Wrightings

What if the cashier said, “Thank you”  and meant it  and the person in front of you held the door open  for you too, and if  the next face you saw  was smiling so wide  you just wanted to know why.    Would your eyes twinkle too as if the sky was just that specific shade of blue and the clouds that float by look like an elephant in a tutu?   Would that happiness spread through the hamburger you give the guy on the street because no one needs the second quarter-pounder with cheese?   Would you walk your dog a little faster so she could sniff what she’s after and dance on the leash as she greets everyone she meets as someone important and a friend who’s worth knowing and then play chase in the park ‘til we all get tuckered out.   Then the other doggy moms and dads would smile too, and that might be because of you.

red sunrises remind us  there's smoke in the distance

For Crimes Against Complacency Aliases: The Grammar Guardian • The Cursive Conjurer • The Equation Whisperer • The Storyteller of Time • The Book Dealer • The Garden Scientist • The Canvas Criminal • The Context Queen Charges: Smuggling knowledge across mental borders without permission. Distributing tidbits of truth , rogue facts , and dangerously inspiring quotes . Practicing unauthorized grammar correction and penmanship sorcery. Using mathematical metaphors to incite understanding and awe. Instigating independent thought via carefully deployed open-ended questions. Aiding and abetting curiosity in the first degree . Facilitating addiction to reading , learning , and critical thinking . Turning classrooms into laboratories , libraries into launchpads , and desks into stages . Illegally planting seeds of confidence , empathy , and imagination . Last Seen: Hunched over a stack of essays with the p...

 

 In Dakota County,  there is a cemetery  with graves as old as dirt,  my mother’s mother is laid there,  buried in a blouse and blue skirt,  beside her lay her husband,  and his second wife too  but mother’s mother’s baby boy  lies unnamed in a tomb.  The little hill with picket fencing  covered with crosses and stones,  has nearly 100 graves holding  only Sprute’s bones. 

  As a first-year teacher, I learned the most important relationship a young girl can have isn’t with the mentor teacher next door the one with 35 years of teaching experience and a roll of duct tape for the kid with ADHD. It isn’t being besties with the principal who asked more questions about your bartending experience than your student teaching or with the PE teacher who wants to see you play volleyball in the gym after the kids leave.            The most important relationship is with the janitor. The janitor will unlock your door when you forget your keys and walk you to the car if you stay too late in the school on the wrong side of town. The janitor will thank you for caring for the neighborhood kids and help you understand their home life by pointing out the tarpaper shack when you want to make a home visit to Juan’s house and you can’t find the house numbers.            The janitor has worked on the camp...

untangle the jumbled ball of words,  find the end of a thread that never ends,  and chain a poem

 

  Science tells us that words are not just sounds; they are forces that shape our brains. Neuroscientists have found that positive and negative words physically alter the structure of our neural pathways. Words of encouragement activate the prefrontal cortex, fostering growth and learning, while harsh words trigger the amygdala, creating stress and fear. Dr. Masaru Emoto’s renowned water experiments demonstrated this phenomenon—where words of love and gratitude directed toward water molecules formed intricate, beautiful crystalline structures, while words of hatred produced chaotic, fractured patterns. If words can do that to water, imagine what they do to us. Poets and philosophers have long understood this power. William Ellery Channing, a leading figure of Unitarianism in the early 19th century, articulated in his sermon "Likeness to God" the importance of human potential and moral responsibility. Channing’s words helped define a faith centered on love, reason, and ind...

  Lustrous lamplight lingers low, Lonesome lovers lost in woe. Lips left longing, lives left lame, Lulled by love’s lurid flame. Lilac linens, lay loose and light, Laced with longing late at night. Lamentations like lullabies, Loaded looks and liquid lies. Languid limbs lie lithe, alone, Listening long for love unknown. Lingering letters left unread, Lifeless laughter, love long dead.

