Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Writing to Heal and poetry 📜

| Filed under blogging Poem writing

Being a poet I often write and finish a poem and  shelve it in my mental library. When I pull it out for a poetry reading or some such project, my  reactions are sometimes surprising.

 

I recently dusted off an older poem about my Dad’s death and it got to me. I read it during a Get What You Need and Feel Good About It podcast.  The confusion, brooding tone and questioning feeling the poem elicited was powerful enough to get me all verklempt  and later the same night  resulted in a few dark dreams.

 

The poem’s meaning was meant to convey the frustration and helplessness we experience when losing a loved one. But I wonder if readers appreciate it like I do.

 

The poem, Salutations,  is in my 2020 collection, Words of Life: Poems and Essays. Vincent Lee Gracen narrated it. His performance is haunting and beautifully stark. The intensity of his talented narration evokes the emotions of grief and loss I could not convey and I am grateful he agreed to read it.

 

Salutations

By Ann Chiappetta © 2020

 

Goodbyes were said long ago

Although I couldn’t say why.

A life of 80 years has ended

And with it, the deal making begins

Preceded by melancholy

Preceded by guilt and  denial

And  anger, the funereal umbrella

A Black winged shroud

Flapping and snapping

Refusing to fold.

 

Preceded by watching my father  slowly die

 

A young girl’s fractured attachments

Brought on by divorce

A father’s quiescent avoidance

Built the wall in due course.

 

I know

Sad refrains and death’s bitter dirges

I’ve grieved since  age nine

Of death and dying, what do I really know?

I question

the purity of loss, the sanctity of morning

Because I surely haven’t achieved either

With the solemnity of a widow’s attire

Or baptism by fire

Though I’ve tried.

 

What I know

Flutters  like film strips

Time lapsed, monochrome, and silent.

In this heart and mind

All there is,

feather on stone

Wind on water

Gone.

book cover is a contemplative snapshot of a stack of stones each holding one word of the book’s title. To the right is a concentric pattern drawn in the sand.

 

  • 2013

Click here to listen to Vincent Lee Gracen’s reading of the poem.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7ytt0doeiqovb8bcklict/04-17-Salutations.mp3?rlkey=pzmlawybwddba918krhpro73p&dl=0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annie Shares News Summer Sweat V3 Issue 7 😎

| Filed under blogging nonfiction writing

‘Annie Shares News Volume 3 Issue 7 July 2024

anniesharesnews@groups.io

Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

www.annchiappetta.com

Hot and steamy summer greetings from East of Pittsburgh.

😎  🌻  🌄

My first announcement is all my books in eBook formats are on sale for the month of July from Smashwords/D2D. That’s right – all my titles will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords for the month of July as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! This is a chance to get one of my books, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.

http://smashwords.com/shelves/promos

 

The GEMS Press accepted a second poem, How to Fall Asleep for their next anthology, the release is TBA.

 

The cover of my new novel, Imperfections (below) is competing for cover of the month for July on allauthor.com .

 

In other news, I’ve been writing blog posts, interviewing interesting people and writing poetry, essays and reading. I am taking a second  generative small group poetry  workshop in August with John Sibley Williams, who is a wonderful and talented instructor. His fees are reasonable and I’ve learned more about the craft of writing and the publishers who invite poets to submit their work.  I am working harder on the quality of my poetry and hope to publish a full-length collection in 2025 thanks to John and his insightful instruction.

🎆

Independence Day is being celebrated  on the fourth of July. Being the wife of a Navy veteran,  I want to thank the veterans and active-duty members with a heartfelt virtual hug and Hoo Rah!. Without our Nation’s military we would not be here today.

 

Speaking of the military, here’s a great book series I picked up from audible.com: Crash Dive: the complete series books 1-6 by   Craig DiLouie  It was fascinating, suspenseful and based on true stories of submariners who fought in WWII.

