{ found poem (2) }

Just for the record, for those of you who do not know what found poems are--they are poems that are created from words literally "found" within the words of another author's work (article, story, etc). Found poems can take on two different styles: (1) following exactly ALL the author's words; the found poem's poet inserts only line breaks and spacing (2) using the author's words selectively, the found poem's poet can insert his/her own punctuation or can rearrange/discard words selected from the original piece. I like this second style (although I use it more rigidly than some other "found poets" do).

* * * * *

MEXICO CITY THEN

(a found poem)

then:

lovely, rose-colored city of

   magnificent Colonial churches

   palaces

   mock-Parisian private mansions

   two-storey buildings

         (with big, painted gates and

         wrought iron balconies)

   sweet, disorganized parks

   (silent lovers)

   broad avenues and

   dark streets.

   And crystalline, unpolluted air.

(found in: Carlos Fuentes' "Introduction"; The Diary of Frida Kahlo (1995), p. 11)

{ a poem from my afternoon }

[untitled]

all i saw was you
yet how could you
(so unseeingly!)
pass me by?
though your eyes may fail,
doesn't your heart leap at the sense of

me?
without you?
who then would i be?

in the doldrums of my soul i would
pathetically, apathetically
cease to hope, dream,
even lament.
without you ...
as i am now and yet still we

pass!
i sense you near me again--
look up--it is you!
i catch just a flash, just a glimmer and then
--whir--
again you're gone

gone before seeing me, sensing me,
yet undoubtedly on your way--looking--to
find me again!

gone so fast without my leaving you with even an inkling of my presence

gone, but leaving an immeasurable impact on
me
without you

{ a found poem }

what hosts endured their bereavement wondering,
weighing the heart of their loss by a fire?

as with the passing of so many beloved:
partners fathers
mothers brothers
sisters children friends

i came to realize it as part of the human condition,
part of a larger story each of us belongs to--
whether we grieve in solitude
or wail before the pyres;
build monuments to our dead or
scatter their ashes (in secret places in the woods, on a mountain ledge,
at the edge of waters)

in ways i may never comprehend,
my hearth fire transported me
t h r o u g h
it offered me a location, a mooring--
in the way a lighthouse beams to a ship

in an age when nearly all we do hauls us toward the future,
building a fire and enjoying its warmth
seems one of the few fundamental joys left that tow us
back toward the ancestors,
weighing the heart of their loss by a fire.


[found in Deborah Digges' article "Rising From the Ashes"; p.312; Real Simple magazine; November 2004 issue]

{ the first message . . . }

. . . is always the hardest one to write. especially when you've been away for so long, like i have . . .

{ just for the record }

anything dated October 1, 2004 on this blog is merely a permanent "document" that i am going to link back to.

{ Animals I've Seen In the Wild }

[in alphabetical order]

Beaver
Black Bear
Blesbok
Blue Heron
Buffalo
Cape Buffalo
Chipmunk
Coyote
Deer
Dog
Dolphin
Eagle
Eland
Elk
Falcon
Fox
Garter Snake
Giraffe
Goat
Gopher
Green Mamba (snake)
Hartebeest
Hawk
Hippopotomus
Impala
Kudu
Monkey
Moose
Mountain Goat
Mountain Sheep
Muskrat
Lion
Ostrich
Porcupine
Rhinoceros
Springbok
Squirrel
Warthog
Wildebeest
Zebra

{ searching for my blog? }

Here is a list of search strings that have led people to my blog. How some of them led here, I'll probably never know. This list is a work in progress.

