Thank you for taking us on your Presidential adventure in the woods...all three of your poems were a delight. My inner kid thrilled at the idea of sailing a bark raft through the sea of the forest floor. I too took a woods walk today, after reading your prompt. And this strange little rhymey poem emerged:
Inspired by A and Larry, I read it out loud -- so lovely, Keith! There is a good magic here, e.g. "to follow on faith all that / shimmers", "To steep in the belief / that simmers beneath / a skin of doubt", and the call to "Suspend disbelief. / Release."
I decided my inner toddler would want to do something different than normal, and I went for a night walk last night. It felt magical at first, but at some point got a little too spooky for me. I still don't know why -- but at least I got a poem out of it. ;)
Maybe there was a wolf out there who was wanting to join you on your walk? This is bewitching, Bekah. I got goosebumps reading it. It sounds like your child self told you to go for a night walk but then also made sure to let you know when to head back home. There were so many gorgeous images here - "fir crowns lifting sky," "the brightest sky bloom." Thank you for sharing this - and for keeping yourself safe!
Love the eeriness of this, the witch hour, rising moon and the unsure steps. Walking out in unknown times and places brings us up against the "wild" nature of life. Felt like you captured this here!
I love your use of language here. "Fir crowns lifting sky," "eyeshine," "sky-bloom," moon-sick," and "well-swaddled" all stuck out to me.
I had to look up "ingress" which is funny to me because as a code inspector, my husband has used "egress" so many times and I still had to double check the meaning.
What a truly splendid “big dog” poem! I love the way you take us on the walk with your dog and you. It takes courage to go on a night walk, and true wisdom to celebrate its beauty along with its sense of uneasiness. Moon still crawling up the inside of the ridge, silvering up my view “. Oh Rebekah, this is one of so many sparkling and beautiful verses in your poem. You have an attuned spirit, and it shines in your poems! Thank you for sharing and shining!
So interesting that you captured this unexpected turn of mood on your moonlit promenade...I could feel myself inwardly shuddering along with you because you so deftly captured the spookiness of it. I also loved many of your turns of phrase, including the moon "silvering your view," "fir crowns lifting sky," "brightest sky-bloom." I sighed in relief for you and your pups as you took in the moonrise from the safety of your cocoon.
These are so playful and fun, Larry! I found myself illustrating the poem about Callie in my mind, as if she were the star of a picture book, and the line in your third poem “Facebook marketplace makes me weak” had me laughing out loud. So very relatable and so much fun!
Larry what fun poems. Loved the rhyming in the first one. Callie seems like such an amazing dog, joy, friend! And the second one, all the cliches we pass on. Fun to think about where and how they began. Then your third one had such great lines, "Facebook marketplace makes me week." Oh my it sure does! "I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour." Yep, can relate to that.
Thank you Julie! Callie is one of our grand dogs, the one closest to us geographically, and we recently had an 11 day stretch of dog sitting at our house. We encourage Brady and Leah to travel just so we can hang with Callie!
Such clever and playful rhyming in each of these, Larry! They are reminiscent of Ogden Nash poems (I remember loving his book Adventures of Isabel). You have a great start on a collection here!
Thank you Keith! In high school, I remember Ogden Nash being referred to as the "great modern american poet." There were other I learned about later, but I have always had a fondness for Nash. Thank you for the compliment!
I loved all your poems, Lisa, but the second about the tree shedding her bark spoke to me the most. I thought about the prompt this morning, and about "following the toddler" and I realized that, like my toddler, what I need to feel free is pretty simple. So I wrote about my morning because, for the first time in a while, I had a really good one.
What a delicious little mug of poetry this is - like the first perfect sips of coffee in the morning. As a mother of multiple very loud children, I relate to this deeply.
Yep! I feel you in this poem. I feel me in this poem. And I really love, "leaving conversation to the birds." I wake up early every morning before dawn. Love listening to the morning birdsong. Yes, leave the conversation to them.
This is so beautiful in its simplicity and humility, A. Sun, silence, fresh air, birds...I feel the freedom in being able to enjoy these simple pleasures, especially after a period of not. Glad for you <3
This is lovely, Karri. The repetition of "sitting / on the side / of a hill" and the way you break that into three spacious lines makes reading the poem feel so calm, restful, and unhurried . . . a perfect fit for its theme!
Like Lisa, I was struck by the recursion of "sitting on the side of a hill" (you have a knack for repetition/recursion, Karri!). It gave such a nice tempo to this poem, and the single lines a the end, one for each chime were so clever...and soothing. Would love to know more of the history of this hillside.
