#verselove - nonet of farewell

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's inspiration was by three teachers, Christine, Jairus, and Josie, who conclude this fabulous month of poetry writing with a prompt to think about what scares us - to try to put it into words. A wonderful last prompt to this month!

Here's my poetry submission - and a final thank you to Dr. Sarah Donovan and the whole #verselove community:

Dear #verselove community - I have truly loved reading your poetry and writing alongside you this month. I have learned so much from you. I have enjoyed the daily prompts, which stretched me in all sorts of new ways. I am sad to see April end - though I have taken so many notes on poetry forms, terminology, writers, activists, and important voices I need to know more about, perhaps I can be self-propelled in my writing for awhile (at  least until the next OpenWrite! ha!).

Dr. Sarah J. Donovan - what a gift you have given to all of us, what a treasure you have created! It is beautiful to imagine how many more poems there are in the world. Thank you so very much.

Missing all of you, already. Here's a nonet of farewell - 

it is terrifying to share poems 
fearing my lack of skill and voice
how to brace myself for scorn?
dry dull blah meh so-so
yes, forgettable
that’s my writing
on the whole
believe
me

then
#verselove
welcomed me
to share aloud
to think with others
to reflect on questions 
to write in community
a challenge wrapped in warm embrace
thank you for this restorative month!

#verselove - 29: earth-keepers

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Susie Morice, who shared many beautiful quotes and resources on the environment, and encouraged us to write a poem about one or more 'earth-keepers.' I kept thinking about my granddaughter, how much she loves to be outdoors - and how much instinctive respect and care she shows. Throughout my years of teaching, I witnessed preschoolers nurturing this same natural, uninhibited affection for our great world. Here's my poem.

children are earth-keepers

at what age
do we let go
the commonsense
a child holds?

a child’s instinct is 
to dig and discover
worm in the rich dark deep
pill bug hiding under stone
how there is much more below
to wonder

a child knows 
earth is their home
watching birds circle above the tree
hearing hills beckon for a roll 
how the lick of a goat is
to enjoy 

a child studies
the new and the different
rainwater flowing across the yard
a fallen tree ripe with life 
how blooming flowers are
to see

a child appreciates
they are earth-keepers
jumping from rock to rock
the wild surprise of cicadas
how fragrant fresh air is
to breathe 

a child watches
cause and effect
blowing tender seeds of dandelions 
turning on and off water
how a woodpecker’s tap tap tap is
to pause 

listen 
return
to a child 
marvel at majestic
cultivate questions
face the future 
bravely
with great care
treasuring
the miracle of earth

#verselove - 28: relish

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Katie, who prompted us to think about how poetry is a form of empathy, how the act of writing can result in understanding. For practice with this, she suggested a simple exercise - select 'an object that holds some significance' and write into this, describing it and imagining conversation or feelings it might have.

Here's where I ended up:

relish

every grandchild received
a small token of you

dainty depression dish for me
gold edge 
curled sides

holding it in the light
reveals
center sunburst 
tiny repeating 
lines, dashes, slants, leaf cuts

miniature spoon 
made of pewter
with intricate floral pattern

you were given this as a gift?
a special extra, 
just perfect,
you bought for yourself?

just for holidays?

when? 

how I would love to hear the story

even 
not knowing
it is enough

relish

Flow it, show it

 

It's Tuesday and I am participating in the

 Slice of Life.  

Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for nurturing teacher-writers!

A photo essay

Oh my, this COVID hair has got to go.

January 2020, that was my last haircut.

My brother says I look like Emmylou Harris. 

Maybe if I played guitar, I'd keep this look.

I have never grown my hair this long.

Did you know you can get trapped by your hair in bed?!

This was news to me.

Frumpy, dumpy, grumpy.

I do not like this look.

Fully vaccinated - that's my cue,

time to go, go, go to the hairdresser!

Wait, one last photo - the pony tail!

The HORSE tail.

I brought flowers to my stylist - I really missed her! 

I discovered the greatest way to transport a vase of flowers, lol.

My hair was too grey to donate - though, my goodness, it looks dark here.

I'm baaaaaack!

#verselove 27: Connoisseur

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Karen Workun, who encouraged us to write about 'secret connoisseur' - what little things are we experts about?

I am a 
calculated connoisseur,
developing 
essential expertise
alongside those I love

I am an affable authority
digging for worms
throwing sticks in the creek
finding lambs-ear in the garden
listening for wind chimes
noticing birds

I used to be gentle genius
identifying dinosaurs
Thomas the Tank Engine trains
Pokemon characters

I’m ready to refresh 
my scholarly skills 
should the need arise, 
as I have with 
construction vehicles

I fear I am an emerging expert at
forgetting 
where I left my eyeglasses
my hot cup of tea - oh, my, it is now cold
to make an appointment
titles of books and movies I loved
names of authors, actors, even some neighbors
to dig the weeds before they spread
to move the wet clothes to the dryer
passwords for every imaginable account
oh no, 
the gas burner on low, overnight,
oh my!

#verselove - 26: may I

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Hanna Al-Jibouri, who encouraged us to think about "who do I want to become?" and write a poem. 

I played around with lots of different metaphors, and then dispensed with all of them and decided to try my hand at a new poem structure - a triolet. I was introduced to 'triolet' for the first time during this writing month, from a poem written by Dr. Sarah J. Donovan on a previous day. 

