How About a Wee Bit of Poetry?

After dealing with over 24" of snow the past week or so, a lovely warm front blew in. After a couple of 70-degree days, the ice dams have finally melted off my roof. There is even some green-ish grass showing through now. I couldn't be happier.

This week's poems were an eclectic bunch, but very fun to write. Bet you can't guess my color inspiration for this week...

Yep! It's Green!

Saint Patrick, is the patron saint of Ireland, and has been celebrated by Catholics and other Christians worldwide for over 1000 years. St. Patty's Day was originally marked by prayer, Mass, and feasting, and has evolved into a celebration of the saint himself, Ireland, and Irish heritage and culture. And the yummy foods? Ahhhh.... I sure love me a boiled dinner— corned beef, cabbage, Irish soda bread, and shepherd’s pie. The best comfort food.

Today's Colors are:

• Shamrock Green

• Magic Mint

• Emerald

Shamrock Green

When your grandchildren are very young, you can sometimes get away with things, but once they turn 9, all bets are off. This true story happened a year ago, when my then-8-year-old granddaughter stayed for a sleepover. The resulting discovery reminded me of the day my kids found out about Santa.

Magic Mint

The summer cocktail, "The Pimms Cup," originated in Britain— that's close to Ireland... Right? Mint is a huge component of the flavor experience. When I saw the name MAGIC MINT, I thought of my son's garden. He planted a bit of mint to have on hand for their summer Pimm's cocktails, and it took over the yard. They have enough mint now for a whole town full of drinks!

For my MAGIC MINT poem, I decided to try a CINQUAIN. Cinquains do not need to rhyme, but you can include rhymes if you want to.

They are five lines long:

• 2 syllables in the first line,

• 4 in the second,

• 6 in the third,

• 8 in the fourth line,

• and 2 in the last line.

Here's a little bit about the Pimm's Cup drink my daughter-in-law loves to serve to guests, in case you're curious.

Pimms cup cocktail

Emerald

I was intrigued by the green colors of the Cliffs of Moher and, with a little scouting, came upon a site that discussed Irish folklore. The tale of the Merrow (Mermaid) who loses her cochaillín draíochta (magical cap) and her desperate longing to return to the sea caught my eye. My poem for EMERALD tells the tale of the fisherman who loved his Merro and built a life on land with her, only to lose her again to the sea.

You can read more here.

Thank you to Linda Baie at Teacher Dance for hosting today's Poetry Friday Round-up. You can find links to all sorts of lovely poetry there. Serve yourself up a big heaping helping!

Till Next week!

An Unexpected Connection

After I choose my colors each week, I start by researching what that Crayola crayon looks like. I then think all around the name for ideas, pulling images from my photos or online for inspiration.

When I finally start to write, I believe I know the direction my writing will take me. Then, suddenly, my muse surprises me with a different idea, and I usually like it better.

Well, this week I chose the colors:

• Denim

• Blush

• Gold

They showed me they had something unexpected in common—my beautiful mother.

My mother, Nancy- a professional model at eighteen.

Blush

My mother had a keen sense of fashion and was always coordinated and polished. An outfit was never complete without the final accent—peach lipstick. She and my Dad often dressed up to go out on Friday nights for business or to play bridge. My favorite memories are of the days my mom dressed like a Barbie doll in her gowns, fancy makeup, and hair, of course.

When she passed away five years ago, two of the things I kept—meaningless to anyone else—were her peach lipsticks and a nearly empty bottle of Jontue perfume. I like picking them up these days, knowing her fingers touched them.

My mother's Jontue and two used lipsticks. Somehow it makes her feel close:)

After you read the "BLUSH" poem below, you'll understand why these overused lipsticks are kept on my bathroom cabinet shelf and evoke such a precious memory for me.

Denim

Denim immediately brought me back to Junior High School in Illinois. My mother liked having me dress up for school, which meant a dress or top and skirt. With my long legs, I was VERY self-conscious. I wanted to fit in so badly, but my height, along with the dresses, made me stand out in an uncomfortable way. I still remember the feeling when my mom gave me permission to wear jeans to school. Yes, they were a bit short, but I didn't care.

For DENIM, I decided to try a poetic form introduced to me on a recent Poetry Friday by Alan J. Wright—a CHOKA poem. As with other Japanese poetic forms, the CHOKA does not typically rhyme or have rules on length.

It follows these guidelines:

• Five syllables in the odd-numbered lines (line one, three, five, etc.)

• Seven syllables in the even-numbered lines (line two, four, six, etc.)

• Finishes with two consecutive seven-syllable lines

Gold

When I thought of the color GOLD, this memory popped up. Settling your parents' estate and going through a lifetime of memories and stuff is one of the most difficult things about losing a parent. As hard as it was to divvy up her jewelry with my siblings, I am happy I have a few precious pieces, as they make my mother feel near every time I wear them.

One of my favorite things to do on Poetry Friday to relax is to click through the Poetry Friday links and enjoy their beautiful, varied poems and stories. Highly recommend. Thanks to Karen Edmisten for hosting Poetry Friday Round-up this week. Be sure to visit her blog to enjoy a charcuterie platter of prose and rhyme. Delicious! Karen's poem "One Way to Live" brought me to tears and shines light on the emotions we're feeling these days. Poetry is amazing like that.

Snow Birds

There are. few things I really don't mind about winter in New England.

• Getting to wear my oversized snuggly sweaters,

• The amazing blue color of the sky

• How thick, rich, warm soups taste on a snowy day

• and if you just stop and listen, the silence you hear trudging through the snow.

  
  

But I have to admit.... on a few of these sub-zero days, I begin to understand why snowbirds fly south. Brrrrrr!

Outside my window this week during the blizzard.

Inspired by New England winters, here are the colors I chose for this week's poems:

• White

• Shadow

• Sun Glow

My first poem, "White," was written for one of Georgia Heard's wonderful webinars. She hosted Grant Snider, Author-Illustrator and poet extraordinaire, who generously illustrated a few of our poems.  I highly recommend Georgia's webinars at The Poet's Studio (see more here) and Grant's book POETRY COMICS. He is brilliant! Here is an example of his work:

A nice marriage of poetry paired with simple illustration in comic-book style.

So... without further ado, let's start with:

 White

This is the poem that started my fascination with writing poems inspired by color. Pondering the color "white," I started by thinking of all the boring things in a kid's life that are white— a piece of blank paper, a bland bowl of cold white oatmeal, white paint or crayons, etc. Then I thought how the one white thing a kid would LOVE is snow. When I decided to use the word "appetite," it seemed right to end with a food metaphor. I could just imagine the red cardinal as the cherry on top.

A favorite photo of my backyard.

Shadow

I have only skied a handful of times in my life, but all of them have made me feel this way. But with courage and perseverance, each ride down built my confidence, and I really enjoyed it. At 6'2" tall, the runs felt incredibly steep to me. I remember wondering whether the reason small kids are so fearless is that their line of sight is much closer to the ground.

Sun Glow

With 24+ inches of snow this week, I must say, a getaway to Florida is sounding better and better. For this SUN GLOW poem, I thought of a child hearing that his grandparents were snowbirds and misinterpreting it... literally!

Thank you to Margaret at her blog Reflections on the Teche for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Be sure to stop by and see the other great poems linked on her blog. If you'd like to know more about Poetry Friday, this is a great resource from Renee LaTulippe.

See you next week!