As March slowly
slips away,
m-u-d-l-i-c-i-o-u-s 
children come 
to play.

And April knocks
upon the door,
her bonnet tied
against wind's roar.

Spring is here
in one quick bound,
shoots push up
through the ground. 

  March is almost over.  Say good bye to March.  April is almost here.  Say hello to April.  In the Hawaiian islands we have one word for both hello and good bye--Aloha.  I think that is partly because no one ever really leaves.  Part of them always stays with us. We have the memories of our times together.  Or, as my teacher points out, you are breathing the same air as Christopher Columbus, Shakespeare or George Washington. So, for your poetry challenge today, can you write a poem about someone or something that is coming or going?  Have fun writing. 


Just write anything and put it out there with reckless abandon.  Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic.

QUAIL

Quail
feathered head,
waddle, scurry, zipping
one single feather
bobwhite



April
time of new leaves
blossoms blooming, new growth
we throw ourselves into the joy
Springtime


     It has been a lovely day.  I saw my first little quailets of the season this morning.  There were about a dozen of them scurrying with a couple of adults.  The little ones are about the size of a walnut.  So when I attended a workshop this afternoon on writing cinquains and haiku, of course I had to write about my morning experience. 

   Can you try writing your own cinquain about something you saw today?  Have fun writing.

A Pantoum

APRIL

April tosses her hair.

This is how it begins--

green willow branches float the air

to dance in springtime winds.

This is how it begins

day after blowing day

to dance in springtime winds

as April has her way.

Day after blowing day

Spring reaches to delight

as April has her way

blowing clouds black and white.

Spring reaches to delight

giving us all flower fun.

Blowing clouds black and white

until her breath is done.

Giving us all flower fun

Prickly pear blossoms visited by bees.

Until her breath is done,

April collects pollen on her knees.

Prickly pear blossoms visited by bees

to dance in springtime winds.

April collects pollen on her knees

This is how it begins.

A pantoum is one of the French forms, somewhat similar to the Malaysian pantum, but also attributed to English.  The form weaves lines together.  If you look closely you'll see the rhyming pattern of A1,B1, A2, B2   B1, C1, B2, C2,     C1,D1, C2, D2  etc. until you come to the end stanza where the first and third lines are dictated by the previous stanza, and the second and fourth lines are a repeat from the first stanza (in reverse) of lines A2, A1; or B2, B1--or the poem can simply be concluded with a couplet of A2, A1.  This information comes from THE SHAPE OF OUR SINGING by Robin Skelton, Eastern Washington University Press, 2002.

You might have fun trying this form.  Or, just try writing four couplets about April or spring.  Hey, and if you get that far, you can then try weaving the lines together and see what you come up with.  Have fun playing with poetry.

When I previewed this poem, there was an extra space between the penultimate and the last line.  I considered correcting the formatting error, but as I thought about it, I liked the line, This is how it begins, out there on its own.  And it made me consider that this poem makes an interesting reverso--a poem that reads as well top to bottom as it does bottom to top.  What do you think?

The Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted this week by Robyn Hood Black on her blog Life at the Deckle Edge.  Hop over there for more poetry fun.

APRIL

All flowers blooming,
purple pansies looming
right next to daffodils zooming
in the bending wind, then after
leave us with laughter.


     I've been playing with an acrostic poem based on APRIL today.  Can you try creating your own poem on an April theme?  What are some things that APRIL makes you think of?  Since there are five lines, you might want to shape your poem in one of the five line verses, like limerick or cinquain.  Have fun playing with poetry today.