black surface and
white dashes
pull my eye
forward.
optical illusion,
I turn my head right.
Winter ground.
Golden stalks
jutting from the black soil.
Tracks of plowed lines
making patterns where
green will sprout.
Turning my head back center
my eyes encourage
my hands to stretch
for the white and gray
batting that's escaped from
my grandmother's pillow
and floats across the sky.
All this contrasted
against the blue
shows me that
Mother Nature
is ready to
share spring with us soon.
These days I’m not taking blue skies for granted. I drinking in each moment in nature, and poetry helps me do that. I love the way the road unfolds to reveal “golden stalks...where green will sprout.” The image of
ReplyDelete“batting that's escaped from
my grandmother's pillow
and floats across the sky”
gives the poem a dreamy, ethereal quality.
As a fellow poetry lover, I like to extend an invitation to you to join the monthly 5-day poetry writing challenge Sarah Donovan hosts on her site ethicalela.com where you’ll find a daily prompt and a different host each month. We’ll be writing a poem a day in April for National Poetry Month, which is how I got started in the group last year. I hosted in December and will be hosting a couple days in early April. Sarah has a sign-up form on her website so participants receive email notifications.
Thanks Glenda for enjoying the dreamy quality I was hoping to share about the cloud formations. I had a challenging time trying to find a noun I could compare them too and them the pillow batting came to mind.
DeleteAlso, thanks for sharing the poetry writing challenge with me too. It's interesting how about half of my SOLs thus far have been poetry. Another community-based challenge will be fun! I've signed up to join you and the other educator poets come April.
Love that you found a poem in your driving experience and captured the image not just with a camera but in words. From the photo you shared I can absolutely see why you were inspired .
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa. It was just one of those moments where the scenery was just too beautiful not to capture. Funny how sometimes doing the most mundane things is where we can find writing inspiration.
DeleteI really love this! I grew up in Illinois and the image of
ReplyDelete"Winter ground.
Golden stalks
jutting from the black soil.
Tracks of plowed lines
making patterns where
green will sprout.
brought back a lot of memories. So flat, so expansive were those vistas.
Thanks for a lovely slice of poetry today!
Thanks Paula! I didn't even think of fellow slicers enjoying it because it reminded them of their youth. I'm glad I bring back some memories for you.
DeleteI love the idea of car window poetry. I lived in central Illinois. When my boss would come and would travel to stores with me, he always commented on how flat it was! Planting and harvest were my two favorite times of the year. You have captured this view so well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh Anne. My parents are from central Illinois so driving along rural highways to visit my grandmother and family is something that brings me joy. I agree with you about those special times of year where we are physically surrounded by the changes even more so than in cities.
DeleteI love the feeling of hope this poem gives me. It is amazing how you can see so far into the distance -- very different here in New England. Also easier to take that picture ... Boston traffic would never allow that. I love that you added the image.
ReplyDeleteThanks Claire. I recently relocated from Prague to the U.S. and am currently living in a more rural area. Having the wide open spaces and farm land that I pass regularly catches my eye more than it did growing up here. It's more novel to me.
DeleteYour poem captures the image in your photo so well, love the use of colour and the idea of clouds like the stuffing out of a pillow. We all look forward to spring coming soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks Celia. We definitely are all ready for spring, right? I was reminded today by the rainy skies that to enjoy spring's beauty, we also have some dreary, rain soaked days too.
DeleteGolden stalks...evocative imagery. Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete