THE EARTH CRACKED OPEN: A Lament

I opened my mouth
and tasted the sky.
I opened my heart
and heard birds cry.

Their conversations
were noisy and deep.
In many tongues,
I heard them weep.

The earth is changing.
It's no longer the best.
We birds can't find
a good place to nest.

Temperature is rising.
Can't take the heat.
Like canaries in coal mines
birds die in the street.

Bees leave the hive.
They're in another zone.
Ask how we can do this
to the place we call home.

     A lament is a poem expressing grief or sorrow.  It is a poem of mourning.  I wrote this poem on Earth Day last week.  I'm very concerned about what we are doing to care for our planet, even though I live on a small island in the Pacific Ocean.  I garden and recycle.  What are some things you do to care for our land and oceans?  Can you write a love poem today to the earth?  Have fun brainstorming and then writing your poem.

Me ka mahalo nui.   
With deep gratitude. 

 What can you do to show your 
gratitude to the earth?

FLY PIE

The spiders are having
a Halloween party.
They've glitzed up their web
to make it look arty.

They're busy catching
bees, gnats, and flies,
to offer as 
Halloween pies.

     Here is your poetry challenge for today:  pick a locale or an animal and have a party.  What would the animals eat at their party?  What party games would they play?  Can you write a poem about that?  Would the ocean animals bob for apples?  Would woodland creatures play pin the limb on the tree rather than pin the tail on the donkey?  There are so many possibilities.  Have fun with your 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.

SUNFLOWERS

One yellow sunflower
covered with dew,
count every petal,
see there are two.

Two brown faces
dancing in the breeze
covered in yellow crowns
see there are three.

Three happy sunflowers
grow in rains that pour
with rough green leaves
see there are four.

Four sunny sunflowers
bees come from the hive
to dance upon them,
can you count the five?

All the pretty sunflowers
growing in the sun
such happy faces,
oh, what fun.

     What is your favorite flower?  Can you write a poem about flowers today?  Have fun writing.

GRAPEFRUIT

I had so much fun writing a nonet yesterday, I thought I'd try it again today.  I went to my father-in-law's place yesterday to pick some more grapefruit off his tree.  There was a surprise there for me, something I hadn't expected.


A nonet is a nine line poem with nine syllables in the first line and one less syllable is each following line, until you get to the last line with one syllable.  So all total there are 45 syllables in this poem.  I had to add up the
line totals several times, and in several ways to make sure 45 was the number.  Now, I hope I counted my lines correctly.  If not, please let me know so I can fix it.

The grapefruit tree hangs with yellow suns.
Waxy, white blossoms scent
the air and bees pollinate.
Their buzz fills the branches.
Each healthy round globe,
two juicy halves,
I slice for
breakfast
sweets.


    I love the names of some of the grapefruit, ruby red, Texas pink, Inca gold and Indian river.  When I was young, I thought the taste was sour, but I have discovered that fresh grapefruit is sweet.  Sitting on a grocer's shelf is what makes the taste sour.  Can you try writing your own nonet today?  Or try writing a poem about grapefruit.  Have fun.

Whiptail Lizard

The whiptail lizard is a fast paced lizard

and a very quick lizard is he.

He dashed past the ocotillo.

He raced by the barrel cactus

and ran up a Palo Verde tree.

     I've been playing with nursery rhymes again.  This poem uses several synonyms.
Can you find them?  Synonyms are words that mean the same thing.  So fast paced, dashed, raced, and ran all mean that the lizard moved very quickly.
    You can try writing a poem like this by picking an animal and then trying to load your poem with synonyms.

 The grizzly bear is a big old bear

and a huge old bear is he.

He ate a large fish,

swallowed lots of honey,

and got stung by a gigantic bee.

    Can you find the other words that mean big in this poem? 

   Now it is your turn to try it.  You might want to use a dictionary or a thesaurus.  Have fun. You're welcome to share your poem in the comments at the bottom of this page.  I'd love to see the animal you pick and the synonyms you use.

Honey Bee

The honey bee

sings buzz, buzz

doing what a bee

naturally does--

as he flies
from flower to tree,
collecting pollen
to make honey.



      Perhaps I'm slow this morning, but I've been thinking and can't come up with an answer.  Maybe you can help.  Can you think of any other animal that makes food for us?  There are lots of animals that are eaten, but a bee is the only one I can think of that we don't eat but it gives us food.  I'm going to have to do some more thinking and research on this. (Is this why some folks consider honey a perfect food?)
     So, today can you write your own poem with onomatopoeia in it?  That is a word that sounds like what it is.  Buzz, Buzz are the onomatopoeic words in my poem.  Have a good time writing.