And here are my two favorites:
A Picture Can Bring Many Thoughts
This snowy space lures like icing on a cake,
but don’t suggest it may be sweet.
I feel it only in my imagination,
a dream-whipped cold-
more than sunshine cold for skiing
or snow drift cold for red cheeks and snowball fights,
and snow-fluff cold for making angels.
This cold freezes eyes open, nostrils shut;
teardrops form frozen waterfalls on the eyelids.
This cold makes the news.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved
Unrequited
At this time it’s trying hard
to find a proper mate.
Crawling slowly up a tree,
it spies a winsome date.
But brownish gray, tall, thin and rough
tree twigs tend to trick
the hidden branching insect
we call the walking stick.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved
Linda, I have followed your poetry at Laura's site this February and found the collection to be full of variety, voice, and imagery. The snow poem above is wonderful especially this line, "teardrops form frozen waterfalls on the eyelids".
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. What a fun month it has been writing the poems with Laura and everyone.
DeleteIt certainly has and today I feel especially relaxed as I caught up on the poetry prompts. I left 3 new poems at Poetry Friday today.
DeleteWow, I am doing on a day, and haven't started on today's yet. Good for you!
DeleteLove these poems! So different but each brought a smile. If I had to choose, it would be the stick insect because it made me giggle.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sally, something to ponder about those walking sticks!
DeleteHi, Linda - I so admire your productivity with Laura's terrific project! One of these years... ;0) Thanks for sharing these two poems. Love the last line of the first one, and your walking stick looking for love is quite charming! Have a great last weekend of Feb.
ReplyDeleteYou've had a busy month with visiting your daughter, etc. Hope you do join in sometime. Thanks, Robyn.
DeleteHi Linda. I love these. They are also fun to read. I love the snowy space luring like icing on a cake and dream-whipped cold. Oh, your poor walking stick. Even he is fooled by his species' tricks.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liz, I'm glad you enjoyed them.
DeleteI so wish I could have spent more time with Laura's poem project this year. Thank you for posting a couple of your favorites here so I have a second chance to read them! There's much to love about the first one, but for me, your walking stick poem takes the cake!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. Considering that it's camouflage that's desired, I wondered if the walking stick might be fooled sometimes too. Fun!
DeleteEnjoyed these poems, Linda. I like the "dream whipped cold" snowy thoughts of the first poem, and the second poem reminded me of the time one of those walking sticks got into our foyer (I covered it with a microwave splatter cover for my husband to deal with later). They are amazing insects but I like to admire them from afar. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my, using the splatter cover was a great idea, Jama. I once arrived home to find a bird in the house, so I turned around and left, until my husband came home. Such adventures with nature! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI'm glad we haven't had much of that nostril-freezing cold this year (so far)! I especially liked the image of the waterfalls on eyelids and the wordplay of "branching insect."
ReplyDeleteThanks JoAnn, we haven't had such cold "yet", but still might I suppose.
DeleteWell done with each of these, Linda...and congrats for being able to keep up with all the prompts! I wish I'd had more time to do more of them, but just haven't been able to.
ReplyDeleteSome of the writing I've done is better than others, Matt, but it's been a good exercise for me to see what I can do. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteBravo, Linda - you have been prolific and inventive. I do love Unrequited - you had fun with that one!
ReplyDeleteYes, I did. Thanks, Tara.
DeleteWe've been having a crazy creative month, haven't we? I'm glad you haven't had nostril-freezing weather. We had two days of below zero weather and I was ready to pack up and move.
ReplyDeleteWe are getting worried about the "no moisture", & will pay for it later in the year if we don't start getting something. It's been unusually warm for a long time, just a bit of snow. No real cold at all. Weird. And yes, I do enjoy Laura's challenge, Diane, & reading your wonderful approaches each time.
DeleteLove both of these, Linda. We've had some of that cold that "makes the news" and let me say, I'm not a fan! Laura's project hasn't been possible for me this last week, but I loved participating earlier in the month. So important for us to stretch those poetry-writing muscles in new ways! And it's always much more fun to have friends to keep us company and cheer us on along the way.
ReplyDeleteHoping that our warmth will find its way east soon, Catherine. I'm glad that you shared some poems along the month, too. Thanks.
DeleteI've had a blast writing off Laura's prompts this year. My biggest regret is that I've only had time to write, not to fully participate in the community!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, a busy month. I've loved all that you wrote, Mary Lee.
DeleteThe picture prompts have really worked for me! Being able to go to Laura's blog and find inspiration has been a lovely gift!
ReplyDeleteI love the various "colds" you find in the white whipped picture --
"a dream-whipped cold-
more than sunshine cold for skiing
or snow drift cold for red cheeks and snowball fights,
and snow-fluff cold"
Thanks, Julieanne. Laura's Birthday shared with us makes February a wonderful month.
DeleteI'm in awe of what all of you have accomplish this month. Amazing poetry, amazing stamina and a seeming endless well of inspiration and creativity. I like how rich your lines are with visual images. I can really see them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenda, it seems that once you get 'in the groove', you keep going. It's been fun too.
DeleteGreat poems, Linda! I know what you're talking about by the "heavy lifting." I've challenged myself to write a poem a day through several Aprils (National Poetry Month) and it does indeed feel like that by the end of the month!
ReplyDeleteYour poem about the walking stick insect is clever and fun! I understand the satisfaction--made especially intense, I think, because of the satisfaction of rhymes snapping into place.
Thanks, Violet, sometimes those rhymes are elusive, aren't they, and I find a whole stanza lost because of changing one word, but yes, other times, the puzzle fits. I do something in April too, but it doesn't feel quite so intense, perhaps because I'm choosing.
Delete