Happy Poetry Friday!
I’ll have another tip Tuesday in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. For today, I already have two poems I need to share because of other folks’ schedules, so I didn’t want to overwhelm you with even more stuff!
For my first Poetry Friday poem, I am pleased to be featured over at Penny Parker Klostermann’s blog with a poetry/art collaboration between me and my niece, Lily. I hope you’ll visit and check it out! [Note: I’m on the road and will respond to comments there, but probably not until at least Sunday.] Here I am reading the poem that Lily did the fabulous art for.
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For my second Poetry Friday poem, here’s a pantoum–that’s what the Poetry Seven did this month. While reading a few sample pantoums, I read the lyrics to Rush’s “A Larger Bowl.” Such a heartbreaking poem/song, written by Neil Peart. (I’m going to a Rush concert in a week or so, so maybe I’ll get to hear it live…) And then I read my Poetry Sisters’ poems, and they are just stunning. I am only somewhat satisfied with my own effort, but it does have its moments. Maybe.
Each of us used “flight” or “certain,” and some of us used both! I read a blog post somewhere (can’t find it now) that was pondering how something knew to bloom or something and used the idea of earth itself as a clock. I loved and stole that for my tundra swan poem :>)
Time for Flight
The clock of land chimes autumn,
telling me the time is right for flight
September’s golden seconds drain away
as winter rips out eelgrass hours
Tell me: Is the time right for flight?
The seasons circle, and I twirl to face south
Winter rips out eelgrass hours
and I search for the sweep of instinct.
As the seasons circle, I twirl to face south,
testing tailwinds with my widespread wings
I search for the sweep of instinct
to sound the gong on my feathered heart
I test tailwinds with my widespread wings
as September’s golden seconds drain away
Then, a gong sounds on my feathered heart
The land, my clock, is chiming!
–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
You can read all the Poetry Seven’s poems below. They. Are. Awesome. Don’t miss them. I’m traveling, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to put live links in. But do visit!
Tricia? (wood ducklings’ first flight)
Sara? (sensuous love poem)
Kelly (carpe diem–then let it go)
Liz (how little we know)
Andi (motherhood, Star Wars, and the military)
Tanita (who lined YOUR nest?)
Next up will be…um, I have no idea! But here are our previous collaborations:
April 2015: Raccontinos
Mar 2015: Sestinas (Lord have mercy)
Feb 2015: Villanelles on hidden things
Jan 2015: Triolets on beginnings (And I posted an extra one here.)
Pre-2015: Villanelles, a crown sonnet, rondeau redoubles, and pantoums
And for more Poetry Friday fun, visit Ellen at Elementary Dear Reader for the Poetry Friday Roundup!
36 Responses
Well done, Laura! Very introspective, and perfect for this time of year when the world is in blooming and everything is in a state of change. I especially like “the sweep of instinct.”
Thanks, Matt. And, of course, I’m realizing I should have written this with spring and flying north in mind. Instead, I was picturing autumn and the tundra grasses dying for winter and the swans having to head south again… But change–yep, that’s the key thing that grabbed me, no matter what time of year it was:>)
Well done, Laura! Very introspective, and perfect for this time of year when the world is in blooming and everything is in a state of change. I especially like “the sweep of instinct.”
Thanks, Matt. And, of course, I’m realizing I should have written this with spring and flying north in mind. Instead, I was picturing autumn and the tundra grasses dying for winter and the swans having to head south again… But change–yep, that’s the key thing that grabbed me, no matter what time of year it was:>)
Oh, those gongs sounding on our feathered hearts!! I love the way you’ve woven this poem, Laura. Your word choice, images, and questioning ideas all fit perfectly with this form. Delightful!
Thanks, Andi. I think that’s my favorite line in the poem:>)
Oh, those gongs sounding on our feathered hearts!! I love the way you’ve woven this poem, Laura. Your word choice, images, and questioning ideas all fit perfectly with this form. Delightful!
Thanks, Andi. I think that’s my favorite line in the poem:>)
The clock of land chimes autumn … I love this line. Actually, there is so much to love here. I tried to make my pantoum work without rhyme, but it never felt “right.” But yours, … beautiful.
Thanks, Tricia. It’s odd, since I often prefer rhyme. But it was fun to write without it this time!
The clock of land chimes autumn … I love this line. Actually, there is so much to love here. I tried to make my pantoum work without rhyme, but it never felt “right.” But yours, … beautiful.
Thanks, Tricia. It’s odd, since I often prefer rhyme. But it was fun to write without it this time!
Testing tailwinds — it’s what all the birds do before they leap to flight (and in that manner, your poem, mine and Tricia’s overlap in my head) — and I love that phrase.
I hear you on only being partially satisfied, but that’s the beauty of pushing on to the next (dunno what it is, either… probably Liz does) form.
ODES. June form is the ode! Oh, dear.
Ooh. Odes! As in Gary Soto free verse kinda odes? Or the more formal, classical kind of ode. I’m hoping for the former!
