turning the vase

turning the vase
of flowers
learning
there are
more roses

This is one of my grief poems, and it was published in Bell’s Letters Poet awhile ago.

February 2019: Some poems are simply gifts. Here are a few more of my poems that seem to belong with this poem. Here and there, I am working on a new large print chapbook. Our first large print book is Quiet Christmas Poetry (2014).

clouds and yet
enough light
to fill a jam jar
with the last
of the carnations

roses in the sun
some ending
some beginning
and some in full bloom
good to grow older

losses in life
low setting sun
through branches of trees
now rises again
as birds quietly sing

Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin

Ellen Grace Olinger
December 2013 and February 2019
1,000 Posts Review

Quiet Christmas Poetry

Quiet Christmas Poetry is both a site and a large print chapbook.

Some examples of poems:

family dinner
memories span decades
in minutes

reading old letters
reflections of Christmas lights
on the water

Northern sun
shines on frozen beach
still the days grow shorter
shadow of poinsettia
on the wall

new year
on the horizon
simple lines
of barns and trees
in the fog

Please visit Quiet Christmas Poetry for more information.

Ellen Grace Olinger

still true

This poem is from my first site: Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin, August 28, 2010.   I work with others to achieve projects, and also write poems and take photos.   I cannot work the way I did when younger, but I like to think what I can achieve reflects many years in a good way.

September
on the horizon
all the goals
I can still
try to reach

Ellen Grace Olinger

This year my goal is to work more with our Quiet Christmas Poetry large print chapbook.  In 2018, I hope to return to some drafts I began to create a few small books.

Quiet Christmas Poetry

Quiet Christmas Poetry is both a large print chapbook and a site.  I updated the site recently.

One of our goals is for the site to be a free online version of the book.  All of the poems in the book are from the site, and are clearly listed in the right sidebar.

The book includes a link for the Christmas site, as another thought is that the large print book may serve as a bridge to blogs, for older readers who may be interested.

The cover photo of Lake Michigan is by Karl.

Ellen Grace Olinger

Daily Prompt: Mystical

Mystical

A  doration and
D  evotion
V  ision of
E  ternity
N  ow in
T  ime

*

snowflakes
floating in the air
separate
together
artists
across places
and time

*

almost Christmas
through the evergreens
clear blue sky

*

Ellen Grace Olinger

Quiet Christmas Poetry (2014)

Quiet Christmas Poetry is both a large print chapbook and a website.  Yesterday, I worked on this site.  There are some posts with current information at the beginning, and then the posts that became the book follow.  For readers who wish to read online, the posts are all listed in the right sidebar.  One of my thoughts is that the large print book may be a bridge to blogs for older readers.  This work is non-profit.

Daily Prompt: Transformation

via Daily Prompt: Transformation

sudden cold –
Christmas cactus
already blooming

Ellen Grace Olinger
Time Of Singing, 1997

Quiet Christmas Poetry
large print chapbook, 2014

*

Transformation

Discover Challenge – Adventure

Last year I learned how to post photos to my blogs.  This is a wonderful adventure.  These photos of fallen forsythia petals are two of my favorites.  I take the same approach with photography as with poetry.  I try to live in a way that allows me to see the poems and photos in our yard.

I also read a lot, and I love to learn.  I hope to reread Adventure of Ascent, Field Notes from a Lifelong Journey by Luci Shaw (2014, IVP Books; Downers Grove, Illinois).  She is a generous writer.

Another adventure was creating a large print chapbook version of my site, Quiet Christmas Poetry, with Karl’s help.  We donated the profits to Time Of Singing – this journal, founded in 1958 by Dr. Benjamin P. Browne, has published my haiku and other forms of poetry for years.  Perhaps the book will also serve as a way for some new people to learn about blogs.  Karl and I have spent a lot of time in nursing homes.  His photo of the winter Lake Michigan beach, another favorite, became the cover.

Within the quiet life that keeps me well, I have many adventures!  I am grateful to be growing older.

Ellen Grace Olinger