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Tag: poetry

Nature Triolets

Published on April 18, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

We have been having a bright and sunny spring, day after day of low humidity and mild temperatures. (Also, our spring has been rather frighteningly bereft of rain – oh, but who needs to worry about such things when the sun is shining?) (I do, honestly, I do.) 

I glanced through my camera roll for inspiration for today’s slice, and realized – with the exception of countless photos of the grandchildren – I have three fun categories of nature photos from the past couple of weeks:

One: shadows, 

Two: trees touching the sky,  and 

Three: my favorite spring tree: the redbud (which is in full bloom right now, here in the Mid-Atlantic – you see these purple blossoms popping up everywhere).

Well, I can’t just share photos and call it a slice, can I? (I suppose I could.) 

Then, I saw Fran Haley’s inspiration on Ethical ELA’s Verselove, to write a triolet. Let me revisit those three categories of photos and share some happy spring triolets with you…and then I’ll call it a slice, lol. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them. This poetry form seems just perfect for capturing moments in nature, I think.

water play

sun and shadow in water play
dancing bobbing moving
to happen upon this sight this day
sun and shadow in water play
honestly, it takes my breath away
the image all-consuming
sun and shadow in water play
dancing bobbing moving
how hope emerges

purple buds upon the branches
showing how hope emerges
each little blossom simply prances
purple buds upon the branches
unconcerned about their chances
following perceptive urges
purple buds upon the branches
showing how hope emerges
striving together

trees strive for the sky
holding onto one another 
gently stretching way up high
trees strive for the sky
look up, as you pass by
how they form a loving cover
trees strive for the sky
holding onto one another 
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SOLSC #31 – Savoring

Published on March 31, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

It’s our last day of SOLSC – thirty-one days of writing in community. I feel as if I have been on one big adventure with new friends. A huge shout out to Stacey Shubitz and the amazing TWT Team for this wonderful month of sharing together! 

As this challenge ends, I find myself seeking a metaphor for daily writing and connecting with you. I wonder if this poem of mine, written a couple years ago, might work? In this poem, I tell about a walk with my two-year-old granddaughter, and her insistence on getting out of the stroller and running after a feather –

The Feather

feather, small and grey
lying in our walking path
once seen cannot be unseen
get out! you demand
so, the stroller’s belt I undo
together
we bend over
looking closely
only to have the wind
lift it 
into the air
sending it forward
beckoning
you and I in pursuit
laughing
following a feather

Thank you, SOLSC community for all the precious feathers – your precious stories – that drifted into my path this month. It has been so invigorating to write alongside you, to look closely, together. I am so glad I stopped to look and to savor your writing, and that you did the same for mine. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

See you on Tuesdays, at Two Writing Teachers, everyone! 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #22 – Sparkling

Published on March 22, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!
it may not turn to gold,
but what she touches 
invariably 
sparkles

two-year-old Bird 
arrives at our house 
knowing exactly what 
she wants to do
she runs to “her cabinet” 
opens the door 
empties the gold mine

shiny pebbles 
bright sequins 
polished gems 
bright beads 
smooth marbles 
flash gleam glisten play
it’s all about the bling these days 

one lustrous activity after another

gather them 
mix them 
stir them into a cake
find Poppa’s cars and trucks
how many gems fit inside
the hood the trunk the doors

find some bins 
fill containers 
stuff a purse 
snap, zip, pop, close, open
pour them out, of course
Nana helps make a line
mold them into a shape

hide hold haul handle with care

how fun it is to fill a sink with water
add some bubbles 
wash them up and towel dry 
repeat as needed
over and over
and over again

a gem of a day
together

let it shine
Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #19 – Rebirth

Published on March 19, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

A full and lovely Sunday leads to a simple haiku and photos – spring is here, in Maryland. 

bursting from the cold
gestation and rebirth
everywhere I look

SOLSC #17: Collaboration

Published on March 17, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

You’ve been poemed ♥️

Her text flashed across my phone screen while I was reading books to my granddaughter. Immediately, a new smile crossed my face, and Bird asked – 

What is it, Nana? Let me see.

Even at two years of age, she understands that my attention was (ever so briefly) diverted, and that the phone is very captivating.

