Welcome to the 2021-2022 Open Write Series where educators come together for five days each month to nurture their writing lives. Educators from across the country host each month by bringing new writing ideas to this space. The only “rule” is to take care of one another, i.e., be mindful of the hearts and minds of your readers. We hope you find ideas to inspire your writing and teaching. Welcome. Subscribe (on the right) to receive notices of new prompts. And subscribe here to join the Ethical ELA newsletters. Learn more about the Open Write here including upcoming Open Write dates.
Hay(na)ku
Our Host
Denise Krebs is enjoying writing poetry with this community–the teacher-poets here inspired her to find her voice. Denise has taught kindergarten through grade 8 in California, Iowa, Arizona and Bahrain. She is volunteering at her school now and enjoying more time to cook, bake, create, write, and tell stories. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @mrsdkrebs. She co-authored The Genius Hour Guidebook and blogs at Dare to Care.
Inspiration
The Hay(na)ku is a 21st century poetic form designed by Eileen R. Tabios, a Filipino-American poet, fiction writer, artist. The form, which Tabios first called Filipino Haiku, is described by Eileen in an interesting history of hay(na)ku. Inspired by Tabios’ Counting Journal, lately I’ve been writing a hay(na)ku each day in my planner after the day, a quick, tiny and fun way to recap a memorable event or emotion.
Process
Traditionally, Hay(na)ku have:
- 3 lines
- A total of 6 words – 1 in the first, 2 in the second, and 3 in the third
- No syllable, rhythm, or meter constraints.
- You can also write reverse hay(na)kus.
Examples of hay(na)ku:
Fruit
Goes bad
When left forgotten
Water
Clean, brilliant
Entices me in
Reverse:
Entrusted with independence
Children sprout
Wings
- Think of a topic and write a collection of hay(na)ku to capture the many aspects of your topic. Choose:
- A season of the year
- A month of the year
- A day of the week
- A special day or holiday (Juneteenth, Father’s Day, etc.)
- A family member
- A pet
- A particular class at school
- A favorite book or television series
- Any topic you would like to explore
- As always, feel free to write in any form or topic you need to and want to write today.
Denise’s Poem
Signs of Friday
By Denise Krebs
Islam
Jumu’ah Mubaraka
Holiest of days
Church
Together again
Only the young
Salmon
Our treat
Once a week
Dessert
Ice cream
Usually ice cream
Reading
And relaxing
On the loveseat
Walk
The neighborhood
If weather’s bearable
Napping
Extra sleep
Like Sunday afternoons
Your Turn
Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may 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. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. 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.
Hay(na)ku bird has six feathers free to fly in unlimited sky
Quotes of Life” by Radhey Shiam is the first collection of hay(na)ku in Indian English literature. Some of his poems radiate zen-feeling, as often seen in the …
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Denise, I loved your poem! I forgot to check my email yesterday, so not sure if you’ll see this. I loved both how I could relate to it–my Sunday afternoons growing up were remarkably similar–and how much of it you left ambiguous (like the “only the young” at religious service).
Today, my cousin shared this crazy picture of my dad, her dad, and our uncle, and your form inspired me to write about it. I also tried to write it as a wreath of hay(na)ku, but lost the thread partway through as it yielded to the meaning (I tried to pick it back up at the end). 🙂
“Bayberry”
Triplets
in Mischief,
marriage ties bind.
Bound
in Quips
Tricks, and Tics:
Tickling
funny bones
of all there.
There
they sit.
Side by side.
Sides,
Apps, Dinner:
Holiday Feast awaits…
Wait
for awhile,
while they (one
two
and three)
entertain each one.
One,
A chef–
mixer of spirits.
Two,
A sailor–
Buoyed by family.
Three,
A clown–
Ready smile present.
Presence,
freely given.
Now long absent.
Absent
of them,
we reminisce fondly.
Oh, Wendy, I learned something new today. I never knew that poetic form (or device or whatever it is) “wreath.” I figured it out from your sweet triplets in mischief poem. (Then I looked it up to verify!)
Such a cute poem. I’m glad you came today when you remembered. These three sound like treasures. You have captured some of their fun and personality.
By the way, our church in Bahrain went back to live worship, but you had to be 60 or younger, which I think of as young. (ha!) However, now due to growing numbers of infections, they stopped meeting again already.
Thanks for the feedback, Denise! So sorry to hear that your numbers are up and that it affected your worship services. Here’s hoping that the virus subsides, soon.
Closet
unreasonably packed
with memory sparks
Cara, isn’t that the truth! Are you trying to go through things these days? It can take such detours with those sparked memories, to be sure! Good to see you here!
Chicken
Kentucky Fried
Tonight’s UnHealthy Dinner
Donnetta,
Great to see you here! KFC reminds me of my grandma, and I think it’s a nice treat once in a while! Hope you were able to enjoy it!
Denise,
Thank you so much for easing us back into things. I’ve missed this space very much.
I love this form, which is new to me. It’s simple yet a challenge. Unlimited use.
Your series of hynakus capture Sundays perfectly.
On Tuesday, our high school baseball team plays for the state championship. My husband coaches and our son plays, making this a very special time. My mind is thinking is little else.
Baseball
Imitates life
Work toward goals
State
Victory Field
One more game
Husband
The coach
Leading the way
Wife
The fan
Supporting them all
Son
The player
Wanting the legacy
Mom
Heart aches
More for him
Nerves
The thrill
The want desperate
Deja vu time
Seams surreal
Baseball
~Susan Ahlbrand
19 June 2021
Oh, how fun to cheer on both husband and son!! Excellently written. Good luck! 🙂
Susan, I applaud your immersion in this baseball time of your life! My youngest children are now 26, but I spent YEARS of my life on the bleachers, in the stands, and court-side relishing the thrill, the nerves, the deja vu! You took me there. <3
Susan, it is great to be back with you here! Of course, what else could possibly be on your mind at this important time? Yikes! Such a powerful moment is heading your way. All the best. This stanza makes my heart heavy but also hopeful:
I have so many questions about the last stanza. I love it and wonder if your team went to the state tournament before. Also the idea of the baseball seams being a surreal painting is fascinating me. I’m not sure if that was intentional or a typo, but I like it nonetheless.
I used seams intentionally.
This is our school’s 16th trip to the state finals, but we haven’t won since 2006. It’s time to change that.
Susan–I, especially after these long months of weird life under the veil of the pandemic, love the grounded feel of your poem — baseball indeed. You brought me to that genuine feel of a mom’s support for simple pleasures with a son and hubby and the fans that we are of that slice of life. A homer! Susie
Hello Denise, I have never heard of Hay(Na)Ku. Thank you for sharing your practice and poems. This was a fun thing to do to distract me from my busy world. I will have to come up with more, but here’s my first one.
