Lillian here, delighted to host Monday’s Quadrille. 

Any of you who have followed me here at dVerse know that I am, in the words of my daughter, a Pollyanna kind of person. That means, I always choose to see the glass half-full instead of half-empty….or at least a glass that has the possibility of being filled to the brim. Since my children (now 46 and 43) were toddlers, I was forever saying to them “Use your words” instead of doing that two-year old high-pitched scream when things didn’t go their way. When they were teenagers, sitting at the supper table being sullen and/or rolling their eyes in that teen way, again either my husband or myself would say, “Okay, time to use your words! What’s going on?” And for me….words have always been powerful. They can build a person’s self esteem or tear it down. They can reassure someone or predict doom and gloom. They have the power of brightening someone’s world!

And in today’s world, and I literally mean today’s and yesterday’s and the most recent world of the last few weeks, we have all been challenged to stay positive. In many ways, when we take care of ourselves we take care of others, and we enable ourselves to better care for others. Many of us have spent more time inside the walls of our home in the past few weeks than we have in a long long time. And many of us have not been able to hug our family and friends  – those who don’t happen to live within our homes. It’s hard to stay positive in these times. At the same time, it’s important not to negate our feelings. It’s alright to be disappointed, or frustrated; to grieve for what has been removed from our calendars. And I think it’s normal to then feel guilty that we’re grousing about something that, in the scheme of things, is truly minor in comparison to those who have lost loved ones to this virus….or in comparison to those who have lost jobs and incomes….or in comparison to those who are literally risking their health and well-being taking care of Covid-19 patients or delivering food or working as essential workers so we can have some muted kind of normalcy. Someone once told me, “Normal is only a setting on a clothes dryer.”  Think about it!

So – I need to be positive today! I need to smile. I need virtual hugs. Do you?

The word for today’s Quadrille is “silly”…..you can use any form of the word. You can use it as an adjective, a noun, a verb….anyway you’d like. Have some fun with the word! I’m hoping we can all smile today, at least while we think about what to do with this word. And you know, the wonderful thing about a virtual pub for poets? Hugs are encouraged here….as are happy drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) with little umbrellas in them! Our bar stools are close together so step right up…..let’s be a bit silly together! And just to get you in the mood, here’s a few photos of me doing just that!

Photo explanations: Me with my grandson a few years ago; me posing with a lawn decoration in Provincetown; me at the Automotive Museum in San Diego in February; and the last one is at the Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla, CA.

The dancing one: October 2019. We went to our 50th college reunion and that weekend also took a day trip back to Iowa. I taught high school English in a small rural school from 1971 to 1974 and directed school plays including the musical George M. Some of my students arranged a mini-reunion to see me….they are now between 62 and 65 years old! Someone brought the music for Give My Regards to Broadway and two of my “students” grabbed me and boy did we have fun! YES, I was a very young high school teacher! I had not seen these “kids” in about 45 years…over 30 of them came from all over Illinois and Iowa. It was amazing!

New to dVerse?  Need to be refreshed on the rules?

Here’s what to do:

• Write a Quadrille : a poem that is EXACTLY 44 words long, not including the title.
• And the poem itself must include the word “silly” or a form of the word (ie silly, silliness, silly-how).
• Post the poem to your blog AND add the exact URL for your poem to Mr. Linky below.
• REMEMBER to either TAG dVerse in your post, or include a link at the end of your poem that leads readers back to dVerse (https://dversepoets.com).

• If there is no Tag or link back to dVerse, I will gently remind you to add it or remove your post from Mr. Linky. Sorry to be so harsh…..but this is just part of the requirements AND it will bring you more readers and lead more folks to dVerse so they can participate as well!