Greetings, Poetry People, and Happy New Year to all educators, parents and students who know that September 1st or so is the beginning of the new year, not January 1st. (I'm sorry for you folks whose school year starts somewhere in in the first half of August; that must be so confusing.)
It's the first Poetry Friday of the month and thus the Inklings face a new challenge, a sweet one from Molly:
Write a love note to something or someone or some place. Go big or go small! You might be inspired by José A. Alcántara’s "Love Note to Silence" (Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer shared it during the class Margaret and I are taking, and you can read it here: https://askatknits.com/tag/jose-a-alacantara/– and I JUST NOTICED A TYPO IN HER TEXT–HANDHELD CRANES=SANDHILL CRANES!!) or by an idea from Georgia Heard’s June Small Letters calendar.
Well, folks, I tried. I tried to take it seriously, and succeeded, for about 90 seconds---but it's been a big week of completing all the necessaries for fall WHISPERshout afterschool workshops plus 2 enormous schoolday residency grant applications, and my brain had no discipline to spare. And also...the intrigue of that typo!
So here you have it, "Love Note to Handheld Cranes", by me, which took a lot longer than 90 seconds to write, in the end. (Click the image to see it larger.)
Mary Lee is not joining us this week--she's exploring NORWAY--but you can see what else (or who else) the Inklings wrote love notes to at these links, and thanks to Margaret for hosting us!
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
There are two funny ways that I relate to your poem. The first is my frozen shoulder which for some reason “I’m sorry I can’t generate much/ that my fists are clenched or limp” reminded me of how hard it is to move into a crane-like position. The second is the disaster in our yard that awaited our arrival home. Apparently some workers were digging for development (fiber optics) and hit a water pipe that exploded into a geyser. Luckily our neighbor was watching out for us, but there was quite the mess to deal with. The company has been working for two days to restore our yard. They were able, thankfully, to dig by hand and not by crane. Your ode to the handheld crane is priceless. I need to find the humor in both of my crane conditions.
ReplyDeleteooooof. Sorry about that shoulder. Keep it movin' kid. That's the trick.
DeleteOMG! Only you, Heidi! I love how your brain works and how you took that typo and created a brilliant poem. There are so many fabulous lines, but the phrase "like vision spun to muscle" really popped for me, and you finished off with the perfect ending line. Well done on all your other recent accomplishments as well. You're an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI echo Molly....what you think of fascinates and entertains me. Your lines are fun and oh so true in more ways than one. "Let me hold with claw and purpose" is such a great vow. It needs to be in someone's wedding.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the love notes. I am definitely going to try that. I love getting inside someone's or some thing's head.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving these love notes!
ReplyDeleteBravo, Heidi! So inventive! It's like taking someone's "clunker" and making it into a poem. Have a great school year!
ReplyDeleteYour poem is so clever! I have really enjoyed reading all of the love notes poems this week.
ReplyDeleteI love the humor in your love note, Heidi. What's even funnier is that when I began reading your poem, I was picturing an origami crane! Obviously nothing was making sense--"vision spun to muscle"? "Alloyed to ashy, delicate steel"? Ohhh. Now it a makes sense!
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