Welcome to Day 12 of the 2018 Progressive Poem hosted by the wonderful children's author, Irene Latham. Needless to say, I have not only eagerly anticipated this day but felt nervous twitches. It's my turn to take this year's poem one step further.
Initial Thought:
My poetry colleagues have been busy building a delightful tale from Liz Steinglass' opening line, "Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched." Upon my initial read, I thought Liz's words, nestled and cozy, set up the right scene, while the word stretched gave rise to a new movement, the awakening of spring. I started thinking about the first few days of spring on Long Island when #winterinspring was the norm. The hope of spring was tucked inside the layers of snow. Questions arose. Will the poem evolve into a discovery of springtime with the little seed as the main character? What will the seed become as she rises from her earthen bed?
During Reading Thought:
You can imagine my surprise when the seed turned into a beautiful, playful child named Jasmine "who danced with the pulse of a thousand stars." An adventure started and soon new characters were introduced, Moon and Owl. When readto Matt Forrest Esenwine's line on Day 10, "Secure in talons' embrace, Jasmine rose," I stopped to ponder. Matt spoke of moving into unchartered waters. I wondered where Brenda Harsham would take the poem so I studied each line, again and again. I thought about how I might weave my thought not expecting Brenda's very interesting Act II take-off: "and set. She split, twining up Owl's toes, pale."
After Thought:
Where was I to go with the ending word being pale? I started off with Jasmine being "pale but unshaken" about an upcoming flight but scratched that because I didn't think that pale fit when referring to her. Then, I turned to alliteration but could not find the right action word to match moonbeams. I deliberated again, reviewed my notebook ideas on owl movement, flight, and the word "split", I turned to the digital I created for my notebook, Believe in the Magic! I hope I found the magic that makes this poem move one step further.
2018 Progressive Poem
Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.
Oh, what wonderful dreams she had!
Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with
the pulse of a thousand stars, sweet Jasmine
invented a game.
"Moon?" she called across warm, honeyed air.
"I'm sad you're alone; come join Owl and me.
We're feasting on stardrops, we'll share them with you."
"Come find me," Moon called, hiding behind a cloud.
Secure in gentle talons' embrace, Jasmine rose
and set. She split, twining up Owl's toes, pale
moonbeams sliding in between. Whoosh, Jasmine goes.
The poetic journey continues with my friend, Linda Mitchell. Where will she take Jasmine as she wanders through the midnight sky?
NOTE:
You can read more about the Progressive Poem's background here and the conversation Heidi Mordhorst had with Irene Latham and Liz Steinglass on Day 1.
Please follow along to see how the poem develops.
April