We are at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs which is the quirkiest little town you have ever seen in the hills of Arkansas. https://crescent-hotel.com/about/history/
Thanks for sharing this additional context! It looks like the hotel has its own quirky history. And that Doc Baker! A quirky (among other darker things) character!
I love the slow, meditative feeling of this poem, as well as the deliciousness of what you (or your poem protagonist) is up to -- simply sitting and watching and feeling. For some reason it made me think of what I often do when sitting, particularly when sitting somewhere in public and (sadly) not wanting to appear too "available" for conversation, which is scroll on my phone. This poem feels like the antithesis of, and antidote to, scrolling.
I also love your repetition here, Karri, and I especially love the way you broke from form just a bit for the last stanza, and the way it feels like such a soothing mantra.
What a delightful and insightful poem, Karri! You are so artful in your poems, and your use of repetition. And like the best of jazz ciomposers, able to shift into a different tempo and have it be seamless and flawless. I love the way you bring us in to sit with you, and the litany of one word lines at the end. So sweet and creative! I hope you enjoyed the stay in Eureka Springs!
I really enjoyed all the terrain changes in this, Chuck. From the symmetry of the 1 syllable/3 syllable couplet you start with, to the quoted text in the middle, to the surprise ending, which reminded me of either a strange trip or divine humor (or maybe they are the same).
I love the juxtaposition of mood in your last stanza - from "dignified and sober holy spirit tenor" to giggling and green eggs and ham. My daughter's pre-k class is learning about Dr. Seuss this week, and it made me smile.
This is splendid, Chuck. I love the spiritual allusions you make in your poems! And this one swings back and forth from reverence to playfully irreverent. Dr. Seuss, God and the divine Joy all are smiling! 🙂
I loved all your poems - that first one was so fun and as you said, quite Suessian in nature. What delighted me about the second is that you gave into that impulse to get on that raft of bark...we so often don't do things if they don't have a logical purpose. But you - like the tree - said "fuck this shit!!" And the last. Well, like so many things these days it made me tear up, only a fear of smudging my already messy mascara preventing a delightful descent into full on sobs. Sometimes even the mightiest among us fall and what then? Do we simply step over them and go on. Or do we stop for a while and rest when them where they fell?
Lisa, thank you for the nudges to play, let our inner child dance, and allow ourselves to be beautifully silly! I am going to play with your poems and inspiration today, and pray I find your creative insight and energy along the way! 😃
Don't find MY creative insight and energy, which would do you absolutely no good. Find YOUR creative insight and energy, which is infinitely better adapted to your life and soul and circumstances. 😉 I'm mostly just teasing because I know you know that. I look forward to reading whatever you come up with, Larry!
Lisa loving your poems that you shared here, and the shift of focus. I just got back from a hike into the nearby hills. This poem I am sharing is what came to me while I was up there. It is different for me, but just experimenting and playing. And at the end of the hike, was a big hawk! She was glorious as she took off from her high perch, what a wing span!
I love the way you structured this, Julie, and was especially captivated by the notion of "listening to / listening." What a cool and playful way to build a poem! And your hawk visitation sends really special.
Echoing Lisa's appreciation of the way you so cleverly structured this, and also the way you begin and end with song. The poem itself has the quality of a gentle breeze!
Julie, this is quite beautifully written. The cadence and rhythm are stunning, simple and profound, and breathtaking. I truly love how you structured the first and last verses and the pattern you created, which reminds me of wild geese flying in their majestic V formation. Please keep meandering!
Thank you for taking us on your Presidential adventure in the woods...all three of your poems were a delight. My inner kid thrilled at the idea of sailing a bark raft through the sea of the forest floor. I too took a woods walk today, after reading your prompt. And this strange little rhymey poem emerged:
We are meant to live in peace,
to release grief.
To receive relief
in grace and glimmers,
to follow on faith all that
shimmers.
To steep in the belief
that simmers beneath
a skin of doubt.
As within,
so without.
Truth. Yet incomplete
because the flame within
ignites only when
delight sparks from without,
then drifts in.
Moonlight, starlight
illuminate dark night.
Peace in paradox,
paradox in peace.
Suspend disbelief.
Release.
Like others here, I found myself reading this aloud and delighting in the cadence and rhyme. It felt like the best kind of Incantation!
Thanks so much, I love poetry as incantation :))
Excellent keith,
coffeehouse fingersnaps all around.
coffeehouse fingersnaps :))
Inspired by A and Larry, I read it out loud -- so lovely, Keith! There is a good magic here, e.g. "to follow on faith all that / shimmers", "To steep in the belief / that simmers beneath / a skin of doubt", and the call to "Suspend disbelief. / Release."
