Thursday, April 18, 2013

A Matter of Perspective

     
             Lovely and talented Irene Latham has the Poetry Friday round up this third Friday of Poetry Month.  Thanks to Irene for hosting, and it's double duty for her today because she also is adding the next line to her Progressive Poem.  See the line-up to the right of this page, and go to her blog, Live Your Poem, to see the newest line and find all other's poetry contributions.  If you want to discover even more links to Poetry Month events, click on the page above!

      A giveaway to note!  Visit the Teaching Authors website for a terrific giveaway.  I'll post again in the coming days!

                                    A poem begins with a lump in the throat.  ~Robert Frost



         I just returned from spending three days in Missouri with the big storm that is being talked about on the news, that dumped many inches of rain in Illinois, Missouri, and other midwest states. We didn't see the sun, but we did once drive through rain so heavy that we were reduced to a crawl on the highway. And this lasted for about 50 miles.  It was truly scary.  This same storm dumped about ten inches of snow on us in Denver last Monday, the day before I left.  
        However, this is not supposed to be a weather report, but a sharing of poetry.  On Monday, in the snow, I went to the library to pick up a few books I had requested, and they had a wonderful display of at least twenty-five large envelopes, each holding a poem to read and share on Poem In Your Pocket Day, which was Thursday.  I had similar plans for this day, but had to go out of town suddenly, and didn't get to do this for school, so I'm going to share several poems with you, for your own pockets, if you wish.

         Rain in Missouri can go on for days.  And this time, it did and was still raining as we left the airport yesterday morning.  In Colorado, if you would have one of those kind of days, you would celebrate.  In Missouri, you might not necessarily listen to the person in this first poem, but in Colorado, it could be quite enticing. 

         This poem is Rain, by Raymond Carver.  It begins:
Woke up this morning with
a terrific urge to lie in bed all day
and read.  Fought against it for a minute.
                                                       The rest is here:

        A few weeks ago, David L. Harrison announced the word of the month for April writers to use as a prompt word; the word is "fragrance".  Those who wish to write a poem with the "prompt" word leave it in the comments and everyone responds to each poem.  Here at home we had just had a rainy night, and since we have needed moisture in our semi-arid habitat and are lucky to get a rainy "hour", I went outside to "take in" this little rain.  It was too cold to stay too long, but enough time to "breathe in" a poem.  

         Here is my original poem, 

                    Heaven


I stepped out to the side porch,
put recycles in the bin.
The train blew its warning
from tracks far west.
The crow blustered;
the chickadee called.
Leftover garden leaves scattered.
I never thought I would use
the word petrichor –anywhere.
Do you know it? The nose does,
and twitches with the fragrance of rain,
the first smell.
Petrichor, in a drought
is heaven.
 (c) Linda Baie, April 2013



           

22 comments:

  1. Linda, I loved that "The crow blustered."
    I had to look up the word "petrichor." Thank you for the poem, and for the new word.
    I like the Raymond Carver poem, too (though I believe you mean "lie" not "like" in the second line.) I definitely had to fight the urge to lie in bed all day here in the Midwest as we were deluged with rain. Glad you managed to travel safely through it.

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  2. Thanks, Carmela, for catching the error, & for enjoying the poems. That rain was really something. I haven't seen anything like that since I lived there a long while ago.

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  3. I am breathing in the petrichor this morning as I read your poem. The air was thick and warm yesterday, but today a cool front is riding through on rain. Of course, we have a field trip planned. Nevertheless, I enjoyed your poem and your weather report.

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    1. Thanks Margaret, this time I know just what you're talking about!

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  4. How strange to come to your blog and read about rain! I am a longtime fan of Raymond Carver's poems -- one of my first loves in the land of adult poetry. Thank you for sharing this one, especially as it is oh so appropriate as today is a raining day in Birmingham and I would very much like to be in my pajamas with a book in bed! Happy day to you, Linda, and I love the images in your poem. xo

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    1. Yes, I love Raymond Carver & had bookmarked this poem, then had the 'rain' experience, knew I had to share this. We had wished we could stay in, but not this time. Thank you Irene. Hope there is some 'staying in' for you today!

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  5. Hi, Linda. I remember seeing that poem on one of the unusual words lists recently. How beautifully you wove it into your poem! The sound of the train is so lonely here. I loved all of the sounds and smells in your poem.

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    1. Thank you Laura! I love that I can hear the train whistles in my new home. Yes, it is a lonely sound, but my husband's father was a Union Pacific engineer, so they remind me of him too!

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  6. I learned a new word from your incredible poem today: petrichor. Thanks for teaching that one to me. I'm going to use it tomorrow since we're expecting rain tonight.

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    1. Thank you Stacey. I've loved this word since I learned it. I think because it's so cool that there is an actual name for it! Great you can use it!

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  7. Thanks for the wonderful poem and teaching me petrichor! Unfortunately that smell is lost in Michigan today, where snowflakes have returned....I love your blustering crow.

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    1. Thank you Buffy. I think we have snow again in the forecast for Mon. night! What an interesting spring this has been.

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  8. Great post, I also loved the word choice you had in your poem. I really enjoyed this line, "twitches with the fragrance of rain."

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    1. Thanks Betsy. Rain entered my life more than I would even like this week. We just don't get the constant downpours in Colorado.

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  9. I completely identify with this, Linda! Well done!

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  10. Thanks for helping to spread the word about our giveaway, Linda. Good luck to you!

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    1. You're welcome. I'll try to remember to post each day!

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  11. Such great word choice...blustered. I was there with you.

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  12. Thanks for the new word. There's nowhere like Colorado for petrichor!

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  13. Yes! Lovely! Petrichor is one of my daughter's favorite words. It is a beautiful smell.

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