JoAnn Early Macken - JoAnn's Blog

We Do What We Can

April 18, 2025

Tags: Poetry Friday, Spring, haiku, thunderstorm

bird silhouettes flit

through spring thunderstorm darkness

change is in the air

Faced with the current chaos, I'm trying to stay optimistic. Yesterday, my sisters and I made sandwiches for a local homeless shelter. Today, we'll make signs for tomorrow's town hall and protest. Mom and Dad always told us to stick together, which still sounds like good advice.

The sky is brightening already.

I've just heard of two calls for submissions to poetry anthologies that feel timely and relevant. Check the links for deadlines and details:

Live and Let DEI Anthology (no fee). Submit an original poem that makes creative use of the words that the Trump administration is flagging on government websites and research papers. See the list (PDF).

Made in the USA: Poems of Resistance. This anthology aims to capture the spirit of resilience, courage, and hope through powerful poetic expressions that challenge injustice, champion equality, and celebrate the unyielding human spirit in the face of fascism.

Good luck to all who submit!

Jone Rush MacCulloch has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!

10 Comments

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Springing Back into Writing

April 10, 2025

Tags: Poetry Friday, haiku

Crocuses blooming through leaf litter

on our front hill—and a bee!

spring brings outlook shift:

from impossible chore to

opportunity

I used to (like last week) feel guilty about the piles of unfinished manuscripts crowding my desktop, my file drawers, my computer. Suddenly, it feels like spring, and something about the increased light or flipping the calendar page tilts my perspective toward the positive. National Poetry Month inspires me. Poetry Friday does, too. Plus we made it through another dark winter and a long, stressful election push. Now that pile of unfinished work feels more like a treasure trove I can dip, dig, or dive into as deeply and as often as I want.

I turned away from writing because I got discouraged. Dis-couraged: I lost my courage. And that's how I felt for a while—lost. It's a horrible feeling, as if what I'm missing is a critical part of my identity. Too many rejections, not enough gumption. I tend to contract in difficult times. I turtle myself into a too-tight shell where I fidget and fret.

But I never give up completely. I keep filling notebooks with ideas. I give myself pep talks. I keep trying in tiny increments. And what usually brings me back to writing? Small poems. When the outlook is dire, I try to write a haiku a day. Not because they are easy, but because whittling down a complex concept to a few words provides clarity. I find comfort and challenge in the 5-7-5 structure.

I've been working my way back to writing for a while now, and—who would have guessed?—it turns out that persistence was all I needed. I knew this, of course. I've done it before. Daily haiku eventually lead to picture book drafts. I just wrote a very rough one, my first in a long, long time. Yippee!

If you ever face the same problem, please don't give up. Let me know if you need a pep talk.

Irene Latham hosts today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Live Your Poem. Enjoy!

10 Comments

Comments

Apr 11, 2025 11:04 AM EDT

Jo, your optimism in the face of these dire times always inspires me.

- Eileen

Apr 11, 2025 1:08 PM EDT

Glad to hear you're feeling more positive and jumping right back into writing. You're so wise -- small is the way to go at the beginning. Congrats on drafting a new picture book!! Love those crocuses and today's haiku. :)

- jama

Apr 11, 2025 1:24 PM EDT

Hi Joanne, Right now, I very much feel like what you described in your second paragraph. I feel myself wanting (and probably will) pulling back. It's a hard world - publishing and the writing community too. Thanks for your post. I could very much relate to it. Good luck with your renewed energy. (I just made a list of things I need to do too - for myself to get rid of the feelings of being on the fringe or not being "good enough." Thanks.

- Carol Labuzzetta - The Apples in My Orchard

Apr 11, 2025 3:44 PM EDT

JoAnn - hooray for perseverance! I absolutely know that turtle feeling...looking forward to all that is currently blooming in your life and sending sunshine! xo

- Irene Latham

Apr 11, 2025 4:55 PM EDT

Hooray for outlook shifts and making writing progress! I have been in the same boat as you and hope this spring will see more regular writing and thinking of writing as an opportunity.

