Author Archives: Elizabeth
Larger than life…
i would not rebel against nature’s potpourri— evening’s smoky reds cold winter’s crusted snow…or changing the world in my dreams Copyright © 2018-08-22, by Elizabeth W. “Lizl” Bennefeld.
Evening Walk
Also published this date on the Quilted Poetry blog and inspired by a photograph (third one from the top) on Thomas Gable’s post: Spring is Near on the blog When Timber Makes One Still. honey-dark amber reflected in the water … Continue reading
Sometimes…
Sometimes, at waking, the most odd and unexpected trains of thought roll through my mind. time does not heal all wounds, but only stretches out the tepid stream life—an endless river immortality its death Copyright © 2018-06-13, by Elizabeth W. … Continue reading
Tidying up #NaPoWriMo2018 month
In the midst of all, I have misplaced text files for poems I wrote and meant to put here and/or email to my writing partners for this National Poetry Month challenge. I hope to have all gathered together (more poems … Continue reading
Rewriting the World – April 21
nahaiwrimo prompt for Day 21: PRINT Bring Your Own Plot Print has gotten smaller in books as years go by and letters crowd the line with two or more ascenders where only one should be, and below the quivering baseline … Continue reading
Story Poem, another Day 27 prompt | #NaPoWriMo2018
Brewer: For today’s prompt, write a story poem. Think of a story, could be a long, complicated, winding story, but for a poem, it may make more sense to make it a short, direct story. Sort of a plot summary … Continue reading
Day 25: Warning Sign | #NaPoWriMo2018
The prompt that I chose for April 25 was from NaPoWriMo: Today, we challenge you to write a poem that takes the form of a warning label . . . for yourself! (Mine definitely includes the statement: “Do Not Feed … Continue reading
Day 23: Vistas | #NaPoWriMo2018
slumbering dawn tucked away in grey-pink clouds— wake the morning sun Copyright © 2018-04-24, by Elizabeth Bennefeld.
Day 18 – Tempted to Silence | #NaPoWriMo2018
Brewer: For today’s prompt, write a temptation poem. Nearly everyone is tempted by something: fame, glory, money, chocolate. Today is the perfect day to give in to the temptation to write about your (or “a friend’s”) temptation. Also, I totally … Continue reading
Day 17: Aeronautics, Intermission | #NaPoWriMo2018
Prompt from #RonovanWrites #Haiku – Original post with more photos. sunlight on his wings iridescent dragonfly the joy of his dance Copyright © 2018-04-17, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld.
Day 16: fish | #NaPoWriMo2018
I love to dance balancing vertically strong horizontal sweeps of the tail fin below… gill covers and filaments vibrating, my head up looking at the bright waves of sunlight as the lights flow on above me the water moves and … Continue reading
Day 13 Prompt: “M” = Muskeg | NaPoWriMo2018
Cuyahoga Library Prompt: ‘Open a dictionary to the letter “m.” Scan until you find the first word you don’t know the meaning of that intrigues you, and then write a poem about that word.’ muskeg meadows camouflage soft ground that … Continue reading
Day 9: Who We Were | #NaPoWriMo2018
I decided to go back to April 9, to the Pilgrimage prompt, and wander a bit through the family tree. My mother was a genealogist, among other things, and we kids got to do research, each in our turn. Who … Continue reading
Day 10: Simultaneity | #NaPoWriMo2018
NaPoWriMo Prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem of simultaneity, in which multiple things are happening at once.” geese cry overhead the dogs sit up and listen leaves remain silent I would fly like those wild … Continue reading
Journaling: paper vs. digital
I find it interesting, how different the topics are for my online journal from the paper journal that I have returned to since the first of 2018. Things that I would only post, if at all, on my Patchwork Prose … Continue reading
Day 8: Late Snowfall | #NaPoWriMo2018
tulips pushing through loam to newly fallen snow wait in line for spring our rabbits, lacking new grass, nibble tender tulip shoots Copyright © 2018-04-08, by Elizabeth Bennefeld. We have a lot of rabbits in our yard and the surrounding … Continue reading
Day 5 Prompt – Intelligence | #NaPoWriMo2018
Brewer: For today’s prompt, write an intelligence poem. Of course, intelligence is subjective. What is common sense for one person makes no sense to another. But intelligence is more than IQ and test scores. There’s artificial intelligence, intelligent animals, and … Continue reading
Day 6: uneven lines | NaPoWriMo2018
Prompt from NaPoWriMo: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that stretches your comfort zone with line breaks. That could be a poem with very long lines, or very short lines. Or a poem that blends the … Continue reading
Day 4: Dragonfly, Perspectives | #napowrimo2018
Prompt for Day 4 from the NaHaiWriMo page on Facebook. Sleepy dragonfly… reconsider this day’s world shifting perspectives warmth and rest can set thoughts free transforming dreams into flight Copyright © 2018-04-04, by Lizl Bennefeld.
