Author Archives: wordcloud9

About wordcloud9

Nona Blyth Cloud has lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for the past 50 years, spending much of that time commuting on the 405 Freeway. After Hollywood failed to appreciate her genius for acting and directing, she began a second career managing non-profits, from which she has retired. Nona has now resumed writing whatever comes into her head, instead of reports and pleas for funding. She lives in a small house overrun by books with her wonderful husband.

A Poem for International Nurses Day

Posted on May 6, 2021 by wordcloud9

Updated version of original 2020 post Today is International Nurses Day, and nurses are even more essential during this global pandemic. Everywhere, the pressure on nurses, on all medical personnel, is still pushing them to the breaking point. Even under ordinary … Continue reading →

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Poems for Bird Day and Respect for Chickens Day

Posted on May 4, 2021 by wordcloud9

May 4th is Bird Day in the U.S. and Respect for Chickens Day, so here are four poems by four very different poets with four very different views of birds and chickens. To read the poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, … Continue reading →

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TCS: Now I Become Myself

Posted on May 3, 2021 by wordcloud9

Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ Loneliness is the poverty … Continue reading →

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What Is a Poem?

Posted on April 30, 2021 by wordcloud9

Happy Birthday to Annie Dillard, born April 30, 1945 Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, which won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. While she is better known for her … Continue reading →

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C.P. Cavafy – “Things impolitic and dangerous”

Posted on April 29, 2021 by wordcloud9

C.P. Cavafy (April 29, 1863 – April 29, 1933) the most distinguished and highly influential modern Greek poet, who never lived in Greece, whose work had been ridiculed and rejected early in the last century by the Athenian literati, then … Continue reading →

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Always Marry an April Girl

Posted on April 28, 2021 by wordcloud9

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American humorous light verse poet who wrote well over 500 poems, one of the best- known and liked U.S. poets.  He was born in Rye, NY, but his family moved frequently because of his father’s import-export business. … Continue reading →

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TCS: “Today in America People Were Bought and Sold”

Posted on April 26, 2021 by wordcloud9

Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ “No black woman writer … Continue reading →

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Word Cloud: DELIGHT revisited

Posted on April 23, 2021 by wordcloud9

originally posted April 23, 2016 by Nona Blyth Cloud Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare! Tradition says Shakespeare was born April 23. While Shakespeare (1564-1616) is best remembered  for his plays, his sonnets are what first brought him fame. There’s been much speculation about … Continue reading →

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TCS: Bicycle Day – Only Moving Does It Have a Soul

Posted on April 19, 2021 by wordcloud9

.Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ She who succeeds in … Continue reading →

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A Poem for Animal Crackers Day

Posted on April 18, 2021 by wordcloud9

Animal Crackers Day celebrates these ever-popular treats. Animal crackers first came to the United States in the late 1800s when the U.S. imported animal-shaped cookies from England. In 1902, animal crackers officially became known as Barnum’s Animals and evoked the … Continue reading →

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