Slice of Life 19 – The ABC’s of a Day in Palm Springs #sol24

19 March 2024 TwoWritingTeachers.org
  • Amanda Gorman mural

  • Best Bookstore in Palm Springs
  • Costco for my annual eye exam
  • Double Dactyl poem before we left
  • Eye cream by Bruno. He was standing outside a skin care shop and gave me a sample of cream. Then he asked about my routine for eye care (nothing), so invited me in to treat me to a sample. It still feels stiff around my eyes. He tried to sell me a bottle for $400. After a couple other offers that sounded like QVC, he got it down to $149, before he finally gave up on me buying it. He was fascinating and funny and a really good salesman, I could tell, but I just wouldn’t buy something like that.
  • Friendly husband who makes friends wherever we go
  • Grape Nuts at Smart & Final (A 4-pound box costs $8-something, which is why I go there to buy it.)
  • Historical Society where we picked up brochures and looked at an antique postcard exhibit
  • Ice Cream for Keith–chocolate chip cookie dough. (I’m not sure why it didn’t sound good to me today, but maybe because I had just finished an extra sweet tea.)
  • Joke on the sidewalk – “I don’t want to end the year on bad terms with anyone. APOLOGIZE TO ME.”

  • Marilyn Monroe at the Palm Springs Art Museum

  • Nostalgia walking around Palm Springs – Do people even know who all these old celebrities were?
  • Oofos recovery sandals that Keith tried on at the Birkenstock store. Added to his wish list.
  • Perfume at Sephora – After nearly three months of enjoying my samples, I finally committed to choosing Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana.

  • Quart of water at lunch, at least – three glasses full
  • Restaurant called Los Arcos for a burrito
  • Sam’s Club for Strawberries for Milo

  • Toffee sample outside a shop I’ve never looked twice at. But after the sales tactic of handing out free samples, we went inside and almost bought some. It was so delicious.
  • Unity of the human community – “We’re all made from the same 11 elements. We have more in common than we do differences.”

  • Very multi-seated pedal-powered party bike driven by Gavin, who was a very friendly and interesting person that we talked to for a while. That’s Keith with the umbrella, catching the rain that had just started.

  • Windmills on the way home, as usual.

  • Xeriscape everywhere we looked

  • Young and old crowding the streets – Spring break is in full swing in our neck of the desert
  • Zone of welcomed graffiti

 

The ABC’s of Poetry Power

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The ABCs of Poetry Power

a poem advances truth
and briefs the sleuth
a poem caresses cheeks
and dams up leaks
a poem enlarges hearts
and flings safe darts
a poem glistens with glitter
and harnesses the quitter
a poem ignites understanding
and justifies demanding
a poem keeps a tune
and launches to the moon
a poem mushrooms thoughts
and nests in tight spots
a poem opens us to find
and parks in the mind
a poem quickens senses
and refashions fences
a poem sizzles in the pan
and transforms our plan
a poem uncovers sin
and validates within
a poem weaves a story
and x-rays allegory
a poem yanks our smugness
and zaps us with justness

By Denise Krebs
After Irene Latham

Today is Poetry Friday with Irene Latham at Live Your Poem as host. Visit her blog and learn more about Irene’s new verse novel D-39: A Robodog’s Journey, which is coming out on Tuesday. My poem is after Irene’s poem called, “A Poem for the Girl by the Lake.”

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