Two Collective Lists Created at the Ithaca Festival

6 delightful people joined me at the Tompkins County Public Library on Friday, May 29, from 4 - 5 p.m., to create 2 collective list-poems, because it is Better Together! 

Thank you to:

Barbara Kane Lewis

Dianne Ferriss

Ellen Abrams

Jessy Price

Rob Sullivan

Steven Burke

THE "I" POEM:

I wore a straw hat

I love pottery

I love the crafts most of all at the Ithaca Festival

I often have dreams that feel more exhausting than being awake

I worry about where I'll end up living

I slept well last night

I look for reasons to be happy

I don't need to have all the answers

I am becoming more of a morning person

I am resourceful

I have listened intently to popular music since I was four years old

I do not believe, anymore, that I will live to a ripe or rotten old age

I tend to write quickly and without filter, especially after a second cup of coffee

I recognize most songs by the first few notes

I think my knee might be good enough for a hike tomorrow

I remember my grandparents letting me play with lawn darts

I should have grabbed something at the mac and cheese truck

I wish I could figure out an end for my new story

I wonder if I'll ever truly live in the present without wandering into the future before it arrives

I love this city, this Ithaca land, this beautiful lively creative hilarious open-hearted place I call home

THE HAPPINESS POEM:

Happiness is when it is very quiet and you can look at the sea

Happiness is eating a very large ice cream

Happiness is hugging someone you never thought you'd get to hug again

Happiness is listening to a child go on longer than they should about their favorite animal or hobby

Happiness is when your favorite TV show continues to be good

Happiness is being sneezed on by an alpaca

Happiness is laughing at your auntie's jokes

Happiness is fleeting, and the feeling of having accidentally caught up with it

Happiness is forgetting for the a moment about trying to be happy

Happiness is a room not overly filled with your favorite people

Happiness is melting into bed at night

Happiness is an empty sink and clean dishes

Happiness is a block of time free for sewing

Happiness is finally clearing all the old mail off the floor, every bit of it

Happiness is watching the geese on the pond take care of their young

Happiness is having the time to read a good book

Happiness is my first harvest of spinach

Happiness is finding just the right thing at the craft fair and being able to afford it

Happiness is seeing old friends at the Festival

Happiness is a mockingbird serenade of the bird calls she picked up in the last thousand miles

Happiness is being content with what you have and the willingness and patience to work toward what you don't have

Happiness is being in the presence of a holy man or woman whose smile answers question you have not posed yet

Happiness is having a poem, story, song, play, or movie end true to its essence

Happiness is laughter, from yourself and others, at the expense of no one

Happiness is contagious, best shared with a group

Happiness is doing what you enjoy and sharing it, to bring happiness to others