1) spankin
2) john "i was crazy about you then" lyrics
3) lisel mueller
4) daniel nussbaum vanity verona
5) pl8spk
6) davidandgoliathtees
7) 10 things done probably haven't
8) CHANSON ADIEU CAN DIE
9) "a sunrise on the veld" -essays, -thesis, -term -paper, -araby
10) chanson feels just like the one we know
11) american recipe
12) masuro emoto
13) more at one's
14) "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" lesson plans
15) ukranian kids playing outdoors
16) indian e chanson
17) my space softball belle
18) tin photos
19) chanson did do thank you
20) Ikea expidit bookshelf
21) Braces Caught
22) MSN Video - Nigella Lawson
23) barefoot contessa's pesto pasta salad
24) Amatt garage doors
25) getting rid of wasps in my walls
26) chanson lesson to your heart
27) popse-z
28) saskatoon berry recipes
29) cross my figures
30) meh meh my pellow
31) this is the actual answering machine message for the school
32) tin type photos
33) Days Of Our Lives Belle 15 Birthday Pictures
34) "24 hour notice to enter"
35) "jack johnson" "we're locked in time" meaning of
36) professional organizer
37) Tulipa Nightrider
38) starbucks barista with scoliosis
39) "undeniable efflorescence"
40) adult baby transform
41) found poem
42) how did lisa from TLC die?
43) teaching trade
44) Zodiac vanity Plates
45) kate winslet
46) notice to enter suite
47) rosy cheeks
48) Moroccan inspired bedroom
49) cappucino, macchiato
50) dreamer by nature
51) fainted piercing
52) disney underdog movie
53) electrocuted by lightening
54) escape from the corn spook maze
55) pleather binder
56) starbucks application form
57) The mind of a woman
58) worship
59) making money for a desperate housewife
60) I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
61) beans and cornbread recipe-cowboy
62) eenymeenyminymo
63) kimbab feature
64) southern belle dresses for toddlers
65) houses decorated for christmas in winnipeg
66) daintee lotion
67) who wrote romeoh and julyet
68) What are Cinderella stereotypes
69) Verdant Earth
70) homemade christmas stocking
71) build a miniature golf course AND backyard
72) to teach is to poem
73) sitcoms and sexual harrassment
74) What to do with the rest of my life

{ to do before i die }

I know, I know, it sounds a little bit morbid. But doesn't everybody have a list like this, even if only in their heads, even if they don't quite call it this? This is another ongoing list, and I will do my best to keep track of what I've done, once I've finished it.

TO DO BEFORE I DIE

1) Go to Africa with Derek (more specifically: lie on the sand dunes in Jeffrey's Bay and stargaze). (May/June '06)
2) Meet Karel in person.
3) Make lemonade from scratch.
4) Get something published, no matter how short.
5) Go Christmas caroling.
6) Have an authentic cappucino in Italy.
7) Sit in a ski chalet by a giant stone fireplace, sipping hot cocoa and reading a good book.
8) Have a bonfire and sing-along on the beach with friends. (August 6, '06)
9) Visit the mountains in autumn.
10)

More to come, of course!

{ about the author }

Short: Lisa. Age 24. From Alberta, Canada. Married (since age 19), with no kids yet. Living in a fairly new condo, not far from her family's home. Working as a junior high teacher, teaching mainly English language arts. In her spare time loves: writing, reading, taking photos, cooking and watching her favorite TV shows (Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, and almost anything on the Food Network except Rachel Ray).

Long:
My name is Lisa Anne (with an 'e'). I come from Alberta, Canada, which is a gloriously beautiful province with prairies flatter than you can imagine and mountains so high and rocky, you can't believe they're actually right in front of you in all their splendor. Although Alberta is well-known for its vast fields of wheat, canola and other grains, I have little experience with the rugged outdoors; I am a city girl, born in the city, raised in the city, and remaining in the city. These days, however, I feel more of a pull towards nature. I try to get out an enjoy the sun more, I take walks in the natural ravines that are left, I pot my own plants and am loving the feeling of earth between my fingers. In the summer of 2005 I tried wilderness camping, where we had to haul our own water and stash food away from the bears. I climbed a real mountain that summer, a mountain with no trails or guardrails, and I loved the feeling standing on the top, thinking "I did it. This little city girl actually did it."

I spent my past four years in the city going to University. I studied education and received my degree. In May 2005, I suddenly transformed from being student to being potential secondary school teacher, and I have to confess the transformation was somewhat surreal! I spent one entire year as a substitute teacher, which was filled with its own wild adventures. Now I have my own classroom in a rough neighborhood where I teach junior high students who are mainly Muslim and who are largely refugees and immigrants. I'm totally loving it.

