Friday, December 21, 2007

Poetry Friday - An Original

The poetry stretch this week was to create a poem that used these words.
snow, frozen, wind, evening, woods, lake, village, farmhouse

All of these words came from Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. For a real treat, you should listen to him read it. I am on a Frost kick these days, but in writing my poem I was thinking about Thoreau and how much I dislike snow, even though I haven't always felt this way. It is, as yet, untitled.
She walks slowly
past village and farmhouse,
leaving tracks along
the dusted lane.

Dreaming of Thoreau,
she longs for a simple life,
communing with nature
in all its grandeur.

But it is winter,
and the arctic wind
has burned her cheeks
and dampened her desire.

Her feet carry her forward
around the lake,
where she steps lightly
on its frozen edges.

She smiles
as thoughts turn to
to sharpened skates,
a soft muffler
and steaming cocoa.

This evening she will
sit by the fire
and remember youthful winters,
where enthusiasm for snow
was unbounded.
The round-up this week is being hosted by Gina at AmoXicalli. Before you head on out to read all the great poetry being shared this week, do stop by and check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!

10 comments:

  1. Tricia,

    Great poem! I still like snow. It's the hot, humid summers I can't tolerate as I grow older.

    We had another snowstorm on Thursday. It inspired me as I worked on my "poetry stretch" poem.

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  2. Hi Tricia,

    I like your poem. I don't like snow, either, and I'm glad to live in the tropics.

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  3. I think I'd like to have a time where my enthusiasm for snow is unbounded, but young or old, it's still one of those things where I love it for an hour, and then worry about it melting into my shoes. :) I like this.

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  4. Not having grown up with snow, I've never experienced an unbounded love for it. I find it magical, even poetic, as long as I'm warm and cozy, watching it from inside. I do like your poem, though!

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  5. That's great. I am firmly in the I-love-to-LOOK-at-but-not-be-IN-snow category. I get funny looks when I share that (most recently from my uncle who lives in Maine and looked at me like I had a bad scalp infection when I said that), but I can't stand to be cold, and I can't stand for my feet to get cold. I can play in it for about, oh, five minutes, and them I'm back in with cocoa and a book by the window.

    I tried your challenge, but I didn't make it far. A poet I am not, but I did try! Maybe another day.

    Happy holidays, Tricia!
    Jules, 7-Imp

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  6. I love a poem written today with the word muffler in it. I love that. We head for winter tomorrow and we will immerse ourselves, unbounded, for exactly one weeks. Which is about right. Then back to the sanity of no snow...

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  7. Trisha I love the internal struggle this poem witnesses. I've responded to your poetry stretch in my Friday Poetry post today. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  8. My favorite image is the sharpened skates.

    I, too, used to like snow more than I do now. I have many, many memories of my brothers and sister and I sledding and building snow forts and generally spending every second outside. I have to say, I did try snowshoeing as an adult, and it was magical. Really nice and I would do it again.

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  9. Enjoyed your poem, but I don't think I could write my own unless I substiture the words "village" for "stripmall" and "farmhouse" for "Starbucks" but maybe I'll give it a try tonight. ;^)

    Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  10. I'm with Elaine -- I'll take snow and cold over heat and humidity ANY day! Thanks for the walk around the frozen lake!

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