Where do you feel at home?

In this post I am sharing a poem I wrote in 2021 for the topic home. As with all writing and photos on the internet, I ask that you please respect my copyright.

Feeling at home

Where do I feel at home?
Where the people speak with voices
And accents I recognise,
Away from unfamiliar noises.

Where do I feel at home?
Where I can be of help
Or walking on the beach
Looking for sea-life like kelp.

Where do I feel at home?
Where the people worship God
In ways I feel happy with
In places other pilgrims trod.

Where do I feel at home?
In church in the front stall
Singing with the altos
Making music to praise God withal.

Where do I feel at home?
In our house or elsewhere
If a welcome is extended.
Welcome is having time to share.

Where do you feel at home?
When we are together
I hope that you feel at ease
And not at the end of your tether!

Pacific Island paint chip poem

The words and phrases for this week’s paint chip challenge from Gigglingfattie are Lunar Tide, Dark Everglade, Green Parakeet and Kauai.

I found this challenge really difficult – I was nonplussed by three of the paint chips.

I am familiar with Green parakeets as they have become naturalised in parts of the UK. I have seen and heard them around London and South Manchester. I learned that they come from an area of southern USA and Central America.

Kauai is one of the Hawaiian Islands I hadn’t heard about. I had to research the number of syllables – there are three with the emphasis on the second one, and the pronunciation. The final sound is EE. Kauai more or less rhymes with Hawaii.

There are some beautiful pictures of the island on the web.

Lunar tides were a puzzle to me. I was under the impression that tides were governed by the moon. A bit of research showed me that there are two components – the gravitational pull of the sun also affects the tides. (It’s becoming obvious I didn’t study geography long enough.)

Dark Everglade was another phrase that I didn’t understand. Everglades are swampy areas of grass in Florida.

Now I’ve sorted out all of that it is easier to write a poem!

Pacific Island

The lunar tide controls the size
Of exposed sand around Kauai.
Tourists feast their eyes
On mountains and blue sea,
On trees of dark everglade green
And fields coloured like green parakeets.
I have never seen
Kauai’s island treats.

How many of these phrases did you understand, dear Reader? Which country do you live in?

Paint chip challenge Rain dance

This week Giggling Fattie’s paint chips are Rain Dance, Clear Vista, Sea Wind and Reef Blue. My poem is about observations from our windows. Fell is a northern word for mountain.

I am including a photo of the Isle of Man seen on the horizon from our garden. It rained heavily later that evening!. More of my photos may be seen on Sue’s words and pictures.

Rain Dance

Gulls’ rain dance aims to fool
The unsuspecting worms, which rise
Thinking that raindrops are falling;
Being eaten is an unpleasant surprise!

Over their heads the clear vista
Has the outline of the Isle of Man
Shrunk by distance to look like a reef –
Blue fells are seen during the horizon’s scan.

They say that if the island appears
Rain will certainly follow, no doubt
From clouds driven by the Sea Wind.
Should we ever risk hanging the washing out?

Isle of Man on the horizon