Poetry Friday: The Round Up is Here!

Thanks to a reminder from Laura Purdie Salas, I am hosting Poetry Friday this week. It's all good, however, since I usually do not get my post up until Friday morning when I host.  I think it balances out all of us who get their's up on Thursday! (I'm joking, here.) Anyway, I am sorry if you feel that I'm late.

I’ll keep my post short to get the roundup going!

I wrote two poems this week. The first was because I decided I needed to chill out. A week ago, I was feeling some physical symptoms of stress. My life is good, but I definitely need to chill out.

Chill Out

Painting…
Reading…
Crocheting…
Working to 
Relieve 
Tension
In my jaw.

© Carol Labuzzetta, 2025.

And the second poem was inspired by a chance to see the Northern Lights this week. I've seen them before and certainly the show that I had two nights ago was not the show much of our region got on Tuesday night. We were socked in with cloud cover so I had to wait until Wednesday. 

Northern Lights
Are Shining Bright
Where we used to live
But not here now.

Clouds cover our sky tonight
Masking dancing colors that
Swirl out of the dark
My camera stays in my pocket.

Maybe tomorrow
I can bring it out if 
There’s green, pink, and purple
Hovering on the horizon.

© Carol Labuzzetta, 11/11/25
Northern Lights this week. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2025.

I’ll stop here and post. I’ve been busy writing more articles on Scotland, if you want to check out my Medium page. And I heard back from the textbook editorial staff at the university that they had trouble getting people to fulfill their peer review requirement for their chapters, and that is why things have been held up. I was pleased to hear it wasn’t me or my chapter!

Have a good week!

51 thoughts

  3. Hi, Carol — thanks for hosting! Chilling out and viewing the Northern Lights are both poem-worthy. Thanks for sharing these. (We saw some spectacular displays this week too!)

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  4. Dancing colors / that swirl out of the dark. LOVE that! And we got to see them Tuesday night–so lovely. Also, sorry if my nudge was rude! I didn’t realize you generally post on Friday mornings. I often don’t get to read posts until later Friday or over the weekend. Apologies for rushing you! Thank you for hosting! xo

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    1. Thanks, Laura. I think I’ll work more on that poem. There might be something in it that I can work on. The Northern Lights amaze me and I think they’re relatable. And, no, you were not rude at all. I’m very thankful you let me know I was supposed to have a post up. I have tried to be better with hosting on Thursday nights but I just cannot seem to do it as regularly as a Friday morning. Again, thank you!

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  5. Thanks for hosting, Carol. I hope those lights helped you chill. Sadly, I wasn’t able to catch a glimpse in my area, although others near me did. Maybe they’ll come round again. Both of your poems are a reminder that there is peace in nature.

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    1. Thanks, Rose. I think it is disappointing when others can see what we don’t – in many ways! I just finished Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible and that was kind of a theme with that book too. Nature and natural events do have a soothing effect on me.

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  6. I think most of us can relate to the stress thing. Poetry — whether reading or writing it, is a great way to chill out. Saw some gorgeous Northern Lights pics on social media (sadly we couldn’t view any of it in our area). Thanks for hosting this week!

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    1. P.S. Have had trouble accessing this site — both Firefox and Safari claim they can’t make a secure connection so won’t connect me. Finally able to get here via Chrome. Wondered if I was the only one with this issue . . .

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      1. Hi Jama, I’m sorry you continue to have problems with my blog. I think we went through this 1-2 months ago and did determine it was a browser issue. I have not had any recent reports of others having issues with access. Thanks for your persistence. I have looked into it and cannot find anything on my end. Thanks for letting me know.

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    2. Hi Jama, You are right about everyone relating to stress right now. There are so many things going on to cause it. My stress is more of a personal nature right now – really, self-imposed. And because of that, it might be (and I think it is) more easily solved or reduced.

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  7. Carol, here’s to chilling out and experiencing peace in nurturing hobbies and nature. I’m glad you got a look at the northern lights the next night! Lovely poem about them.

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    1. Hi Denise! Thank you! I am focusing on relaxing and not taking things too seriously right now. Nature helps to refocus my life, it often has. I have been meaning to tell you that the bag you sent me as part of a poetry exchange several years ago, has now been to Scotland too. I had my husband take a photo of me outside of St. Giles Cathedral. I’ll send it to you went I have a chance.

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      1. That’s so awesome, Carol. I kept one for myself and carry it everywhere I go. It has saved many a shopping bag! I’ll look forward to seeing the photo.

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  8. Pingback: [review] Wisdom of the Woods by Rachel Piercey and Freya Hartas | Jama's Alphabet Soup

    1. Hi Mona, Thank you so much for your kind words about the Northern Lights poem. I am going to work on it further – it might be the beginning of something I can send for publication. I hope you get to see the Aurora too. It is humbling to see such beauty.

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  11. Pingback: Poetry Friday: Poem to Remind Myself | Reflections on the Teche

  14. Hi, Carol. Thank you for rounding up. I thought I left a comment earlier, but evidently no! The “dancing colors” of your poem and your photo are as close as I came to seeing the Northern Lights. I think they were visible here one night, but I didn’t know to look.

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  15. Ooh, this was a bonus post – I got to go back and read all of your Medium posts as well. I lived in Scotland for five years (and never took a sleeper car, I did that on Amtrak and forever after opted to just use the comfy seats and sleep sitting up – I’m so sorry that you learned the way you did, and I was pretty sorry for myself on Amtrak) and really learned to love the trains. Someday I plan to go on a hiking trip in the wild as you did as well – you’re an inspiration, through travel joys and disappointments. Meanwhile, it’s such a hoot that those of us who have traveled to see the Aurora, with varied success, just have it pop up at home, ‘swirling out of the dark’ at us! That’s such a lovely photograph as well.

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    1. Tanita, I cannot seem to access your blog to comment. I tried signing in and it still doesn’t let me. I wanted to let you know that I feel that I feel the same about memes and struggle to connect with them. I think you did a great job with your doggie meme poem. I also enjoy (always) reading about process. Thanks. Let me know if you figure out how I can access your blog.

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  17. Pingback: PF: A different sort of blessing | Nix the comfort zone

  18. I hope you have had a chance to relax. It’s funny how we all keep our stress in different places, isn’t it? I’m a shoulder, rather than a jaw, type. I stepped outside the other night, but there were no lights in view. I was too tired to try again later. How lucky you are to have a vista with water! Thanks for hosting this week.

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    1. Molly, it is interesting. I used to keep my stress in my left shoulder and was so bad at one point I had to have physical therapy for it. Now it seems to center in my jaw. I hope you get to see the aurora soon! Thanks.

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  23. Hello Carol, thanks so much for hosting the round-up! I’m chiming in a bit late here…but better than never, I hope. Here’s to chilling out with some artistic expression. I’m all for that! And, the photograph of the Northern Lights is beautiful! It’s a good thing that camera came out of your pocket on that night. I hope you get to see them soon.

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