Two Days Left to Enter the Roses are Red Giveaway

Only a few more days to enter my Roses are Red Poem giveaway. I've had fun reading your poems and love that so many of you gave verse a try.

Last Wednesday I shared a few of the poems that were more than a Roses are red simple verse but I've enjoyed them all. It's fun to just go with the first thing we think of and make a poem. That's the kind of poet I am. 

Roses are red. 

Violets are blue. 

I do appreciate 

Readers like you.

It was fun to see how so many of you included how you liked my books or the idea of winning one of my books in your poems.

I got identical poems from Bonnie and Marianne. 

Roses Are Red

Violets Are Blue

Make Me A Winner

So My Dreams Can Come True

How could I keep from liking Jackie's poem? 

The weather has been very cold,

But my book reading doesn't get put on hold.

I stay warm snuggled up in my bed,

With Ann's books dancing in my head.

Thanks, Jackie, your poem made me smile. But I like C-Jay's approach too. Just write from your heart and don't worry about that rhyming stuff. She's right. Not all poems rhyme.

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.

Sugar is sweet,

I love books. :)

It doesn't rhyme, but then, not all poems do. And, it's from the heart!

And last we have this from Gigi. It made me smile and think of how much fun puppies are.

This is about the two puppies I got last year.  I couldn't choose just one so I brought home sisters last year. Their names are Gemma and Lily and are just as sweet as can be.
 

Roses are red, 
Violets are blue,
I couldn't choose just one,
so I brought home two.

So you have until Tuesday night, March 3rd at midnight EST to throw your name in my giveaway hat. You don't have to write a poem, but you can if you want. You might win the pretty necklace along with your choice of one of my books, maybe Love Comes Home or Angel Sister or whichever you want if you are the winner. Just leave a comment here with a way to contact you or shoot me an e-mail at annhgabhart(at)hughes(dot)net. You must be 18 to enter. 

And thanks to all of you who have joined in with my giveaway fun.

Happiness is a Poem and a Flower

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." (Hal Borland)

"Winter lingered so long in the lap of Spring that it occasioned a great deal of talk."  (Bill Nye)

I'm wishing I could spot some little spring beauty flowers like those above, but not yet this year. Those little blooms are still sleeping under the snow that has stuck around way past its welcome. But it's a good thing we don't have to find our happiness in the weather. While most of the poems I've received with entries to my Roses are Red Contest that's going on now, have been simple four line verses, a few readers have shared poems that put my amateur rhyming to shame. So tonight I'm sharing them with you.

Happiness  by Nona

Happiness comes from many places.
Singing birds and familiar faces.

A hug from a friend
when you are blue.

Lifting of the heart
when your love is true.

Sitting in the shade by a 
babbling brook.

Cuddled into a chair
with your favorite book.

~~~

Lovely poem, Nona. Peggy stayed with the Roses are red theme but made it so much more as she looks forward to Spring.

Roses are Red  by Peggy

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

When this Winter is through

The flowers will shake, and open their heads

Their colors are grand

Some smell pretty, too

Let's strike up the band

For those Violets of Blue

For those buds I will look

As they peek through the snow

While I watch from atop my book

As those zero winds blow

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Dear God - Bring the Springtime

We need something new!!!

~~~

Last we have a true Valentine love poem from Sandi. 

What is Love by Sandi

What is love...

where does it go...

Is it a vapor not unlike the snow,

Does it drift lazily down from the sky,

piling around us until it's quite high,

Does it make choices or caress all the same

and when things go wrong is it always to blame...

Is it like the seasons that blow hot and cold,

Does it laugh lustily at all those it's fooled,

The fragrance it leaves is dispelled by none,

It lingers long after the romance is done,

If given the chance, would you risk it again,

Treating it tenderly like an old friend...

Not taking it for granted, but being thankful each day,

That no matter how brief, it once came your way???!!

~~~

Indeed we can be thankful when love comes our way. Thanks, ladies, for sharing your talent with us. 

The contest is still open. You can see the prize (a heart-shaped necklace and winner's choice of one of my books) on my News and Events website page. You can enter by leaving a comment on a post here (with a way to contact you) by midnight EST on March 3, 2015. Thanks to all who have already entered and shared a poem too. You don't have to share a poem. That's just to add a little fun!

Roses are Red Giveaway

I sent out a newsletter this week with a late Valentine giveaway. You know some people are always a day late and a dollar short. But it's never too late for chocolate and Valentine hugs. Okay, so I don't have any chocolate to give you. If I did, I'd eat it myself. But I'd think about you while I was enjoying it! After this week of weather, I think we all need some chocolate! 

But back to the giveaway. Here's the prize - a heart shaped necklace. It's really lovely. And to go along with that, the winner will get to choose one of my books. That makes me happy. Then to make it fun, I asked those who entered the giveaway to send a Valentine verse or other poem in too. 


While my very first writing sale was a four line poem many years ago, that was about the extent of my poetry writing. So, since not all of us are poets, I gave entrants the option of finishing this verse:
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
(Your lines go next.)

I've been getting some neat poems. A few poems have been lovely original poems, but most have been simple "Roses are red" poems. Let's enjoy a few of them.

Susan used a play on words that made me smile.
Roses are red, 

Violets are blue, 

And just so you know,

Books are read, too.

Cheryl and several others wrote about perhaps being the winner.

Roses are red. 

Violets are blue.

It'd be so cool

To win a book by you.

Naturally those poems made me smile! Then there were the poems about how we love to read like this one from Pam:

Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

Reading books is one of my

Favorite things to do.

And there were poems about the weather. Gail wrote:

Roses are red.

Violets are blue

Why all this snow

I haven't a clue.

JSK wrote one to give us tired of winter folks hope.
Roses are red

Violets are blue.

Snow and ice are getting weary

32 days to spring, so true!

(And actually a little less than that now!!)

So if you didn't receive the newsletter and would like to throw your name in my late Valentine giveaway hat, you can leave a comment here on my blog before the deadline of midnight EST March 3rd. You must be 18 to enter and you have to leave a way to contact you with your entry. The poems are optional but fun. Plus if you'd like to get my newsletter, let me know and I'll send you a copy and/or add you to my newsletter list. You can sign up for the newsletter on my Facebook page.

There's also a giveaway going on at Carole Jarvis's blog, The Power of Words. I visited Carole's blog last week and talked about writing the Rosey Corner books. If you leave a comment on her blog, you'll have a chance to win a copy of Love Comes Home. And you'll get to see the neat old piano picture she has on her blog. The deadline to enter to win there is February 27.