Bell Ringer

Ronovan Décima Poetry Challenge #22
“Blend” In the A rhyme line

Braving the cold by stores’ front end,
Faithful servant in Christmas corps.
Tattered coat hard to ignore,
Through rain and snow, he must contend!

Among shoppers, he doesn’t blend.
Seek pennies for smiles – fair exchange
Into his bucket, gathered change
Charities’ Christmas bell ringer.
Thru the season he will linger,
Gathering bits of your loose change

                                             ©2020 cj holm

Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 22 (BLEND) This week, it’s the A rhyme line.

“Décima” (also known as Espinel)is a Spanish style or form of musical poetry that contains 10 lines of eight syllables.
The style has a rhyming pattern of abbaaccddc. Sometimes you break the stanza up in abba/accddc.
The abba/accddc requires either a period or semicolon after the fourth line break.

Haiku/Senryu Challenge (12/23/19)

astrology-christianity-1200

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge 285 Hope / Star

Season’s shining star
guides us on a wondrous night
-hope for all mankind

                               -CJ Holm

Haiku/Senryu Challenge (12/23/19)

ronovan

https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/12/23/weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-285/

Halleluiah

To each in their own way, I wish you peace and happiness this day!

 

Star

NASA Photo

traveler’s journey
to witness a scene so chaste
stars blush at the sight

shepherds pause from watching flock
glory to the new born king

                                                   -cj holm

 

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge 233 Chaste / Blush
Prompt words: Chaste & Blush
Tanka in 5-7-5 7-7

ronovan-writes

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #233 Chaste&Blush

Nutcracker Scheme

scrooge

Charge of sugarplums
Drawn-out for countless payments
-December reason

Twinkling dreams of fairy tales
Fiscal ruin comes in it’s stead

                                                 -cj holm

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge 219 Charge / Reason
5-7-5 7-7

ronovan-writes

https://ronovanwrites.com/2018/09/17/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-219-chargereason/

Lussinatta

Lucia-13.12.06

Photo Credit Claudia Gründer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3221537

White tallow candles
Burn slow in Lucia’s Crown
Light the winter night

                             -Clarence Holm
Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge 180 Slow / Burn
Prompt words: Slow & Burn
Haiku in 5-7-5

ronovan-writes

https://ronovanwrites.com/2017/12/18/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-180-slowburn/

Small Town News

My wife and I were winners of the Christmas Decorating Contest! To paraphrase Julia Roberts, “We would like to thank everyone we’ve ever met in our entire life.”

ormsby

home

Notice that the article doesn’t give an address of our home, they just refer to the previous owner’s name. (Now that’s small town living at its best!)

“Ormsby – Just down the road”

Holiday Greetings (Or Not)

“I’m Better Than You!”

If I receive one more message stating, “Rather than send out greeting cards (or presents) I’ve made a donation to a charity in your name.” I might just go out and buy a “Make America Great Again” hat!

This week I’ve received written letters, emails, and Facebook announcements from a number of businesses and/or private persons containing that announcement – and I wonder what could be their thought process?

Send or don’t send cards or presents if you like- it’s a personal decision, but don’t use it as a form of advertisement of some greater moral behavior. You apparently don’t like the practice, but please stop trying to have it both ways by sending public notices of not sending public notices.

If you find yourself sending out cards or presents for any other reason than that you enjoy making people feel good, you might want to check your motives. If you’re worried about a charity or a particular cause, send them a gift, but do it because you want to, not because you want people to notice your “selfless” act of charity.

I happen to enjoy sending out an annual Christmas greeting! What I don’t need is some “holier than thou” telling me that they don’t do cards or gifts anymore and I shouldn’t too.

To me the ultimate irony of that act is when some of the charities receive these cash donations; they end up using them to send out extra holiday cards — soliciting more money…

Happy Holidays
Clarence Holm

 

“Ormsby – We mind our business!”