NaPoWriMo Day 21

Day 21

Today's poetic offering to the creativity gods for National Poetry Writing Month is an homage to my adopted city, Riverside, Ca.


DOWNTOWN RIVERSIDE

Its palm trees are its tribute to its California native heritage
The church steeple marches a new hour on the hour
The museum cradles the city's creative expressionists treasures
More palms give shade to the city's sunny days
The Mission Inn, the crown jewel of Riverside
holds the secrets of the old and the new
it sees the birth of new marriages and families
and is a place of remembrance to visitors
a historical honeymoon oasis for our nation's president.

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus

Downtown Riverside by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/05/napowrimo-day-21.htmll.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

NaPoWriMo Day 19

Day 19

Today's offering to the poetry gods for National Poetry Writing Month is an environmental entreaty to preserve one of the most lovely vacation areas of southern California.

THE BIG BEAR MOUNTAINS WEEP

The trees in the Big Bear Mountains were a source of peace, relaxation and centering for my soul.  Looking at the trees would embody a sense of reverence and sacredness like a church within me instead of outside of me.  Communing with God.  Now those trees are sad, burnt, and angry with the smog encroaching upon their land, choking and strangling them.  Causing their trunks to look ashy and fire worn.  These trees are failing to thrive like neglected children in the polluted air rising up into the mountains where the air used to be so clean, you could taste the scent of the trees as you drove up the winding highways.  the view from the mountains now desecrated by the smog from too many vehicles and factories in the nearby valley of San Bernardino.  The land weeps in frustration with its nature lovers for the clean air its losing as nourishment.

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus

The Big Bear Mountains Weep by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/05/napowrimo-day-19.htmll.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

NaPoWriMo Day 17

Day 17

Today's offering to the poetic gods for National Poetry Writing Month is in homage to one of my favorite beaches in southern California.

LAGUNA BEACH, CA

Laguna Beach smells fresh, like lightly salted water.
The shores so prim and proper,
its like the beach itself preens and primps
in its softly lit walkways.

Lighthouses like eyes,
watching outward and inward from the shore.

Further from the shore, like well adorned hair,
are small art galleries.
Brilliantly lit glowing colors alight under bright lamps
like jeweled hair clips.

Lovers come here to share secrets and sweet thoughts
while they walk touching fingertips
or shoulders or waists along the short paths.
Older couples sit at benches overlooking the gentle waves
and silently commune with the land and each other.

No words need to be spoken.
Just the mutual presence is appreciated.

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus

Laguna Beach, Ca by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/05/napowrimo-day-17.htmll.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

NaPoWriMo Day 13

Day 13

Today's two poetic offerings for National Poetry Writing Month is an homage to my ex-husband and our home in the Mediterranean.

EL OBOUR CITY, CAIRO, EGYPT

Supple beneath his fingertips
Lipton colored eyes

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus



EL OBOUR CITY, CAIRO, EGYPT

Morning prayers drift through cellophane on balcony
Warmth surrounds my day

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus

El Obour City, Cairo, Egypt by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/05/napowrimo-day-13.html.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

NaPoWriMo Day 8

Day 8

Today's offering for National Poetry Writing Month is an homage to wanderers and the need for adventure and discovery.

UNANCHORED

Swimming in the ocean
too many fish
boats
piers
harbors
beaches
for me to commit to just one

I live in a home
that doesn't feel homely

But outside of my own sanctuary
I feel unanchored

I am a drifter
an explorer
too afraid
to rest on a single shore

Though conversely
I always return
to my unhomely home

Perhaps it's the brine of the ocean
the taste of the salt minerals
which cause me to thirst
to wander





All I know is
I am not lost

Copyright Celena Diana Bumpus

Unanchored by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/05/napowrimo-day-8.html.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

NaPoWriMo Day 2

Rough and rugged.  Unedited and raw.  It continues with a night drive.

