I'm trying something new, taking a risk this month - participating in#VerseLove with Sarah Donovan,
hoping to write poetry every day this April.
Today's poetic inspiration is Richard Siken's poem "Detail of the Woods." Our challenge is to write a ten line poem, considering the following -
"Try to describe the importance of this place or what is happening there from an inside perspective, without explicitly stating it. Include punctuation after each line. Try to limit each stanza to one or two lines. Feel free to use anaphora to create some repetition. Title the poem 'Detail of' your setting."
Detail of the Creek
In the quiet, there is only the gurgling water,
as it ripples over the rocks and around the bend, downstream.
You are a treasure.
Even mourning is a celebration,
raising a toast to the beauty of the world.
Words to page offers sweet peace,
sweet peace within walls.
This is a cracking open, a breaking apart, a widening of the void
between what we have always believed and what is real.
The gentle breeze moves me somewhere altogether new.
Barb Edler, from Sarah Donovan's 30 Days of Poetry website:
ReplyDeleteMaureen, what an outstanding, beautiful poem! I am especially moved by the line “You are a treasure”. I like how you set this apart from the rest of the poem. Mourning, I agree, is an act of celebration. The actions near the end are striking: “cracking open, “breaking apart,” ” a widening of the void” …all create a sense of the here and the hereafter for me. I especially appreciate the communion with nature and the sense of peace that is shared. I absolutely love the end. I am deeply touched by your thought-provoking poem. Kudos!
glenda funk, from Sarah Donovan's 30 Days of Poetry website:
ReplyDeleteMaureen,
Your words transport us to the creek and its bubbling loveliness. I love the lines,
“Words to page offers sweet peace,
sweet peace within walls.
Your poem is a menagerie of images celebrating nature and writing. I love it. Thank you.
—Glenda
Alex Berkley, from Sarah Donovan's 30 Days of Poetry website:
ReplyDeleteMaureen, I also chose a creek as my central focus for this prompt. My parents have a creek that runs behind their house and it has always been the destination for walks, for contemplation, for conversation, for fun. These lines of yours were my favorite: “ Even mourning is a celebration, / raising a toast to the beauty of the world.” I can relate to this, staring at a natural marvel at times when life felt overwhelming, and feeling calmed by the connection to something so pure and beautiful. Thank you!