fortune is another word for
taking chances, not guarantees
life is filled with happenstance (sometimes
Earth's core stops, then spins in reverse)
circumstances come with alternatives
and more than several points of view
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o23-o1-25.
Ronovan Writes SIJO Wednesday Poetry Challenge #46. Use FORTUNE as your inspiration this week.
greys turn to darker shadows as the dusk sinks into night echoes of the rising winds foretell a nearing winter storm rest in the warm reassurance of family and friends
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o23-o1-2o.
Ronovan Writes SIJO Wednesday Poetry Challenge #45.
Use EMBRACE as your inspiration this week.
overwhelmed by the beauty of the stars in the cloudless sky night's shadows deepen as the moon casts its reflection on the sea light and darkness...the song and the silence of eternity
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o23-o1-14.
Ronovan Writes SIJO Wednesday Poetry Challenge #44.
Use OVERCOME as your inspiration this week.
living on promises ... vague and open to prolonged debates generations shift perceptions, changing meanings of the words deeply etched on a far-off shore, truth remains after every storm
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o23-o1-o8 (rev. 1/9).
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #43.Use PROMISE as your inspiration this week.
memories, tattered and fragmented by chaos and time twisted threads and patches that don't make sense anymore mend your vision with bold colors, creating new from the old
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o22-12-3o.
Almanac Quilt, by Rhoda E. Berry.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #42. Use
RECOVER as your inspiration this week.
as the days and nights creep past,
one by one, a living stream
barren pastures, snow, and thirsty fields
hot stars and frigid moonlight
the gift of change to feed the minds and
eyes behind the windows
copyright © lizl bennefeld, 2o22-12-23.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #41.
Use GIFT as your inspiration this week.
I am on the journey of a lifetime...the ending is unknown. The "now" is entrancing. I cannot see it all before it's flown. I hope for a great ending and a comprehensive review.
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-12-20.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #40.
Use TRIP as your inspiration this week.
Only the present moment contains life.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
in the midst of outer chaos, quiet passion abides its pebbled path leads on to the shore's ruffled waves I arrive to each moment ... I am home in the now
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-12-10.
Image by Ruthann Wagner from Pixabay
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #39.
Use QUOTE as your inspiration this week.
so thankful that my peopled world is small and quiet time enough and more to think...only echoes left behind those will not slam the door as they too finally slip away
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-12-08.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #37.
Use THANKFUL as your inspiration this week.
winds of late autumn lay bare
the stark beauty of tree branches
the main wooden axis and the stem,
the tree's steady bole
though gales prune weaker limbs,
twigs hold forth their leaf buds at spring
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-12-03.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesda\y Poetry Challenge #38
Use REVEAL as your inspiration this week.
Free from fear but not free to ignore others—
rights and obligations.
Freedom to work with one another
until the work gets done.
Your strength, my weakness—
others' weaknesses may be our strengths.
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-11-20.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #36.
Use FREE as your inspiration this week.
Listen for the lights that sing messages our ears cannot hear. Look about for the voices that create our pathways step by step. Feel guardian winds reveal the miracle that every life has been.
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-11-13.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #35.
Use COPE as your inspiration this week
Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay
There are stacks of life's boxes in the closet, floor to ceiling. Labels are fading, some beyond recognition...new ones still clear. When we leave, we'll take dancing shoes and costumes, discard the rest.
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-11-02.
“They Have Materialized” by Brett Kiger is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #34.
Use DANCE as your inspiration this week.
Enticing aromas of family dinner under apple trees Fall harvest stored away, it's time to celebrate together Favorite songs and laughter swell as evening turns to starry night
Copyright © 2022-10-31. by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #33.
Use WINNING as your inspiration this week.
“Team 3 apple orchard” by USDA NRCS New Mexico
is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
Mazed by the madness: Kaleidoscope colors! Blinding lights! Megaphones and microphones—endless big-screen shows of nothing. The new wizards of aah! peek around transparent curtains.
Copyright © 2022-10-19 by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #32.
Use MAZE as your inspiration this week.
“kaleidoscope (93)” by lisafree54 is marked with CC0 1.0.
