Do you ever sit over a cup of coffee and go through photographs. I do it all the time when I blog.
This week I’m inspired to combine K.L. Caley’s WritePhoto Challenge using the poetry forms I learned from Tanka Tuesday’s Colleen Chesebro to meet Natalie the Explorer’s for this Weekend Coffee Share.
I think Natalie might enjoy this exploratory trip down an abandoned alley. The picture is far from Prescott, AZ, where the weather has been snowy, cold, and blistery even though temperatures in the 40s and 50s sound mild compared to the extremes in the Midwest and North.
For visually challenged writers, the image shows a cobbled alleyway with green doors located along it.
Mother and I found abandoned buildings at dusk a safe place to sleep. A quiet alley rutted cobblestones hold pain of difficult times sad pillars of stones mark past clandestine meetings behind mossy doors Suffering souls sleep alone on splintered floor boards faint rhymic breathing the drenching rain stopped sometime after I dozed off warm in mum's embrace ©Marsha Ingrao 2023
This Haiga, or observational poetry according to Colleen Chesebro, was inspired not only by the photo of the abandoned alley but by two quotes from which I borrowed a few phrases and words.
The irony for me was that the young person describing the scene felt serene, secure, and warm in a place that most people would avoid or find scary. I get the feeling that he even felt grateful for a place out of the rain and he felt sorry for the poor souls that were less fortunate than he, who were sleeping there as well.
Detroit is a city that really stands out.
It’s been through a very difficult time. There’s been a lot of pain here, and the city, physically, has suffered. You can see it in certain neighborhoods, and there’s buildings downtown that have been abandoned.
-Michael Imperioli
My mother and I took over abandoned buildings to sleep in.
–Mark Webber
No Photos Yet in 2023
This week my camera was silent so I don’t have any compelling photos to share. Even though I went shopping with friends yesterday, I spent time trying on clothes for an upcoming trip instead of taking pictures like I usually do.
Blogging
This week I had fun blogging. I love to curate still, so I worked on getting my new page ready for WQ, Wednesday Quotes for the year. I cleaned up my categories a little, read lots of blogs, and wrote three challenge posts and a couple of poems.
Next Thursday, January 12th, I am excited to host at least two blogger friends and their guests to Prescott for a special meetup starting at 10:00 am. We will be touring Sharlot Hall, then going to lunch, and looking around Prescott for photo opportunities.
“Sharlot Hall Museum is named after its founder, Sharlot Mabridth Hall (1870-1943), who became well-known as a poet, activist, politician, and Arizona’s first female Territorial Historian. She was one of the West’s most remarkable women; as early as 1907, Ms. Hall saw the need to save Arizona’s history and planned to develop a museum. She began to collect both Native American Indian and pioneer material. In 1927, she began restoring the first Territorial Governor’s residence and offices and moved her extensive collection of artifacts and documents opening it as the “Gubernatorial Mansion Museum” in 1928. After her death in 1943, the museum was named in her honor.”
Sharlot Hall Museum Website
If you are in the area and are interested in joining us, please email me at alwayswrite01@gmail.com.
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
- WQ Page NEW CHALLENGE TOPICS FOR 2023
- WQ #1 January 4th: RESOLUTIONS v WORD OF THE YEAR
- WQ #2 January 11: PIQUES INTEREST
- WQ #3 January 18: BELLY LAUGH/WHITE OR GRAY COLOR CHALLENGE ALIGNED WITH SUNDAY STILLS
- WQ #4: January 25: ENVELOPED/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES/
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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