I have posted this over in the Legacy Writers II "Friday Byways" Group Forum which is OPEN NOW and through the week until next Thursday.

  Thanks always for your visits and participation . . . .

FRIDAY BYWAYS WITH BARBARA K
Searching for Sunshine Byways  -- BYWAYS #19 (Posted 4-7-11)




Welcome to this week's "Friday Byways" as we search for some sunshine.

There are times when the skies are so gray that we must go looking for our own sunshine, something to brighten up those gray days, both literally and figuratively.

Create a MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com


I look for my "sunshine" in many places and find it in many forms:

And there is always wisdom in the words of others:

"Even on a cloudy day the sun is shining somewhere!"
~Author Unknown~

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."
~Anthony J. D'Angelo~

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
~John Ruskin~

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
~James Matthew Barrie~

"Keep your face always towards the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you."
~Walt Whitman~

“It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails.”
~Romain Rolland~


I would invite you to share in poetry, prose, images, music -- in whatever form you choose -- how and where you find your "sunshine" and what form your "sunshine" takes.

As always, feel free to use any of the images you find here or bring some of your own to share with us.

Please share some of your sunshine with us in words, images -- in whatever format you choose -- as "new posts" to the forum. Or simply stop by and visit.

The link to LWHP II "Friday Byways" . . . .

Friday Byways With Barbara K ( Public Group )An Oasis of Peace in Poetry, Prose, Image & Music

I always enjoy this week here with you and look forward to what you bring back to share with us as new posts to the forum and in the blogs that you post.

Thanks so much to those who have participated and encouraged "Byways" over the past 20 weeks or so here on Boomer and over the almost two years on MySpace. Every week has been a joy.

~barb k~

Tags: BarbaraK Byways Legacy

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IN SEARCH OF SUNSHINE

On those many days
when reality has encroached
quite enough
into the peaceful space I treasure
and the serenity I love,
I go searching once more
as I seek to reclaim
a bit of what I lost
when reality came knocking
so loudly
upon my door.

And on this afternoon in spring,
as the golden trumpets bloom,
I find the peace I was looking for
in their petals falling to the ground
one by one as rays of sun
on this springtime afternoon.
I find it in the waterlilies
as they open up my heart
to the gentle warmth
of this day;
and I find it in the waterfalls
flowing over the rocks
to pools of glass below.
And on this afternoon in spring,
when my heart so much needs peace,
I find it in the cloudless sky
of springtime crystal blue.

(c) barbara kausteklis 4-6-11  

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Photography

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THE VIOLIN SINGS


Graceful songs his violin sings,
Joyful notes flowing through the strings.
Subtle magic each high and low,
Heavenly music wrought by his bow.


His bow caressing ev'ry measure
To my soul each one a treasure.
Journeys within the pace and flow,
Heavenly music wrought by his bow.


Each note majestic and sublime
Transports me to another time.
Emotions within each high and low,
Heavenly music wrought by his bow.


Graceful songs his violin sings,
Heavenly music wrought by his bow.

(c) bak 4-4-11
barbara kausteklis


A Kyrielle Sonnet written for Dahlia's Kyrielle Challenge

and Legacy Writers II "Sonnet's Saturday Sound/
Music of the Night."

Sonnet's Saturday Sound

The kyrielle format:

14 lines of eight syllables

each with a repeating line

as the last line of each stanza

xxxxxxxa

xxxxxxxa

xxxxxxxb

xxxxxxxB

xxxxxxxc

xxxxxxxc

xxxxxxxb

xxxxxxxB

xxxxxxxd

xxxxxxxd

xxxxxxxb

xxxxxxxB

xxxxxxxa

xxxxxxxB

*********

Always a challenge but fun to try.

Thanks so much for your visits and comments.

~Barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Photography Sonnets Legacy

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Always a challenge, but a fun one (and often quite serious) . . . .

************

Blogophilia 6.4 Topic: "A More Presumptuous Person than Myself?"


Bonus Points:


(Hard, 2pts): include something that is rotten

(Easy, 1pt): mention Mr. Potato Head


Final date to post: April 12th, 2011 GMT midnight


Final date to post ALL GUESSES: April 9th, 2011 GMT midnight

**********

RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Assuming that all things
will last forever,
and ever
and ever
and ever,
I wander along
my merry way
until drop
by drop
by drop
by precious
drop
it
is
all
gone.
And I know
in that moment
that there is
no one as presumptuous
as I
to believe a
ridiculous thing
like that.

No offense to
Mr. Potato Head
and my other Toy Story pals,
but not only is something
rotten about the whole thing,
but rotten veggies might
be put to good use after all
because we're running out of gas
and we're running out of time.
No more time for presuming
and no more time for assuming.

(c) barbara kausteklis 4-4-11

Written for Blogophilia 6.4/
"A More Presumptuous Person than Myself?"

http://www.myspace.com/blogophilia/blog/542575816

(The topic is also posted on Facebook.)

**************

Topic

Christopher (AGE)

Picture

Joleene Naylor

Phrases



Running out of gas
Running on empty
Robotic
Middle East War
Oil Fields
The well is dry
Desert Storm
Deserted
Looking for parts
Dependent on oil
Gusher
Oil leak
Leaking
A drop in the bucket
A leaky gas tank
Abandoned at the pump
A hole in the tank
Spare parts

**************

Thanks always for your visits and comments.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Byways

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The third in a new series
of BFF themes inspired by
song titles:

BFF #93 -- "Return to Sender"




***************

THE TALE OF PINKY
AND OTHER FUZZY TAILS

Okay, I admit it. It was my fault that the cat that was Sweet Pea's best friend got there in the first place.

