Last week, Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise hosted and added an extra. She shared numerous lines for inspiration in writing a poem. We were to return as many lines back that we took. I borrowed one, and while it is one I've worked hard on, I'm still not very satisfied. Even as I posted, I thought of another "move". This line was not easy!
Nonsense, Maybe?
Mother Nature lost her slippers!
A story like a Mother Goose rhyme.
It’s nonsense, made-up, yet like the others
conceals a message if you take your time.
Mother Nature lost her slippers
when she took a different path,
mislaid them in a north woods blizzard
as she escaped that stormy wrath.
She had neglected to prepare
with fur-lined boots and winter wear,
stopped only for a while to view
flowers gone and trees grown bare.
Mother Nature often drifts
into dreams of summer stops.
This time, she moved far to the south,
happily stepped into flip-flops.
For us earthlings, this story shows
our Mother Nature’s getting old.
Find those slippers, do what you can
assisting her (and our) household.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved
photo credit: benhosg Slippers DSC_1406 via photopin (license)
First, I love those slippers! Those are great for a Mother Nature kind of gal! Interesting poem! Somewhere out there in the snow.... ooooh! Bet she'll find some pink slippers popping up under the trees. Come spring!
ReplyDeleteI loved "finding" the slipper pic, easier than the poem. Thanks, Donna, spring will come I'm sure.
DeleteSounds a bit like an environmental poem to me, sending a message,
ReplyDelete"Find those slippers, do what you can
assisting her (and our) household."
I like when mother nature
"happily stepped into flip-flops."
Thanks Linda, and the slippers are perfect!
Yes, trying to send that message, Michelle. Thanks!
DeleteI. LOVE. THIS. POEM.
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh....it's so fun to see that line come alive in your words. It was in my journal going nowhere....and look where it is now! If you keep tinkering with it, OK. But, I love it as is. I love that Mother Nature is far north, far south....stopping to admire, dreaming. You make me feel like I know her. Wonderful job. I hope you submit this somewhere. It needs to be somewhere others will see Mother Nature.
Thanks, Linda. I will certainly keep working on it. I like the idea from your line!
DeleteSeems like this could be a claymation special, like the ones about Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and the Heat/Snow Miser.
ReplyDeleteHa! What a fun idea, Tabatha. I was wishing I was a good cartoonist as I wrote to show Mother Nature slushing through the woods, looking! Thank you.
DeleteI love it as it is, Linda - you are clever! Those are some slippers, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I found the slippers on Photopin, love them too.
DeleteWhat fun, Linda! Your poem is such a clever take on those fabulous slippers. And yes, we all need to do what we can to assist "her (and our) household." Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Catherine, and thanks for the comment. I've enjoyed writing it, but as said, a challenge!
DeleteLinda, bravo. Not only are the slippers snazzy but the poem covers so many different avenues: make believe, environmental consciousness, whimsical thoughts. I love these lines: Mother Nature often drifts
ReplyDeleteinto dreams of summer stops.
She is a smart one isn't she, especially when she dons her flip flops!
Indeed she is, and I hope we will listen to her more closely in our future! Thanks, Carol.
DeleteI'm most impressed with where you took that line. (And what a shame to lose a pair of such snazzy slippers.)
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, she may be getting a bit forgetful! Thanks, Violet!
DeleteLove that last stanza! No wonder Ma Nature lost her slippers -- all we've done to her/our home must have her in a complete kerfluffle!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Mary Lee, where I was going with the stanza. When I read she'd lost her slippers, all I could think was that she's losing even more than slippers. Thanks!
DeleteWhat fabulous slippers, and I love that you paired them with that line. I'm not picturing Mother Nature in flip-flops. What power poetry has.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenda, it is all the imagination, isn't it?
DeletePoor Mother Nature. The path must be getting harder for her to travel. Let her do her traveling in slippers, and let us get out of her way! Thanks, Linda!
ReplyDeleteTerrific wishes, Diane. Thank you!
DeleteMother Nature and Mother Goose, meeting up a bit. Love what that might present and those slippers are so fancy! We all need a pair.
ReplyDeleteOh my, how clever, and indeed how meaningful, if we take our time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mandy and Heidi!
ReplyDelete