Last week, I had something to share, but no time to read through the roundup and be a part of the community.
This week, I am longing for our community, and planning to snuggle up with laptop and hot tea tomorrow morning to rejuvenate my soul with your postings...but I have nothing to say.
Which is not exactly true, because for some reason, typing the word COMMUNITY this morning makes me tear up and sniffle. I belong here in a way that I don't belong in any other facet of my life. I am thankful for this community.
I searched through my poems and nothing came up for "community," so I tried "together" and got a poem that says much about community. It is from Laura Shovan's Found Object Poem Project last February, and is a good reminder to self that while I can't/won't stop writing #haikuforhealing, I need to get back to writing other poetry as well. Are there events or challenges going on/coming up that I can join to jumpstart my poembrain?
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| Photo by Laura Shovan |
Mysteries
The mysteries of the world are myriad.
Sometimes they look like little balls of butter.
Sometimes they clump together in the shape of South America.
The mysteries of the world puzzle us.
They make us take our glasses off and look so close
we dust our noses with them.
The mysteries of the world hold hidden ripeness.
Each might contain a new life,
or the possibility to change the weather patterns of the entire world.
The mysteries of the world cast shadows.
Hovering above, they block the sun
and send a chill through us as they pass over.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016
The Poetry Friday Roundup this week is hosted by Keri at Keri Recommends. She sent me the most wonderful "suitable for framing" poem postcard! Mine will go out this weekend, so if your mailbox has been empty...my bad. Here they come!
Mary Lee, I am very interested in that "hidden ripeness." Thank you! And yes, this community is a blessing, isn't it? Happy day to you... let the poems (and postcards) come! xo
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, I have been writing on how the community of writers have brought a sense of calm and purpose to my writing. It is amazing what has started with your #haikuforhealing project. Community is an important word that signifies the collegiality, support, connectedness that I feel within the poetic arms of Poetry Friday. Thank you for all that you do to bring community together. I do have a project for you to join with me. I am trying to get a fresh angle on how to bring together writers around the globe to write about the season of winter. I am going to call this gallery Winter Wonder, a title Lester Laminack offered. I hope that you can find the time to create an #imagepoem of what you see in your surroundings to express the wonder of the season.
ReplyDeleteI am a grateful for the community your project created. It was exactly what I needed. Community is what we all need but can not always find the one that fits. I'll be looking to what project you find next to inspire your wonderful poem brain.
ReplyDeleteHere is to celebrating connectivity and community!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to move into other things, too, but it is hard to let go of what you started, Mary Lee. Perhaps I'll have a "haiku Thursday" just for me? I like that second stanza about the mysteries of the world, find myself often wondering, then try to discover answers and "look so close
ReplyDeletewe dust our noses with them." Thanks for the thoughts.
That is beautiful, Mary Lee. And yes, I'm glad for our writing/poetry community. It's a blessing in these dark days.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing and welcoming community I am thankful to be a part of. The writing and poetry shared can indeed change the world. Thank you for all you do to support this community. And I'll be looking for some of those poetry challenges!
ReplyDeleteI love how you confessed or spoke the truth about sharing last week and needing to participate with your people this week. Writing needs people.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I love this community and when we come together around a challenge we grow stronger. Laura's birthday month is coming up, so I hope she is cooking up some plans for us.
ReplyDeleteI love this poem of yours. I will email you about using it.
That last stanza...everything seems to bring me back to this election and the next four years, and so there was something about that stanza that made me think of cold, sunless days.
ReplyDeleteI choose jumpstart my friend. Hugs :)
ReplyDeleteI remember this poem of yours from Laura's challenge. Liked it when I first read it and it wears well. Enjoy branching out into other poetry again. (I know how comfortable a haiku habit can become--when everything comes to one in lines of 5/7/5.)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed writing December haiku with you last year, but missed the #haikuforhealing challenge. I am trying to embrace the challenge of writing/posting every Friday with this community, and I certainly enjoy learning from all of you.
ReplyDeleteI love being a part of this warm, welcoming, inspiring community of writers, readers, poets and poetry lovers! It's a wonderful place to be, and has added so much inspiration and vibrancy to my life!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, some days we wish for our mysteries to have simple solutions like balls of butter we spread on bread. I like your three succeeding stanza where you celebrate the mysteries without naming and narrowing them. I also find comfort in the community of Poetry Friday. I like reading what everyone has to say about the poetry, as well as the poetry itself. It feels more like sharing a cup of tea and chat that way. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful, Mary Lee--such an innocuous beginning and then that ending!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to revisit old work and find it still resonates! I like your little community. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI remember this picture so vividly! Thank you for being candid and sharing that some weeks it's just hard to post and others it's hard to make the rounds to comment. It's a comfort to know the group is carrying on, and that we have each other to brighten our days! Hugs to you! And I'm so glad you like your poem postcard!!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, I am in love with your words"hidden ripeness." I appreciate everything that you bring to this community of writers. You challenge and inspire each week. I wish you a year full of mysteries with that hidden ripeness you speak of.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary Lee, for all you do for this community! Truly, I cannot imagine my life without it. Thanks also for sharing your poem - and for wrestling with life's mysteries.
ReplyDelete(My postcards will be going out close to "the deadline" as well; it's how I often roll! ;0) )
I like that close look that dusts our noses. :-) And like you, I love this community!
ReplyDeleteAppreciations for putting words & your voice into how grateful I feel to have fallen into & been taken in by this group of creatives. I feel lucky every time I am able to be here. Your poem - so inventive a way to respond to Laura Shovan's unique prompt. I love the Mysteries poem & laughed out loud at the 1st verse.
ReplyDeleteVery thoughtful poem, Mary Lee...the world holds mysteries full of both promise and shadows.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, ML--I'm late because my service project this weekend was to visit my folks, which mainly consists of listening while my mom talks. Hard to do anything else!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if "looking so close we dust our noses" is another way of saying "seize the day, note the now, live in the moment, stop and smell the pearls of butter"? I'm struggling, too, not to live in my dread of the future, but it's a good (tough) time to be a teacher (and a parent), and to love the moment with children, on behalf of children.
I gave up the haiku, but I'm ready for a new challenge too. Let's find out what Laura's planning...
Thank you for dusting off this poem, Mary Lee - "mysteries of the world hold hidden ripeness". I love the optimism of this line. We need optimism and community more than ever. I'm glad I am in community with you. =)
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