This is the rhyming structure for a triolet, which is only eight lines long:

ABaAabAB

The capital letters indicate repeating lines; the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines; the second line is also the last line.

1. The first line (A)

2. The second line (B)

3. The third line rhymes with the first (a)

4. Repeat the first line (A)

5. The fifth line rhymes with the first (a)

6. The sixth line rhymes with the second line (b)

7. Repeat the first line (A)

8. Repeat the second line (B)

Writing this was a lot of fun, playing with this new structure! Here is my poem, on the topic of what I hope for myself in the days to come. 

may I

play with words and then write more 
love each day, show courage, be kind
be in the midst of those I adore
play with words and then write more  
willingly readily always explore 
welcome viewpoints, have open mind
play with words and then write more  
love each day, show courage, be kind

#verselove - 25: falling short

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Ellen Stackable, who is the founder of Poetic Justice, which offers restorative writing workshops to incarcerated women. For today's writing, she encouraged us to write about 'labels' that we carry, and to think about who we were yesterday, who we are today, who we hope to be tomorrow. 

falling short

the judgement 
the reproach
the inadequacy of me

falling short

though I cannot undo the carving
I can turn the cut a bit

see it from different angles
see its many facets 
see if it glimmers at all

falling short

I knew I know I will always know
I am not 
all that I should be

I can only fall short if I am trying
I can only try if I am living
sinning offers perspective
failing, questioning, mistakes

are the stuff of full lives 
I am another flawed human being
falling short

trying to love deeply
believing in 
growth
understanding
forgiveness

a loving God 
falling short

I’ll take it
I see the way it glimmers
in new light

childhood labels
are not soft stickers easily peeled off
but wounds forever carved 

in one’s innermost thoughts
as Leonard Cohen says
I have tried in my way to be free

#verselove - 24: walk in the woods

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Susan Ahlbrand, who encourages us to find a photo and write into it. Oh my, what a challenge! I went around and around and around, sort of chicken/egg thinking - do you think of a topic and find a photo to go with? do you find a favorite photo and make yourself write something? Of course, like everyone, I am drowning in photos. Do I want to go down memory lane, pick something old? Or something current?

In the end, I went with something recent. The poem is about something that has been such a 'go-to' adventure throughout this pandemic - walking in the woods. The poem is light and simple. Here it is, with a photo of my husband and granddaughter, in the woods:

walk in the woods

walk in the woods
talk in the woods
wouldn’t you want
want the woods
walk in the woods
with you

spring woods 
summer woods
seasons in woods
all withstood
walk in the woods
with you

wild of woods
piles of woods
understood woods
good in the woods
walk in the woods
with you

pine for the woods
sap for the woods
box me in the woods
yes, I would, I would
walk in the woods
with you

drift in the woods
back of woods
round the woods
love the woods
walk in the woods
with you

#verselove - 23: Dupont Circle

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration is offered by Oklahoma State University preservice teachers Gavin, Noah, and Sarah, who encouraged us to silence our own voices in protest of LGBTQ+ discrimination and to write a poem that gives someone else a voice.

Dupont Circle 1984

we walked in silence

down the tight curving metal steps

into this hidden cellar of a bar

anonymous discreet invisible

pushed past

the heavy door

into pulsating music, beer and booze, 

tight jeans, muscled bodies, 

voices low, laughing, lingering

so many men, coupled, close, comfortable,

dark, intimate freedom

unexpectedly

he clutched my hand

yes - reached and grabbed 

wove his fingers within every one of mine

locked together, needing reassurance

I squeezed back and held on

just moments before

we had sat coupled in the bright sun 

at the cafe across the street

sipping beer for fortification

hatching the plan

my dear strong friend

he wanted to live out

he wanted to venture out

he wanted to meet out 

he wanted whole

there was this gay bar downtown

please come with me, he said, just this once,

we’ll pretend we’re tourists

accidentally wandering in

would you please come with me?

he clutched my hand

we walked between the bar and tables

the length of the long narrow room, then turned

and walked back through guys, guys, guys

back through the heavy door

into the bright sunshine

where he gasped

he hadn’t anticipated the fear, 

the rush, the sheer giddy madness of being

welcomed as is

He went back by himself that Friday.

#verselove - 22: Aunt Louise

For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA. 

Today's poetry inspiration was by Oklahoma State University preservice teachers Araceli, Deanna, and Michelle, who encouraged us to write a poem to someone we love along the lines of Sandra Cisneros' "Abuelito Who"

My poem is dedicated to my godmother, my Aunt Louise, who died in 2019. 

Aunt Louise

my precious godmother,

who is azaleas in spring, energetic abundance of blooms

light and tender, unadorned and natural,

who is fresh baked cookies, hot from the oven,

spiced with laughter,

whose voice radiates New England - pahk ya cah! 

who is handwritten letters arriving every birthday, 

overflowing with stories

who lets me see Mom through the eyes of a high school bestie 

"I never saw your mother mentally troubled a day in my life, I never did, I never did"

delighting in their antics, back in the day

sculpts my Mom with joy and kindness 

talks to me openly of all the ordinary dirt of life

who shapes this lovely nest worn with love 

knits and reads and plants and tends 

photos and scrapbooks

who is prayers that need saying

tells me “keep the faith!” as farewell 

discovers light in sorrow, always hope, always love 

my window, my insight, my heart

I treasure I treasure I treasure