POETRY PAIRS #2

I've played around with several different themes. I thought about doing "Dog Days Revisited" and writing more dog poems. I thought about choosing a different subject and trying to write 30 different poems, in 30 different formats. I finally decided I would choose 30 poems I like, and try to use them as mentors to write my own poems. Which may be trickier than I thought, given that today I realized that most of my favorite poetry books are in my classroom at school, and I'm not allowed to go in. Hmmmm. Tonight I started reading through favorite poems I had collected on my blog. Irene Latham is a poet I have admired forever. I tried to use her structure. Not sure I was successful but...

"This Is the Hour"

Irene Latham

This is the hour

where sun dreams

when river

sings

its silky song.

This is the hour

Duck wades

into warm

whispery grass

settling

onto its nest

This is the hour

Duck asks:

        What is yours?

        What is

           mine?

River answers

        Look how 

        your wings

        glisten.

        How my eyes

          wink.

Yes, Duck says.

                Now I see--

                this is the hour

                  almighty sun

                gives itself

       

                to everything. 

Irene Latham

*************

“This is the Hour”

This is the hour

where world screams

healthy die

economy is upturned

children are afraid

streets are silent

And this is the hour

where dog climbs onto couch

stretches out next to me

presses head against human thigh

sighs in contentment 

and sleeps deeply

This is the hour

Human asks:

Will this end?

Will we hope again?

Dog responds: 

We are here together

on this soft couch

our bellies are full  

All is well.

Yes, Human says.

Now I see,

this is the hour

when we must

draw close 

breathe deeply

and give thanks.

All is well.

Carol Wilcox

(C) 2020