Day 3: Empty | life of words
life of words filtered through words life lived at second hand a slower pace—indepth reexamined contemplated and reworked without the words written out or spoken— if only heard, repeat them before they disappear into the aether— wordless melodies and rhythms … Continue reading
Day 2: Portrait | NaPoWriMo2018
Prompt: Portrait the face in the mirror…mine as I looked 30 years ago gaunt…drawn…withdrawn hair cut short—cut off after all those years do I appear the same to anyone but me? will they know me at a glance? I will … Continue reading
Day 1: Dreams in Porcelain | #NaPoWriMo2018
within the bowl blue trees surround a small house patterns from childhood born of her best memories— paths forward…wishes…hopes Copyright © 2018-04-01, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld (Lizl). I read both the NaPoWriMo and the NaHaiWriMo prompts for this day, coming … Continue reading
Late night thoughts
Reading about the excess profit taking on generic drugs by companies centered on fast money rather than service to society, I find myself becoming convinced that for me to purchase and use such products would not be something I could … Continue reading
Rough Draft – (28 November 2017)
I wrote a rough draft for a longer poem, yesterday. I’ve been working on revisions, but it’s not ready to post anywhere.
ecology (19 November 2017)
we didn’t expect oceans dead, oxygen gone cities down sink holes we thought…smog and air filters self-sufficient geo-domes Copyright © 2017-11-21, by Lizl Bennefeld. I believe that the 19th day was the one that I missed in the poem-a-day string. … Continue reading
What I Meant to Say (18 November 2017)
I did write a poem for Day 18 in response to the prompt “what I meant to say”, but decided not to put it on my blog. Sometimes that happens. Still working on a poem for Day 19.
Swoop Down (5 November 2017) | #NaHaiWriMo
peregrine’s swoop grasping talons…beating wings flickertail feathers Copyright © 2017-11-05, by Elizabeth W. (Lizl) Bennefeld. Prompt: #NaHaiWriMo : Swoop
Tomorrow never comes
the sun rose rolled along its silent path— solitary it’s wandered off unnoted tomorrow will not happen Copyright © 2017-10-22, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld Fargo ND USA
trapped in dystopia
not fake news poor people live there… let them starve caught up by someone else’s timeline…no way out of here Copyright © 2017-10-13, Elizabeth W. Bennefeld. Tough, getting to sleep, tonight.
Graveside memories
Remembering my parents’ graveside military services as the months progress toward first anniversaries. A year ago, plus a few weeks, my mother entered the hospital, and then into hospice care for two months before her death. Father followed her perhaps … Continue reading
In its own shadow
The tanka practice in week three of the workshop continues. This is one of the practice poems that I think I will not submit to the workshop leader; it feels like just an extended haiku. I like the flower, though. … Continue reading
Finding Everyday Inspiration, Day 19: Roundup of Great Reads
Perhaps not so much great “reads” in every case. I do enjoy looking at photographs of the out-of-doors and the creatures that live there. Belinda Grover Photography: Belinda Grover has a particularly nice photograph of a hoverfly on a plant … Continue reading
Too short, mourning
only photographs– still, silent in their stark frames– wait for tears to fall 12 months, too short for mourning … too soon, the memories fade too short, mourning. Copyright 2017-08-18, by Lizl Bennefeld.
July 26: A pair of poems
“i did not want to trouble her” i would not trouble her with present reality the look behind her eyes, knowing that she did not know, worrying what she’d once again forgotten that should always have been remembered i’d said … Continue reading
Fading Rainbow
‘fading rainbow’ rainbows fade too soon turning to vapor as night falls upon the sky mist rises at the new moon the night sky falls toward the Earth Copyright © 2017-06-18, by Lizl Bennefeld. All rights reserved. As the … Continue reading
Getting It Right
“Getting it Right” I write the story of my life one day at a time, taking care to leaf through previous pages, editing events, adjusting back stories, tidying errors and casual mistakes that I would not have made, had I … Continue reading
NaPoWriMo17, Day 28 – Lake in Winter
the lake in winter whispering silence gentle touch of winter’s cold water’s smooth surface the quiet of falling snow the chime as each flake fractures Copyright © 27 April 2017, by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld. Source: “The Sound of Snowflakes”, … Continue reading
SFF Net and grief
Among the losses that I am mourning is the closure of SFF Net, of which I had been a member since 1997, I think. Believe I didn’t get a newsgroup until the next year. Yesterday I had my first in-person … Continue reading