In memory of those who presaged the roads we follow, celebrate their achievements, faithful to their final goals. Respect and welcome others as we pave the way to peace.
Copyright © 2022-10-12 by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #31.
Use FESTIVAL as your inspiration this week.
From the first, I remember music
pour from our old radio,
My parents sang and danced before
they gently laid me down to sleep.
Memories sweet and timeless,
still alive as I've grown old.
.
Copyright © 2022-10-06, by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #30.
Use MOVIES as your inspiration this week.
Crackling leaves beneath my feet
hide the sight of lingering green.
Squirrels run high above my head
harvesting their forest feasts.
As evening wanes an owl asks Whoo?
Whoo? scurries home to sleep and dreams.
Copyright © 2022-09-27., by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #29.
Use AUTUMN as your inspiration this week.
without mud and water, the lovely lotus flowers will not grow without the sun, the moon could not mirror its beauty on the lake joy and sorrow join together to create the fullness of life
Copyright © 2022-09-21., by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #28.
Use BALANCE as your inspiration this week.
tenacious winds sweep ocean sands
higher up eroded beaches
fallen trees tangle barren branches
with bleaching bones and roots
the sea is naked ... footprints turned to clay ...
bird songs echo from the past
Copyright © 2022-09-17, by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #26.
Use PERSISTENCE as your inspiration this week.
“Skeleton” by fw42 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Aloft, eagles quarter their hunting space...
float on rivers in the sky.
They hunt in pairs, often four birds or six...
their sharp eagle eyes.
In dreams I float high above empty city streets,
not knowing who I search for.
Copyright © 2022-09-16., by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #27.
Use SOAR as your inspiration this week.
breathe in deeply…find more space for sounds and thoughts and dreaming taste the mingling currents as the world shifts from now to new inspiration is the stuff by which creation is made
Copyright © 2022-09-03., by Lizl Bennefeld.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #25. Use INSPIRATION as your inspiration this week.
within every hardship, opportunities are buried skills to hone, talents to discover, knowledge to be gained at the end—success or failure—satisfaction is the prize
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-08-24.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #24.
Use ADVERSITY as your inspiration this week.
I try to not give advice or naively follow others'. Situations may not be the same for you as for me. Our dialogues, though, could reveal more options and new paths.
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-08-19.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #23.
Use ADVICE as your inspiration this week.
Photo by Ales Krivec on Unsplash
sweat and tears will not achieve anything
without a goal to reach
goals emerge where dreams are fed and watered
tended, pruned back, and shaped
anchored to earth and reaching the sky...
soon to build a longer bridge
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-08-15.
“Starship | Artist Rendering” by Official SpaceX Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 .
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #22.
Use ACHIEVEMENT as your inspiration this week.
as the world around us changes
so must the long-term goals
common practices and mindsets
have failed through the years
as the rungs on life's ladder break . . .
I will learn to walk on air
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-08-07.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #21.
Use GOALS as your inspiration this week.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #20. Use PRIDE as your inspiration this week.
self-respect and assurance
are tempered by vast unknowns
the world around us changes
from one "earthquake" to the next
we cannot speak with certainty
without digging up the facts
© lizl bennefeld, 2022-07-31.
stars and the waxing moon's face
float ahead, mirrored in the lake
like ghosts calling to the living,
loon songs echo from the hills
dreams entangled in the heavens
melt away as the rain begins
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-07-20.
Image by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #18: Regrets.
regret does not mean taking up
a heavy burden of remorse
or wearing sackcloth and ashes
boldly displayed or hid away
regrets are faded dreams of other paths
that we had no need to follow
Copyright 2022-07-14, by Lizl Bennefeld.
Thoughts upon reading the prompt for this week called to mind Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken“. I always found its message to be optimistic and reassuring.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #17. Use WORK as your inspiration this week
the work of our hands as we
prepare the soil for planting
the fruits of the land and the dirt
that holds their seeds in trust
the weight of every harvest rests
with cherishing a fertile earth
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-07-06.
