12, 2007

i am amazed that i finally did this right!
i love this youtube video!


my friend ellie called the other day.

her husband and my buddy, mitch is in the hospital.


GET BETTER SOON. geezzz, mitch!


got this in my e-mail.

i think it's a good thing.






Dear Friend of First Freedom First,
Let's keep the party going! February 12 is Darwin Day, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin. His book, On the Origin of Species, established evolution as the dominant scientific explanation in nature. The importance of this one book cannot be overstated, so let's each celebrate Darwin Day by getting one additional First Freedom First signature.
Born February 12, 1809, Charles Darwin achieved lasting fame with his scientific theory of natural selection. Today there are forces at work to dispel his theory in favor of a non-scientific concept called 'Intelligent Design', which is simply a fancy name for creationism.
Opponents of academic integrity have changed their terminology in an attempt to conceal from the public their true intent, which is to preach a religious message to public school students. They would like evolution to be replaced by intelligent design, or to at least have "equal time" for their point of view. To make matters worse, some public officials have been open to their arguments - including President Bush. At a press conference in 2005 the president said that he favors teaching intelligent design "so people can understand what the debate is about."
Fortunately, the courts have not been as easily persuaded. Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its allies won an important federal court ruling against 'intelligent design' creationism in Dover, Pa., public schools in 2005 - but the challenges continue. And as we all know, the courts alone cannot be counted on to defend our rights. That's where First Freedom First and public activism come in.
The first "Darwin Day" celebration was organized by a humanist group in Palo Alto, CA, in 1995. Darwin Day activities now take place at colleges and universities, schools, libraries, and museums all over the country. These events provide a wonderful opportunity to not only celebrate Darwin's birthday, but to engage in public outreach and discussion about science, evolution, and the importance of evolution education.
The Interfaith Alliance and other religious groups have worked to dispel the notion that people must choose between religion and modern science. More than 500 churches are organizing Darwin Day events this year. Evolution Sunday was celebrated in churches all across the country.
So let the celebration continue, let's keep the party going by getting one for one! One more signature on the First Freedom First petition in celebration of a man who made one of the most significant contributions to science ever!
Sincerely,
The First Freedom First Team
Beth Corbin and Bethany Moore of Americans United for Separation of Church and StateDonna Red Wing and Eric Shutt of The Interfaith Alliance Foundation
"What makes us special and different from other countries is that our right to decide whether and how to worship is a private matter protected by the Constitution."
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=282845009&url_num=9&url=http://www.firstfreedomfirst.org/

First Freedom FirstP.O. Box 1496Washington, DC 20013
A partnership ofThe Interfaith Alliance Foundationand Americans United forSeparation of Church and State

this picture just captured me.
it weaves dreams of romantic dinners
and time.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

the feeder


feathered and the furry both
share the seed as the wind howls
they hunker down, each
to their own bit of white
too cold to squabble
focused on living thru the day.

Friday, February 09, 2007


cold, but damn at least we aren't new york.

wow, 100 inches of snow!
congrats to arthur seeley.
a fellow poet and pk'r!


click the link and read all about it
PLUS you can listen to him read his
poem. it's a great one.










http://www.yorkshirewater.com/?OBH=3440

Thursday, February 08, 2007


What do elves do after school?



Gnomework!
the allegheny is frozen!
1st. time in years.


BRRRRRRRR!
i watched the special on TLC last night
the one that followed 2 NF1 patients thru
reconstructive surgery.
it was not easy to see, but it was well worth it.
the courage of all involved and the skill
and dedication of the surgeon was awe inspiring.
NF1 and NF2 are terrible genetic diseases and
as reported in the special, NF1 is one of the most
common genetic diseases. you can have it and
never know it and yet pass it on to children
that could suffer terribly or die.

if they repeat the special. take a look if you can.
if you are looking for a charity, take a look into NF research and services. thanks much, sherry

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

the little guy below is a cutie!

i sat here last night and practiced

reading one of my poems aloud using

my new mic set up.


i still think i sound odd, childlike

and pretty much pittsburgh.


which i kinda like!

Tuesday, February 06, 2007


very, very, VERY cold.

ice on the rivers, but really solid up

at brady's bend. that could be trouble for

us if we get a quick thaw.

Monday, February 05, 2007


NF1
wed. feb. 7th at 8 p.m.

THE LEARNING CHANNEL is airing a special:


"NEW FACE, NEW HOPE"


the program follows 2 west Michigan

NF patients through facial reconstructive surgery.


i have yet to see it, but one of the NF groups i give to

and get info from ,NF Mid Atlantic is featured.


it is said to be intense viewing(yeah i guess so)

and that these 2 cases are 2 of the rarer ones

(yes, that's one reason why NF1 is misdiagnosed even

though it is not a rare genetic disease)


anyway, thought i'd give the program a plug as well as organizations like NF Mid Atlantic and

THE CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION ctf.org


thanks, sherry




Sunday, February 04, 2007

i don't care much about the superbowl
but tony dungy is a class act!

go colts!


Saturday, February 03, 2007

the slaughter at 116





lifeless and torn

scattered across a dim room

2 or 3 , maybe

4 or

5

the killer, in despair

inhales and holds,

unsure if a next breath's deserved,

lifts up a victim from the floor, then lets go

rubbing stained fingers up and down bluejeaned thighs

mass murderer of words

mad dog of poetry.
geez it's frick'n cold!!!!!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Thursday, February 01, 2007


HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY







i love this day.






Q: What would you get if you crossed February 2 with a puppy?A:

Ground-dog Day!



Q: What happened when the groundhog met the dogcatcher?A:

He became a pound hog!


Q: What happens if the ground log sees its shadow?A:

We'll have six more weeks of splinters!


Q: Why was the groundhog depressed about his den?A:

He was having a bad lair day!


Q: What would you get if you crossed February 2 with a Christmas drink?A:

Ground Nog Day!


Q: What's green, has four legs, and jumps out of its hole on February 2?A:

The ground frog!























i got this in an e-mail. too good not to share:







Attitude



There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?" So she did and she had
a wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw
that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-M-M,"
she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did and she had a fun, fun day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and
noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.




Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,Care deeply,
Speak kindly.