Writing
Graduate class
Windows of opportunity
Jessica, THANK you for carving out time to write with us. Yes to windows. Yes to opportunity. Yes to WRITING. Keep pushing on!
This is my first time doing something like this! I enjoy writing, but lately I have been using it for academic credit, lol! Finally I get to do something I enjoy!
Yay, Jessica, you took time to write with us today. All the best in your writing class. I love that you look at it as “windows of opportunity.” So much will be open to you! Keep it up!
Thank you Denise. I passed the class, now towards the end of another one…and then another one! I should be walking across the stage in less than a month with my EdS in Reading and although I love learning about reading, writing is my passion! That writing class earned me a co-author status.
Denise,
THANK you for this gentle entry into our writing this month!
I wrote several. This was my favorite:
We
All felt
Champ’s final breath
Then I decided to write about our school district’s new (purchased) “Orange Frog” training designed to help teachers be happier (??!!??). I needed to vent my reaction, so I used a series of hay(na)ku:
Orange
Frog won’t
Buy teachers’ happiness
Instead,
Walk in
These pinchy shoes
Anticipate
My need
For respectful autonomy
Say
Yes to
All reasonable requests
Bulldoze
roadblocks
to authentic learning
Drop
The silly
Teacher dress code
Back
Me up
If I ask
Offer
More than
0% pay increase
Say
More than
“Thanks for sharing”
When
I email
Celebrating student success
Honor
My time
Say thank you
Don’t
Spend money
Buying “teacher happiness”
First of all, hello Allison! Second, what on earth is this Orange Frog business and is it hopping into Los Angeles? Let’s hope not. I’m already afraid!
I felt the sorrow of “Champ’s final breath” and offer my condolences.
The buying teacher’s happiness is frightening because I know they honestly believe whatever it is this frog thing is offering will actually work. Sad.
You’ve expressed ALL that we need and it isn’t the doggone orange frog. I won’t even Google it because then I’ll know what’s coming our way.
#noorangefrogs
?
Allison, WTAF is “Orange Frog” training? Consider that question rhetorical. The name alone is asinine. ?♀️
Your poem is the perfect distillation of what teachers need to be happy, and you’ve given this prescription for teacher happiness free. I love everything about your poem, especially the challenge to pseudo gratitude.
OK, Allison. You are on fire, as always! Sweet tribute poem to Champ Biden. It is so great to have an animal lover in the White House again. I’m glad you voiced frustration for the Orange Frog “Happiness” training with a slew of slaying hay(na)ku. Beautifully done. The name conjures horrific images. You have so much great teacher happiness advice. “Respectful autonomy” says so much!
Orange … Frog?????
Loved the poems as venting verse
Kevin
You bet, Allison! This is exactly the hay(na)ku that I wanted this morning. The loud voice from the real teacher in Iowa. Dang, I LOVE this voice. The poem goes well beyond the “orange frog” — what insanity that is — to the heart of why we became teachers…your creativity and intelligence goes so much deeper than any “[bought] teacher happiness.” AMEN! Glad to be back here with you in June. Hugs from STL, Susie
And… I am so sorry to read about Champ…so sorry. ;-( Susie
Allison! Your poem about Champ took my breath away. So sad and sweet.
Hi Denise! I’m so excited to be back with you and everyone else here for June’s Open Write. I’m late posting because I spent the morning finishing my Boards renewal and then took a long walk and spent the afternoon at the beach. It thrilled me to see this prompt because I LOVE a 3-liner! LOL. I will add Hay(na)ku to my list of favorite forms. Your poem makes me want Sunday to come just for my first Sunday nap in at least a year! I love how you shared so much in so few lines.
Freedom?
Wondering
if I
am really free
To
be Black
and proud me
I’m
still denied
my total freedom
To
be Black
in white america
Juneteenth
can’t free
the wrongfully incarcerated
Juneteenth
can’t free
the enslaved mind
Does
america hear
caged birds sing?
©Stacey L. Joy, Juneteenth 2021
Stacey! Oh, how I love these! Juneteenth is not a new celebration….but it is a new Federal holiday and new to many. What a great way to open up the writing this month. There is much to do in body, mind, spirit and collective action. This collection brings me there.
Stacey,
Wow!! Thank you for sharing your truth. I hear.
Stacey, I LOVE this sequence of Hay(na)ku! You hold freedom up to the light and turn it this way and that. I love what you did with the caged-bird line. Wow.
Stacey, I could definitely relate to this! Your words ‘To be Black in white america” are powerful and a reminder of how much our color has defined our freedom. Black is beautiful to us, but dangerous to them. Thank you for sharing.
Oh, shivers, my friend, Stacey. Thank you for sharing your heart. We in White America need to listen and act. “wrongfully incarcerated” “enslaved mind” “caged birds” “total freedom denied”
Stacey, thank you for joining us after your busy Board renewal work. Enjoy that Sunday afternoon nap too–you have earned it.
Stacey,
Bravo!!
This form is like Lego Blocks, right, building building building … and yours builds to the last line, echoing the wonderful Maya A. so beautifully … Does America? Depends on where you live, it seems.
Kevin
Stacey — Hello, my friend! I’ve missed you and this wonderful connection space. Now, for the poem… this girl in STL hears the “caged birds sing” for sure. Even the word “freedom?” (question mark, indeed) rings with a broken sound…sort of like a voice screamed into a canyon that refuses to echo… so much is still locked up tight in this country… the word “incarcerated” is a power word here… it’s heavy and needs to be hammered out in all its syllables. Stacey, you still have that incredible voice that reminds us that a declared holiday still “can’t free/ the enslaved mind.” Painfully true. So glad you are writing here! Your words matter soooo much. Hugs, Susie
Stacey, Love, loved this. The richness of the literary references in the last stanza?? Just awesome. More meanings kept unfolding as I reread and pondered those last three lines and loved how it was phrased as a question.
Thanks, Denise, for introducing this form to me! I loved reading your Friday poem, and I love that poetry brought us together (even though we are both from the same area!). It’s the first day of summer break for me, so I had to write about that 🙂 A nod to Mary Oliver, of course.
Summer Break
light
filters in
windows–daintily, curiously–
shedding sunshine on
today’s long
list
transplant
the sunflowers
mulch the artichoke
pant along with
the tired
dog
hang
the clothes
watch them dance
to the soprano
wind chime,
applaud
taste
the tart
fresh blueberry batch
harvest mojito mint
for tonight’s
cocktail
Sun
retires at
last, too soon–
summer days are
wild and
precious
Rachelle,
You wrote about your garden and the different fun relaxing feels of summer break.