Until next time —

 

 

 

 

 

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

Vintage Furniture 🪑

| Filed under blogging

 

One night a few weeks ago, our local news station, KDKA Pittsburgh announced the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead was selling the old theater seats prior to renovations. The seats, originally crafted in 1898 were being sold on a first come first served basis on a Saturday morning. The price? $50 for two ranging from good to fair condition. Jerry and I thought about it.  He suggested putting the pair in the man cave, the garage.

The advertisement was just too cool to ignore — “These seats have been a front-row to decades of incredible performances (by) many artists like Three Dog Night, Kenny G., Toto, Gino Vanelli, Dave Chappelle, American Idol, Nikki Glaser and our very own Jeff Goldblum,” a Facebook post about the sale reads. “They are conversation starters that will leave your friends in awe, and make an incredible addition to your office, home theater, game room or even your back porch!”

Below is the full but brief article

Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall selling vintage theater seats (msn.com)

 

When he got there, the woman sold him a pair for $25 and threw in an extra back and seat for parts. The seats are beautifully crafted and wider than I thought. Jerry had to fix one a bit and then he mounted the pair on wood slats to protect the wrought iron feet from the concrete floor of the garage. A little retro chic for our new home.

pictured are two attached vintage theater seats. The dark wood and black iron accents are offset by the tan floral seat cushions.

 

 

Imperfections Blog Tour Stops 📔

| Filed under blogging Fiction novel writing

Imperfections

Blog  tour dates and links

Thanks to Goddess fishPromotions  and Marianne Judy and all the bloggers mentioned here and, of course all the people who posted comments and reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

Westveil Publishing

Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read

Hope. Dreams. Life… Love

Long and Short Reviews

Literary Gold

Fabulous and Brunette

Books+Coffee=Happiness

The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

 

The Avid Reader

 

Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews

 

The Faerie Review

 

Our Town Book Reviews

A Wonderful World of Words

 

Gina Rae Mitchell

 

Sandra’s Book Club

 

 

tour banner

 

 

Backyard Denizen 🐍

| Filed under blogging pets and people

During a hot span of days a few weeks ago Jerry  found a large black snake sunning itself on a rock on the side of our house. At the time, he couldn’t get a good photo but  based on his description I figured it was a black snake or some kind of rat snake, very common around here. He reassured himself it wasn’t venomous by identifying it with an app on his phone and it kept to itself.  We didn’t want to disturb it knowing it would keep down the rodent population and it was denning in a place where there wasn’t foot traffic, separated from us by the back fence, so the dog was not going to harass it, either.

 

We live near the wooded area  attached to parkland and deer walk down our street, rabbits chase one another to and from the yards, and songbirds are all over, which is sweet and much better than being awakened by sirens, yelling and  semis blasting air horns from the highway at  three a.m.

Back to the snake:   The next couple of weeks it was cooler and rainy and we didn’t see it again …until today. It not only slithered to the other side of the yard near the tool shed but it also left us shedding. We estimate it is between five and seven feet long and  not quite two inches around.   The description and photos are below.

Maybe having the snake will keep the rabbits from the garden.  🤞

The image shows a person holding a long, shed snake skin on a glass patio table.

The setting appears to be a sunny day with shadows cast on the ground.

 

 

The next image is a black snake in the grass in the middle ground of the photo.

 

 

 

Annie Shares News May 2024

| Filed under blogging Poem

Annie Shares News Volume 3 Issue 5 May 2024

Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

Web: www.annchiappetta.com

Email: anniecms64@gmail.com

Blog: www.thought-wheel.com

🐝 💐 🌸 📙

Hello readers, it’s wonderful to share some items of interest with you. I’ve been juggling the release of my second contemporary novel, Imperfections and the audio book release of my first contemporary novel, Hope For the Tarnished on Audible.com . Since cloning isn’t an acceptable work around my time management skills are being put to the test. 🕰️

 

Beginning May 8, 2024 my blog tour will promoting Imperfections. I’ll be posting the links on Facebook. I’ll be sharing inside information about my book, the characters, the plot points and the writing life. I like to surprise people with little known tidbits, so if you follow me on FB, why not click on the blog where I am posting at the time of the tour and get to know more about me and the indie authors who support independent publishing.

