POEM #18- CANYON

Canyon de Chelly, by Ansel Adams, Wikimedia Commons, via Mary Lee  Hahn, Year of Reading

I'm participating in Mary Lee Hahn's Common Inspiration- Uncommon Creations poetry challenge this month. Head over to Year of Reading to read some terrific poetry, including the one that Mary Lee wrote for today.

"Canyon"

Great canyon,

shaped

by the crushing, 

grinding 

wearing

constancy

of movement.

you
who have learned

the secret

of bending,

circumnavigating

and pressing

forward

you

who so clearly 

comprehend

pattern and layer
clarity and cloud 

shadow and light

You
who know
great beauty

derived

from great adversity

teach me the secrets

of your

rock canyon

endurance.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

Poem #17- Supposed to be

From Wikimedia Commons.org

At the beginning of April, I decided to write a poem every day through Mary Lee Hahn's Common Inspiration - Uncommon Creations. Today's prompt was an animated video of a "laughing" parrot zoo.  I wrote to that prompt, but the parrot's voice really bothered me and I didn't want to listen to it on my blog, so this is just a regular parrot. You can head over to Mary Lee's blog to see the original.

"Not Supposed to Be"

Some things 

are not
supposed to be.

Parrots,
even laughing parrots,

are not
supposed to be

trapped
 in wire cages.

Moviegoers
are not
supposed to be
trapped
in theaters

hiding from
a world gone mad.

Six-year-olds

are not supposed

to be trapped
in school bathrooms
"waiting for the good people
to come."

Celebrants
are not supposed
to be trapped
in a rain
of bb's and broken glass
blood pooling around them.

And none of us
are supposed
to be trapped
in a world
as an audience always waiting
for the next
sad
act.

Some things
are not
supposed to be.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

Poem #16- Barbed Wire (and the best I can do for a Slice of Life)

By Waugsberg, via Wikimedia Commons

 I'm writing, no, trying to write, poems with Mary Lee and friends over at Year of Reading. Mary Lee is selecting an image from Wikimedia Commons every day, then writing a poem in response. Today's image was from the category "Things." Because my entire life is being consumed with writing bad poetry this month, and because it's 11:03 p.m. and because I still have quite a bit of school work to do tonight, this is also going to have to serve as my Slice of Life.

 I started out this morning with maudlin…

"Barbed Wire Teacher"

A little rusty
seen better days
but still 
she gets the job done.

Once I was a younger teacher
watching the older gals work
thinking, "I will never get that old."

And now
younger teachers
tell me
I remind them of their moms.
And kindergartners
call me Grandma.

Even though I'm a little rusty
I hope I am not as prickly
as barbed wire.
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

**********
And ended with stupid…

"A Poem About Barbed Wire"

I might have a poem about barley
or barges or barrels or bards
I might have a poem about barbeques
But I don't have a poem about barbed wire.

I might have a poem about Barbados
or maybe the Barbary Coast,
Those places with beaches and barnacles
where barbed wire's usually a ghost.

I might write a poem about bargains
or barbells or Barbie or Ken
Perhaps I've a poem about Bar-Bar-bara-Ann
But those barbed wire poems ain't no gems.

I might have a poem about barn burners,
barnstormers, barnyards, or barn doors,
But those poems about barbed wire fences
Are wadded-up trash on the floor.

Poems about barbed wire fences
are poignant or raunchy or wise,
I've written me poems about many ol' things
But barbed wire's one I ain't tried!

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2013

POEM #15- QUANTIFIABLE

By ESO Yuri Beletsky from Wikimedia Commons, via Mary Lee Hahn, Year of Reading

Yet another amazing photoprompt from the ever amazing Mary Lee Hahn. It's a laser beam, shot from a very large telescope (VLT- and yes, that's really what it's called), which astronomers use to create an artificial reference star for adaptive optics. This enables the astronomers to make more accurate observations of the skies. If you want a more detailed explanation, head over to Mary Lee's blog, where you will also find lots of great poetry.

 "Quantifiable?"

Let there be light

the astronomer proclaims

and a laser beam 

shoots from earth

to measure 

heaven's vastness

Creator God

chuckles

as He watches

miniscule humans

attempt to quantify

the work 

of His mighty hands. 

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

POEM #14- FULL MOON DAYS

tomruen, selected by Mary Lee Hahn on Year of Reading, via Wikimedia Commons,a

"Full Moon Days"

I love
those full moon days when
earth, moon, and sun
are perfectly aligned
and I can see only light
the shadows
are entirely hidden.

I hate
those full moon days
because I know
the full moon days
are always followed by
the waning
when
the light
lessens
and darkness
becomes greater

until I find myself
in the time
of new moon
where I wait
in darkness
hoping
for the waxing

because
I love
those full moon days.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

POEM #13- TREASURE CHEST?

Child Studying, Frank Douwes, Wikimedia Commons

 I'm participating in Mary Lee's Common Inspiration- Uncommon Creations month of poetry at Year of Reading.  Mary Lee, Kevin, Linda, and Cathy are writing lots wonderful poems, so be sure to go by and check them out.

Last week, I said it was hard to write about fly fishing, since I know absolutely nothing about it. Today's topic, books or reading, is something I do know. Very well. And at first I thought I would write about how mesmerized this little child appears by that book. But that seemed so cliche. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And then I thought maybe I would write about book-related cliches. But I couldn't think of very many. And then as I looked at the picture again, I started thinking about poverty. And the kids I teach. And how little exposure they have to books outside of school. And what a difference that often makes when those kids get to school (and when they take standardized tests).  And this is the poem that came…

"Treasure Chest?"

Some people say
books are treasures
but those people
rarely talk about
how some children
are filling
their treasure chests
with millions of words
stories read and reread
experiences real and vicarious
worlds known and unknown

while other children
sit on concrete stoops
in hand-me-down clothes
and mismatched shoes
not knowing that
one tattered volume
does not a
treasure chest
make.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

POETRY FRIDAY- Day #12- Trying a New Form

 Mary Lee has an auditory prompt today, a harp piece. Maybe I will try to post it here later, but I'm late to work right now, so you need to go there and listen.

This week has been hard for me. Early mornings, tons of school work, full, full days and then trying to write poetry at night. When I write, I long for simplicity and clarity. I want to put together a few words or images that say a lot, but I keep ending with these lengthy, wordy messes, which irritate me greatly. But which I don't seem to be able to avoid.

Today, I decided to limit my wordiness by trying something completely different. Earlier this month, I encountered a form that was new to me. Bonnie, who blogs at blkdrama.wordpress.com is a March slicer. Earlier this month, she posted a poetry form called an arun, which she learned from another slicer, Stacie, who blogs at girlgriot.wordpress.com.  An arun is a fifteen-line poem, written in three sets of five lines. Each set of five lines follows the same syllable structure: starting with one syllable and increasing by one (1/2/3/4/5 — 3x).

"Morning Hike"

ears
collect
birds trilling
gravel crunching.
healing mountain voice.

eyes
gather
yellow primrose.
purple columbines.
colors to take home 

breathe.
let go.
refocus.
listen to Him.
return to center.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013 

*******************
 "Morning Pond"

Stone
still pond
stone meets pond
ripples spreading
out, out ever out…

sky
water
the two meet
sky and water
Mirror reflecting

Now
we see
reflection
someday, we will
understand fully.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

Diane Mayr is hosting POETRY FRIDAY at Random Noodling.