Poetry Friday Plus Two Writing Teachers Challenge #9 Means Writing!

     The March Slice of Life Challenge at the Two Writing Teachers blog - Thanks Stacey and Ruth.  Poetry Friday is hosted today by Myra, Fats and Iphigene at the Gathering Books blog.  That means wonderful things to read everywhere!

I posted a poem about saying goodbye last Tuesday, The Lonesome Swing, and in that introduction I mentioned a personal project I’m working on about different ways of looking at children (mine, others, and grandchildren, too) growing up.  I’ve trying to write a series of poems at different stages in a life, essentially saying goodbye each time.  The poems so far are rather nostalgic; I hope to put them together in a book with pictures of my grandchildren (10 ½, almost 3, 7 months) at the particular stage I am describing in the poem.  Part of this comes from my talks with my own children, watching my daughter be pregnant last year, the children growing and changing so fast.  Another part is that I love telling stories through poetry, and I love poems of goodbye, so I thought this would be a good way to combine both passions.  Someday I hope to put it all together in a book for my grandchildren.  As we often say, it’s nice to have a goal and an audience to write for.

Real feedback is welcome.  I appreciate it.  Here is the first one:

(1)

I’ve lived with you now

nine months-

heaven time.

I know you rolling,

kicking and shoving,

not always gently

but reminding:

“I’m here, I’m here.”

Even asleep

I feel the weight of you,

the song of your whisper,

humming “Here, here.”

Now it’s time

to seek you,

meet you,

greet you.

I’m not at all ready

to say goodbye to

you and me,

to have it be

you

and

me.