- Buffy Silverman

Apr 12, 2025 2:47 AM EDT

Joann, the notion of starting small is sound thinking and equally sound action. Controlling what we can and allowing ourselves to let go of what is beyond our control. Your honesty shines through in this post and you touch on themes and feelings we have all felt at some time in our respective writing journeys. I'm continually admitting to young writers that sometimes writing is actually quite a challenge and the words don't flow onto the page as one would hope. But then it begins to flow again -and that is why we persist. More power to you.

- Alan j Wright

Apr 12, 2025 3:58 PM EDT

I can relate to so much of what you wrote, Joann. I've been feeling a bit lost, and from the comments, it seems I'm not the only one. I enrolled in a class that I'm hoping will get me back on track. I've been questioning what I should do about my piles of unfinished manuscripts, especially the paper copies and notebooks full of snippets. I keep holding on to them just in case. : )

- Linda

Comment by JoAnn on Apr 12, 2025 6:03 PM EDT

Thanks for your comments, everyone, and for your words of support. These are difficult times, and it helps to know we are not alone!

Apr 12, 2025 8:32 PM EDT

So glad you're finding your creative footing and courage again!

- Sarah Grace Tuttle

Apr 13, 2025 5:35 PM EDT

There's nothing like spring to nudge us toward renewal. This part of your post read like a short poem to me:

"Too many rejections,
not enough gumption.
I...contract in difficult times.
...turtle myself into a too-tight shell where I fidget and fret.
But I never give up
keep filling notebooks
give myself pep talks
keep trying in tiny increments."

Keep going!

- Karen Edmisten

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Sunshine and Poetry Friday!

January 13, 2023

Tags: haiku, sunshine, Coyote

I'm so much more productive when the sun is shining, and this winter in southeast Wisconsin has been even grayer than usual. It's also notable for its lack of snow. Lucky for me, the temperature has been fine for walking. I can stroll to either Lake Michigan or the Milwaukee River, where nature's delights abound in any weather. On one sunny day, I drafted a stack of haiku, and I've been revising and posting one a day. If you'd like to see more, read the posts below.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Chicken Spaghetti. Enjoy!

16 Comments

Comments

Jan 13, 2023 8:41 AM EST

Cheers for enduring Ol Sol's rousing skills. And coyotes! What an adventurous path your walk, bringing you these wonderful Haiku.

Happy 2023, Joanne.

- Jan/ Bookseedstudio

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 9:31 AM EST

Thank you, Jan! Happy New Year to you, too!

Jan 13, 2023 11:07 AM EST

"A stack of haiku." I love that idea and enjoyed the ones here. Thank goodness for sunshine, right?

- Susan T.

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:38 PM EST

Thank you, Susan! Yes, I appreciate sunshine more these days because we don't see so much of it.

Jan 13, 2023 11:32 AM EST

You capture a quiet threat in this haiku that one feels seeing animals in the wild. It reminds us that they are wild and they require or respect.

- Janice Scully

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:40 PM EST

True, Janice, although the kinds of threats we see around here are only to wildlife and small pets. I'm glad I don't have to deal with bears or big cats!

Jan 13, 2023 4:14 PM EST

I love when you post pics, & words, about your walks, especially Lake Michigan, am in awe that you are so close. We have a resident coyote in the neighborhood, never a pic, but he is there, as you wrote, probably watching us! Thanks, JoAnn!

- Linda Baie

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:42 PM EST

Thank you, Linda! I grew up a block away from Lake Michigan and have lived most of my life close enough to walk to it. It would be weird for me not to have it nearby as a constant landmark.

Jan 13, 2023 5:30 PM EST

Hello fellow Wisconsinite! I lived in Holmen (outside La Crosse) for the last 23 years. This year we moved to our cabin in the Northwoods - near Medford. I love that you are writing haiku! We had coyotes in the coulee behind us in Holmen - They would howl at 3 am when the kits were fed. I miss it! :)

- Carol Labuzzetta

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:15 AM EST

I've only heard middle-of-the-night howling on camping trips, and it is eerie! Life in the north woods sounds so appealing, with plenty of other wildlife to watch. Lucky you!

Jan 13, 2023 7:56 PM EST

How beautiful! I'm up to my elbows in gray and cold here. I'd love some sun to take my notebook out into. Your haiku are lovely.

