Saturday, April 18, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Happiness


from Wikimedia


SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LOOK HARD TO FIND HAPPINESS

Before I was born, my dad was an ag pilot.
He traded freedom and flight for
responsibility and safety and John Deere parts.

Growing up,
we often went for Sunday drives in the country
to get out of town and look at the crops.

But sometimes,
he borrowed a plane and we slipped the surly bonds of earth*
and flew over the faded quilt of fields.

Ironically,
the flight pattern of our small town airport
went right over our back yard.

One summer, I planted a smiley face of marigolds
for the pilots to see
as they came in on final.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015


* "slipped the surly bonds of earth" is from my dad's favorite poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Here's John Denver singing the poem as a song (scrub to 3:25). We played this at dad's funeral.









Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"Happiness Is..."

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.
She finds happiness in family.

Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.



Friday, April 17, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Sorrow

Flickr Creative Commons photo by jenny downing



Table for two
even though one of the chairs
has long been empty.


The kibble
in the cat's bowl
gathers dust.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015








Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.



Robyn has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Love




FOR ISAIAH

He died suddenly
after school one day.
A fifth grader
with an undiagnosed heart defect.

Every holiday
his family decorates the tree
planted in front of the school
in his memory.

In between holidays now,
the maple blooms.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015










Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"Wanted"

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Hope


Wikimedia


SNAPSHOTS

The chemicals begin to drip.
She can feel her veins burning.

Fish are rising
in the deep pool across the stream.

Mother waves from the screen door
as the car pulls out of the drive.

Fingertips rest lightly on the keyboard.
Screen glows impassively.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015








Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"Hope Pokes"

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.
"Gentle Stroll"

Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Desire




THE WHOLE SPECTRUM, PLEASE

tulip petal
monarch wing
forsythia's shock
first leaves in spring

prairie sky
shadows on snow
thunderhead's tower
dogwood, crow


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015






Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"Ode to Morning Mocha"

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.
Hers is the desire to write!

Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.



Monday, April 13, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Hate


image from The Home Gardener


VERMICULTURE

human headline news
chewed indiscriminately
shat out as rich soil


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015








Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!


Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.
Today's poem is here.

Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.



Sunday, April 12, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Aversion


Flickr Creative Commons photo by Larry Hoffman

VERSIONS OF AVERSION

crowds
conflict
powerpoint
lollygagging
liver and onions
being in the spotlight
committee meetings
folding laundry
gossiping
oysters
golf


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015









Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!



Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.
Today's word is LOLLYGAG.



Saturday, April 11, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Despair


Flickr Creative Commons photo by Mike Bitzenhofer


DESPAIR--A FIB

curl
into
a tight ball,
pull covers over,
wail and wallow in darkness.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015









Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
Despair of a child...and her teacher.

Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
Despair all the way into your soul.

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.

Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.

Carol, at Beyond Literacy Link, is writing alongside us when she can.
On the Fringe of Despair


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible. 


Friday, April 10, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Dejection

Wikipedia


WHINE OF THE MEDUSOZOA

I belong to a bloom of jellies,
we've adapted to the tidal flux,
you'd think after 500 million years
we'd have brains...no such luck.

No brains, no eyes*, no stomach, no lungs,
just a floating gelatinous blob.
We drift with the current eating plankton and such,
hunting passively...a boring job.

I'll never see mountains or prairies or sky,
never walk on dry land with real legs,
never soar with a butterfly, bluebird or hawk,
never sing...my life is the dregs.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015

*"Certain species of jellyfish, such as the box jellyfish, have been revealed to have more advanced vision than their counterparts. The box jellyfish has 24 eyes, two of which are capable of seeing color, and four parallel information processing areas or rhopalia that act in competition, supposedly making it one of the few creatures to have a 360-degree view of its environment." --from Wikipedia







Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.

Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
Kay share's a reader's dejection.

Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.


Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.


Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible. 



Laura has the Poetry Friday roundup today at
Writing the World for Kids

.

Thursday, April 09, 2015

2015 Progressive Poem

Welcome to latest installment of the 2015 Progressive Poem! I'm going to honor the changes Irene, our fearless leader, made to the layout. She writes,

"You'll notice a couple of changes in this version of our poem. Jone's first line has been edited slightly, at Jone's request. (She and Joy decided "deposits" was redundant.) Also, I've broken the lines into couplets (one way to add white space to long lines."

I'm a flatlander from the arid prairies of eastern Colorado. I know nothing about deltas, let alone mermaids. This will be a stretch for my imagination! Excuse me for a minute while I go do some research!

...I hope Irene won't mind if I change her period to a comma! I'll leave my line unpunctuated for Michelle (Today's Little Ditty) to do with as she will!



She lives without a net, walking along the alluvium of the delta.
Shoes swing over her shoulder, on her bare feet stick jeweled flecks of dark mica.

Hands faster than fish swing at the ends of bare brown arms. Her hair flows,
snows in wild wind as she digs in the indigo varnished handbag,

pulls out her grandmother's oval cuffed bracelet,
strokes the turquoise stones, and steps through the curved doorway.

Tripping on her tail she slips hair first down the slide... splash!
She glides past glossy water hyacinth to shimmer with a school of shad,

listens to the ibises roosting in the trees of the cypress swamp