Craig Zeman Poetry

Like Mother, Like Son, people sometimes say. So when I told son, Craig, I was to do a video of myself reciting a sonnet, submitting it to the Oregon Ashland Shakespeare Festival for possible projection on the screen before performances of Book of Will this summer, he wrote me this clever poem:

Oh, I am certain yours would be good,
If that’s not well known, then it’s misunderstood.
A sonnet must start and go on for awhile,
But the critical part is the good actor’s smile.
Since you have expressions so bright and so true,
They have only one choice - screen projection of you!

Poem To Aunt Carole Hlavacka

I sent this poem to my Aunt Carole on her 78th birthday:

Happy Birthday, dear Aunt Carole,
You fill so many lives with fun,
Dressed always in stylish apparel,
Yes, YOU, such a truly loved one!
Your family and friends adore you,
You’ve kept folks laughing many a time,
And always a fabulous hairdo.
Your sense of humor is so sublime.
Memories of our time together -
Phillips, Middleton, Beloit and Medford,
Picnics in good or bad weather,
Hearing tales of your joy as a snowbird!
So kick up your heels and celebrate,
Cherished aunt/friend that you are,
For indeed, there can be no debate
You are true excellence, by far!

Writing Poetry

On a whim, I entered a Shakespeare sonnet contest put on by the Southern Shakespeare Company in Tallahassee, Florida. I didn’t win, but I enjoyed reviewing the required rhyming structure and composed this poem:

Loves Nearly Fiery Loss

On October 17, 2017 -
Loud banging and shouting at our front door!
Awakening to a harrowing scene,
Hearing, “Fire!” “Go!” as our feet hit the floor.

Grabbing my journals, we raced to the car,
Fiery branches and ashes rained on by,
The ridges were blazing not too afar,
Driving along flames, I began to cry.

My dear mother! Oh, no! Will she survive?
Will she soon flee these fires of Sonoma?
Will I soon find her, calm, safe and alive?
Or will she suffer a stroke, lapse to a coma?

And then, her text - whew, my mother, no harm!
Her selfie, clasping a fireman’s arm!

I Love To Act!

So, the past few months I have been attending a weekly beginning acting class. Great fun - we do pantomime, group energy exercises, improvisation, monologues and scenes from plays, partnering up. I had a rollicking good time doing a monologue called “I Ate The Divorce Papers” from a play called “Goodbye, Charles.” Very comical. And next week, I will do a scene from Moliere’s play “The Learned Ladies.” And of course, I play the haughty, learned sister to my younger oh-so-in-love sibling. One day, our teacher told us we could do something for Shakespeare as a video and submit it to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. So I submitted my selfie video of Sonnet 73, a sonnet about getting older. You can see it on the Facebook page House of Will OSF. The committee will play selected videos on a screen projected over the outdoor stage. I have visited that ongoing several-months festival, and it is amazing.