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This is my playground for poetry written for children with ideas and inspiration for writing your own poems. Come on in. Sit for a spell, have a cup of words to swirl around and make your own cup of poetry. I'm so glad you are here. I hope you'll find the Kingdom of Poetry a fun place to be.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A FAIRY TALE


ROBIN: A FAIRY TALE



The red-haired farm mistress
could have no children.
So she nurtured the soil and
the cows, and cats,
the horses, and hogs,
chickens, ducks, and goats.
She created an Eden to watch
each fruitful multiplication,
and wept her sorrow
under a dead wisteria tree
by the rusty stillwater pond.

From the marmalade cat's mouth
she rescued a wounded robin
to set broken leg and wing.
Five weeks she nursed the bird
with midnight feedings
of ground crickets and
barn spiders;
then set the fledgling free.
She discovered this an uncommon bird
who promised to grant
one wish in one week
for her kindness--
as all good fairy tales do.



But when she returned
in seven days
to whisper her wish
on his wings,
lo, there was no bird.
She wailed a cry of woe,
neglected her chores,
wintered her heart.
But still she strung strips
of orange and apple
on bright bits of yarn she tied
to the limbs of the withered wisteria tree,
hoping to hear
the bird's whispery song.

Come spring
when the tree
bloomed with scented blossoms
in pale profusion
the woman bloomed too.
She welcomed her red headed child--
Robin.


     Do you like to read fairy tales and folk lore?  Can you make up your own story?  Can you make up a story for how whipped cream was first invented, or what happened to the princess who liked too many bubbles in her bath?  Can you make the story into a poem?  

3 comments:

  1. Magical! I can feel the wintering heart and hope that spring will bloom soon. Thank you for sharing your gift! z

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. I'm glad you liked the story.

    ReplyDelete