like a child holding
its breath anticipating
a joyful delight
a bud awaits opening
held tight ’til spring’s warmest days
I followed yesterday’s prompt [Day 22 Hope is Blue] and discovered today the buds on pear and apple and other trees, still just holding tightly as if waiting for warmer days, like a child who catches his breath, hoping for some joyful delight.
So I wrote a tanka poem of just that.
It started out as a haiku:
a bud awaiting
opening is the plant’s breath
held for summer’s start
but it was more than that, so I reworded and revised and rearranged until the thought completed my idea.
I drew and painted my budding tree branch and added the poetry to it. You could do that too. I’ve always found that my students were much more talented than I that way. Try it.
Prompt:
Take a walk today and look, here and there.
Take a walk tomorrow, and look, here and there, again. What changed? What stayed the same? What surprised you?
Whatever it is that was your “here and there,” take a moment and write a few lines. Give it a title. Sign your name to your poem. Share it or tuck it away.
About this post:
Be safe out there. April is time for NaPoWriMo — National Poetry Writing Month, try a bit of poetry and art to encourage others to be safe with each other. Something short. Something inclusive. Something of spring and hope. #NaPoWriMo/#GloPoWriMo
The Academy of Poets encourages us to write #shelterinpoems. Get some ideas there and share your own.
Tons of information can be found at Poets.org: National Poetry Month and here: Virtual Programs.
National Council of Teachers of English also offers suggestions here.