From Charles Dickens' Great Expectations: "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
While searching for something to share, I discovered this poet, Judith Pordon, who is still writing. She is published in a number of places. Here is a Wikipedia article, really the most I could find about her.
I just finished writing poems for Laura Shovan's birthday month challenge, and immediately started the March Slice of Life challenge connected to the blog, Two Writing Teachers. I know some you are also doing that. Writing is its own reward, right? But when it's a daily deadline, I seem to need a wider reach and inspiration. Even if I'm writing prose instead of poetry, I still turn to reading poems, and most of the time, I find a line, a word that helps me start.
Judith Pordon's poem presents the idea of a blank page, also an inspiration, a desire to fill it up. See what you think! And enjoy everyone's links today!
It begins:
Blank
Beauty
Beautiful
blank pages
kiss our
imaginations
with backgrounds
that
demand precision.
And the rest is here.
What a gorgeous poem! Thank you for introducing me to Judith Pordon. I'm so impressed with your discipline and your own relationship with the blank page, Linda. How you can go from one month-long challenge right into the next is beyond me! Thanks also for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Although I'm happy to say my next spotlight interview (with Amy LV!) is ready to go, it still seems a bit early in the evening to post the link. I'll come back and do that a bit later.
ReplyDeleteI am rather awash in the words, & when I signed up for March 4th, I had forgotten about this challenge-oops. I understand about the earliness, but some have asked for it, so thought I'd put it out there, especially for those in the east. Can't wait for your new guest! Glad you like the poem, a serendipitous find.
DeleteOh, Linda! I didn't mean my "seems a bit early" comment as a judgement against you having your post up early. Not at all! (I love when PF hosts have the post up early.) I just was explaining why I was commenting but not leaving a link. :)
DeleteI didn't think anything about it, Michelle, just replied. No worries, please.
DeleteLove the poem -- thanks for the introduction to Judith Pordon! Have fun with your slicing this month -- enjoyed your poems for Laura's challenge last month. :) You are a busy bee!
ReplyDeleteThis week at Alphabet Soup I have a review of an oldie but goodie, Alpha Beta Chowder, plus a giveaway of the newly reissued version by S&S.
Thanks so much for hosting this week. Happy March!
Thanks Jama, the book you're sharing is new to me, can't wait to read all about it!
DeleteThank you so much for being this week's gracious hostess, and a very special thank you for accommodating eager PF post-ers; it's a gift I very much appreciate. ...Thank you, too, for sharing Judith Pordon's poem which positions blank pages as beautiful: "These beautiful blank pages are promises of our reflections." I must admit I've often thought of blank pages as anything but beautiful. My solution? Play at filling them with words delivered in multi-colored pencils, colored markers...and, for starters--try some different colored paper, too, of different shapes, lengths, and (un)lined backgrounds. ...Sometimes the blank page diversion works! ...God bless you, and thanks! p.s. Snow is back in our forecast; hopefully not nearly the amount of snow pictured in my photo-poem!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you here, and love your idea of seeming trickery to make that blank page more enticing. I know that you use lots of visuals to enhance your words, always lovely to see.
DeleteHi Linda, Sometimes I think a blank page is better left blank before my scribbles, cross-outs and misspellings can splatter it like mud on a party dress. But then I plunge in anyway. LOL Thanks for hosting amid such fireworks of poetry challenges. And thanks for being early. My Friday mornings are always a dead sprint. Best, Brenda
ReplyDeleteWelcome Brenda. Fun to hear about your blank pages. They actually sound like pieces of art! Happy to have you sharing now.
DeleteHappy to be sharing. Only wish my Fridays were not quite so crammed to the brim. I didn't get a moment to sit down until 9 pm. And I'm dim as a 1 Watt bulb.
Delete"Summer in the light, and winter in the shade"...exactly what it's like this week here, Linda! Also enjoyed the poem - had never heard of her, so thanks for sharing. Today, I'm celebrating National Cereal Day a few days early, with my selection from the 'PFA for Celebrations'...and I also announce the winner of Irene Latham's new book!
ReplyDelete(Link goes live shortly after midnight!)
DeleteWonderful that you have a day and a poem for celebrating, Matt, & the quote fits us very well too. That winner will be happy you are here.And I'm glad, too.
DeleteI'm sorry to say that when I clicked on "And the rest is here," the page I ended up on, with its black background, so discomforted me that I couldn't read read the rest of the poem. I'll try again in the morning when the light surrounding me is natural.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Diane. I'm glad I don't have to read against black often either. If you search, there are others who shared, but I wasn't sure they had permission, so I didn't give those links. But they are available.
DeleteIt will easier, I'm sure, if I go back in the morning with natural light and not the bright lamplight behind me.
DeleteThanks so much for hosting, Linda, and sharing the perfect Dickens lines as well as the lovely poem. I must add, though, that if I thought a blank page required precision from the get-go, I wouldn't write or draw anything! ;0) Precision is definitely later in the game for me. CB's colorful idea for tackling blank pages sounds like fun... (Oh -speaking of precision in writing, I have a poem by the amazing Margarita Engle today.)
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are interesting thoughts in Judith's poem about the blank page, and each of us is different. I liked CB's idea too. I know I'll enjoy Margarita's poem, Robyn. Her poetry and books are wonderful.
DeleteOh, I do love the sense of promise in this poem, Linda. Especially these lines:
ReplyDeleteOur gentlest strokes
of darkness upon light.
Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday today!
You're welcome, Tara. Happy you like those lines. I like the idea of the dark penned word onto light, and of course, the more abstract idea of poetry uplifting us. (Don't know why the big space here!)
DeleteThanks so much for hosting, and for this poem, Linda. So often as writers we tend to see the "blank page" as a negative thing--something we HAVE TO fill. How fun to see the beauty of it instead.
