We
all need to warm up before we sing, exercise or write! We will be sharing
ideas here to help you “work out” your writing muscles. Take a deep
cleansing breath and stretch! For more writing inspiration share your
stretches with us. We will be happy to post them.
Remember how nice it felt to squeeze Play Dough between
your
fingers and to make what ever came to mind?. . .
We should treat language
like Play Dough when we write. . . When we use our imaginations and
play with words, it’s exciting to see the shape. . . that emerges. ~Margriet Ruurs
SQUEEZE Play Dough and let your mind wander. WRITE a poem, a paragraph or a page. Your topic: Childhood is . . .
Post your "squeeze" in the comments.
Sailor’s Delight by Janie Reinart
Childhood is
Perched on a
Pink sky summer night
In a red maple tree
Reading
Feeling safe
As my Father
Walking by
Looks up
With a grin
Once more
So Strong
So Wise
Ready to protect me
Janie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing not only the spot-on quotation, but your evocative poem.
Jan
Jan, I always climbed up high in a red maple tree in our backyard to read. I was hidden by the leaves and rocked by the wind. Hope you share a stretch about childhood with us too!
DeleteWhat is it with trees, books & gurls?
DeleteMine was a back yard dogwood tree.
With a triangle of x-tra plywood, that my dear Dad nailed, for a perfect perch, midway up.
During bloom season it was like living in a bouquet.
We are just tree huggers and branch sitters. :) Love the line living in a bouquet!
DeleteThank you.
DeleteDid you happen to get up into a tree this summer?
Not me, yet. There's still time!
On for it?
Love the analogy to squeezing play dough! Beautiful poem, Janie!
ReplyDeleteTina, my Dad was in the Navy in WWII. He taught us --“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” I associate summer time, and the freedom to read books and stay up late with childhood. Please share a stretch with us. :)
DeleteTina, I smile when I read that Red sky at night.... as my mother recited it to me. I think it's originally from a longer poem but I'm fuzzbrained at the reference at this minute. My cousin is a (retired) Coast Guard capt. I will try to remember to pass it by him when I see him next at the Fl coast.
Delete(see what you started Janie?)
Jan, thank your cousin for his service. Love hearing about the connections!
DeleteOnce again, an amazing post! I'm inspired!
ReplyDeleteMy Wolf Walk
By T.S. Burleson
Walking down the icy- muddy -red road
I stop at a snap in the dark pine forest
The noisy nighttime forest has grown silent
I wait
The whole forest waits
Coyotes yelp just out of reach and then all goes quiet
In the distance I hear my first faint howl
Hairs on my neck rise with pent up excitement
There, the only sign I’ll ever see: big thick paw prints go spooling down the path
Somewhere further on, he lets out another long, slow yowl
It warms me inside-cheeks and nose still numb from winter’s mean frost
I stand there with a smile on my face
I wait
The whole forest waits
I stand still like a stone statue and listen
I listen so hard I hear my own heart beating in my ears
Finally, from somewhere up the hill, I hear it once again, the long, slow howl
This time there is an answer and I decide to send my own too
I wait
The whole forest waits
Then together I hear their reply trickle off into the night
I wait
The whole forest waits
The forest begins its chorus
I walk home with a smile as wide as a two lane road
Brave, you are, O, poet T.S.!
DeleteWhen I heard coyotes out in the field the summer I was housesitting caretaker at a nature preserve, I wouldn't step off the back wood porch. Ahooooooo!
Appreciations for the crisp imagery you paint in words here.
Love your poem Todd! Favorite lines: I stop at a snap in the dark pine forest ,I wait
ReplyDeleteThe whole forest waits, Coyotes yelp just out of reach , only sign I’ll ever see: big thick paw prints go spooling down the path, This time there is an answer and I decide to send my own too, Then together I hear their reply trickle off into the night.