In my spare time, I love to write. I find poetry rolls around in my mind almost constantly. Nature and simple beauty inspires me most. I can find myself so moved by the slant of a sunbeam, or or an aspen's leaves clapping in the wind. My poetic outpourings, however, have found their way onto the paper less and less these past few years. I think it was school that stifled my creativity. I am trying to find my way back into my artistic groove, as I regenerate my journals and scrapbooks and this blog as well. My eighteen year old brother tells me I'm too "emo" for my own good, with all my flower photos and collected verses, but that's okay with me.

My newest obsession is photography, and for my latest birthday, all my family and my darling husband saved up to get me my first digital SLR camera (a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi). I spend much of my time wandering alone over dandelions or hovering over white plates of perfectly laid-out food, lense zoomed in. I look forward to pursuing my photography and my writing for years to come.

I know right now I am at a point in my life that I know should be cherished. Derek is heading back to school to study Nursing full time until March, 2008. I will work hard to contribute to our income, and I will also have much time to spend alone. I am working to become more content with being by myself and enjoying my own company. We hope to have children within a few years, and I know this alone time will be something that I will covet much later on!

Overall, I feel like I am ever-evolving, and I have chosen to share this process of evolution with all of you, via this blog. I thank you for being alongside with me in all of it.



Movies I Rewatch:
Amelie, Cold Mountain, Little Women, Jurassic Park, Under the Tuscan Sun

My T.V. Lineup:
American Idol, Canadian Idol, E.R., Everyday Italian, Lost, Seinfeld Reruns, Survivor, The Barefoot Contessa, What Not to Wear, Grey's Anatomy, 1 vs 100, Top Chef

The Best Things I've Read:
Among Schoolchildren, Blue Like Jazz, Captivating, Searching for God Knows What, The Beothuk Saga, The Survival of Jan Little

Music I Groove to:
Coldplay, Damien Rice, David Crowder Band, Jack Johnson, Stars, Billy Talent, Sam Roberts Band

{ Read in 2005 }

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2. Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

3. Barefoot Contessa: Parties! by Ina Garten

4. "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

5. Animal Farm by George Orwell

6. Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

7. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

8. Feed by M.T. Anderson

9. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

10. Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

11. Blankets by Craig Thompson

12. Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

13. The City of God by Graydon Bishop

{ about *daintee }

Information and History for daintee.bellechanson.org

Why the name daintee?
I have always loved dainty and pretty things. When I first created *daintee, I was playing around with some graphics and html after a long time away from the internet (probably a 4 year hiatus from web design). It was springtime, and I created a pretty little pop-up design with robins egg blue and chocolate brown as my inspired colors. It was so delicate and dainty that I decided I should post this page to the internet and call it daintee (an even daintier version of the word dainty, in my opinion). And thus daintee.bellechanson.org was born.

What is bellechanson.org?
Bellechanson is a domain owned by one of my closest friends, Karel. She uses the domain as a space for posting personal writing, graphics, and a blog. She has been letting me mooch web space off her for many, many years.

Previous versions of *daintee:





Current: Spring 07 (New)



Original Spring 07



Autumn & Winter 2006

{ baby names }

Here is my ongoing list of baby names that I like. The ones I change my mind about, I will cross out, but still leave up.

BOYS' NAMES Cole Alexander Spencer Rider Reid Oren Ethan Devon Anson Colin Aiden Dylan Mathieu Diego

GIRLS' NAMES Emma Samantha Kaitlyn Reyna Jordyn Blaire Auryn Ardley Arden Verity Moss Attica Amie Nora Autumn Winona Sydney Asia Maida Brooke Arlynn Mae Sierra Paige Ariana Brynn Corinne Quinn Paeton Finn Maia Rivyn Jade

{ Read in 2006 }

1. Appleby House by Sylvia Plath

2. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

3. The Survival of Jan Little by John Mann

4. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

5. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

8. Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger

9. Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes

10. Heartbeat by Sharon Creech