Image: “Spring Planting Day” by sgrace is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #16. Use PARTY as your inspiration this week
too late to the party—the fires are out, the guests moved on a cloudy sky—no moonlit path or guiding stars to point the way light will surely come at dawn with signs and roads to follow
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-06-29.
Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #15. Use Summer as your inspiration this week.
woodland flowers revel in spring
before tree leaves block summer's light
summer sun and springtime flowers
mingle as they appear and leave
with fall's cool days and longer nights
Joe-Pye-weed and gentian bloom
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-06-22.
reality is the sum
of everything that is and isn't
changed and constantly changing...
endless causes and effects
permanent uncertainty till
all the universes end
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-06-16
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #14. Use Reality as your inspiration this week.
the future that I will not live
must wait its turn while I take mine
the tasks I do are for today—
tomorrow's fall to others' hands
tomorrow and the years to come
will all depend on yesterdays
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-06-08.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #13. Use FUTURE as your inspiration this week.
Image by winterseitler from Pixabay
romance began in moonlight
sparkling fireworks and stars
sentiments and shared interests
reading the same library books
differences in opinions while
still setting common goals
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-06-02.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #12. Use ROMANCE as your inspiration this week.
In truth, I didn’t know what to write for this theme. But we celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary, this year. Lives and relationships build on the beginnings, and as the layers form, they firm up the surfaces. Make them stronger, yet more flexible. Comfortable as the layers of life work together. Common trust that can sustain relationships through difficulties. Who would have thought it?
their deep roots winter over,
fast asleep in the frozen ground
tulip bulbs and dandelions,
blue wild flax roots and seeds
melting snow and warm sunshine . . .
spring yearns to be reborn
[sijo.] Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-05-28.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #10: GROWING UP/Mature.
beneath a sullen sky that promises
rain which does not fall
gossip between leaves and branches
is quiet as the vanished breeze
with bated breath fields and woodlands
anticipate the coming storms
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-05-25, by Lizl Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #11.
Use EXCITEMENT as your inspiration this week.
i don't remember high school
my life flew by in a blur
band and choir rehearsals
trumpet, keyboard, and french horn
but the winters...lying in the snow
to watch the night sky's changing face
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-05-15, by Liz Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #9.
Use HIGH SCHOOL as your inspiration this week.
the world was created in a day...in a blink of the eye hidden from view by a heavy mist that vanished with the dawn the heron contemplates breakfast while silver minnows swim by
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-05-05, by Liz Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
through the fragrant mist of daybreak
promise of clear morning skies
waking birds murmur soft greetings
as they stretch their wings to fly
while the birds of the night
sink into rest and lullabies
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-04-28, by Liz Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #7
“Sunrise Dawn Photo” by Kristine Weilert (Stocksnap) is marked with CC0 1.0..
how gracefully the new leaves flutter in the morning breeze shadows dance along the path, fade and disappear again noon arrives but does not stop, allowing room for twilight
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-04-21, by Liz Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #6
“Forest glade in spring” by sunsju is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
through the thin mist of clouds
while evening yields to deeper night
enticing fireflies blink on and off
as they trace false trails
birds of day settle in while
birds of the night sing them to sleep
[sijo.] Copyright © 2022-04-14, by Liz Bennefeld. All rights reserved.
passion does not become me, although I stand in stillness when the mourning doves share their sorrows, and my hot tears flow free I feel the Earth's pulsing heart beat in rhythm with the sea © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-04-07.
Photo by Sebastian Voortman on Pexels.com
fir trees stand guard at the head of the trail leading to the peak greening meadows celebrate the return of warmth and sunlight spring melt runoff jumps from rock to rill to laughing mountain streams © Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-04-01.
we number and name our dead
those we have known or knew about
the lists grow longer with each night
that passes, each lingering breath
the last breaths that we'll count are ours...
freed from numbers and the names
© Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-03-26.
I wrote this poem, today, in reaction to the one that Jo Walton posted on her Patreon account earlier today.
spring hovers in the background,
waiting for the snow to melt
temperatures rise and fall
without regard to season
rabbits munch on last year's grass,
emerging tulips for dessert
© Lizl Bennefeld, 2022-03-23.
Quilted Poetry 