poet – Colleen Keller Breuning

Spring Equinox

Ides of March haunt me
as I sulk in my bedroom
wallow in darkness

winter winds persist
robins ruffle breast feathers
at the hint of snow

shades of ivory
floating free from the heavens
melting on impact

new dawn breaks golden
sun rays caress tulip buds
cherry trees blossom

feel the world shifting
on cusp of spring equinox
birdsong lifts my heart

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
March 20, 2021

Meet & Greet:

Happy Spring and Happy Anniversary to us! My real name is Colleen Marie Keller Breuning and I’m a faithful Blogophiliac to the core. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years that we’ve been blogging together in Blogophilia!

I joined in 2008, the very first season — not sure the exact week, but I estimate sometime between Week 11 & 15. I remember seeing Blogophilia when it first launched, but I just lurked a while because I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge. I believe I saw a few of the poets and writers from other Myspace groups posting there – DJ Myke, Violeta Falo, Craig Fallon and Dahlia Ramone come to mind. I decided to dive in head-first with a revealing emo poem. I think Tyler Myrth joined about the same time as me or a few weeks later. And I do not think I’ve missed one week since then, despite vacations, illnesses, crazy work hours, exhaustion, life in general and lack of motivation!

The thing I love most about Blogophilia is the friendship and camaraderie within the group. I have met several of the present and past participants in real life: Violeta Falo, Dahlia Ramone, Christine Wichman and Lisa Kessler. And the funny thing is I met all of them during various trips to California. I would love to meet more of you in the future! Let me know if you are ever in the Northern VA/Washington DC area. I would be happy to meet you at a winery (but of course)! 😉

Another thing I love about Blogophilia is that it’s the ONE thing that has kept me writing consistently every single week!!! Honestly if not for that weekly challenge, I would probably be quite lazy and just not write. I try hard to find at least an hour or so on a Friday or Saturday to dedicate to writing. If you do the math, since we have now completed 13 years, that is roughly around 676 weeks of writing challenges! (WOW!!!!!) That means 676 poems that I otherwise may not have written on my own. I also love that the different challenges (some very boggling) often lead me down a rabbit hole, and I end up writing something I normally would not write. The one thing I most regret is not having enough time lately to visit everyone’s blogs. It weighs on my mind that life is so busy that I can’t even do the reading I WANT to do. Work and life circumstances have been taking up the majority of my time recently. I apologize and hope to do better! *sigh*

So thank you for the years of dedication to our group and the writing inspiration, Marvin Martian and the entire gang of Blogophiliacs! I love you all!! ❤

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 1.14 Topic: Happy Anniversary to Us (Topic Provided by Marvin)
Bonuses – Choose up to three bonus suggestions and use in your blog to score 2 points each (6 points maximum): From the list Marvin provided I used: 1. Ivory for the 14^th anniversary. 2. Ides of March. 3. Something a 14 year old likes to do – sulk in bedroom

*****MEET & GREET – Score extra points for introducing yourself either on the WordPress blog or the Ecrits Blogophilia Facebook post. Include your name, when you started with Blogophilia and your favorite thing about the Blogophilia writing group/challenges!!!*****

SECRET PHRASE GUESSES:

1. Party Time
2. Hey Mr. DJ
3. Hit the Dance Floor
4. Move it to the rhythm
5. Get into the Groove
6. Pump up the Jam!
7. Techno Beat
8. Mosh pit
9. Dancing machine
10. Let the rhythm move you

Blogophilia 50.3 Topic: “There is no “I” in Team”

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): mention a Maya Angelou quote
(Easy, 1pt) : incorporate a unique use for honey

Final date to post: February 12th, 2011 GMT midnight
Final date to post ALL GUESSES: February 15th, 2011 GMT midnight

Ode to Elly

I read the news and sat motionless for hours,
Staring out the window at the sky black as coal.
I searched in vain for solace, words of wisdom…
As pangs of sorrow echoed through my soul.

She painted passionate portraits with her quill,
A songbird’s cry, whispering lovers who part.
Her words are the honey that soothes the sting…
They hold together the broken pieces of our hearts.

Now our heads bow down in silent prayer,
Hot tears melding with the gentle winter rain.
Hear her tender voice wafting in the breeze…
Filling us with warm comfort, easing the pain.

She is an angel in funky boots watching over us all,
Surely as the fading sun sets and distant planets spin.
She sails on in dark skies, ever dancing on moonbeams…
Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

Colleen M. Breuning © 2011
February 11, 2011

I was all set to let Tommy take the helm this week and write a funny blog. That was, until I woke up this morning and went through my usual habit of checking the Facebook feed. It was so early I had not even had my first cup of coffee. I was directed over to a Myspace Blog written by my dear friend Lainey, where I read the heartbreaking news that our beloved friend Elly Funky Boots had passed away of lung cancer on Tuesday, February 8. I was, quite simply, stunned…. and deeply saddened.

To all of the writers who knew her on Myspace, Elly Funky Boots was a sweet, compassionate woman with a heart of gold and a very talented pen. More than that, she had a wicked sense of humor and was a real friend to everyone she encountered. She was an integral part of the CPC and Harmony Pub blogs, and she truly was one of those people who believed that there was no “I” in Team. She collaborated with fellow poets, encouraged fledgling writers and even hosted poetic challenges at different venues at Myspace during the blogging heydays.

I had the privilege to get to know Elly a little better in 2009, when she became a featured poet at my e-zine Blue Turtle Crossing. She was very gracious and generous, basically granting me full access to her blogs to pick and choose from the many delightful offerings of her poetry. She was intensely private, preferring to only go by her pen name of Elly. I had prod her a little to allow her to let me publish a photograph of her on the site, as she was a very modest lady who preferred to let her adorable, wild “funky boots” avatars set her apart from all the rest.

I never even knew that her real name was Patty until today. Rest in peace, dearest Patty. You will be missed, my dear friend.

Marvin, the Maya Angelou quote I used is:

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

Also ~ I will send in my secret bonus points separately this week, as I do not want to detract from the serious nature of this blog.

HUGS and LOVE to all my friends who knew and loved Elly!