A Moment in Nature

This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that we ask is that if you write, you respond to others to mirror to them your readerly experiences — beautiful lines, phrases that resonate, ideas stirred. Enjoy. (Learn more here.)

Our Co-Hosts

Jennifer Guyor Jowett once was a girl who typed away on a little plastic yellow typewriter that Santa delivered one Christmas. She loved words and books and the wonder that the world offered every day. She is the author of Into the Shadows and co-authored the poetry book Words That Mend. Jennifer is the creator of the DogEaredBookAwards, a student-led award given to middle grade and young adult novels each year.

Ann E. Burg has been writing since her early childhood days in Brooklyn. She is drawn to stories of the disenfranchised and voiceless and finds inspiration in little known or too-soon-forgotten historical incidents. Her most recent works have been historical verse novels published by Scholastic. Ann is pictured here with her writing partner, Finnegan B.

Inspiration 

I stemmed from a family of conservationists and garden planters, both flower and veggie. My family tapped maple syrup trees and tread lightly. During my first years of teaching, I discovered Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s story that affected change to every layer of our environment while reminding us that “In nature, nothing exists alone.” In the prelude to Force of Nature, poet and author Ann Burg introduces readers to Carson, beyond her work as naturalist and marine biologist, in a beautiful and hopeful story written in verse. I hope you are as inspired as I was to write alongside her today.

Process

Let’s reconnect with nature. July is the midway point of the year, of the summer, of the time when teachers reconnect with themselves and the world around them. The freedom found in mid-summer offers choice. You might recall a moment in nature when something wondrous happened. Or you might write an autobiographical poem sharing bits and pieces of who you were (and are). As always, the choice is yours. We hope that the freedom of the natural world and this moment in summer will bring words to you today.

Ann’s Poem

(from Force of Nature)

Prelude

On the milkweed
that borders the orchard,
Mamma and I watch
a beautiful butterfly
flit from leaf to leaf,

Maybe she is laying eggs,
Mamma whispers,
and when the butterfly
flutters away,
she shows me a pale
golden egg–
almost too tiny to see–
hidden in the fuzzy
underside

I reach out my hand
to touch it, but Mamma
shakes her head.
We must always leave nature
as we find her, she says.

Be patient,
Something wonderful will happen.

Jennifer’s Poem

Not Yet Spring
(inspired by the opening lines of Force of Nature)

On the branch that bent
toward the feeder,
the chickadees hopped along
nearer and nearer
to both the feeder and me.
I lay sprawled quietly
in a drift of snow,
watching the birds come and go,
their black-capped heads 
darting this way and that. 
Every so often 
they bent an eye toward me
head tipping in curiosity.
Fascinated by their fragile boldness,
I wanted one enough 
to later ask my parents
if we could keep one. 
Nature belongs where nature is, they said,
so the world is there  
for both you and me.

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.