CelenaDiana

 

NaPoWriMo Day 2

DRIVING HOME FROM MY MEMOIR CLASS

Afternoon At Sadie's

Jesse Cook's haunting flamenco melody

thoughts weave through my head

like a solo woman dancing flamenco

to a lone guitarist

city lights pass overhead

as I speed cross Central Ave

through the night

window down in the cold crisp air

tossing the clear clip

from the name of my neck

onto the seat beside me

my Droid useless

some time between class

and starting my car

my useless phone decided to restart

still no 4G since the latest update

useless

I try to drag my fingers through my hair

meet the brim

of my favorite orange hat instead

at the traffic light

I flip the visor mirror

two and a hours in class

still I have the imprint of my pillow

on one side of my tired face

through Magnolia Ave

under the 91 overpass

I keep thinking about Egypt

my thoughts keep returning to Egypt

Every since taking this class

I keep turning to find more connections

to my former home

my once and passed life

yet still I can think of nothing else

from the Jordan restaurant

which served hummus so much like home

to the five scarves I couldn't decide upon

so I threw them all into my purse

when I left for class

(carrying scarves my new compulsion)

to the Iranian woman in class

whose hair and affectionately twinkling eyes

remind me so much of my beloved mother-in-law

to the definitions and redefinitions of husband

that remind me of the blessed marriage I had

brief though it was

to the questions

endless questions

I ask myself about

fear

responsibility

family

lineage

what it means to be a woman

how do I define myself now

will I ever be complete

and the jealousy I wrestle

for those in long standing

and even brief marriages

all with children

still I constantly ask the void inside my head

Did I really make all of the right decisions?

Because look at where all of my paths led me

is here where I wanted to be

eventually

and now

would I know how to define

what it would take to complete me

is being incomplete what gives me hope?

Or is it fearing completion

that makes me so intangible?

Perhaps tonight's dreams

may mercifully give me answers

Perhaps tonight's dreams

may mercifully give me answers

©2013 Celena Diana Bumpus

Composed in silence

For a complete listing of my poems for the month of April 2013 entitled:

UNDER MY SCARF, BENEATH MY HAIR AND BEHIND MY GLASSES
(because who knows what mysteries lie there):
A COLLECTION

which will be updated daily.  Simply click on the titles to discover the poem and more.

This work by Celena Diana Bumpus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com.

Rattling Wall Submiss Due by 01May2013 Travel Essays

Rattling Wall Submission Deadline 01May2013
Poetry
Short Fiction
Travel Essays

http://therattlingwall.com/submission

Positivty Challenge

I am going to challenge myself to take a picture a day and write a (positive content) haiku a day for the rest of the year starting 01Feb2013

This work by www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Winter Rocking in Japan

Winter In Japan

Banff and Beauty

Growing up in Seattle, I used to vacation with my family in Banff, Canada.  I remember the breathtaking vistas and the surreal beauty of the land. Yes. Such beauty exists and thrives because of those who nurture and protect it.
The true beauty of social media and sharing is that you have a whole world of beauty at your fingertips.  Whatever your mind can imagine you can find it in real life online.  Everyday I walk out of my door, I am constantly amazed at the sheer joy of exploration I experience.  Each day is filled with a new adventure though I visit the same places.  I just open myself to the beauty of positivity when I interact with others.  Shared smiles, especially with strangers are the most wondrous of all. This picture is from the google+ album of Rejin Rajendran. CelenaDiana
 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peyto_Lake-Banff_NP-Canada.jpg

This work by www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Ontario Arts Walk! Wow! What A Great Evening!

Home from the Ontario Arts Walk about an one hour now. I'm exhausted. Wow! I have a lot to share about my sensational evening meeting and making friends with so many astonishingly creative people. Please connect with me so that I can tag you in my next posts on this successful evening of artistic collaboration. I want to thank Erns Valdez for inviting me and the hosts and coordinators Liset Banks, Lebec Deweese, Jessica Hardy, and Lisa Kennedy.  I will post more when I am more coherent. For now its chicken broth and coma time. Night night. CelenaDiana.

art, music, food, California, design, Ontario, friends, positive, withalittlehelpfrommyfriends, creative, photography, fans, concert, poetry, bands, guitar, 

This work by www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Explorations is Live

Thank you for your patience regarding my blog's current work in progress.
However, feel free to look at my FaceBook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Explorations-Travel-Journal-and-Tips/

While it is also a work in progress, I am updating it as information becomes available.

If you have any suggestions or would like to include any links on to my page, please fee free to leave me a comment or a suggestion.

Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
CelenaDiana

This work by www.omsexplorations.blogspot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.