If an Aurora Appears

Welcome, and happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m so happy you’ve dropped by. Whether you’re a regular participant in the Poetry Friday world, or you ended up here from a search or a link, please know that we’re a welcoming community! Read, comment, think, share, and enjoy!

I’m at NCTE right now, along with lots of other PF peeps! I hope I get to see some of them–fingers crossed.

A few quick things today: Please check out Blissfully Bookish, Lydia Lukidis’ blog, for a post about Flurry, Float, and Fly! 

Also, if you’re a teacher who might have a day or two before the end of the year where you need to offer engaging content but the situation isn’t right for your typical lesson plans, take a peek at my lesson plan for a day spent with Flurry! Just click on the image below for a downloadable pdf.

And finally, as I’ve been going through hundreds of poems to pick a couple to submit for an anthology, I came across a few Northern Lights poems. Last Tuesday night, Northern Lights were visible in the Twin Cities–SO exciting. The colors, as always, are brighter through a camera, but they were lightly visible to the naked eye. Such a wonder…

And here’s one of my Northern Lights poems. This one’s a zeno, a form I love!

If an Aurora Appears

If shimmers dance this cold, dark night,
and ride the sky’s
black-edged
flanks,
like ancient gods’
magic
pranks …
hush. Look skyward.
Just give
thanks.

–copyright Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

And for lots of wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with kind human Janice Scully!

8 Responses

  1. Love that you guys saw the lights in the Twin Cities and that you shared the photos. Great poem to reflect the beauty. Enjoy the conference. Hope you built in some recovery time next week! 😉

  2. I heard that some could see them as far south as we are but I didn’t. It’s a bucket list item for me. I wrote a Zeno poem this week too. It’s a fun and challenging form. Your rhymes are great, especially the word thanks.

  3. Any poem that begins with ‘if’ and ends with ‘give thanks’ has sentiments I love best. What a great way to “see” the Auroras. Thanks for the experience in this poem! Great photos too.

  4. Ah, perfect!!!! Love your poem, especially the rhyme and the “ride the sky’s/ black-edged/ flanks/. Also love how it ends on a note of thanks because how are we so lucky to have such wonders?! Thank you, Laura!

  5. I love these rhymes, Laura, as well as the foundational sentiment: give thanks! Thanks for this. 🙂

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