Nice use of the reverse Hay(na)ku
Wow, Rachelle, you knocked this one out of the park! I love the mirrored stanzas and how you paint such a lovely picture of the wonder and beauty of summer and FREE time. What is that again, now? I really feel the ease at letting there be a long list, but the leisure to do it without pressure. So nice.
Rachelle, your poem SINGS with sounds and scents and images. Beautiful. I have to tell you that in my drafting, I too played with the 1-2-3-4-1 idea (but abandoned it). I also used “wild, precious life” in one version of my “Don’t waste my time” stanza. I feel like you are my kindred tonight!
Loved seeing the laundry dancing on the line <3
Wow, Rachelle, this is so beautiful and rich. The blessed summer to do list, with the morning sun lightly, filtered, shining in on it. The list conjures up beautiful images of relaxed and new summer “work.” I love use of “wild and precious” and the greater nod to Mary Oliver with the sweet details. You seem to have created another beautiful form the to-and-fro hay(na)ku!
Always nodding to Mary Oliver …. your focus on the moments is perfect …
Kevin
I love this form! I chose to explore the ways in which I identify, my multiple roles in life.
Mija
Sitting at
feet of wisdom
Married
Sacred, adventure
Partner for life
Mami
Playing, feeding
Two under two
Maestra
Reading, writing
Learning alongside students
Mujer
Growing, grounded
Full of confianza
Britt,
I love the interweaving of alliteration and the haynaku form. It shows a beautiful progression.
Britt, your poem illustrates a novel way to invite students introduce themselves at the start of a new class. Hmmm. Could also be used mid year to introduce idea of intersectionality in an audience. Hmmm. Gotta add this poem to my toolkit.
Beautiful use of this poetry form, so special to think of these different roles. Love that each begins with an “M.”
Nice work, Britt! I love your stanzas and how they explore your identity. Your use of Spanish and English is also really purposeful, which I love to see!
Britt, this is beautiful! I love how you were able to make connections to all of you for us to experience. You have many roles, but you are definitely valued. Thank you for sharing!
Oh, Britt, I love the M word alliteration and the mixing of español and English. Very nice form with the one word seeming like a title of that role. You chose beautiful images and words to describe each role, as well. Phrases like “Two under two” tell a whole book’s worth of other details with just three small words. This is a keeper!
Denise,
Thank you for this fun form, a perfect segue back into poetry after our long break. Your poem makes me hungry and is a celebration of the extraordinary ordinariness of a lovely day.
Yesterday I purged my jewelry, separating items I bought during travels from the rest. This poem reflects that purge.
Baubles
Sorting
through these
baubles, I reminisce,
stroll
along plazas,
admire feminine adornments,
body
embellishments, decor
mapping lost destinations.
—Glenda Funk
Glenda, I love how you’ve written from such an ordinary task. I’d love to hear the stories associated with the jewelry and your travels! 🙂
Jewelry really can take us back in time; I love how you captured that here. Lovely, Glenda!
Glenda, I was tugged from the object into the memory: Proust’s madeleine cookie! The idea of “body embellishments” mapping travel was stunning. Bravo!
Oh, Glenda, I love the story you tell here. Each piece a memory of your many travels and reminders of your present wanderlust. I love the last line, as I’m drawn to anything that maps out beloved places and events.
Hey there, Glenda, so glad to find you this morning. I hit the sack early last night and missed lots of poems. “Baubles” … I love that word, the lightness and yet the significance of what we save and select. Your travels have been such a wonderful experience for you and Ken. I have pretty well dropped off Facebook, but I check now and then and see that you have been able to travel again. I can see you “along plazas” and “mapping lost destinations.” That last line has a fun twist to it… the sense of ancient ruins is there but also the map on our bodies created when we lay those “embellishments” against the roadmap of our skin… the mind is a funny thing. LOL! Hugs, Susie
This is my first time participating in an open write. Thanks for letting me join! This morning my family went u-picking for strawberries. A perfect topic.
Strawberries
Aroma rising
Thick sticky sweet
Earthy
Strawberry Lady
Dirty bare feet
Breeze
Early morning
Mt. Hood, distant
Delicate
Red jewels
Fill my bowl
Daughter
Strawberry princess
Fingers, mouth stained
Welcome, Emily. Your poem is incredibly sensory with the breeze and red jewels. I love how the strawberry lady sounds like the name of a varietal, too. Such a gorgeous scene with Mt. Hood in the distance.
Sarah
Emily,
This is a delectable poem. I love picking strawberries and was able to pick on a recent trip to Maui. I love that you situated the poem so we have an image of Mt. Hood as we read.
Emily, welcome!! What a beautiful poem you’ve introduced yourself with 🙂 Such images of sweet, sweet summertime.
Emily,
So glad you made it!!
I love the image of picking strawberries with Mt. Hood in the background. The mountains are gorgeous right now.
Emily,
Yay! I got you here! I love the poem–and now I really want to eat fresh Oregon strawberries–there’s nothing like them. I especially like the imagery of your daughter–the quintessential little helper. 🙂
Emily, this is SO great! I love the images you create; I feel as if I am with you! I am very impressed that you got rhyme in this concise form as well. Thank you for writing today! 🙂
What a way to jump in for your first time! You’ve given us a delicious, sensory, sweet dream of a poem! I love this because it feels sexy and luscious!
Earthy
Strawberry Lady
Dirty bare feet
?So happy you’re here! ?
Oh, Emily.
Your poem touched my hurting heart. Laura, one of my life’s closest friends, was a pick-your-own strawberry farmer. On Monday it will be four years since I helped her children write her obituary and read it at her (too soon, too soon) funeral. The “delicate red jewels” and the “strawberry princess fingers, mouth stained” took me back to glorious strawberry seasons when we were young mothers. I think Laura always wore sandals, but the dirty bare feet vibe was there! Thank you for sharing your words here. Excuse me if I hijacked your poem for my own memory…but maybe that’s what reader-response is ultimately about.
Emily, your vivid description of strawberries have invaded my mind! I love your word choices and strong depiction of a simple fruit with a delicious taste. Thank you for sharing!
Oh, Emily! First of all, welcome, welcome to this community! So glad you are writing with us. These images are breathtaking. the “Dirty bare feet” of the “Strawberry Lady”, Mt. Hood in the distance, “red jewels” and your daughter’s stained mouth and fingers. Your whole poem is a beautiful snapshot for you and us of this special experience today. Thank you for sharing it with us. I can smell and taste these jewels.
