October Winter #WednesdayWords #Poetry #Inspiration

October Winter

By Abbie Johnson Taylor

Copyright 2022.

 

 

For days, falling leaves were replaced by snowflakes

that cascaded from a gray, misty sky.

Temperatures dropped below freezing.

Grass and sidewalks were covered in a milky film of white.

Frost dotted window panes.

 

Now, the snow and frost are gone.

Leaves drift to the ground,

carpet grass and sidewalks.

The sun shines through clear windows.

Autumn has returned, but for how long?

***

The above poem appears in the fall quarterly issue of The Avocet, which can be downloaded here. In Wyoming, we sometimes get snow in October. But it’s here today and gone tomorrow, and then fall returns. You can click the link below to hear me read the poem.

 

October Winter

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description by

Two Pentacles Publishing.

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my twice-yearly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description by

Two Pentacles Publishing.

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

***

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Trick or Treat #TuesdayTidbit #WritingPrompt #Inspiration

“Honey, I don’t think anyone’s home,” I told my eight-year-old daughter Jennifer.

“But nobody goes off and leaves a lighted pumpkin in the window,” she said. “Look at the cat!”

An eerie howling suddenly erupted from the screened-in side porch. Jennifer screamed.

I grabbed her hand. “Let’s get away from here.” We didn’t stop running until we’d traversed the three blocks to our lighted front porch.

***

Thanks to Kathy King and Cheryl McNeil Fisher for this week’s prompt on Writing Works Wonders, where the given words are: leaves, pumpkin, cat, and howling. You can click here to participate.

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description by

Two Pentacles Publishing.

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my twice-yearly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description by

Two Pentacles Publishing.

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

***

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Following Autumn Moisture #Poetry #TuesdayTidbit

Image contains: Abbie, smiling.Following Autumn Moisture

by Abbie Johnson Taylor

 

 

Bright
sunlight
streams through my
kitchen window.
After days of rain,
I rejoice in the sun.
The few songbirds that are left
sing their boisterous welcome to fall.
When I take a walk, I see blue sky.
Fallen leaves crunch beneath my feet and cane.

***

The above poem was published in this year’s fall print issue of The Avocet. You can click below to hear me read it.

following autumn moisture

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Front cover image contains: elderly woman in red sweater sitting next to a window.

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

***

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Two Winter Haiku #Tuesday Tidbit, #Poetry


Image contains: Abbie, smiling.
December morning
leaves and frost cover brown ground
substitute for snow

forty-degree day
ice particles in creek bed
while water babbles

***

Note: The above haiku were recently published in The Weekly Avocet. I was inspired to write them while taking a walk and noticing leaves covering the ground instead of snow and the frozen creek bed. You can click below to hear me read them.

By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Front cover contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

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Friday Fun Poetry Challenge: Rain and Moisture

This feature was created by blogger Coleen Chesebro. For guidelines, click here.

Since this is the first week of the month, Colleen likes to encourage poets to choose their own words. The words I chose are “autumn” and “moisture.” The poem below contains synonyms and not the words themselves.

This time, I’m using a new form of poetry called an etheree. This consists of ten lines, each containing an ascending number of syllables. You can learn more about the etheree poem here. Click this link to hear me read the poem.

***

AFTER FALL RAIN

 

 

Bright

Sunlight

Streams through my

Kitchen window.

After days of rain,

I rejoice in the sun.

The few songbirds that are left

Sing their joyous welcome to fall.

When I take a walk, I see blue sky.

Fallen leaves crunch beneath my feet and cane.

***

Author Abbie Johnson Taylor

We Shall Overcome

How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver

That’s Life: New and Selected Poems

My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds

Click to hear an audio trailer.

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