Well, speak up first and you may get what you want. 🙂
I’m with Tanita in loving your testing tailwinds line—in some ways, this poem makes me think about how I circle around and around an idea for a poem or a novel, testing the tailwinds to see if my idea will fly. Sometimes it takes SO LONG for the land to chime for me, but when it does—I definitely hear that gong in my feathered heart.
OOh, good point, Sara. Yes! Love that analogy to the writing process. We test, test, test…but ultimately, we have to wait for everything to come together to fly.
Thank you, Tanita. Tailwinds and tale winds–we keep trying to grab hold and ride them. Yes, I agree about the pushing. I’ve had little time for exploring poems that aren’t part of huge projects lately. Without our Poetry Sisters, I definitely would not have worked on these different forms already this year!
Testing tailwinds — it’s what all the birds do before they leap to flight (and in that manner, your poem, mine and Tricia’s overlap in my head) — and I love that phrase.
I hear you on only being partially satisfied, but that’s the beauty of pushing on to the next (dunno what it is, either… probably Liz does) form.
ODES. June form is the ode! Oh, dear.
Ooh. Odes! As in Gary Soto free verse kinda odes? Or the more formal, classical kind of ode. I’m hoping for the former!
Well, speak up first and you may get what you want. 🙂
I’m with Tanita in loving your testing tailwinds line—in some ways, this poem makes me think about how I circle around and around an idea for a poem or a novel, testing the tailwinds to see if my idea will fly. Sometimes it takes SO LONG for the land to chime for me, but when it does—I definitely hear that gong in my feathered heart.
OOh, good point, Sara. Yes! Love that analogy to the writing process. We test, test, test…but ultimately, we have to wait for everything to come together to fly.
Thank you, Tanita. Tailwinds and tale winds–we keep trying to grab hold and ride them. Yes, I agree about the pushing. I’ve had little time for exploring poems that aren’t part of huge projects lately. Without our Poetry Sisters, I definitely would not have worked on these different forms already this year!
Who knew that RUSH wrote pantoum lyrics? That’s awesome, as is your tundra swan poem.
Might the post you referred to about blooming have been my villanelle from earlier this year? http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/853722.html
Either way, I sense a link there. But man, do I love your use of language here.
I know–I mean, I know I love their lyrics to the songs of theirs I do know, but I’m not a diehard Rush fan or anything, so I was oblivious. Randy tells me we heard that song live when we saw them in concert a few years ago. But I didn’t know it was a pantoum then!
No, the post I got the ding-ding from was a nonfiction/real-life post, I think related to The Hummingbird Project (http://www.alexiscoram.com/HummingbirdProject). But I bookmarked the whole project instead of the page with that phrase. There was some statement about the earth as a clock…but now I can’t find it. Sigh. Oh well. I loved the excuse to reread your villanelle with its rich language. So. Wonderful. What is it about the turning of the seasons, the passage of time, the way we change that is all so endlessly fascinating?
Who knew that RUSH wrote pantoum lyrics? That’s awesome, as is your tundra swan poem.
Might the post you referred to about blooming have been my villanelle from earlier this year? http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/853722.html
Either way, I sense a link there. But man, do I love your use of language here.
I know–I mean, I know I love their lyrics to the songs of theirs I do know, but I’m not a diehard Rush fan or anything, so I was oblivious. Randy tells me we heard that song live when we saw them in concert a few years ago. But I didn’t know it was a pantoum then!
No, the post I got the ding-ding from was a nonfiction/real-life post, I think related to The Hummingbird Project (http://www.alexiscoram.com/HummingbirdProject). But I bookmarked the whole project instead of the page with that phrase. There was some statement about the earth as a clock…but now I can’t find it. Sigh. Oh well. I loved the excuse to reread your villanelle with its rich language. So. Wonderful. What is it about the turning of the seasons, the passage of time, the way we change that is all so endlessly fascinating?
Laura, I love the image of the swan taking flight as “September’s golden seconds drain away.” Just gorgeous! Your inspiration from the lost (to you) blog post about the earth as a clock is a perfect example of poets, all writers, really, finding ideas everywhere. Thank you for always being an inspiration to me!
Thanks, Catherine. More often than not, it’s lost to me. But in the past couple of years, I have tried to more consciously note the evolution of ideas so that when speaking, I can answer those questions. I know it’s unsatisfying to hear, “I have no idea where this idea came from!” (Though that’s sometimes true:>) Thank you for all your support and enthusiasm!
Laura, I love the image of the swan taking flight as “September’s golden seconds drain away.” Just gorgeous! Your inspiration from the lost (to you) blog post about the earth as a clock is a perfect example of poets, all writers, really, finding ideas everywhere. Thank you for always being an inspiration to me!
Thanks, Catherine. More often than not, it’s lost to me. But in the past couple of years, I have tried to more consciously note the evolution of ideas so that when speaking, I can answer those questions. I know it’s unsatisfying to hear, “I have no idea where this idea came from!” (Though that’s sometimes true:>) Thank you for all your support and enthusiasm!
I love those “eelgrass hours.”
Thank you, Mary Lee!
I love those “eelgrass hours.”
Thank you, Mary Lee!