Thanks for this, Denise. The fun of paring down the poem, whittling the word to their point. An accessible form, perfect for reflecting while a strawberry galette is baking in the oven.
Pulling
weeds like
polishing a poem
Wrens
hyper active
leave the nest
Sweet
straw berries
under the sun
Skin
sweat trickling
in the kitchen
Galette
oven baking
five more minutes
Juneteenth
we remember
lest we forget
That’s a super comparison…”pulling weeds like polishing a poem” because it is a chore, takes some effort, let’s the good stuff grow and so rewarding!
David,
I like the way you connect seemingly ordinary experiences to the larger, historical significance of this day. The time reference makes me think of all the waiting black people have done to arrive at this holiday and how they are still waiting.
David,
I, like Glenda, love the connections between simple everyday occurrences and the historical significance of the day. Beautiful–I can smell your galette and am quite jealous. 🙂
David, you wrote the poem I wanted to write today! I love that I can taste, hear, see, touch and smell this poem. The poem’s beginning and ending leads the reader to deeper thought as well. Thanks for writing today!
Criminy, David. I released an audible gasp at the first stanza. How do you DO that?!
Today I watched swallows dart like bats…and you mirrored this with your hyper active wrens.
Then, just when you had me settled in the kitchen for an easy end to your poem, you turned the poem on its head: lest we forget.
This poem fed me.
David, wow. So beautiful. The first poem is a perfect description of poetry writing. I love your stretched words in line 2, making me smile. Your word is full of images and sensory details, wishing for a bit of that straw berry galette.
Thank for this fun new poetry style. I will be honest I read the prompt early and wrote a Hay(na)ku about coffee ☕ in my head. I decided I can’t just write about coffee, so I let the prompt sit am marinate a bit. After a walk with a friend I came up with something else. Here are both my poems from today’s prompt.
Coffee
Bold, strong
Starts my day
————-
Walking
Friendship time
Weekly check in
Mud
Covered path
Marshy trip around
Morning’s
Cooling air
Before heat comes
DeAnna,
I was just thinking about how much more I enjoy the morning walks over the afternoon ones these days. Nothing wrong w/ writing about coffee. It’s the perfect way to begin the day.
Coffee! Why didn’t I think to write about coffee?! Delicious 🙂
I swear I try to turn every prompt into a poem about coffee.
DeAnna,
You can always write about coffee–maybe you’ll eventually tire of the subject (ha! I know you better than that!). I like the transition from coffee, bold and strong eventually giving way to the cooling air of morning.
DeAnna, I will read whatever you write. And I love poems about coffee 🙂 I am glad that you included both your initial thought and then your “marinated” poem. While we were all forced to reckon with line breaks in this style of poetry, I feel you used your line breaks very effectively. I love the break between
“mud
covered path”
especially for some reason. Maybe because it kind of stops the rhythm of the poem, ever so slightly, like mud on a path might cause one to shuffle out of their regular stride. Nice work!
DeAnna, what a lovely taste of your day. I like the description of your walk, and of course, your latest coffee poem, bold and strong!
These last few months have been difficult and I haven’t been able to join. I’ve missed this space so much.
Hostage
by Monica Schwafaty
Pain slowly
infiltrates, dulls
her life.
It takes over-
a constant
companion.
No escape.
A body
held hostage.
Together
we cry. A life
interrupted.
We’re glad you could join us, Monica. What a powerful poem – a word like “infiltrates” works so well here, sounding vaguely medical, suggesting an enemy. (And I’m holding you in the light.)
//david
Welcome back, Monica. So sorry to read of your time of challenge, but honored that you decided to share it in this interesting poetry form. Praying for you as you make tough decisions moving forward.
Monica,
Your poem reflects a profound truth: pain does hold a body hostage.
Monica, your words buzz with their story: hostage, infiltrates, dulls, interrupted. Thank you for finding your way to the page.
“Together we cry.”
xo
Oh, Monica, peace as you walk with her. Welcome back, friend. Thank you for writing today. I hope it helps. Your poem is palpable, full of the overwhelming hold pain has on a body and even in a relationship. Peace.
A SPOOKY STORY
Doorways, thoroughfares, paths
Otherworldly friends
Alive
Half-elves, Elflng dwarves,
Gnomes, Changelings
Mirror
My parallel twin
Bloodshot eyes
Grins
Ooh! This is a spooky poem. Your last stanza of a parallel twin with bloodshot eyes and grinning is really creepy. So few words and well put together really evoked the feeling of spooky for me. Thanks.
Dixie, so cool how the reverse form alerts readers to the horror to come, unsettling with description, leaving us with one word:grin. Unsettling. Clever.
Peace,
Sarah
I appreciate how you’ve started with “Doorways, thoroughfares, paths,” – it invites me into your poem! I feel like I’d be happy to travel further into your otherworld!
Dixie, wow, this form worked for your spooky story! I like looking at those final words of each stanza–Alive, Mirror, Grins! Powerful.
This last week my nineteen year-old son moved out and almost immediately got called up to a wildfire fighting crew (field experience for his degree). He’s in Montana on the Crow Reservation. Not a lot of adjustment time for this momma.
Son
growing up,
an adult now
University
forestry major
out fighting wildfires
My
heart is
on the line
I
know he
is very capable
But
momma hearts
aren’t rational things
Daily
I wait
for text updates
Tell
me you’re
okay and alive
So
my heart
will keep beating
I
am so
proud of him
Raising
independent children
is the goal
Please
let my
heart adjust soon
Cara,
Your momma’s heart spoke to mine. No platitudes given here, just know I will always lend an ear. Yes, raising independent children is the goal.
Dear Cara, I love how you used this form to convey your care, concern and love.
What a beautiful way to work through your worries and fears, your momma feelings. “My / heart is / on the line” works so well because it echoes the work he must be doing – laying down fire lines or control lines.
//david
Cara, I hope writing this offered some kind of comfort on expression and now we are sitting with you in adjustment. I hope you write with us for months to come so that we can hear poetry updates on forestry from time to time. So appreciate this glimpse into your life and a world of forestry about which I know so little but deeply appreciate.
Peace,
Sarah
Cara,
I hate to tell you, but the heart never completely adjusts to a child’s adulting. Your son is doing important work. As a westerner, I am extremely worried about the summer fire season.
Glenda,
I do know that, but I can always hope it eases a bit. I am in Oregon and the company my son works for is based here, sending crews out to the entire US, but mostly the western states where we have been hit so very hard the last few years. I don’t think I’ll see much of my son this summer–but still, ridiculously proud of him.