- Linda Mitchell

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:16 AM EST

Thank you, Linda! Yes, we plan our daily walks around the weather forecast these days and try to get outside whenever the sun is shining. Hope you see some sunshine soon!

Jan 14, 2023 8:22 AM EST

Ooooh, what a fabulous moment captured. The double watching. <3 I've only seen glimpses of coyotes here and there, but at a park last summer, we watched one skirt the edge for several hundred yards before disappearing into the woods. Amazing to be in the presence of biggish wildlife.

- Laura Purdie Salas

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:29 AM EST

Laura, you just reminded me of another sighting. Every summer, we take at least one canoe trip down the Wisconsin River, camping on sandbars along the way. One day as we were watching a flock of sandhill cranes across the water on another sandbar, a coyote darted out of the trees, grabbed a crane by the neck, and carried it back into the woods. Hardly a feather was ruffled, but we were awestruck.

Jan 14, 2023 9:11 AM EST

Lovely haiku. I often hear coyotes at night but haven't spotted one on my walks yet.

- Kay Jernigan McGriff

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:32 AM EST

Thank you, Kay! We don't see them often, but we know they live in the parks where we regularly walk. Once in a while, someone spots one in our neighborhood, too. They keep the local rabbit population in check.

Jan 14, 2023 9:19 AM EST

Yes, watching us watching! I love sunshine too (and actually warm weather). This cloud, cold day is tough.

- Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:36 AM EST

I don't know if I will ever get used to the cold (although this winter has been mostly tolerable), but I try to appreciate the periods of dormancy that allow new growth--even in us!

Jan 14, 2023 10:55 AM EST

I love that your haiku celebrate the brown and grey of winter!

- Mary Lee

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:34 AM EST

Thanks, Mary Lee! We have to either celebrate or despair, right? I'd rather focus on the positive!

Jan 14, 2023 11:12 AM EST

JoAnn, I thought all of Michigan was snowy but you enlightened me with your thoughts, photo, and poem. A few years ago (while living in Long Island) we heard that coyotes were going to swim across the Long Island Sound from Connecticut and infest our land. I can't imagine waiting for them to come. Thanks for bringing sunshine. We have had gray days in Virginia.

- Carol Varsalona

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:39 AM EST

Thank you, Carol! I think Michigan is snowy--the wind blew all our Wisconsin snow across the lake! I've never seen a coyote swim, but the one we saw was on an island. It might have walked across the ice, but the river won't stay frozen all winter, and no doubt it travels there in summer, too. I'd like to see it!

Jan 14, 2023 11:13 AM EST

I love the implied threat in this haiku, a reminder that we are witnessing an animal in the wild.

- janice scully

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:40 AM EST

Thank you, Janice! That coyote was certainly a threat to any rabbits on the island!

Jan 14, 2023 11:18 AM EST

Beautiful haikus. Felt like I was out walking with you. Would've loved to see that dried hydrangea cartwheeling!

- PATRICIA J FRANZ

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:42 AM EST

Thank you, Patricia! It was a sight to remember! I could have scrambled for the camera, but I decided to enjoy watching it instead. It rolled for a good long distance!

Jan 14, 2023 4:47 PM EST

I read through many of your haiku, Jo Ann. They are lovely and inspiring! I'm trying to write a haiku a day. Love that you wrote a whole stack from one walk.

- Rose Cappelli

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 15, 2023 8:20 AM EST

Thank you, Rose! I think a haiku a day is a great habit to keep. I've done it for a month at a time for National Poetry Month, which can be both exhilarating and exhausting. I look forward to trying again!

Jan 15, 2023 8:23 AM EST

I'm the same when it comes to sun. Good on ya for continuing to walk in the gray, and to haiku your way along. I love that final line, "watching us watching."

- Heidi

Jan 19, 2023 6:18 PM EST

JoAnn, this series reminds me of a book I love -- Haiku Hike, which was put out by Scholastic. That coyote watching/watcher is lovely

- Laura Shovan

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 20, 2023 1:06 PM EST

Thank you, Laura! I'll have to look for the book!

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Walking in Sunshine Again

January 12, 2023

Tags: haiku, sunshine

This one's from a walk to Lake Michigan, my favorite destination.

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