  National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo writing, editing, and submission support)   https://www.napowrimo.net/ Join me virtually to write poems based on daily prompts, edit some of those poems and find the proper place to submit final poems.  We will meet the five Tuesdays in April 2025 via zoom  at 8:00 am – 8:45 am central time  to discuss the prompts, share a few lines, and peer critique for editing purposes. I will encourage and help you find places for submission or oral presentation when you are ready. $25.00 via venmo Joy@Joy-Nyberg Then I will email you the zoom link for our meetings J. L. Wright *This group is not affiliated or sanctioned by the  NaPoWriMo

This is Forgotten Forgotten - the hairs in the drain or lying on the floor; hate, a boulder, rolling free and alone; a lie shouted in the light of day; organized insight of a shared vision.  Forgotten: the caged animal a large leopard pacing at its gate; the taste of bitter chocolate, the last cold  cup of coffee, a leathered fruit  which cannot mother, a heart torn asunder by yet another shot. You’ll forget labor pains until your child dies the vows made and broken, the first time around; a truth never told, being forced to touch  a toilet dirtied by a drunk.  All forgotten as if you were impaired.

  The Dance of the Seven Veils  I danced the dance of the Seven Veils to Bolero, Fast wheels spun under neon light, But love can’t last when you must go. Time for Me to Fly on the radio, pure rock ‘n’ roll, Fingertips traced a dream burnt bright,                                                       I danced the dance of the Seven Veils to Bolero. The hum of the engine, the fever, the glow, You swore you’d stay, but fate said, "not quite," Love can’t last when you must go. The rearview blurred, but I saw the show, Obsessed by echoes of Saturday nights, I danced the dance of the Seven Veils to Bolero. The speed of our love was too fast, too bold, You chased the white line, I faded out of sight,                                       ...

  I'm a poet you're a poet we're all poets,  Yah! So write a poem a day and in April we will say NaPoWriMo ROCKS!

  He’s got…. He squeezed, rolled, and patted the whole world. The ball warmed volcanoes compressed. In his hands fissures spill out moisture. Which remains whole. The once smooth red clay World, now gnarled and pinched offers little for life. In his hands this world, a worthless refuge, could exist when he’s got the whole wide world of possibility. This planet is not a friendly place, this planet in his hands is not a hospitable place, this planet is barely hanging on. And I with it.

  Valentines Day ‘25 You stormed in through rain a dozen offerings of love my man drunk in pain cooed like a dove I sent you on your way I didn’t understand  friends should stay but that wasn’t your plan to yet another I committed still I wanted you near friendship is most befitted and will last for more than years

  The battlefield is where I will fall,   and I will try to get back up  at least two times, so don’t  expect me in your death                                                        to show up on time! J. L. Wright

  5 Grammar Reasons Written English Is So Difficult for Americans English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, but it is also among the most difficult to master—especially when it comes to writing. Even native English speakers, including Americans, struggle with its complex grammar rules, inconsistencies, and exceptions. While spoken English allows for flexibility and informality, written English follows rigid guidelines that can be confusing. Below are five major grammar-related reasons why Americans often find written English so difficult. 1.  Homophones Confuse Even the Best Writers One of the biggest challenges in written English is the vast number of homophones—words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Common examples include: Their  (possessive),  there  (location), and  they’re  (contraction of "they are") Your  (possessive) vs.  you’re  (contraction of "you are") Its  (possessiv...

  Observations of life based on games Currently, my online games are Words with Friends TM, reDecor TM, and Glow TM. It’s nice to see people enjoy some of the things I enjoy; playing with the English language, thinking about how I would decorate expensive houses, and trying clothes on a skinny model.  As an adult one might wonder about the person who would enjoy these challenges.  But we am not here to analyze me but my opponents.  First, I’ve noticed there are two types of Words with Friends opponents. The first one of course is a bot. The bot keeps me playing. It will lose by two or three points. Matches my skill set almost Word for Word, get the pun. The second is an actual opponent somewhere. Often a man trying to pick up a woman who will text me if I accept the text. Or a man in a foreign country. Trying to get a little money.  I don’t care if they text me. I don’t respond. And if that’s all they want then they will drop out of the game. But if they are tru...