Thanks so much, Rebekah - your reflection is a great way to start the day here!
Ohhh this flows so deliciously. I read it out loud too, seems to call for that. And the depth of it just sunk right in.
Thanks so much, Julie <3
I agree with A., Keith, this has a wonderful flow and cadence, and would make a wonderful spoken word piece. It truly is a marvekous poem of release!
Thanks so much, Larry - I love knowing that you and A. "head" spoken word in this poem!
I just love the rhythm of this, Keith. It would be wonderful to hear it as a spoken word poem.
Thanks, A - I have a bit of a spoken word fantasy (a fantasy about writing and performing spoken word), so I am tickled to hear this :))
We will all be here to cheer you in if you ever want to make that fantasy a reality!
You're halfway there!
I decided my inner toddler would want to do something different than normal, and I went for a night walk last night. It felt magical at first, but at some point got a little too spooky for me. I still don't know why -- but at least I got a poem out of it. ;)
I am never the one
who wants to walk at night,
that time being earmarked
for slippers and
fireglow, music
and a fizzy glass.
But tonight I thought it
a poetic thing to do
and tried: puppy leashed,
big dog ranging, headlamp
off. Moon still crawling
up the far side of the ridge
but already silvering my view:
snow, bare willow stems,
fir crowns lifting sky.
My breath deepens, my legs
slow.
.
Puppy looks over his
shoulder right as the
mood tips eerie. Time
to turn around. Big dog
held close now, in heel,
and as we retreat, he looks
over his shoulder too,
again and again, down
our abandoned trajectory.
Headlamp on, I scan
for eyeshine, force myself
not to rush. My breath
measured, my legs
noodled.
.
On the deck, I unclench.
Puppy on my lap, big dog
standing sentry, porch light
off. Moon inches below
the ridge line, flagging
its intended ingress
with the brightest
sky-bloom. Puppy quivers:
a few pulses at first,
then full-body shudders.
He is cold, or scared,
or moonsick. It is
witchy out here, and I am
done. I hurry my family
inside. I hurry myself
into bed, and witness
moonrise well-swaddled,
giving thanks for walls
and double-paned
glass.
Maybe there was a wolf out there who was wanting to join you on your walk? This is bewitching, Bekah. I got goosebumps reading it. It sounds like your child self told you to go for a night walk but then also made sure to let you know when to head back home. There were so many gorgeous images here - "fir crowns lifting sky," "the brightest sky bloom." Thank you for sharing this - and for keeping yourself safe!
Witchy.
When the big dog tells u it's time to go home, it's time to go home.
Love the eeriness of this, the witch hour, rising moon and the unsure steps. Walking out in unknown times and places brings us up against the "wild" nature of life. Felt like you captured this here!
I love your use of language here. "Fir crowns lifting sky," "eyeshine," "sky-bloom," moon-sick," and "well-swaddled" all stuck out to me.
I had to look up "ingress" which is funny to me because as a code inspector, my husband has used "egress" so many times and I still had to double check the meaning.
What a truly splendid “big dog” poem! I love the way you take us on the walk with your dog and you. It takes courage to go on a night walk, and true wisdom to celebrate its beauty along with its sense of uneasiness. Moon still crawling up the inside of the ridge, silvering up my view “. Oh Rebekah, this is one of so many sparkling and beautiful verses in your poem. You have an attuned spirit, and it shines in your poems! Thank you for sharing and shining!
So interesting that you captured this unexpected turn of mood on your moonlit promenade...I could feel myself inwardly shuddering along with you because you so deftly captured the spookiness of it. I also loved many of your turns of phrase, including the moon "silvering your view," "fir crowns lifting sky," "brightest sky-bloom." I sighed in relief for you and your pups as you took in the moonrise from the safety of your cocoon.
I took your guidance, Lisa, and just played and went with with my own instincts! What came out, these three poems, seem silly, but they were fun!
Callie
Bouncing, boisterous, bounding dog
leaping over stones and logs
dashing in and out of coastal fog
ready to jump right in, whole hog!
Ah, to play with such abundant joy
seeing the whole world as a toy
no need to damage or destroy
moment by moment her only ploy.
Teacher, guide, companion and friend
simple pleasures that never end
not much thought of what’s ‘round the bend
laughter and love all we’ll send.
Passing It On
“In like a lion, out like a lamb
home again, home again, jiggety jig…
Wake up sunshine…
You can catch more flies with honey…”
My mom loved her sayings and cliches
passing them down in her simple, gentle way.
I share them easily with Josanna and Kai
these things we hand down, by and by.
