Friday, April 05, 2019

NPM 2019 Day 5: Poetry Sisters Write Anagram Poems

It's the first Friday of the month, so that means the poetry sisters have taken up another poetic challenge. This month we focused on writing anagram poems with the added burden of a theme relating to umbrellas, weather, or natural cycles. We were inspired by the poem Linda Baie of Teacher Dance shared last month when she hosted Poetry Friday. That poem, A Gander to Garden, included two anagrams in each line. It wasn't until recently that our group started sharing other forms of anagram poems, but by then I was too far gone down this path to try anything too different.

Both of these offerings are very rough drafts and are really just tangents to the themes we chose. However, I promised myself to be brave this year and share my work even when it feels unfinished and lacks polish. I look forward to seeing what future revision to these poems brings.

By Every Morning Undone
She is sometimes bleary eyed and barely there
when she rises, silent, to listen for the waking dawn,
to watch bursting sunlight race across the acre 
of green space, the one she paces off
dreaming of garden plots. She takes a gander
at the risen morn, siren call of a new day,
never subtle, but welcome against the bluest sky.
Left weak in the wake of such beauty,
her heart lays claim to the earth,
the thickset brambles and thickets,
the pastel wildflowers dropping petals,
even the bleats coming from the stable.


End of the Year Blues
December is the hardest month
when the chill threads of winter
weave their way into our bones
Snow, so welcomed upon that first fall,
soon owns our lives as we give in
to shoveling and scraping
Dad grew a beard for fear that his
bared face would chafe in the cold, dry air
Stuck indoors, we reward ourselves with
hot chocolate for cleaning out the junk drawer
We hang tinsel on the tree
and listen to Silent Night
This blizzard is just another stain
on our collective memory
The weather reduces us to tears,
but we are rescued by the promise
of decorating cookies
Mom has the patience of a saint

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. Kelly and Rebecca are off this month, but we look forward to welcoming them back soon. 
I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Karen Edmisten. Happy poetry Friday friends!

13 comments:

  1. It is humbling to read all of your poems, Tricia. I'm thrilled that you were inspired and those I've read thus far certainly go beyond what I did. I enjoyed the feeling that moved from 'bleary' to contentment in poem one, but some how, although I love spring, winter tales please very much, that "Snow, so welcomed upon that first fall,
    soon owns our lives as we give in". That 'snow' and 'owns' are anagrams feels meant to be. Thanks!

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    1. Thank you for the inspiration! You made it look sooooo easy. It wasn't!

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  2. "She is sometimes bleary eyed and barely there
    when she rises, silent, to listen for the waking dawn,"

    LOVE these lines! I think you have done a fabulous job, Tricia! And bravo for courage to share when you don't feel all the way ready. Cheers!

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  3. I'm with Andi... those first lines of that first poems are DIVINE. I LOVE those lines! But also, you will notice that I completely and conveniently forgot the weather/umbrella requirement. GAH -- what a hard, hard challenge this was!

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  4. Oh, OOPS, I totally forgot we had a theme. I need to take notes when our challenges get to flying. And you ROCKED the pairs -- I snorted out loud about the weather and the rescue -- yes. Poor Mom. Patience of a saint indeed.

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  5. Trisha, these are amazing! I especially love your second one, is it capture. The melancholy side of the end of the year so beautifully. Wow.

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  6. By Every Morning Undone....THAT is one gorgeous title, and your poem delivers on it, too. I love the image of that woman, barely awake, but planning for her small plot. Soooo good. Also...I laughed about the reward for cleaning the junk drawer (I make myself popcorn.)

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  7. These are wonderful, Trisha! I read "By Every Morning Undone" a second time because the first lines resonate with me! I laughed at your closing lines in the second one... about decorating cookies and mom's patience. Decorating is a ritual in our family. The grandkids come in shifts to cut out, decorate, and bake a tray to take home.

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  8. I am so impressed with and in awe of thee anagram poems. Both of your poems are lovely, but By Every Morning Undone really spoke to me personally. Thank you for sharing.

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  9. These are wonderful, especially the first one!

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  10. I adore both of your poems here. I have never tried to write an anagram poem and am not sure after reading these, if I am inspired or intimidated!

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  11. I love this challenge--well done on both Tricia!

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  12. If these are your rough offerings, I can't wait to read the polished gems. I absolutely love the opening lines of "By Every Morning Undone."

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