End of March

End of March

Single file march
over to the park
children laugh
and dogs bark
outside to play
before it gets dark
she tries to teach
and ignite a spark
for the water cycle
this last day of March
but it is dreary
the wind picks up
students grow weary
looking for desert
plants and animals
how do they adapt
to dwell in the desert
where rain seldom falls
leaving them parched
a hare hops across
their path unexpected
sign of rebirth
or cruel April fool

 

Welcome back everyone! It’s day one of NaPoWriMo. This is my interpretation for the prompt at napowrimo.net: our (optional) prompt. In honor of today’s interviewee, I’d like to challenge you to write a Kay-Ryan-esque poem: short, tight lines, rhymes interwoven throughout, maybe an animal or two, and, if you can manage to stuff it in, a sharp little philosophical conclusion.

Yesterday, Rachael took Gretchen and me over to the park to teach us about the life cycle in the desert. She is taking a course in outdoor education and had to write and teach a lesson plan. It was in the mid 60s yesterday, and for us desert dwellers it’s chilly. I was cold anyway. When we came to the part of the lesson where it asked us to walk around and find plants and animals who live in the desert. I said, the only animals I see are children and dogs. Rachael said to find, draw and write about the plants then. A few minutes later, she pointed out the rabbits. Her first teaching experience didn’t end up being all about flora after all.

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Upside Down Poem

Iridescent pink

Wet concrete reflects streetlamp

Upside down sunset

This is a photo I took of yesterday’s sunset turned upside down for Writer’s Digest Wednesday Poetry Prompt. I love rain. My copies of the Half New Year anthology came yesterday, too. It was a happy day for me.

Half New Year – amazon

NaPoWriMo Day Six – Haiku

Dry, desert vista
Glistens with rare spring shower
My bedroom window

 

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now, the (as always, optional) prompt. We got rather complicated with yesterday’s prompt, so today’s is much simpler. Take a good look outside your window. Spend a minute or so jotting down all the nouns you see outside. Tree. Car. Bus. Dog. Then spend a minute or so writing down all the colors you see. Finally, think about taking place outside. Is the wind blowing? “Blow.” Is someone walking their dog? “Walk.” Spend a minute or so writing down these verbs. Now you’ve got a whole list of words from which to build a poem, mixing and matching as you go. Happy writing!

A few days ago, after I wrote a poem about Susanoo, the Shinto god of sea and summer storms, I realized there was a rare spring shower coming down.  The weather man did say we would have a slight chance of rain, after 5 PM.  It started to pour around 3:30 PM.  Both my girls came home soaked. Not completely the entire fault of the weather; they did slow down on their way home.  Rain is such a rarity in the desert, we all enjoy it. I’m learning something this NaPoWriMo 1) I need to write about water gods more often; 2) this is a true haiku 5-7-5 AND it’s a lune 3-5-3.

Umbrella Acrostic

Umbrella

Under the waterproof
Material; I watch – protected
Babies splash
Running through puddles
Enthusiastic
Laughter as children
Leap rejoicing in
April showers

High Calibre website

Soggy Seeds

Standing bare
Dandelion shivers
Drenched

The sun is shining in Arizona again; the dandelions don’t look like soggy mutts anymore. This haiku was inspired by –
Irina’s Poetry Corner.

We don’t see wet dandelion seeds in Arizona often, and my daughter asked me why they weren’t fluffy.

Sunshine
Dries dandelion
Fluff free