Petals in the Light




Mary and Frank



My husband Frank and I live in Western New York. In 2006, after a career of over thirty years, I retired from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We enjoy taking frequent trips to New Mexico to visit our son and daughter-in-law, Sean and Shelly, our two handsome grandsons, Jacob and Joshua and beautiful granddaughter, Arianna.

I didn’t start writing poetry until the age of 50. My poetry started out as free verse, but then in 2006, I was introduced to haiga on the Bag End Poetry and Message Board. With haiga, I can combine my love for photography with poetry. I continued my interest in haiga and became active on the haikuhut poetry forum.  I was a moderator for the "haiga" forum and also the "haiga showcase" forum on Jane Reichhold's online AHApoetry forums. More recently, I was an active member on the inkstone poetry forum.

My haiga have been published online at simplyhaiku, haigaonline, sketchbook, modernhaiga, Lynx, DailyHaiga, Notes From the Gean and World Haiku Association. I also have been published in print in the Moonset Literary Newspaper and also in the print edition of Modern Haiga 2008 and 2009. My haiku have been published online at The Heron's Nest and Notes from the Gean and also in print in Notes from the Gean and the Moonset Literary Newspaper.

In 2020, I published a book of my poetry and photography, Morning Star: Reflecting the Light, which has earned a 5 star rating. Here is a direct link to my book  amazon.com

Frank and I enjoyed being members of a Creative Expression writers group. One of my poems was published, along with Frank’s, in "Community And Difference: Teaching, Pluralism, And Social Justice," by Roberto A. Pena.

In addition to poetry and haiga, I enjoy, along with Frank, making rosaries as part of our parish "rosary makers" ministry. I also enjoy photography, gardening, taking online classes and editing and enhancing my photos in paint shop pro and photoshop. After taking an online class "Creating Web Pages", I built this website using HTML.

My faith is an integral part of my life and has helped me get through an extensive array of medical problems. God has always been there for me and the lives of the saints have been a source of inspiration. One Saint in particular, St. Therese the Little Flower, who wrote beautiful poetry, has touched my life. She suffered immensely at the end of her life and accepted all of her sufferings with love. I have dedicated this website to her.

I have chosen the word "petals" for St. Therese and "light" for the Holy Spirit.

Mary




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