Check out the May DMC Challenge wrap-up hosted by Michelle Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty. This month’s challenge was offered by Melissa Manlove, Senior Editor at Chronicle Books: Write a poem that explores how writing (or a book) is like something else. I’m late to the game, but here is my poem exploring writing compared to something else.

Writing Seeds

Ideas skitter
across my brain
like helicopter seeds
spinning through the air
beneath the maple tree.
An idea plops down
in the fertile soil
of imagination and memory.
Words sprout up
and unfurl their leaves
to stretch toward the sun.
Word by word
the story grows.

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Margaret has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Reflections on the Teche. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

I have struggled this week. Each time my phone buzzed with an update from the New York times, I dreaded to see what new catastrophe was erupting from the White House. While I disagree with almost every policy position stated by the current administration, I take no pleasure in seeing one branch of government implode and possibly self-destruct.

I will continue to write, call, and email my representatives to resist policies that threaten to poison our environment, strip health care from millions, and increase fear and bigotry, I am thankful for a strong press that is determined to uncover corruption and hold elected officials accountable even when they try to hide their actions. I hope the people elected to Congress will step up to put the good of our country first–over the hyper-partisanship that plagues it now–and learn to work together (and that compromise is not always a dirty word). But I take no pleasure in it. Hold the popcorn. I think I might puke instead.

A limerick might not seem the best poetic form to express my dismay, but I was looking for some humor to help me cope with the news of the week. I hope you find some respite in a bit of a laugh. Or maybe I should just hope for a few laughs.

There once was a man who would tweet.
He thought that his fingers were fleet.
But words have a way
Of getting away.
And soon he will find he’s been beat.

There once was a Prez named Don
Who pulled an elaborate con.
He challenged the press
To clean up his mess.
They did so with utter aplomb.

Here’s to better news next week!

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Keisha has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Whispers from the Ridge. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

I am delighted to find and share the collection of haiku found in Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka. These tiny poems explore the wonders of nature as experienced by children–in particular boys. Organized through the seasons, the poems include topics such as kite flying, tree climbing, bike riding, sta watching, leaf raking, stone skipping and stone kicking, puddle splashing and snowball throwing. Each one is an invitation to go outside and explore and to stop and wonder. In a world that sometimes seems focused on all things digital, I love the encouragement to play outdoors that this book offers.

The illustrations by Peter Reynolds are just as delightful. Done mostly in black and white or sepia tones, each page also includes a splash of a single color. Check out some of my favorites from each season:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Winter:

I enjoy the wordplay of the title, and I get that poetry can be a hard sell for guy readers, but I do hope the title and focus on boys doesn’t turn off girls to this collection. Reading these haiku brought up many memories of from my childhood and experiences I shared with my daughter. Here are a couple of haiku I was inspired to write after reading these:

I drop carrot seeds
down long rows, cover with dirt .
How long till we eat?

My canoe glides down
river till it bumps a rock.
Splash. Over we go.

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Tara has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at A Teaching Life. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

Disclosure: I participate in the Amazon Associates Program. If you decide to make a purchase by clicking on the affiliate links, including in the linked picture above. Amazon will pay me a commission. This commission doesn’t cost you any extra. All opinions are my own.

Heather Meloche provided the prompt–10 words from “Early Spring” by Rainer Maria Rilke–for the #10FoundWords poetry challenge. This challenge was started by Laura Shovan as part of her annual February Poetry Challenge. We all had so much fun that she generously continued the Facebook group challenge monthly through the year.

The first thing that came to mind when I read Rilke’s poem and the selected ten words, was “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” by Peter, Paul and Mary. I wrote my poem to fit with the melody. Hopefully, you can hear it as you read.

While I like what I came up with in the way it mourns destruction that unthoughtful abuse of our resources can lead to (even though I could only figure out how to use seven of the ten words), the poem doesn’t do a good job of addressing the complexities that surround many environmental issues.

Here’s my husband checking on one of the hundreds of trees we have replanted–by hand–after harvesting timber.

Yes, the use of pesticides contributes to declining bee populations, as do other factors such as the loss of habitat due to development, but not all pesticide use is evil. As part of my work, I interview farmers to collect information for USDA surveys. In talking with many farmers, I know that most of them do not indiscriminately spray pesticides on their crops. For them, it is a significant expense that they work hard to reduce. They also employ practices to reduce runoff. And some pesticide use is needed to support other farming practices such as no-till planting that create many environmental benefits. No till practices reduce soil erosion and improve the soil structure and quality by adding organic matter. The same is true for timber harvesting. Widespread deforestation can have devastating consequences, but responsible timber harvesting can provide a renewable resource. (Disclosure:  I am married to a forester and hear lots about this one–and we harvest timber from our own land.) Young, quickly growing trees that have been replanted after a harvest trap  more carbon dioxide than mature trees. Some wildlife benefits from areas disturbed by harvest, while others move into and thrive in undisturbed areas. I do wish more people were willing to engage in the complexities of these issues rather than just shouting slogans.

Where Are All the Buzzing Bees?

Where are all the buzzing bees, vanished too soon?
Where are all the meadow blooms, vanished too soon?
Where are all the buzzing bees, vanished too soon?
We have poisoned them, every one.
Oh when will we ever learn, oh when will we ever learn?

Where are all the tender trees, breathing for earth?
Where are all the forests now, breathing for earth?
Where are all the tender trees, breathing for earth?
We have cut them down, every one.
Oh when will we ever learn, oh when will we ever learn?

Where are all the rivulets, dried up and gone?
Where are all the flowing streams, dried up and gone?
Where are all the rivulets, dried up and gone?
We have wasted them every one.
Oh when will we ever learn, oh when will we ever learn?

Here are the #10FoundWords: vanished, softness, meadows, rivulets, tendernesses, earth, subtle, rising, expression, trees

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Jama has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Jama’s Alphabet Soup. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.