Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Tears for a Warrior

| Filed under Poem Relationships writing

Tears for a Warrior
By Ann Chiappetta

I am thinking of my friend today
Caught in the viral war,
Being forced to use the last vestiges of strength
To find safe haven in this epidemic.
Where no safety is found.

This person, this friend, this man
With AIDS, who has defied all expectations during
Another epidemic
has survived
And I wonder, with sorrowful thoughts
If he will defy Corona like He did HIV.

This man, this person, this patient
Is surviving with minimal care,
Enforced clinical Neglect cut off
from us, suffering
Wracked with fever, lumbar pain, and mobility loss
Brought upon by quarantine.

Twenty-five years ago, he faced death and came back
I will find him in the places between dreams,
Make conversation on the astral plain
This is all I can do, dream and hope
my friend Will hear me.

March 30, 2020

Free read from Smashwords and Me

| Filed under writing

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Authors Give Back Sale
I am giving my book,
Words of Life: Poems and Essays C 2019 by Ann Chiappetta
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnChiappetta

To readers for free to show support during the Covid19 pandemic.
Get your free copy today. No coupons or trick promos. Go to www.smashwords.com and register, you won’t be disappointed.
Indie authors are offering thousands of titles from poetry to thrillers.
Your support means so much!

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

Dogs Help with Social Distancing

| Filed under blindness Guide dogs Relationships writing

The past two weeks has provoked many powerful and uncomfortable feelings for our Nation, our community, and our families. We are being globally challenged by what some say has been a biblical portent, aka, the “plague”.

Being a skeptical person, I am not yet ready to agree, however, I know the world has changed already, evident by, well, by how we are acting, reacting, responding, and feeling.

I was just sharing playtime with my three dogs, enjoying the calm petting session with my elderly black lab. I watched my other two dogs play, and as they tugged and wrestled, was struck by an intense feeling of relaxation and peace. I thought, that if I must distance myself from other humans to protect myself the hidden gem in this is having more time to spend with my dogs and husband.

On that note, today I received a call from a staff person named Kate from Newsreel Newsreel magazine magazine. She said she was “just checking in with my New Rochelle people,”. Now, that was very kind and equally unexpected. Thanks, Kate!

This time of crisis should bring us together in gratitude and kindness, not isolate us. A phone call or email could bring a bit of relief to a neighbor or relative.

For example, the Next-door app has had folks volunteering to help with shopping for individuals who are quarantined here in New Rochelle. Folks are helping out with dog walking and other tasks.
In the wise words of a writing friend, Carol Farnsworth, Carol Farnsworth wrote on her blog, https://blindontheliteside.com/ ,
We as a nation, are only as strong as our marginal members. We will be judged not by what we have but how we care.

Thanks, Carol. Agreed.

Building Bridges with Colonial Elementary School

| Filed under writing

Thanks Colonial Elementary School

Bailey and I, along with our good friend, Anna Masopust, visit the schools in Westchester county and speak about disability awareness and blindness. We usually visit the kindergarten or first graders, along with the parents and teachers. It provides a way to connect with the kids and allows them to ask questions. I throw in a little bit of everything, hoping that when we leave, something sticks. I show the kids my white cane, ask them to look for braille in elevators and on signs, tell them that I listen faster than they can read, and about my guide dogs. It’s also a way to promote positive regard for our fellow human beings.
I also share that losing my sight was scary and hard to cope with but that I am just like them, I just do things differently.

The best part is the questions. How do I know where I’m going if I can’t see? Who helps me get dressed? How does the dog know where to take me? When my dog goes to the bathroom, how do I find the poop?

Anna schedules the visits and I appreciate everything she does to make these visits worthwhile.
My yellow lab, Bailey, while a very focused guide dog, is also a comic relief. This time, as we entered the school, he looked at the life-sized stuffed dog at the top of the landing and I knew something was up. Once a teacher told me he was staring at the stuffed dog, I started to laugh. We got a picture, too.
Just knowing Colonial is a service dog friendly school and supports people with disabilities, is wonderful and we had a great visit. I hope we can visit again next year!

yellow lab Bailey and stuffed dog mascot sitting beside one another

yellow lab and stuffed dog

New Book: A String of Stories

| Filed under writing

A String of Stories: From the Heart to the Future
by Ann Chiappetta, 2020
In e-book and print (182 pages) from Amazon and other online sellers.
www.annchiappetta.com
www.dldbooks.com/annchiappetta/

About A String of Stories
A demon deer and a ghost cat. Sibling rivalry and sexual awakening. Self-image and self-confidence. The chance for an offworlder to breathe free at last on a new planet. Those are just some of the diverse themes of these remarkable stories. Some endings are happy, some are sad, and some are intriguingly open-ended. But once you step inside the author’s world, you cannot emerge unmoved.
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by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 3

First blog post

| Filed under blindness Poem Relationships Writing Life

My first blog post on word press was on November 7, 2008. Since that time, I’ve completed 315 posts and attracted almost 500 followers. I hope to keep going and love to blog. Stand by for some older poetry and a new book. Until then, keep reading and writing.
https://www.thought-wheel.com/task-of-the-day/

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

Old Poems Like New

| Filed under blindness Poem Relationships Writing Life

I began writing poetry in earnest after finding out I was going blind, in the early 1990s. Looking back, the poems I wrote during this dark time was a way to cope with the inevitable grief and loss I felt, and would feel, for a long time. Progressive vision loss infiltrates one’s sense of hope and resiliency,
Two emotional Aspects Which Appear in many of the poems written from the 1990s. The poems are also an inventory of sorts, and, as I become reacquainted with them, I am, in turn, becoming acquainted with my feelings and emotions during this time of fear, depression, and anger. I also discovered I’ve grown beyond these feelings and emotions and have learned to accept my disability and embrace the creativity and how much healing I’ve done since then.

Here is a song I found, written for a friend (really).

The Child Inside
Song lyrics

By Ann Chiappetta

family devotion died
the day he went away

The child inside
still cries when you sleep
The pain
makes you feel incomplete

He’s made a mess of your memories
He can’t come back into your life
And though you deny it
the reality cuts Like a knife

The child inside
still cries when you sleep
The pain
makes you feel incomplete

Don’t try to replace him
Sometimes lovers walk away, too;
discover why your heart
desires demons dressed in blue

The child inside
still cries when you sleep
The pain
makes you feel incomplete

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