Nothing, hon – I’ll check later.

We went back to our good book, while I held this tiny morsel of excitement about the new poem that awaited me from my friend Dee. 

We’ve been good friends for years and years – Dee is my high school bestie. We live many states apart, but have always kept close. Early last April, we did a weekend girls’ trip together, exploring Richmond, Virginia. Simultaneously, I was participating in the April poetry challenge #VerseLove through Ethical ELA (you should check this out!). 

A prompt that weekend was offered by two writers, Gae Polisner and Lori Landau, to create a collaborative poem, where you take a line from one person’s writing and use these words in a new poem of your own. I read this poetry prompt aloud to my friend Dee, and right there on the spot, we decided to begin our own collaborative poetry journey. 

Dee and I both love to write; we have been avid letter and email writers with one another through the years. We both keep journals, where we write to release. She had never really written poetry, and I am fairly inexperienced with poetry, as well – but we both enjoy poetry immensely. What if we used poetry as a vehicle to share with one another, to connect?

Just as Gae Polisner and Lori Landau shared about themselves, Dee and I created a single google doc for these treasures – Dee & Ree Write Poetry. It is our running log of collaborative poetry…a volley of words. I think I wrote the first poem; she read and reacted and found one line, one small morsel to use in her own poem. And away we went! 

The google doc allows us to write when we – individually – have the time, and to respond whenever. There is no expectation of response time between poems; life can get complicated, stuff happens. There are times when I immediately answer her poem with a poem, and other times when several weeks pass before I find words. There are also no rules about what or how to write. Sometimes I create a poem using a particular poetry form, often it is just free verse. I enjoy sharing about what is happening in my life, and I also enjoy writing other poems that are my venting about the world. The google doc is a poetic conversation between good friends. 

Here we are almost one full year out from the start of this experiment, and we both love love love the writing. We’re not even sure that our poems are any ‘good’ at all, but we love the window this writing has provided into each other’s lives. I know I am writing better, deeper, more wholeheartedly. Perhaps it is because I have a clearer idea who my audience is? I just counted how many poems are in this one document – there are 54 thus far this year, wowsa! We’ve each written 27…averaging two a month; how delightful is that? 

This poetry collaboration has been one of the highlights of my past year, nourishing and joyful.  Let me close with a recent poem of mine to Dee, using the line “we’re making new earth” from her preceding poem –

edge of spring

this chilly grey day at the edge of spring
the guys hung drywall and 
I worked in my son's yard
piling high the broken dried branches 
sweeping browned leaves from the deck
turning the hard soil to transplant 
extras from our place
yes, early this morning, 
Tony dug up mahonia, siberian irises, 
and wispy raspberry plants to share
we’re making new earth
I whispered to the worms
as I dug
I was surprised to see these
little soft-bodied beings
I’d imagined them much deeper 
in the ground this time of year
I guess winter is waning 
after what’s really been a wash 
of a winter, nothing but grey 
brown cold windy this year
still
everything is so clear with bare trees 
I cherish the way light peeks through 
I will miss this
I enjoyed the stillness
working by myself, dreaming
hearing the clunk-tap-gsh of my shovel
yes, I was making new earth

SOLSC #11 – Shower

Published on March 11, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

This month of March has coincided with a lot of unusual travel for me. We were at the beach for our anniversary, and now I am up in Connecticut for the bridal shower of my college bestie’s daughter. Talk about shifting gears – I went from lazing about outside in the warm sun to being in the midst of snow all around (more falling even as I write) and a very busy household setting up and preparing. The older sister of the bride, who is the hostess of this fun event, has planned every last beautiful detail. The theme is an Italian brunch, and she is a true gourmet, making everything from scratch. The house smells heavenly! I have helped create signage, wash dishes, move furniture – hopefully, many hands are truly making light work.  We are all ready…and the guests arrive momentarily! I offer a simple poem for the day.

