Monday, March 15, 2010

Monday Poetry Stretch - Getting a Little Flowery

My forsythia bushes are usually in full bloom by mid-February. It's mid-March now and the buds are just beginning to show. All the snow and cold this year have made spring seem even farther away. The daffodil shoots are beginning to push up through the ground, but it's not happening fast enough and I'm desperate for flowers.

This seems a perfect topic for writing. Since we can't find it outside, let's encourage some virtual spring by writing about something flowery. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

15 comments:

  1. THE DIRT-READER
    By Steven Withrow

    The earthworm knows no books.
    He chews, instead, hard news
    That gravels through his crooks.
    He grinds each borer's bit
    Of literary grit
    And feeds wildflower's muse.

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  2. Ah, a fully blossomed poem!

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  3. Thought you all might enjoy my newest project, a novella in verse for young adults, The Feather of Memory:

    http://featherofmemory.blogspot.com/

    Thanks for reading!

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  4. I'm cheating with this first one, from Squeeze (originally dated Feb 2002), but it's just too fitting not to let it out for some air:

    Launch


    Crocuses are rocketing
    inch by inch
    out of the crumbled earth


    the yellows aim for the sun
    the purples push toward deep space


    and inside
    little astronauts in orange suits
    cock their ruffled helmets
    toward spring


    Now I'll go and try for another...

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  5. Mouthflower

    the shoot breaks ground
    like teeth pressing F against lower lip
    then releases into the sunchilled air
    the lip dropping
    to let out tongue’s L
    suddenly mouth stretches
    as stem stretches higher—OW—
    and rounds again to closed bud
    of the W
    which pops open to a blooming ER
    finishing with teeth yearning
    to bite delicately
    the flower

    Heidi Mordhorst
    all rights reserved

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  6. Daffodils
    by Nicole Marie Schreiber

    Teacups of nectar,
    Sunshine in snow,
    Hello to springtime,
    Go, winter, go!

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  7. Biology

    We studied flower sex
    in biology today.
    After school I walked
    through the garden
    and noticed the daisies
    are a bunch of flirts.

    --Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

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  8. My container garden is blooming...

    Nasturtiums

    I planted you
    the wrong time of year,
    small seeds in pots
    hopeful with dirt.

    You burst out
    like synchronized swimmers
    and did a green crawl
    across the patio.

    When you reached the edge,
    you let out a holler
    of victorious gold.

    --Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

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  9. Our local paper issued a similar challenge and I wrote about it a few days ago.

    http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/03/local-paper-publishes-haiku.html

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  10. I couldn't resist another one.
    http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/03/eat-your-greens-for-st-paddys-day.html

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  11. Mine are blooming! It's amazing, you can buy spring at Whole Foods.

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  12. kitchen windowsill--
    hyacinth's fragrance
    dizzying

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  13. Tricia,

    Here's an acrostic that I've written several versions of over the course of many years. This is the latest version:

    Day’s eye, wide
    Awake, standing
    In a meadow
    Staring at the sky—its bright
    Yellow face turned toward the sun.

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  14. Hi Tricia ~ no flowers, only promises.

    LEAVES SIGNAL

    Tips of leaves
    itching to incite
    spring’s festivities
    poke their heads
    through crusty earth
    signaling to blossoms
    it’s time to sing.

    Carol Weis, 2010, all rights reserved

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  15. I have photos of my tulips and a "piku" (thanks to the host of Poetry Friday): http://deowriter.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/poetry-friday-flowers-and-piku/

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