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| photo via Unsplash |
The World Itself is Not Ponderous
Feathers and giggles,
monarch's first flight,
petals unfurling,
equinox light.
Leaves in the fall,
bulbs in the spring,
in the yard after rain --
a fairy ring.
Fleetingly brief.
Here and then gone.
Like the flash of lightning,
or a chickadee's song.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020
I am joining the Poetry Seven's monthly challenge to explore "ponderous" or "hippo" or both. I went with "or neither" when I got weighed down (ponderously) by The Heavy Issues of Humankind. I did so want to include the factoid that the collective noun for hippos is a bloat. But that poem didn't happen. What I realized became the title of my poem, which was written in one of the "flipside" parts (if you remember my NPM project) of remote teaching -- two hours of silence while I proctored a test through my screen.
Happy Autumn! Happy Almost October!
Jone has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at her new website.
What a lovely poem! Beautiful images; reminds me of Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay."
ReplyDeleteI agree--it is a lovely poem filled with luscious images. Not ponderous--or a hippo.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Mary Lee! So nice to read this poem and see all the images unfold in my mind's eye.
ReplyDeleteGreat sounds and rhythms, Mary Lee. Cool that you wrote it while you were proctoring!
ReplyDeleteIt is one hope of mine that all the children know this, Mary Lee & are not weighed down by the "ponderous", know we'll those "Feathers and giggles".
ReplyDeleteCrazy...how this virtual teachings can be so awful and then provide a bit of silver lining here and there. I am loving learning all the new technology...especially that for accessibility. But, I wish I could slow it down just a bit. I do love that line, "equinox light" that's a keeper.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous, Mary Lee. I'll be keeping your poem and its images with me today.
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you for your uplifting poem Mary Lee, full of life and freshness! I especially like your “fairy ring” and “chickadee song,” and the backstory. A perk of my teaching figure drawing online, I get to draw with my students!
ReplyDeleteMost enjoyable, and moreso when I read how the original poem did not come to be, and in its place one of the best titles ever. My post is up late this weekend and you'll see you are a main character as we struggle with the Hippo I mean Heavy Issues of Humankind. Love to you!
ReplyDeleteLove this! It made me smile, Mary Lee. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet poem! Thanks for writing it, thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteYou're right - there is so much lightness and joy around. After being sad for so long, I am loving rediscovering happiness these days.
ReplyDeleteThe world is not ponderous when petals unfurl, Mary Lee. Nature knows how to add a beautiful light note to the seasons while the worries of the world offer ponderous issues. Thanks for the joyful poem.
ReplyDeleteI love when a poem that wants to be written elbows out the ponderous prompts that brought you to the page. Your poem is lovely, as is the factoid that "the collective noun for hippos is a bloat". Thank you for both. :)
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, your ethereal poem is so full of light and lightness. Your beautiful words choked me up a little!
ReplyDeleteI love all your images in this poem, monarch flight, chickadee song, those fleeting, not so ponderous moments that make life delightful.
ReplyDeleteThis poem feels fleeting and the images...
ReplyDeletepetals unfurling,
equinox light.
It's been fun to watch the light in my new place. How different it is to live downstairs and three doors south.
We need these reminders each day. I feel for you remote teaching.
I recently read a poem by Billy Collins in which he describes the dawn as "offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light." That's exactly what you've done with this little verse on the beauty and brevity - and continuity - of life. A reminder to savor - to drink it in.
ReplyDeleteI could not be gladder that you joined us -- especially with something so ethereal, floaty, and light. I needed that right now. I'm sure we all did. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your "I went with 'or neither'" cracked me up!
ReplyDeleteSuch a blend of playful and glorious! And It feels so good to read it- it had to go back and reread two or three times! I love this!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, one of my favorite things is a poem where the title points something out that might not be in the poem itself, which you've done so well here. Thanks for sharing how this poem came to be.
ReplyDelete