Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, I seem to be on a real tree kick lately! This month, our theme, chosen by Tricia, was to borrow a line from Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art and use it in a new poem. I chose the line:
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
I was planning to write about my poor memory or the way I look around at least once a day and say, “I can’t find my phone!” Or about the joy of getting rid of stuff. Downsizing a couple of years ago was wonderful! And I did write about that, but in a slightly different way than I expected to.
I wonder what my Poetry Sisters have come up with. Let’s go see! (Addendum: Oh! This is one of my favorite groups of Poetry 7 poems ever. Please make sure to visit and bask in them!)
Kelly
Liz
Sara
Tanita
Tricia
Non-poetry demands are keeping Andi away this month, but she’ll return :>)
Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.
And check out The Poem Farm, where Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup!
24 Responses
That is the loveliest poem I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time. It truly spoke to me, and I thank you for sharing it.
Well, thanks, Kimberly–that makes me happy! This one kinda just poured out from my heart…
Speaking to a tree like a friend, a marvelous thing, Laura. This is very beautiful. I love the way you included all those things that trees should be proud of, and pleased to “give”. “Fling your ruby leaves into the sky/and watch them dance goodbye.” Awesome!
Oh, I do love this poem and your switch from lose to give. I’ve been struggling with downsizing/reorganizing and a sense of loss and this poem offers such a wonderful shift in perspective. The exuberance of those flinging leaves is fabulous. Your poem speaks to me on many levels. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Molly, for letting me know you connected with it! The flinging leaves is my favorite image:>)
I am in deep deep love with this poem. Deep love! “Trust what you drop will find its way.…” Oh, Laura!
“Trust what you drop will find its way” OH SWOON! Love this poem so so much.
Look up so you will find yours…
flings out arms and falls over
I was all verklempt over the single line of “Give” and then the dusk-hungry deer, but now I am slain by that last line. This is just gorgeous. Who knew, with all the angst we had with Bishop, that we could do something like this???
Thanks, Tanita. Isn’t that the truth about our challenges. This month’s batch is definitely one of my all-time favorites of ours!
I love this one, Laura! The tree’s POV, the shift from losing to giving… wonderful. I had to go back to find your borrowed line, which must mean that it fit perfectly (and ha! I too would have thought first about losing my keys and my mind!)
I really love this, Laura. You, Joyce Sidman, and Rebecca Kai Dottlich always have a way of imparting such wisdom into your children’s poetry.
Thanks, Matt. They are two of my very favorite poets, so being grouped with them in any way makes me happy!
Beautiful–I love how your poem comes out from the center like the growth rings in a tree, and the center is “Give.” Thanks for Giving this poem, to share with us Laura, what wonderful “ADVICE FROM A FOREST!,” Thanks!
I love this poem, Laura. Imagination gone wild, like leaves in the wind!
I can only echo what others have said about the joyful choices you’ve made re-building this line from Bishop into a new poem. Even the shape of the poem is perfectly suited to its words, allowing the reader to make that internal turn from loss to giving. Who needs keys when you unlock such grace with words??
Thank you, Sara! I generally don’t like centered poems, and I had written this left-justified, as usual. But in the app WordSwag, where I was creating the graphic, this shape worked best with the watercolor background I had chosen. And then I ended up actually really liking the way the centering brought such emphasis to the “Give” line. Happy accidents certainly play a big role in poetry, for me, anyway:>)
I am a “loser” and every day I spend hours hunting for things. Just yesterday, a colleague at work gave a coffee mug with my name printed on it, so when I lost it, people can return it. This poem puts a whole new, glorious, joyful twist on the whole losing thing. I love it!
Oh, funny! Thanks! We losers have to stick together:>)
This poem is simply gorgeous.…and quite a philosophical stance. It reminds me of those “Advice from a.…” T‑shirts I see and love but, FAR better and more elegant in your words and watercolor. The joys of losing.…are as many as leaves on a tree. Lovely, every single leaf.
Thank you, Linda:>)
Love, love, LOVE.
I love how loss turns to giving.
Such elegance and truth here — and line three makes it all so real. Thank you, Laura. xx
Thank you, Amy! And I just read Dreaming of You–sooo wonderful!