How it happened? Well, not how it happened, but how it came to pass.

My sister, Laura, reminded me that her name was "Pinky".

Oh, now I remember! It doesn't usually take too much for me to "remember". Sometimes just a name, as is the case here.

The years I lived in Detroit was the only time up until then that I had actually had my own bedroom.

I loved that.

My own little sanctuary, my own little refuge from the chaos of the city, of school, of life.

All I had to do was shut that door and I was in my own little world. Something I still treasure.

I had two roommates at the time and we most definitely had our share of neighborhood cats who always loved to come around and visit us.

One morning I woke up and noticed that my bedroom door was slightly ajar, as was my closet door. I began to hear very faint and unfamiliar mewing sounds coming from the direction of the closet.

Tiptoeing over toward the direction of the unsettling sound, I peered in only to find Mama-Cat and six little mewing puffballs.

A YIKES moment for sure.

What to do?

Eventually we did find homes for all but one, so I got the "brilliant" idea that Sweet Pea, our family dog back home in Erie (well, Girard PA) needed a friend.

It was almost Easter Vacation.

So when the time came, I piled the kitten and all my stuff into my spiffy white Rambler and headed east.

Well, my family didn't know quite what to say, except that they knew they couldn't turn away such a cute kitty. And Sweet Pea really could use, well really needed, a friend.

So they named her "Pinky" and Pinky and Sweet Pea became fast friends.

Pinky's legacy lived on. Not in a biological or hereditary way, for Pinky never did have kittens.

But the born-in-the-closet scenario would be replayed often throughout the ensuing years in many various manifestations.

I never did have a cat while growing up. I believe that Pinky may have been the first kitten I had ever seen.

By the time our family got Sweet Pea, our first family dog, I was already old -- in college and almost 20.

And while I didn't have Pinky long enough to even be able to say that she was mine, the scenario would be repeated and re-enacted throughout the years as more "Pinkies" would find their way into the hearts of my family back home and eventually into the hearts of my own children and my family here as I found my way, through the twists and turns of life, to Southern California and today as every once in a while a "Pinky" arrives at our house.

I'm so very glad that there was no return address as far as Pinky and all subsequent "Pinkies" have been concerned.

And sometimes, as I have learned over the years, it is a blessing not to be able to "return to sender," but to love and cherish what we often receive in such random ways and which certainly must be "sent" in that way for a reason that we might never truly know.

Decades later our "Orange" would be born in such a closet and always did remind me of "Pinky" . . . .

(c) barbara kausteklis 4-4-11

For BFF #93 -- "Return to Sender"
(Blogging For Fun)



http://www.myspace.com/bff4fun/blog/542573194




Thanks always for your visits
and precious comments.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Pets BFF

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IN A PERFECT WORLD

As far as my eye can see 

my perfect world,

is 

framed by the

colors of the rainbow;

as blue as the sea;

as tall as snow-capped

mountain peaks

reaching almost to heaven;

a world where each of us

is as important 

as the person next to us;

a world where we are

valued for who we are,

not how we write,

not for what we look like,

not for who our friends are,

not for how much we have

or don't have.

My perfect world

is a world

that we cherish 

and take care of 

because we are 

just passing through

and want to leave it 

a better place 

for those just

passing through

after us.

My perfect world

is one where we realize

that our way isn't the only

way and that instead of

fighting with each other

over things that don't

really matter,

we embrace each other

and realize that

we are all members

of the same human family.

(c) barbara kausteklis

Written 2-17-10

Revised 4-3-11

For Sonnet's Saturday Sound

Tags: BarbaraK

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Why I'm here and why I stay . . . .

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry

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As I remind myself this morning . . . .




WORD SONG

In the early darkness
of another day,
that brief window of time
before the sun rises and
makes its morning debut
and before the birds
begin to sing,
I hear them,
I see them.
I feel their embrace
as they weave
their tapestry
of thought
and meaning.
Words of faith
comforting my soul;
words of hope
caressing my heart;
words of joy
putting a smile my face
as I begin my day;
wild and crazy words
that make me laugh
over this first cup of
morning coffee.
And I seek them out,
these words that
I know will make me
jump for joy,
dance across the room,
sing a joyful song or two,
and point me in the
right direction,
not to mention
put me in a good mood,
as I look forward
to tackling
the day ahead.
as I allow them
to work
their morning magic
within my heart
and my soul.



(c) barbara kausteklis

originally written 2-10-10

revised 4-3-11

Thanks always for visiting and comments

Tags: BarbaraK Writing Poetry

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HAPPILY LOST

Lost within a story,

caught up within a dream,

spiraling rather out of control

more awake than asleep, 

it seems.

Absorbed by the words

that have danced 

across my favorite pages

and caught up in the flow,

I tumble headlong through the air

not so sure just where I'll land

or if it's somewhere that I know.

But for now that chance I'll take,

confident that at the journey's end

when the tumbling's done,

full of surprises

(and I've had my fun),

that I'll return to where I was

and land upon my feet again,

back to the beginning

and ready to start

a new adventure

where I'll get happily lost

once more 

between the covers 

of my favorite 

storybook

and tumbling

through the air.

(c) bak 4-2-11

barbara kausteklis

Written for  

Surreal Picture Challenge

~Barb~

Tags: BarbaraK

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