Cara, I love that you’re letting us work through this with you. Thank you for writing this poem today, and for giving me this perspective. This line really stood out to me because I thought “this works LITERALLY” (which I know was intentional).
“My
heart is
on the line”
I’m looking forward to more poems about this topic because I know you’ve been aching to write about this for a while. Thanks for writing this one today!
Cara, what a week for him to move out and be ready to fight fires in the west. I can see how scary that would be. This one stanza is so true:
Peace to you and lots of text messages! May he stay safe. Please tell him we are thankful for his service.
Skin
I’m in
Is too thin.
Dear Katrina, There are days I fully relate to this… 🙂
Katrina,
Simple poem but I am left with the question of real skin or figurative skin??
Katrina, it’s amazing, isn’t how carefully selected words can resound a message with such power. The skin I’m in. Wow! So much today depends on the skin we’re in and your poem speaks to and for so many of us. Thanks for sharing it.
The simplicity speaks more loudly, to me, about the pain of being in the world than many words or several stanzas would. Thank you.
Katrina,
I feel this poem both literally and figuratively. My feelings get hurt easily. Your poem really packs a punch is very few words.
Katrina, I really enjoyed this! Very profound. And I love the repetition of the “in”s in “Skin,” “in,” and “thin.”
Katrina,
This is so incredible. The basic idea and the subtle rhyme…so good.
And, I can totally relate.
OK, this short and simple verse speaks volumes, Katrina. We can all say that at surprising times. I hope all is well!
Denise — Thanks for introducing this fun poem structure. Your “Signs of Friday” inspired my recounting of a Friday night wine tasting.
Wine Tasting With Friends
By Tammi Belko
Observing
Swirling, Smelling
Pepper and melons
Sipping
Textured, rich
Wine with legs
A perfect evening
friends, wine
Socializing
Tammi — Each of these details takes me right to the joy of FINALLY socializing! I especially felt the “swirling, smelling.” I saw those “legs” on the wine glass…”perfect evening” indeed! Thank you for such a “happy hour”! Susie
Delightful—love me some wine with legs. Nothing like tasting with friends. You’ve captured the mood. ??? cheers!
What a fun choice for this form, Tammi! Loved reading it.
Tammi, reading your poem brought back so many good memories.
Tammi, I’m swirling honey wine with hints of lemon from key west tonight celebrating time with Dad and brother/ I just read this aloud as we sip and we all love it!
Oh, lovely Friday evening wine tasting. So many fun images. Swirling and smelling the various bouquets. I love the “wine with legs” and the last stanza perfectly summarizes this special evening.
Denise, thank you for introducing me to this new poetry form! I love the idea of writing these as summaries of one’s day, remembering special moments.
It is great to be back here with everyone for a five-day OpenWrite!
Saturday
women friends
nourishing conversation together
Saturday
farmer’s market
fresh pumpernickel bread
Saturday
digging weeds
lost in thought
Saturday
rain begins
hay(na)kus to write
Saturday
leisure, lingering
feeling so blessed
Yes, Maureen, the whole “Saturday”-ness of the images are heaped in good. I need to finally get myself to the “farmer’s market”… oh how I’ve missed that. Happy Saturday, you poet you! Susie
Maureen, your poem reflects the variety of fun things and run things that fill our Saturdays. Glad you could capture them in this poetic form. Interesting that you put the farmer’s market stanza next to digging weeds, then mentioning rain. How things fall together whether or not you intended those connections. Yes, we know that readers “read out of ” our poems more than we conscientiously put “into” them. What a lesson!
Maureen,
Your day sounds perfect. I love the alliteration in “leisure lingering.”
Maureen, love your shoutout to Saturday. The repetition of the day does make it linger. The details of your day affirm why you feel blessed. You made lovely word and moment choices in telling about your Saturday. Pumpernickel sounds wonderful–it’s making me drool thinking about a Reuben sandwich. Glad to see poetry was part of your day. I’ve missed you, my friend.
My
Friend marries
Her love today
On a beautiful
Beach in
Mexico
We
Join together
To celebrate love
Family, friends, delight
In their
Happiness
Oh, I love how the last stanza is in reverse ending with the word “happiness.” Are your toes in the sand?
Oh Mo, what a joyous occasion! Have a great time! Beautiful poem of delight in this new love!
Oh, this sounds glorious! These short poems really capture the love and joy of this precious day! Enjoy!
Mo,
Congratulations to your friend.
I enjoyed how you used both Hay(na)ku and Reverse Hay(na)ku so fun.
Mo,
This makes me smile. A beach wedding is so romantic. I love the love you share for your friend.
Mo, this is perfect for capturing the moment of unity in today! Perfect lovely!
Hi Mo! I feel the light and love in this beautiful poem! Wishing your friend a life of love!
Thanks for this fun new form, Denise! At age 65 I’ve decided to resume karate lessons. Every muscle aches as I write this! ?
Tae Kwon Do
By Nancy White
Stretch
More burn
Doing the splits
Jab
Reverse punch
Crescent spin crescent
Kiyap!
Palm heel
The board breaks
Crack! Splinters fly!
Releasing pure
Power
Step, evade, block
Punch punch!
Kick!
Double knife-hand block
Front kick
Hit!
Twenty more push-ups
Ready, Joon-bi…
Si-Jak!
Nancy,
I love the movement and action of your poem. I can totally visualize this karate lesson, and can understand why all your muscles would ache.
Nancy! I love all the jargon that an insider would know and how accessible you make the moves, the pace, the power with the single word lines. Si-jak!
Oh, Nancy, I am so impressed! Yes, the jargon that you would have to be an insider to understand is really effective. We get enough to be super impressed though. Splinters flying, splits, kicks, reverse punch, board breaks. What?! Amazing choice for your 65-year-young body!
Oh my, this sounds so rigorous – and absolutely amazing to do! So many great words of movement, and the exclamation points accent the ‘power’ and physicality of the workout. Fun poems!
Nancy — I love all the physicality and power in these images. The action of the “kick” and “punch”… and heaven help me a “double knife-hand block”…. egads! KA-BOOM! The onomatopoeia in the sounds that carry each whack… wowza! You are in the zone here! Thanks for all that energy! Susie
Nancy, What fun! I can see this practice because of your word choice and punctuation! Well-done!
Nancy, you capture images with words with comparable skills as in your photos and paintings, but the latter two are attractive but static. Your poem is a vibrant movie!
Denise, thank you for this new form and for easing us back in (after the hiatus in May)!
We
find ourselves
here: Ethical ELA.
Together
again at
last at last.