Another lost hour
Just a quick moment, sneaking a peak
Facebook marketplace makes me week.
Yes, I can use one more buddha head,
or enough bubble wrap to fill up the bed.
Majestic stone lions to guard the way
all manner of drums ready to play.
Brown crystals guaranteed to heal
free bikes with only one wheel,
petrified wood hearts aching for home,
composted remnants turned to loam.
I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour
wondering about the blue ceramic flower,
rabbit holes and box canyons filling dreams
never quite being all that they seem!
These are so playful and fun, Larry! I found myself illustrating the poem about Callie in my mind, as if she were the star of a picture book, and the line in your third poem “Facebook marketplace makes me weak” had me laughing out loud. So very relatable and so much fun!
Thank you Coach!!!
"I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour"
I love it when something makes you do that.
Hah, for an ADD, wandering, distractable mind, it happens often!
Congratulations on going so deep into play that you emerged with not just one but three poems! These are all a lot of fun.
Thank you Rebekah!
Larry what fun poems. Loved the rhyming in the first one. Callie seems like such an amazing dog, joy, friend! And the second one, all the cliches we pass on. Fun to think about where and how they began. Then your third one had such great lines, "Facebook marketplace makes me week." Oh my it sure does! "I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour." Yep, can relate to that.
Thank you Julie! Callie is one of our grand dogs, the one closest to us geographically, and we recently had an 11 day stretch of dog sitting at our house. We encourage Brady and Leah to travel just so we can hang with Callie!
Such clever and playful rhyming in each of these, Larry! They are reminiscent of Ogden Nash poems (I remember loving his book Adventures of Isabel). You have a great start on a collection here!
Thank you Keith! In high school, I remember Ogden Nash being referred to as the "great modern american poet." There were other I learned about later, but I have always had a fondness for Nash. Thank you for the compliment!
You're welcome! I really enjoyed hist stuff, and you deserve the comparison!
They *are* fun! I love the glimpses you've shared into these lighthearted everyday moments.
Thank you A.
I loved all your poems, Lisa, but the second about the tree shedding her bark spoke to me the most. I thought about the prompt this morning, and about "following the toddler" and I realized that, like my toddler, what I need to feel free is pretty simple. So I wrote about my morning because, for the first time in a while, I had a really good one.
Freedom is
waking with the sun,
creeping out of bed
into the silence of a
still-sleeping house,
easing into the day
with a bit of fresh air,
leaving conversation
to the birds.
What a delicious little mug of poetry this is - like the first perfect sips of coffee in the morning. As a mother of multiple very loud children, I relate to this deeply.
I love this simple recipe for a good morning. The ironically playful ending really tickled me!
I was delighted by that too!
Yep! I feel you in this poem. I feel me in this poem. And I really love, "leaving conversation to the birds." I wake up early every morning before dawn. Love listening to the morning birdsong. Yes, leave the conversation to them.
No words required.
This is so beautiful in its simplicity and humility, A. Sun, silence, fresh air, birds...I feel the freedom in being able to enjoy these simple pleasures, especially after a period of not. Glad for you <3
I love this A., and the joy of knowing you had a really good morning. Thank you for shining your light into my world!
Good morning friends...I took this opportunity to go lean into rest and wrote something that will be part of a longer post on my weekend.
Sitting
On the side
Of a hill
Behind me a limestone edifice
Now a place for leisure
But once the site of false hope
Peddled by a madman.
Sitting
On the side
Of a hill
Before me the rosette window
Of a church
Waiting for the toll of bells
That will mark the hour.
Sitting
On the side
Of a hill
The unseasonably warm wind
Blowing through the treetops
Stirs bare branches beginning to
Boost the tiniest of green buds.
Sitting
On the side
Of a hill
As the clock strikes seven
And the bell begins to toll
Each chime resonates
A feeling for this moment in time:
Pause
Rest
Calm
Ease
Breathe
Stay
Be
Karri Temple Brackett
2/25/24
This is lovely, Karri. The repetition of "sitting / on the side / of a hill" and the way you break that into three spacious lines makes reading the poem feel so calm, restful, and unhurried . . . a perfect fit for its theme!
Like Lisa, I was struck by the recursion of "sitting on the side of a hill" (you have a knack for repetition/recursion, Karri!). It gave such a nice tempo to this poem, and the single lines a the end, one for each chime were so clever...and soothing. Would love to know more of the history of this hillside.
We are at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs which is the quirkiest little town you have ever seen in the hills of Arkansas. https://crescent-hotel.com/about/history/
Thanks for sharing this additional context! It looks like the hotel has its own quirky history. And that Doc Baker! A quirky (among other darker things) character!
