Poetry Friday: Something New

Happy Poetry Friday! Linda has the round up today at her blog A Word Edgewise where she is hosting a clunker exchange. Linda graciously posted a list of lines she didn’t use for one reason or another – a clunker. You can take one and weave it into a poem and leave one of yours for her to work some magic with.

One early morning last week I was sitting on our enclosed porch when I was startled to see Fred, my male bluebird, excitedly flying close to the window – a new behavior. He landed on the ledge and peered in. It was as if he were trying to get my attention. I knew there was some nest building going on in one of the boxes, so I investigated. Inside I found an egg, but it wasn’t a bluebird egg. After some further investigation I determined that it was most likely a cowbird egg. There’s an abundance of advice available on the internet, some conflicting, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I decided to listen to the bluebirds and follow their lead.

Something New    

The bluebird peered in the window
as if calling for my attention,
as if calling Come and see!

Yesterday,
nothing occupied
the perfect pine needle nest
in the box by the hydrangeas.

Today,
one white and brown spotted egg
nestled in the soft bed.
Was this the cause of the
What to do! excitement?

Later,
a pale blue egg rested
next to the first.

Like the bluebirds,
I’ll let nature take its course.
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

Not a great picture, but there are now four bluebird eggs in addition to the one from the visitor. I’ll keep you posted.

Poetry Friday: Finishing Up

I finished up the last day of my April Poetry project (Call and Response: Picture Books and Poetry) at a personal writing retreat at the Highlights Foundation with a wonderful group of other writers. I didn’t take any picture books with me, knowing that I would have access to many in the Barn as well as in my cabin. I decided to be surprised, and I wasn’t disappointed. In my cabin that first morning I found an older picture book by Pat Brisson and Maryann Cocoa-Leffler titled Wanda’s Roses. It was published in 1994 by Boyds Mills Press (fitting!), and to my knowledge is still in print. At almost 1500 words, it gives itself away as an older publication, yet the themes of community, persistence, and hope are as current today as they were 30 years ago. Wanda is a delightful character who mistakes a thorn bush in a vacant lot for a rose bush. When she insists that soon there will be roses, the community supports her optimism. The book is not about healing or grief, but that is where my thoughts took me.

Keep an Open Heart

because a heart can be like a thorny bush
growing in a vacant lot
surrounded by debris
until love,
knowing the depths of possibility,
discovers how
to nourish and heal
Draft, RoseCappelli2024

Buffy has the roundup today here. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry fun and where you will meet a hognose snake.

Poetry Friday: Poetry Project Week 4

Welcome to Poetry Friday! Ruth has the roundup today where she is celebrating eighteen years at her blog and dreaming about Haiti. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.

Today I offer two new-to me poetry forms as entries to my April Poetry Project: “Call and Response: Picture Books and Poetry.” The first response is a trinet which I first learned about from poetry friend Alan J. Wright. A trinet is composed of seven lines. Lines three and four have six words each; all other lines have two words. My trinet is in response to the picture book Listen by Holly McGhee and Pascal Lemaitre.

For the Heart

your heart
can hold
the memory of people and places
the wonder of sun and stars
with plenty
of room
for more
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

After hearing about the pensee on posts from Buffy Silverman and Marcie Flinchum Atkins, I wanted to give it a try. The pensee has 5 lines of 2-4-7-8-6 syllables respectively. Each line has a specific job:

Line 1—introduces subject
Line 2—description of subject
Line 3—action taken by subject or for subject; has a verb
Line 4—info about time and setting
Line 5—final thoughts

I wrote “Henna” as a response to the picture book A Garden in My Hands by Meera Sriram and Sandhya Prabhat.

Henna

henna
ancient plant dye
dropped and swirled on waiting hands
for a wedding celebration
a garden of stories
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy this last Friday in poetry’s special month.

Poetry Friday: My Poetry Project Continues

It’s Poetry Friday! Heidi has the round up today at my juicy little universe. Be sure to stop by for some fabulous art and poems by kids. It makes me think that our future is in good hands.

Keeping up with my Call and Response: Picture Book and Poetry project, this week I read a new picture book, Small Things Mended, written by Casey Robinson and illustrated by Nancy Whitesides. In it we meet Cecil, a kind and elderly man who has recently suffered a loss. When his young neighbor is concerned that her treasured pocket watch is broken, Cecil offers to fix it. Soon other kids are bringing Cecil an array of things to fix, including a stuffed elephant with a broken heart. As Cecil’s circle of friends grows, he understands what his own heart needs to mend. This is such a special book that I highly recommend.

All Better

Glue can fix a broken cup,
tiny stitches hide a hole.
One pastes a paper torn in two
or nails a fence together.
When strong winds cause a nest to fall
weavers will repair it
but only love can mend a heart
and hold it till it’s better.
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

And a little something in honor of Earth Day on April 22 inspired by In the Past, a collection of poems by David Elliott and illustrated by Matthew Trueman.

Step Back

to the wonder of what was
and what has become life
on our planet
remembering it’s up to us
to keep it going

Progressive Poem 2024

The Kidlit Progressive Poem was started in 2012 by Irene Latham. In 2020, my first year of participation, Margaret Simon took over as organizer. Every year is a mystery as to what the subject will be and how the poem will unfold, but it’s always fun to share thoughts and ideas with fellow poets.

Patricia Franz started us off this year with a lovely couplet, and everyone has followed that lead. The couplets are now organized by quatrains, so I kept that format. So far we are traveling with two brave children on an escape route. So many questions remain unanswered, but it is filled with emotion and I love how there are clues left along the way to fill in some of the gaps. Carol’s lines from yesterday helped me feel the worries that this enormous responsibility has put on our narrator. I decided to stay there for a bit longer. Here is what we have so far with my lines added in bold.

cradled in stars, our planet sleeps,
clinging to tender dreams of peace
sister moon watches from afar,
singing lunar lullabies of hope.

almost dawn, I walk with others,
keeping close, my little brother.
hand in hand, we carry courage
escaping closer to the border

My feet are lightning;
My heart is thunder.
Our pace draws us closer
to a new land of wonder.

I bristle against rough brush—
poppies ahead brighten the browns.
Morning light won’t stay away—
hearts jump at every sound.

I hum my own little song
like ripples in a stream
Humming Mami’s lullaby
reminds me I have her letter

My fingers linger on well-worn creases,
shielding an address, a name, a promise–
Sister Moon will find always us 
surrounding us with beams of kindness

But last night as we rested in the dusty field,
worries crept in about matters back home.
I huddled close to my brother. Tears revealed
the no-choice need to escape. I feel grown.

Leaving all I’ve ever known
the tender, heavy, harsh of home.

Next up is Sarah Grace Tuttle. Looking forward to seeing how things move forward. If you want to follow along, here is a list of contributors:

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All