___________
LOL
(not really)
Laughing Out Loud
___________
Huh
my favorite
non-lexical conversational sound
__________
Spelling:
the bane
of my existance.
I agree it is great to “find ourselves here” and reconnect through poetry. I laughed out loud at “Spelling:/the bane/of my existance” because I totally relate. I always find that I can’t spell with on the whiteboard an audience, namely students. Thank God for spell check on the computer.
Yes, together again at last at last – love the way these words look as a hay(na)ku! These are fun – and love the laugh of the last one.
Indeed, Scott — So glad to see you back here today! I laughed at
and at
pure Scott gold.
as it brought me right back to Scott! Whoohoo! Susie
Scott, yes, I was so happy to find ourselves together again here at Ethical ELA, after quite a long hiatus. As Susie said, it is great to see you today in pure Scott-form! Love your spelling, huh, and LOL topics. Only Scott! Very funny and engaging.
Thank you for introducing me to this form, Denise!
Going Home: A Series in Hay(na)ku
Home
Isn’t here
Not really anyway
Home
Isn’t there
Either. Not anymore.
Where can it
Be then?
Home
Can it be
In the
Middle?
Liminal
Space is
A hard home.
Chea,
I love this poem. It really got me thinking about how we define “home” how this idea of home his not the same for everyone and isn’t necessarily a place. Maybe instead it is a journey? Love your last stanza: “Liminal/Space is/ A Hard Home”
I’m kinda wishing I would’ve broken form and added “to decorate” as the last line in the stanza. Goes to show no piece of writing is ever really finished I reckon.
Love the way that the last hay(na)ku summarizes your in-betweenness. These were lovely poems!
Chea,
I like how you played with the line order of the hay(na)ku form in your piece, bringing us to the “hard” truth of the final stanza. The interesting contrast in adjectives in that stanza – the particularity of “liminal” and the ambiguity and range of “hard.”
//david
Chea, you took such a lovely look at home here. With simple phrases and words, you tell a story of the chapter you are in. Peace in the in-between and the waiting. I love your ha(na)ku!
SARAH — Thank you for getting the website to again let us use those “Bold, Italics, Underlining…” Yea! Susie
THE MATH OF OMENS
Omens
come in
three hard blows:
one
between eyes
so blindly closed;
next
in disbelief
it could repeat;
finally,
rips scabs,
leaving storied scars.
Wary,
left counting
down the threes.
by Susie Morice, June 19, 2021©
Susie — This poem leaves me with a feeling of foreboding, but it also gets me thinking about so many people don’t recognize the portents until they are literally hit but then still chose to ignore what is right in front of them.
There is much mystery and suspense in these poems – a foreshadowing, leaving me wondering (and wary!).
Wow, Susie, these three omens can be applied to many situations. I am left pondering when I have missed the omens. The three seem a good metaphor for our country these days, as well. That last stanza does make one wary about what the future holds. Lovely subject today.
Hi Susie! I ran out of time and steam yesterday and missed your poem. Whew, the mysterious wonderings when the omens come in 2’s and we pray there’s not a 3rd waiting to sucker punch us between the eyes! This is a powerful poem and one to dig into, finding more than what meets the eyes.
Hugs, my friend!
Thanks Deb, for another opportunity to share a sad glad poem in a new way. June 20 is both my parent’s anniversary, my birthday, and for years, June 20 fell during the last week of school. Here’s my thoughts about Junes, past and present.
June is THEE Month
Finally
School’s out
No more homework
Finally
Parents married
Then parent divorced
Finally
I came
Born on anniversary
Finally
Children visit
Months after sequestration
Finally
It’s signed
Juneteenth now official
Now different homework
I’m retired
Finally
Then parents divorced
Both remarried
Finally
Born on anniversary
Celebrate me
Finally
Months after sequestration
Family gathers
Finally
Juneteenth now official
Birthday tomorrow
Finally
Birthday celebrations intertwined with love and anniversaries (and divorce) and, now, Federal holidays – such an emotional (and, hopefully, overall, joyous) time!
Anna, what an interesting form you took with the hay(na)ku and reverse hay(na)ku and then the repetition. I like your description of it is a sad/glad poem. I like that finally’s in the second half which convey healing and time for you and your now-family, along with finally the official celebration of Juneteenth.
Thank you, Denise for this fun prompt. A great start to writing this weekend. I will be thinking Hay(na)kush all day. Here are my first two.
Awake
eyes open
stretch the body
arms
raise high
back starts twitching
knees
still bent
start to straighten
legs
holding up
a heavy body
steps to move
torso forward
beginning
warm brew swallowing
stomach warming
energizing
deep long breath
cool air
awake
___________________
cookies
oatmeal raisin
warm from oven
dissolve in mouth
tasty treats
sweetness
Susan, you really capture that slow and peaceful waking up. I can feel your poem in my bones. I like the gradual awaking with your cup of coffee and the cool air. Lovely!
And those cookies. Oatmeal raisin as some of my favorites. I can feel them melting in my mouth.
I love the idea of thinking (and maybe speaking) in hay(na)kush. Funny!
Susan,
I just love how this form creates rhythm, song in our writing, and this comes through so well in yours so much so that I felt the shift when you went into reverse and had to reorient myself a bit toward the closing. I love the movement toward the single word in the final lines — “awake.”
Peace,
Sarah
Love your process of waking up, how you are aware of each body part. I can feel the stretch. I like how you seamlessly switched to reverse.
Oatmeal cookies?? Be right over!
Your poems capture the slow, soft start to your day…and those cookies, oh my, I want one.
My thoughts this week…….
Vacation
couch walk
sleep eat television
Read
audio hardcover
educate absorb imagine
Juneteenth
freedom celebration
gratitude Opal Lee
Elated
good-bye teaching
For nine weeks
Seana, enjoy that nine week break, filled with lots of gratifying marvel–enough sleep, good food, audio books, yay!
I’m happy Opal Lee lived to see this day. I hope we can speed up the pace on civil rights after this recent past difficult chapter.
Thank you, Seana, for sharing your life with us today!
Such a big week! Congrats on the end of your school year…yay, new Federal holiday! National recognition of Juneteenth!! Yay, summer!!
This is a fun form! I love the idea of capturing every day with a short poem like this!
A Teacher”s Summer
Toenails
Painted bright
Orange for sandals
Out
Walking early
Before the heat
Reading
The growing
Pile of books
Taking
Time to
Soak life in
Oh, yes, indeed, Julie! What a lovely teacher’s summer collection. I I am just soaking in the warmth and beauty of this summer. Enjoy the walks, the sassy toenails, the reading and living!!
I love the bright orange toes. And the loveliness of the line “Taking/time to/soak life in.”