The view from my bedroom window, first thing this morning.
Snapshot of a Bridal Shower

a shower of the heart
a sister lovingly plans 
a fabulous party for the bride
feting her, before the wedding day

a shower of cooking 
a detailed menu 
choreographed timing 
a gourmet brunch 

a shower of surprise snow
waking to gentle flurries 
a kiss from mother nature
to welcome all

a shower of joy 
friends and family gathering 
they come bearing gifts
laughter and stories

SOLSC #7 – Salt Marsh

Published on March 7, 2023 
It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

Here’s a little poetry about our gorgeous afternoon in kayaks.  Among many sights I mention in the poem, I saw a waterbird that was new to me, and I thought I’d share a link for this: anhinga .

exploring the salt marsh 
Lowcountry waters of South Carolina 
two at a time tandem kayaks 
double-headed oars in hand

sun so bright temperature soft 
not yet filled with summer heat

calm waters quiet current
glistening sundust sprinkled across the tide 
we maneuvered slowly 
around small nesting islands of Broad Creek
tiny islands that do not host humans
only birds lizards fiddler crabs
edges thick with mud and tough cord-grass 

clams blue crabs shrimp
fish fish fish
most of South Carolina’s seafood
spends all or some of its life
in salt marshes
oyster beds surround
lining pier posts 
lining sides of the creek
lining boats on the water

how essential this environment is

oh, how the waterbirds charmed!
heron gliding elegantly through the sky 
landing on the sludge of shore
muted grey-blue Great Blue Heron
snow white black-legged great egrets
laughing gulls with bright orange beaks
small seabirds indistinguishable and numerous
and several silvery-black anhinga, 
with a flopping dives into the shore
opening like hand-held fans 
as if camouflaging themselves
as fallen weathered palms 

one lively dolphin surprising us
dancing up from the water 
so close to our kayaks
swiftly we paddled
trying to follow the dolphin’s path
she was much too quick 
for our oars

such an extraordinary day
to witness

We Are From

Published on February 14, 2023

Have you ever written an “I am From” poem? I was introduced to these at a teachers’ pre-service professional development many years ago. The facilitator had each staff member write a poem in this style, and then we shared our poems aloud with each other. These poems were an excellent way for colleagues to get to know one another, generating a great deal of reflection and conversation.

This past weekend, Tony and I went on a couples’ retreat with our marriage enrichment group. We facilitated a workshop – – which is really a bit funny, since we’d never been on a marriage enrichment retreat before. Anyhow, there we were.

We had complete flexibility on our topic, something that would get the couples interacting and ‘dialoguing’ with each other. As we mused about our session, I remembered this fun poem sharing from my teaching days. I decided to change it up a bit – 

What if we wrote “We Are From” poems? 

What if we had everyone think back to how their love relationship began – to go down memory lane? 

What if we helped everyone to ‘brush the dust off’ their marriage foundation, to go deep about what brought them together in the first place…and just hold onto this magic for a bit?

We handed out pens and pads of papers. Each person worked individually, writing down three to five brief answers in a list form to the following questions:

  • Place – where did you meet? spend time? what are characteristics of the place, location, neighborhood, room?
  • Who – was there anyone else there? who else was important or stands out from that time? were the two of you alone? 
  • Food – what did you eat? anything special? homecooked? restaurant? party? add some sensory details, here
  • Music or sounds – what did you hear? listen to? any special songs jump out at you?
  • Activities or games – what were you doing? What was going on?
  • Words – what do you remember being said? Any phrases come back? Funny expressions?
  • Smiles/Laughs – what made you feel joy back then? When you think back to your special connection with one another, what makes you smile?
  • BONUS – look over your list and add in any other joyful aspects that come to mind of this memory…special emphasis on smells, feels, tastes, sights, sounds

After everyone wrote a list of their own, we broke into couples, to discuss the memories privately.  The couples turned their chairs to look directly at each other, held each others’ hands, and slowly read their lists to each other, repeating the phrase – “we are from” at the beginning of each line. This was so sweet!! 

As a grand finale, couples were invited to create one “We Are From” poem together – and to share these with all of us. These stories/poems were absolutely beautiful to hear aloud. 

When we reflected on this exercise, many people noted how their partners offered new memories – remembering different things. Everyone agreed that it was really dear to remember the earliest moments of their love stories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This was our view from our hotel window, Kent Island, Maryland

It’s Tuesday and I’m grateful to be sharing with Two Writing Teachers

On ‘ki’ and ‘kin’

Published on February 7, 2023

Last Friday and Saturday, we had record-breaking cold, arctic chill. This was no fun at all. Then, this weather left us quickly and abruptly, leaving us with the shock of early spring: temperatures swinging up into the 50s. Early in the morning, writing at my window, I knew this was a day to be outside. 