"Sitting on the side of a hill." The repetition of this really worked for me here. A beautiful transition as new thoughts and sights came into view.
I love the slow, meditative feeling of this poem, as well as the deliciousness of what you (or your poem protagonist) is up to -- simply sitting and watching and feeling. For some reason it made me think of what I often do when sitting, particularly when sitting somewhere in public and (sadly) not wanting to appear too "available" for conversation, which is scroll on my phone. This poem feels like the antithesis of, and antidote to, scrolling.
I also love your repetition here, Karri, and I especially love the way you broke from form just a bit for the last stanza, and the way it feels like such a soothing mantra.
What a delightful and insightful poem, Karri! You are so artful in your poems, and your use of repetition. And like the best of jazz ciomposers, able to shift into a different tempo and have it be seamless and flawless. I love the way you bring us in to sit with you, and the litany of one word lines at the end. So sweet and creative! I hope you enjoyed the stay in Eureka Springs!
read
meditate
pray
contemplate.
The well trodden footpath
of lectio divina
lets god paint for me.
"God’s glory is on tour in the skies"
"God-craft on exhibit across the horizon"
"Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening"
"Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, but their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere"
last nite's palette blossomed
with psalm 19.
Awaiting gods arrival,
in my most dignified & sober
holy spirit tenor,
I hear a giggle
as it begins to rain
green eggs and ham.
"My most dignified and sober / holy spirit tenor" - I love this description and the lack of sobriety that followed!
I really enjoyed all the terrain changes in this, Chuck. From the symmetry of the 1 syllable/3 syllable couplet you start with, to the quoted text in the middle, to the surprise ending, which reminded me of either a strange trip or divine humor (or maybe they are the same).
Ahhh "Green Eggs and Ham." It says it all!
I love the juxtaposition of mood in your last stanza - from "dignified and sober holy spirit tenor" to giggling and green eggs and ham. My daughter's pre-k class is learning about Dr. Seuss this week, and it made me smile.
🙂
I think it was a god giggle.
I seem to collect those.
🙂
This is splendid, Chuck. I love the spiritual allusions you make in your poems! And this one swings back and forth from reverence to playfully irreverent. Dr. Seuss, God and the divine Joy all are smiling! 🙂
I loved all your poems - that first one was so fun and as you said, quite Suessian in nature. What delighted me about the second is that you gave into that impulse to get on that raft of bark...we so often don't do things if they don't have a logical purpose. But you - like the tree - said "fuck this shit!!" And the last. Well, like so many things these days it made me tear up, only a fear of smudging my already messy mascara preventing a delightful descent into full on sobs. Sometimes even the mightiest among us fall and what then? Do we simply step over them and go on. Or do we stop for a while and rest when them where they fell?
Thank you for your thoughtful responses, Karri! I'm wishing you a beautiful tree or bark mat or patch of grass to rest in.
What wonderful poems… “Hop on rock” brings a lot of memories. Doodad
Lisa, thank you for the nudges to play, let our inner child dance, and allow ourselves to be beautifully silly! I am going to play with your poems and inspiration today, and pray I find your creative insight and energy along the way! 😃
Don't find MY creative insight and energy, which would do you absolutely no good. Find YOUR creative insight and energy, which is infinitely better adapted to your life and soul and circumstances. 😉 I'm mostly just teasing because I know you know that. I look forward to reading whatever you come up with, Larry!
Tease away, and you are absolutely right! 😃
Lisa loving your poems that you shared here, and the shift of focus. I just got back from a hike into the nearby hills. This poem I am sharing is what came to me while I was up there. It is different for me, but just experimenting and playing. And at the end of the hike, was a big hawk! She was glorious as she took off from her high perch, what a wing span!
.
Listening to the song of the breeze
Listening to the song
Listening to
Listening
.
Gentle
Whispers
Harmonies
Blowing
Waves
Across
Grasses
.
My heart
My heart opening
My heart opening to the song
My heart opening to the song of love
I love the way you structured this, Julie, and was especially captivated by the notion of "listening to / listening." What a cool and playful way to build a poem! And your hawk visitation sends really special.
Echoing Lisa's appreciation of the way you so cleverly structured this, and also the way you begin and end with song. The poem itself has the quality of a gentle breeze!
Julie, this is quite beautifully written. The cadence and rhythm are stunning, simple and profound, and breathtaking. I truly love how you structured the first and last verses and the pattern you created, which reminds me of wild geese flying in their majestic V formation. Please keep meandering!
....stay....
good word.