ReplyDeleteMy post doesn't go live till 1 am CST, but I won't be around in the morning to share the link, so I hope you don't mind my doing so now. I don't have a true poem to share, but some advice from Mary Oliver that sounded so poetic I decided to reshape it into a poem.
Hope you're ready to March Forth!
Thanks for that last "laugh" Carmela, fun. Others have posted ahead too-it's fine. Happy you enjoyed the poem, and now I'm intrigued about what you're sharing.
DeleteThis poem is the perfect choice to begin a(nother!) month of daily writing. I especially love the idea of the blank page bestowing kisses on our imaginations. Thanks for sharing and for hosting today!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Catherine. For us who are doing the March challenge, & then Poetry Friday too, I did look for something to bolster a little bit. Glad you noticed!
DeleteThank you for hosting, Linda! And I enjoyed your post about your granddaughter and the dictionary, too. She is clearly a word lover!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Tabatha. It is fun to see Ingrid grow in learning about words.
DeleteThank you for hosting, and for introducing me to Judith Prodon. I will be looking out for more of her work.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Sally. I'm glad you have found another poet to search out.
DeleteOh, how I love those letters crossing the page on tightrope lines! PERFECT image!! Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI like that line too, wonder if we will remember it as we write. Thanks, Mary Lee.
DeleteThanks for hosting! I love Poetry Friday and how all of us fill up the blank page in so many different ways, and share our discoveries with each other. (Adore the Dickens quote, too! My adult son just finished reading GE on my rec, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I'm rather pleased with myself today)
ReplyDeleteFor Poetry Friday, I wrote several Sedoka this week, along with my wonderful Poetry Sisters. It's a form I've never tried, but I had fun playing,,,
How wonderful that you suggested Great Expectations and that he loved it. I've read Dickens with my students; opening a world they didn't know was exciting. Looking forward to the group's poems!
DeleteThanks for hosting, Linda. I love the Judith Pordon poem. Sometimes I don't think of the blank page as beautiful, but I absolutely relate to "kiss our
ReplyDeleteimaginations". After all, something has to go on that blank page so my imagination goes to work.
As I wrote above, each of us looks at that page differently, don't we? But it's fun when something is finally placed on it! Thanks, Penny.
DeleteHi, Linda. Wow -- I'm impressed that 1) you completed all 29 days of the February write in and 2) you're starting another writing challenge. Kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks to all of the Poetry Friday folks who participated in this year's February writing project. The wrap up post for our month of FOUND OBJECT poems is up on my blog. We had 5 poets (including Linda) who completed all 29 days of the challenge!
Today, I'm featuring projects stats and one last poem by Jessica Bigi.
http://laurashovan.com/2016/03/2016-found-object-poem-project-wrap-up/
Some days in February were harder than others, Laura, but I was determined to fill that "blank page". I enjoy your creativity always. Looking forward to your post.
DeleteLinda, I don't know how you keep up! I barely get to keep up with the blogs I love, let alone take on a monthly challenge. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting us. Like my poetry sisters, I too am sharing a few sedoka today.
One secret now, Tricia is that I'm not working a full time job. It was much harder in the past years. Looking forward to the sisters' poems today.
DeleteWonderful poem you are sharing today! I am celebrating my 10 year blogoversary this week, so thinking about all those plank pages that became blog posts is very fitting for me. Thanks for hosting us today!
ReplyDeleteWow, I just read another post about celebrating a tenth blogiversary. Congratulations, Andi.
DeleteLinda, your poems grasp my heart and spread sunshine to my soul. Kiss our imaginations. Absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteYou've made me smile, Mary Helen. So glad you liked it!
DeleteThanks for hosting this week, and I really enjoyed that poem. I tried writing a sedoka on the same topic, but this one is MUCH better. ☺
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading all the sisters' poems, Tanita, am sure yours is wonderful! How fun that it's the same topic.
DeleteI love this idea of "pages" as "promises." There is so much truth in that, and you demonstrate it over and over again, with your posts and with your comments to other writers. Thank you for hosting today and for being such a giving and wise member of this community. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Amy, so glad you liked the poem. I do enjoy reading everyone's posts and being part of this lovely community. Have a happy Friday!
DeleteHi, Linda! I enjoyed your post and will be filling blank pages of my own throughout the rest of the day. :) In the meantime, I have posted my first entry in the Poetry Friday lineups. It was a quickie! I was just excited to begin here. :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Susan. So happy to have you here. I'll be by to visit your post as soon as I can. Happy Writing on that blank page!
DeleteLinda, thank you for hosting today and for reminding me of Dickens quote on what my March day looked like. I am late to the Poetry Friday party because I was on the committee to host the Long Island Language Arts Council/Nassau Reading Council's Literacy Conference. The poem you showcased reminds me of the newness of a blank page that allows invites writing in.
ReplyDeleteI'll be trying to visit everyone tonight & tomorrow, Carol. I've had Ingrid here since lunch, so no time to visit everyone yet. Glad you made it!
DeletePerfect quote and poem to launch March, Linda! Thank you for hosting today - it is always a delight to visit your blog. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Bridget, lovely to have you come by. Enjoy the weekend!
DeleteThanks for hosting, Linda! It's quite amazing to see all you meme writers keeping up with these challenges. Self-care is half the battle though, as you explain. I too have some favorite writing "mentors" who again get me excited about creating, because one can easily lose the joy in the deadlines. Thanks for introducing me to a new site. If you keep this up, you'll be in shape to write a marathon!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Violet. This seems to be my busiest time of year, at least in the recent ones, with Laura's challenge, then the Slice of Life in March, & then April, poetry month with a personal goal. I do enjoy them all, but I'll be honest; sometimes wish I could just read a book!
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