Group Blog

WRITING PROMPT - PERSONA POEM

posted by J.G. Annino

To finish a longer walk than our everyday

neighborhood amble of about 40 minutes, my hubby & I

mosey 40 miles south out of town through pine and oak forest.

There we breathe salt air of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

& also, the earthy aroma of cypress swamp in this park of many habitats.

The shore here at the Gulf of Mexico is sand marsh. And that marsh

and that shore make all the difference, in spring & fall.

For some birds, the St. Marks Refuge is the first

landfall after a punishing migratory haul across water.

And so it was that recently we ventured on an

old path at the St. Marks refuge, old but never before trod by us.

The grassy way was busy with plant & insect inhabitants,

but not with visiting uprights.

                                          c. Jan Godown Annino  all rights reserved

We admired everything, including water lilies opened to the sun

in still pools, the last pom pom bursts of purple thistle spikes

and assorted small yellow and orange beauties.

 We found adult butterflies and juvenile grasshoppers.

When we met one particular critter, I couldn’t help but wonder –

Who are you?

We uploaded the photos from my Canon camera

at home to share with my writing partner, who is also my

dear/near neighbor & a frequent birder. She congratulated us on

spotting a long-distance migratory traveler.

A male, this creature smaller than a robin, had flown

here from winter residency in South America, possibly

Argentina.

After the trip I read that children’s author Laura Shovan 

(THE LAST SIXTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL) suggested the writing prompt of creating a poem in the

voice of an object, or in the voice of something living, by using an image

and not memory. I was glad I had the photo image.

This is the work-in-progress, revised two times.

                                                                                   c. Jan Godown Annino all rights reserved

Think

by J.G. Annino

Dear bird watcher,

Ah! You saw a flash, pale yellow

I heard you - What a pretty fellow

Do not think me here for show

I face treacherous miles to go

While you watch me on this spent thistle

Think – he had to stop and wet his whistle

Think - what other creatures has he seen

Think – what is his perch,  when humans dream

Flash! I lift my wings - I’ve seen seeds

After drink and rest it’s food I need

While wings beat steady steady again

Go write a poem, be my friend

I must fly,

Bob, traveling bobolink

c. Jan Godown Annino 2016

Writing a persona poem brings the writer inside the

head of  a character. I think I may find another

character for a persona poem, soon. Can you see

how it’s a boost to those of us who are always seeking

to understand characters?

Some afterstory

Bob O’Lincoln is the call some birders

attributed to this bird.  Over long time that name

evolved to the lyrical way we say it today.

A tagged bobolink once traveled 12,000 miles in migration.

In a day a bobolink can fly up to 1,000 miles. Without a

suitcase! Bobolinks like rice fields, to glean the grains, such as

in Louisiana &  South Carolina. I feel fortunate to have now seen
my first bobolink.

Sources: Cornell Ornithology Lab online

Wikipedia

My Dictionary

Plus, a thank you chirp for bobolink identification of this photo –

which I took May 7, 2016 on our walk at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge –

chirped out to my birding/writing pal, dear/near neighbor, Ann Morrow.

And two chirps of thanks to Michelle H. Barnes of the delightful

blog Today’s Little Ditty, & to Laura Shovan, for the persona poem prompt.

To learn more: www.michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/