These are joyful tributes to summer! Enjoy!
Your poem speaks to me as my summer begins as well! The line “Reading/The growing/Pile of books” I can definitely identify with! Here’s to orange toe nails!
Yes, Julie!!! I’m all of the above!!! You nailed it! I can’t wait to start on my pile of growing books to read, but I most of all look forward to:
Beautiful!! ?
Morning Yoga
Fear
inhibiting, limiting,
freezing forward movement.
Insecurity
doubting, intimidating,
shrouding innate talent.
Worry
endlessly untimely
ruining the moment.
Breathe.
Take in
healthy cleansing thoughts.
Stretch.
Reach high.
Feel your strength.
Kathleen, what a sweet progression in your yoga-ing! Wow. I’ve not done yoga, but I can sense the power in the breathing, stretching, reaching. Feel your strength, yes! Well done.
My first time writing here, after lots of lurking. I like this type of new to me poetry! My Saturday night kinda blues.
Loving
some freedom,
Then feeling trapped.
Missing
my family
and traveling “home”.
Busy
reading, writing
forgot to exercise.
Time
goes slowly,
until it’s passed.
I love your last stanza! Such tremendous truth there…such a succinct way to express the paradoxical nature of time.
Erika, a big warm welcome to you! It is so good to have you joining in. Thank you for explaining your “Saturday night kinda blues.” I can relate to not traveling home this summer. That last stanza says so much. It is challenging me to seize the day and enjoy every moment. Thank you for writing today!
Erica, I completely feel the sentiments in your poem — especially that sense of time passing so slowly until you stop and realize how much of it has already gone.
Erika, Welcome! I really enjoyed the truth in your last stanza, and I can totally relate to your third stanza! Thanks for sharing today.
Hi Erika and welcome!! You captured a ton of emotions in just a few stanzas, bravo!!! I think the ending hits me the hardest because it pretty much sums up my last month of procratination. Thank you for helping me feel like I’m not alone!
I love your Hay(na)ku. Sending (((HUGS))) to you. I know it’s not easy being away from those you love.
Denise, what a beautiful way to invite us back into writing. I love this form and look forward to introducing it to students in our writing workshop this upcoming week.
{poem}ing
turning words
into art breaths
Wow, Jennifer! That is a beauty! I’m so happy you have a new poetry form for your writing workshop. I think the students will enjoy it. “art breaths” took my breath away!
Jennifer, I admire this poem so much as it captures so much meaning in a few words. That’s exactly what a profound poem should do!
So fun. Turning words into art.
Hi Jennifer!
This is brilliant! {poem}ing is our jam!!! Love it!
Love how you made poem a verb…yes!!!
Denise, thanks for sharing this new poetic form. I love learning about how others take one form (haiku) and make it their own (haynaku).
A Series of Pride Month Hay(na)ku
Explore
the labels
suited to me.
Love
my identity
embracing the queer.
Live
to be
a bold rainbow.
Rainbows
riotous colors
the first Pride.
Love always wins
as community
grows.
I love the way each stanza here builds on the previous one. Also your message is powerful! #lovewins
Erica,
Beautiful! My favorite: “Live / to be / a bold rainbow.”
I love the “riotous colors” of “the first Pride.”
Yes, “love always wins!”
Thank you for sharing!
Erica, bravo on your brilliant use of this form. I especially love the middle stanza.
Erica, yes!! This is powerful and so important for our world today. I feel your power and strength in every stanza. I think this is the point of life:
I pray that one day we can all live in a life so bold and so filled with love.
????❤️
Erica,
Thank you for sharing your truth. I enjoyed how each stanza built upon the one before.
Keep letting your pride shine.
❤?????
Denise, thank you for a new form. This was a great way to reflect on all that is going on right now. I can see why you would write in this form daily.
Last school day
students want
hugs
Breeze
brushes away
months of stress
mom
always taking
care of me
almost
summer – grades
bogging me down
Excitement is building
On Wisconsin
Independence
I can feel the hope and optimism here. I enjoyed some reverse and some forwards.
Heather,
I love how through these snippets we get so many images of your life right now. I love the hugs and the blown away stress. Your hay(na)ku today are making me cheer you on to get those grades finished soon! All the best. Have a great summer!
Heather, I love the sense of hope. I can feel the breeze brushing the stress away and those sweet hugs. Enjoy your summer!
Squirrels
Feeder
For squirrels
Dad with Food
Daughter
With Grandpa
Learning animal compassion
Cold
Minnesota winters
Squirrels have food
Dad
Is gone
But squirrels remain
Daughter
With food
Tends the squirrels
Squirrels
Visit daughter
Know they’re Grandpa
Life
Goes on
The veil lifts
Grandpa
Touching Granddaughter
Through the squirrels
Judi Opager
June 19, 2021
Wow! This is such a beautiful way to capture this family connection and history! What an amazing tribute!
So sweet — a gentle reminder of the simple ways we pass ourselves on.
In such simple language, Judy, you have shared so much family history, mentoring, love, and memory. Love that Grandpa / touching Granddaughter / Through the squirrels. Thank you.
Judi,
This made me cry. What a beautiful reminder that our loved ones will always be with us.
This form is such a great way to tell a story, as you’ve done here so succinctly and poignantly. I am reminded (again) that we once lived closer to the earth than we do now, and that there’s a spiritual side to nature…connections we cannot see…don’t these squirrels seem like willing instruments! “Learning animal compassion” from Grandpa has paid off so powerfully fro Granddaughter – it’s a message for us all.
Judi, I love the generational connections you’ve drawn through nature! Thank you for writing and sharing this!
Judi, this is a glorious tribute! The small things like feeding squirrels carry lifetimes of memories and messages to savor. Thank God for all the ways our loved ones continue to be present when they’ve gone from the physical body.
Beautiful imagery…
Conversation
under stars
brings firefly flashes.
note: flashes are the language of love for fireflies
Sarah, in the simplest form lies complexity and you have captured that here. I love the added layer of flashes too. So grateful to be back here writing with everyone today.
I loved reading the “Cool Things You Never Knew about Fireflies.” I love your poem, which seems to be about all kinds of human and animal conversations going on under the stars–many of them leading to or strengthening love. I like the way “firefly flashes” sounds in my mouth too. Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah,
This took me ba k to my childhood in Brazil. These three lines are full of nostalgia and longing.
Ooooh…..like blushes, those flashes! The conversation lights up the night!!
Such an image you convey, Sarah, in so few words – I absolutely sense the firefly love on a warm summer night, in those soft flashes.
