The House on the Hill

Good Night

Everything is quiet.
Everything is still.
Everyone is sleeping
at the house on the hill.

The chickens are resting.
They don't make a peep.
The cows in the pasture
are sound asleep.

The little boy is tucked
warm in his bed,
a cool pillow nestles
under his head.

Ocean waves lap
down at the shore.
The little boy's daddy
has started to snore.

The palm trees sway,
a coconut drops.
It hits the ground
with a dull thudding
PLOP!

But no one hears it
up on the hill
'cause they're all in bed
and all sleeping still.

The moon smiles down
from the sky above,
on the house on the hill
and the sleepers he loves.

   Some poems just insist on coming.  I woke up in the middle of last night and I could hear the quiet.  I'm excited about this poem because I can see the pictures I want to draw to go with it.  When you wake up in the middle of the night, what do you hear?  Can you write a poem about that?  Have fun writing your own poem.

Today is Poetry Friday, a day to have fun and celebrate poetry.  If you'd like to read more poetry posts and more great poetry Catherine is hosting the round up this week on her blog at https://readingtothecore.wordpress.com/   Thanks, Catherine for being a great host.

Oh Sleep! it is a gentle thing... Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Ancient Mariner

Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind.  William Golding, Pincher Martin, chapter 6.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

A young goat herder lived at the top of a hill.
On mornings when the grass sparkled with dew diamonds he'd take the goats out to eat.  While he watched the goats, he'd sit on a rock 
and play his pipe in lonely, haunting tunes.
One morning, he saw someone across the canyon standing, waving an arm 
and the person yelled, "BOY."
The canyon echoed, boy, boy, boy.
The goat herder listened as the words faded out.
The first letter fell off and all he heard 
was the, oy, oy, oy.
So the goat boy yelled back, "Joy, Joy, Joy."
And the canyon echoed, JOY, JOY, JOY.
Joy, Joy, Joy, joy, joy, joy.
All day while the goats ate, the two boys yelled
back and forth across the canyon 
and an echo would reply.
That night the goats gave more milk 
and the goat boy fell asleep feeling great happiness.  And the hill, and the canyon,
and the echo too, rang with great joy. 

   Have you ever thought echoes are happiest when they get to work?  What makes you happy?  Can you write a happy poem today?  Or try writing your own poem about an echo.  Have fun.


Happiness arrives when we are doing work we feel is worthwhile. 

CLOUD RODEO

Lying on the hill
watching the clouds go.
I'm stretched into spring
at a cloud rodeo.

I see a white horse
become a bronco.
A cloud in the west
is a Plains buffalo.

Wonder who will win.
I watch the clouds flow--
sheep, fox or turtle
at this cloud rodeo.


   I think I'm still stuck on clouds today.  It is a perfect day for watching cloud as the winds pick up in the east.  Can you write your own poem today about a cloud shape you see?  Have fun writing. 

Trick-or-Treaters

Two trick-or-treaters
marched up a hill
to fill their bags with candy.
They both yelled, "BOO!"
to frighten you
then called you namby-pamby. 

    I'm still working on Halloween poems.  There are some slip or off rhymes in this poem.  You might call it assonance rhyme.  Can you write your own poem for a treat today?  Have fun writing? 

EARLY SPRING

The weather is warm.
The air is dry.
The sky is blue
as the bluest sky.
Wild flowers bloom 
on every hill.
Birds are calling
their lovely trill.
Springtime is coming
what a glorious thrill.



     Today is beautiful and I'm happy and grateful.  What is making you happy today?  Can you write a poem about it? 
     Yesterday morning on my walk there was one bird sitting in the top of the ocotillo singing up a storm.  This morning when I walked past that ocotillo, there were two birds sitting there.  I guess the singing bird found someone to sing with him.  I think my own life is like that.  I have lots of friends around, but unless I open my mouth to sing and say, come join me, new friends don't know they are welcome to come and play.  Who can you sing out to today?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today I'll eat turkey
for Thanksgiving Day.
I'll see my cousins
and we'll get to play.

And if I'm good
after I've eaten my fill,
Uncle says he'll take us
to sled down his hill.


    I hope you have a happy holiday, and for my friends outside the us, thank you for being a part of my holiday.  I'm so gateful to have so many readers and encouraging friends who like poetry.  I appreciate you.  Blessings.  Have fun writing your own poems.

LITTLE RHYMES

Here I stand 

at the top of a hill.

My arms stretch out

to get my fill.

As I start

a little spin,

I let the magic

seep on in.

Turning round,

wild and free.

It feels like magic

poetry.

So stand on a hill,

a stool or chair.

Start to turn

while standing there.

Then let the magic

blow you away.

Pick up your paper

and pen today.

We'll laugh

and have funny times

when you write

some little rhymes.

     So there is your challenge for today, written in verse.  Write a little rhyme today.  Try spinning first and see if that loosens up some great ideas and words for you.  

    Did you know that Rumi, a Persian poet, often recited his poems while spinning?

“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust.”   Rumi

  POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP is hosted by Cathy Mere today on her blog here    .http://merelydaybyday.blogspot.com/2013/10/dont-miss-it-poetry-friday-is-here.html?showComment=1382122238099#c9147742472074797996

DONNA EARNHART 

talented author of BEING FRANK, has Mortimer the rabbit visiting her this week. To see what that rascally rabbit is up to, hop on over to Donna's blog at http://wordwrangleNC.wordpress.com

Have a great weekend.