The day began 
with this glorious sunshine 
dappling, spotting, kissing
everything in sight
as if to say
Good morning!

Later in the day, my friend and I met for our regular ‘wun’ (walk/run). She had to collect sticks for an art project with her students, so this was truly a walk in the woods  I had recently listened (again!) to Robin Wall Kimmerer  [an OnBeing podcast from May 2022], who shared –

And there’s a beautiful word — “bimaadiziaki,” which one of my elders kindly shared with me. It means “a living being of the earth.” But could we be inspired by that little sound at the end of that word, the “ki,” and use “ki” as a pronoun, a respectful pronoun inspired by this language, as an alternative to “he,” “she,” or “it” so that when I’m tapping my maples in the springtime, I can say, “We’re going to go hang the bucket on ki. Ki is giving us maple syrup this springtime”? And so this, then, of course, acknowledges the being-ness of that tree, and we don’t reduce it — it — to an object. It feels so wrong to say that.

Robin Wall Kimmerer with Krista Tippett, The Intelligence of Plants, May 12, 2022

As my friend and I hiked along the creek, in the midst of bare trees of winter, surrounded by all this beautiful brown and gray, I felt embraced by other beings. I understood what Robin Wall Kimmerer was saying, how it feels wrong to use the label ‘it’ when speaking of a tree or a stream or a cloud above. 

Let me share a little more of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s wisdom, from the podcast –

And I have some reservations about using a word inspired from the Anishinaabe language, because I don’t in any way want to engage in cultural appropriation. But this word, this sound, “ki,” is, of course, also the word for “who” in Spanish and in French. It turns out that, of course, it’s an alternate pronunciation for “chi,” for life force, for life energy. I’m finding lots of examples that people are bringing to me, where this word also means “a living being of the Earth.”

The plural pronoun that I think is perhaps even more powerful is not one that we need to be inspired by another language, because we already have it in English, and that is the word “kin.”

Yes, “kin” is the plural of “ki,” so that when the geese fly overhead, we can say, Kin are flying south for the winter. Come back soon. So that every time we speak of the living world, we can embody our relatedness to them.

Robin Wall Kimmerer with Krista Tippett, The Intelligence of Plants, May 12, 2022

My friend and I decided to practice ‘ki’ and ‘kin’ on our walk. As we picked up sticks, we introduced the stick to each other – look, isn’t ki a beauty? We were surprised by the mental challenge of this seemingly simple change in language. What was unexpected for me was how easily I chose the masculine ‘he’ for the pronoun. I had to slow down and think through this, before I spoke, choosing not ‘it,’ not ‘he,’ but ‘ki.’ 

With this language of ‘ki’ and ‘kin’ at the front of our minds, I noticed that we both became quieter and more observant. We were absorbing the beautiful nature all around us, in that slower, meditative way, that is so good for the heart and soul. We were with kin.

Look at this remnant of a tree – ki appears to have split into wings, ready to fly away

It’s Tuesday and I’m grateful to be sharing with Two Writing Teachers

Always a Full Day

Published on January 10, 2023
Helping hands – making muffins with Nana (check out how many barrettes she likes to wear, lol)
so much that needs doing 

from the moment 
she first wakes up 
and looks about the room 
she knows she knows she knows 
this will definitely be
a very full day
there’s just so much that needs doing
in this house

a bite or two of her breakfast 
and she is on the run
leave this here! she demands
no need to tidy behind her
there might be a free moment
to grab another bite 
there’s just so much that needs doing
in this house

she must have a to-do list
though it’s not written down
no sooner is one task completed 
she’s running to the next
never a moment to catch her breath
and she doesn’t miss a thing
there’s just so much that needs doing
in this house

walk the grounds, check things out
look closer at this and that
open cabinets, empty the shelves
wonder - do these fit inside?
wait, what is up there?
get the step stool, stretch and reach 
there’s just so much that needs doing
in this house

yes,
when you are two years old,
there’s just so much that needs doing
in this house