Hi Sarah! Excited to be back with you! The 3 lines are packed with fire, love, and possibilities. I feel hope overflowing from your poem.
?
Denise, thank you for a fun new form! I love your calendar approach to writing in small notes that feed daily good writing habits!
Juneteenth
emancipation commemoration
freedom, liberation, celebration
Thank you, Kim! So good to be back with you and others today for poetry. I am struck by the “ation” in these words and did a quick search to look up the function of this suffix — in action or process. We are still in the process of liberation, and this comes through with your epistrophe!
Thank you, Kim. Yes, to Juneteenth! I pray this decision and holiday now will cause many more conversations about how to move forward for freedom and liberation for all Americans in every area. Love the sound of all the -tions.
Kim, thank you for placing Juneteenth into this form today. It becomes a calendar marker, a way of honoring, of remembering.
This is perfect for today – this important new holiday.
❤❤❤
Your ode to Juneteenth
Kim, such a creative way to mark the holiday; you are always able to pack such power in so few words. I think of you as a queen of haiku, now of hay(na)ku.
Denise – what an intriguing form! I was struck by the thread of story running through your “signs of Friday” and the sense of savoring.
Today my family is performing the funeral service for one of our dearest friends. As he is so much on my mind this morning, I am trying out this simple little form as a means of tribute. Needs some tweaking, maybe more concrete imagery, but here’s a draft – and thank you for this so-accessible outlet:
On waking before dawn on the morning of a beloved friend’s funeral
Memory
Like morning
Shimmers with light
Gathering
For Christmas
Across the years
You
Playing Santa
Giver of gifts
Laughter
Colorful, bright
Exquisite as snow
Stories
Like wine
Better over time
Dinners
Savored moments
Ending too soon
Envisioning
Your eyes
Always Christmas-bright
Awe
At love
Given so freely
Embracing
Many others
Ever-widening circle
Gathering
Together today
In your memory
Celebrating
Your life
Colorful, bright, exquisite
Testimony
To faith
In Lord Jesus
Returning
your body
to your homeplace
Earth
Where our
Young selves walked
Gathering
For Christmas
Across the years
Now
In springtime
Oceans of flowers
Bloom
Like promises
Around your grave
Friend
No good-byes
Only more homecomings
Rising
From darkness
In heaven’s embrace
Memory
Like morning
Shimmers with light
Oh, Fran, what a beautiful tribute. He is such a gift to your family. I can see so much of the kind of man he was in this draft. “Your eyes / Always Christmas-bright” seems like a great summary of his light and love, of his giving, laughter and stories. Peace to you and all who loved him.
Fran,
I am sorry for your loss. This elegy is lovely in its tone and imagery, both mournful and praiseful. That you hold space for memory “like morning” and “with light” and noticing the “Shimmers” makes me see the your friends light that you carry.
Peace,
Sarah
I love the opening and closing stanzas — such beautiful similes. The moments you’ve captured in these hey(na)ku are truly precious.
This is a touching tribute, and I think the form fits the little vignettes perfectly. I am sorry for your loss, and I hope this writing time brought peace to you today.
Fran, I am so sorry for this loss. You have honored your friend here, remembering, sharing, recognizing. These two stanzas struck me “Earth/where our/young selves walked” and “bloom/like promises/around your grave” for their arc from youth to death and the connection to nature and so much more that I’m making much too simple in this response. Hugs to all of you.
Sorry for the loss of your friend.
Wonderful tribute to someone who was special to you.
Fran, thoughts of you as you grieve the loss of your friend! As always, your words capture the spirit of truth and paint a beautiful picture!
Fran, what a lovely tribute. This is something to consider tweaking and sending to the family. Maybe in December when they too will be missing him for many of the reasons acknowledge in this poem.
Sending my condolences, Fran. My family had a memorial service for one of my aunts yesterday who lived a life of love and service. Your poem could easily be about her so it truly warmed my soul to read it. I adore the comparison of memory to morning. May we see the shimmers of light from our dearly departed loved ones at the dawning of each day.
?
Denise – I’m glad to meet you here today, getting our minds into gear with this prompt. Just delightful! And your poem is a wonderful journey, bringing us right there with you. Happy time!!! Susie
What a marvelous celebration of happiness. I love this poem, Denise. In every verse you radiate happiness and love – “Memory Like morning Shimmers with light” – favorite line!
(Thanks, Denise. This form is right my attention span alley. Kevin)
Short Thoughts About Writing
Ink
gone dry;
poems still flow
Write
of spaces
between the stones
Stories
don’t exist
until we speak
Leaving
off letters
makes new words
Sometimes writing rules
break, become
bent
Memory
becomes filter
for remembering nothing
Pages
closed, the
book remains unwritten
Yes, #smallpoems are great for full summer lives! It is so great to be back today and to see your treasures coming in first thing! I love that the writing roles are broken and bent in that one hay(na)ku.
And this one… I’m going to go away and savor for awhile…
Kevin – I’m so tickled to open the website this morning and find you here, early as always and focused on the artistry of writing and thinking about language and it’s wonders. Each of your 3-liners made me smile and so glad to be here. The “spaces/between the stones” is a fine metaphor. And I especially liked “memory/becomes filter/for remembering nothing.” The whole challenge of our movement among our mind, our memory, and the page has that hope of a stroke of artistry — you’ve got that here. Thank you. Susie
Ooh, Kevin, you have me thinking existentially here. Do stories not exist until we speak them? Indeed, I think they cannot do their work until we do, and then that stanza:
I am in awe of the beauty of these words and what it can mean for our writing and our lives. I will look between the stones today, sir!
Peace,
Sarah
P.S. Good to “see” you again.
Thank you, Sarah, and thank you all for taking time to comment …
Oh my gosh what a wonderful poem. Every stanza is perfect, “Stories – don’t exist – until we speak” – so powerful. “Leaving – off letters – makes new words” – so evocative! I just really enjoyed reading and re-reading your poem!
I especially enjoyed the second and the fifth, because the form reflects what is bein said in the heynaku and I always love when poetry does that!
I love the thoughts about writing. This is a great way to focus on one topic. The most powerful one for me was “Stories don’t exist until we speak.”
Stories
don’t exist
until we speak
these lines resonate with me and sparked conversation at the breakfast table today! Thank you!
What then is a story if it is never spoken? Ohhhhh yes, I’m loving this quandry you’ve put me in. Fantastic choices for today’s prompt.
I almost hear the story asking to be spoken! Wow. And yes, let’s break the writing rules! Love it!
Oh, my goodness…is it good to be back! I’ve missed Open Write. What a smashing beginning here, Kevin. Stunning thoughts about writing. I’m loving this form.