 

My gift to you for subscribing to this blog and my newsletter is an interview I did in March launching Imperfections. The link to the MP3 is

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jalpwnf1ncdm9lp52zrgx/2024-03-21-BBL-Ann-Chiappetta-Audio.mp3?rlkey=c6r7zm08o66jkzvye7pjwqkok&dl=0

 

Since moving to Pennsylvania,  Jerry and I got the birding and gardening bug. We hung up a few bird feeders and a fountain. The diversity of the types of birds who come to feed is remarkable. Plus the deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels and  a large rat snake provide some excitement, 😉

 

The poem below is a tribute to the songbirds we hear in our yard and neighborhood.

Until next time, happy spring! 🌻

 

Avian Speak

Ann Chiappetta

Wee-see, wee-see, wee-see

Tufted messengers

Spring’s here

black cap flitters

cuck tuk TukTuk

yeep peek chuckle

Perched Passeri

burbles and wing beats

 

cherry blossom promises

Cheer up cheerio chick burr

So pretty so pretty so pretty

Drink your tea

Photo is a close up of two eastern bluebirds side by side on a cherry blossom tree branch.

 

 

 

Annie Shares News plus bonus link to new article

| Filed under blindness blogging Writing Life

Annie Shares News Volume 3 Issue 1 January-February 2024

Subscribe: Anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

Web: www.annchiappetta.com

Blog: www.thought-wheel.com

 

🥳  🌚  💝

I am behind on this newsletter and should have sent it out sooner. The last month was full of obligations and family activities.  We rang in the new year  together from the comfort of the new sleep number bed in our house. We are settling in well, the animals love the space and quiet positive energy.

 

Jerry and I registered to vote, got new  State identification, met with our respective medical care providers,  and checked off many of the post-move tasks each day. Trips to the home store and hardware store depleted our finances a bit but it needed to be done. Apartment living doesn’t require a leaf blower, ice melt, garbage pails for weekly pickups, outdoor lighting, video door bell and back door camera, updated alarm system, a ladder, rake, shovel, HVAC filters, five rooms of furniture and so much more.

 

Our daughter visited with her fiancé and her cat at the end of January. It was rewarding for us to offer a guest room. We appreciated the open and welcoming living space this home  offers.  We all got along wonderfully.

 

📚

Get ready for my next contemporary fiction novel, Imperfections, scheduled for a March 2024 release.

Listen to an interview with  DJs Sam Jasmine, Charlene Dahl  and me on KFAI radio’s Disability and Progress: https://kfai.org/player/?episode_id=52048

 

More about the book:

For Lainie and Efren affirming their love  for one another comes with consequences and his name is Shane.  Will his stalker mentality erode their love or will Lainie and Effren be strong enough together and  be free of Shane’s cruelty for good?

 

 

My poem “What the Heart Lives” placed third place in the Oprelle spring 2024 anthology.  I am hoping to take part in readings and book fairs in 2024 and I am hoping to complete a nonfiction book about the human and service animal bond by next year.

 

Visit this bonus link to read my newest blog article for the American Printing House and Career Connect series:

http://tinyurl.com/2ct3ybjt 

Until next month,

Peace

🐲  🌚

 

 

 

Celebrating National Dog Day 🦮

| Filed under blindness blogging Guide dogs pets and people

For National Dog Day 2023

 

Dog Two

By Ann Chiappetta

 

He is  a sweet yellow fellow

Toasted darker

On ears and tail tip

Gives a nibble and a lick

Golden eyes Better than cash

He comes with a snow nose And personality to match

He’s tall and silly

Works, wags, and licks

So far no one’s gotten ticked

When he sneaks a kiss.

 

Guiding me around

Alert and looking  for sights and scents

On the bus and on the street

Freedom with four feet.

 

Dedicated to  Guiding Eyes Bailey

Yellow lab Bailey lick's Annie's face. She is laughing.Annie and yellow lab Bailey licking her face