Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I mentioned that I was going to try writing poems in 20 different places this year for #20for20. I don’t know if I shared my list of places here yet, but one of them was the orchestra. That’s where I jotted down the very different lines that eventually became this poem.
Along the way, I wrote revised drafts in McDonald’s and a surgery waiting room. Bonus points?
(I am concentrating on sharing drafts and writing process stuff in my Patreon Community, Writer in Progress. Check it out if you might be interested! I’m hoping sharing drafts and excerpts might be useful to both writers and teachers. In this case, I shared the original inspiration for the poem plus 3 or 4 drafts.)
Mr. Linky is rounding us up today, so please fill out the doohickey below to both leave your link and to check out all the other links you can explore. Thanks for being part of Poetry Friday, and I look forward to reading all of your posts throughout the weekend!
34 Responses
Such a beautiful poem! I love “glimmering grains of sand” and “wood thrush decorating the hush”. I wrote a poem during yoga tonight. I kept repeating it, like a mantra, in my head so I wouldn’t forget it. I like the idea of writing poems in different places.
I also love the lines Margaret has chosen above. I also have poems come to mind in yoga but it is difficult to keep them flowing without a pen in hand. Laura, your poem is filled with beautiful sensory images and key words to evoke scenes where voice can lift. Thanks for hosting. I finally am able to get around to read through the posts.
Thanks, Carol!
“like a woodthrush decorating the hush of forest?” is such a beautiful line. What a great idea to write in 20 places this year! I love it. Thanks for hosting this week. You’ve been so busy with new books and all. I hope you are finding some time to decompress and just be.
Love seeing your writing process, notes taken, revised and turned into this gorgeous singing poem– “dance in the confetti of your word parade” beautiful, textural background too. I’m looking forward to reading more of your poems from different places! And, thanks for hosting the roundup Laura!
Laura, I love those ending four lines, and the poem overall is just beautiful–filled with lovely language and imagery. Thanks for hosting this week and I hope your family health is trending upward this month! By the way, my vote is definitely for extra points for revising in McDonald’s and a surgical waiting room!
Love your challenge to write in various places, Laura. It will be interesting to see if different poetry comes from them. I love your poem, a beautiful love poem, for your anniversary? Thanks for hosting!
No, I wrote a cento out of song lines for Randy. This is a poem I’ve done several drafts of over the past month, sharing my process in Writer in Progress. I was inspired by a poem in Climbing Shadows–trying a more personal free verse poem a little different from the kind I usually write.
Thank you for hosting today, Laura! Your invitation to sing is filled with so many delicious images. I especially love “glimmering grains of sand/under liquid moonbeams.” I hope you won’t be spending any more time in surgery waiting rooms!
What an interesting 20for20 challenge you’ve set yourself, Laura! And a beautiful orchestra-inspired love song today. I love “You are my chandelier of stars.”
Thanks for hosting, Laura. What an interesting challenge to write in different places. You do get bonus points for writing in the surgical waiting room! Thanks for the lovely poem full of images.
Hi, Laura! Thanks for hosting. I love the line, “You are my chandelier of stars.”
Hi, Laura–I like your 20for20 roving poet idea! Your poem makes me curious about whether there was an actual singer at the orchestra…and I like far from your original jottings you ended up–an interesting note on process.
Heidi–there WERE two vocalists in one piece, but that was later after I wrote these jottings…
I think a chandelier of stars is all I ever want to be, after reading this poem, Laura. How exquisite! Thank-you for sharing — and hosting today. Thinking of you. xx
Love the idea of poems written in 20 different places! “Your Song” is so lovely. Thanks for hosting this week, Laura!
An orchestra, a surgery waiting room, and Mickey D’s…now there’s some diverse inspiration! I love your poem, Laura — I can just imagine those liquid moonbeams!
Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday, Laura. I love this initiative to write poetry in so many places and then share your poems and process. WAY COOL! And congratulations on having ALL your 2019 poetry books on the NCTE Poetry Notables list! So deserving!
Thanks, Sylvia. It is SUCH a thrill!
Dear Laura — I love this thought of you jotting lines while listening to the orchestra. Sing, my angels, sing! (a nod to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) 🙂 Thanks for rounding us up. xo
I love this poem. I was going to share a favorite line, but I’m going to have to go with all of the above. I love your challenge of writing in different places, too. Any place is a good place for poetry.
Oo! Oh! Golly!
This idea has lit my wick, dear Laura.
What will be on my list of places in which to write poem lines?
A zoo? A subway? The swamp?
You are brilliant. We appreciate your sharing & caring.
I have written poems lots of places, but I stole the #20for20 thing from someone else! They are the brilliant one:>)
Love your #20for20 goal, Laura, and I always love seeing process posts from other writers. This piece is lovely — so fun to see how it grew.
I’m dancing in the confetti of your word parade! “Glimmering grains of sand/under liquid moonbeams” is swoon worthy.
I like the idea of writing in different places. It is something I’ll have to consider doing. I think the tone of one’s writing might change depending on where one writes! Have you found that?
It depends what I’m doing. Sometimes I’m working on a specific project and just choose to do it out and about somewhere. Other times, I know I want to write a poem (or a picture book or whatever), and I consciously try to soak up the particular atmosphere:>)
Thanks for your insight into doing this. I did attend a writer’s workshop last April and we HAD to write about one small thing we noticed in a garden or outside space. Then, we had a very limited (15 minutes and then 5 minutes) to write about it and tweak it. It was a lesson on Free Wrting and very useful.
Thanks, that makes sense!
This is such a generous poem of invitation, Laura! And I adore the rhyme “hush” and “thrush.” Thank you for hosting…Happy Poetry Friday! xx
What a beautiful poem of invitation, Laura. I adore the rhyme of “thrush” and “hush.” Thank you for hosting…Happy Poetry Friday! xx
Thanks for sharing your writing process and your poem. It’s really lovely. I have several favorite lines–glimmering grains of sand under liquid moonbeams, chandelier of stars, the woodthrush–makes me feel like singing!
And thanks for hosting, too!
20 poems in 20 places? Such a cool idea! A great way to get used to writing in different locations and under unusual conditions. You definitely get bonus points for revising in a surgery waiting room. I like the reassuring repetition in your poem. Thanks so much for hosting! xo
Thank you for the bonus points;>)