Imagine the Possibilities

It’s Poetry Friday! The lovely and talented Irene Latham has the roundup today at Live Your Poem. Be sure to stop by for a sneak peek at her new novel Some Starry Night and lots more poetry goodness.

I’m writing daily tankas during April, and this week I found inspiration at the Stuck Bumblebee Poetry Challenge hosted by Joyce Uglow and Cindy Mackey. Each day during the week of April 20 they offer a word to use in a small poem. There is also a writing tip from a guest author. Thursday’s Day 4 tip came from our host, Irene, and the words offered were frozen and future. Joyce and Cindy encourage poetry to celebrate the Earth, so I wrote:

A Tanka for Earth Day

Live in the present
in ways that nurture nature.
Be considerate
in caring for the planet.
Earth’s future depends on it.
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli

Housekeeping Note: Patricia and I swapped hosting duties, so next week’s Poetry Friday roundup will be here at Imagine the Possibilities. Patricia will host on May 15 at Reverie.

It’s Poetry Friday!

I’ve been keeping up with my April Poetry Project of writing a tanka a day. Since I didn’t post last week, I’ll share two today. The first was inspired by the line “What is so utterly invisible as tomorrow?” in a poem from Little Alleluias by Mary Oliver, as well as my beautiful cherry tree currently in full bloom:

Time

Today there are buds
expecting to burst open
into tomorrow –
living all that can be lived
even for such a brief time.
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli

Most of the time my inspiration comes from poetry, but sometimes I pull from observations or events happening around me. I have a bird cam feeder, and while I enjoy watching the birds that visit, I also like to try to spot evening or night visitors. Sometimes I can make out deer crossing in front of the feeder, other times I use my imagination, like I did for this tanka that was also inspired by “Twenty Minutes in the Backyard” by Alberto Rios in You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World edited by Ada Limón:

At Night

Something moved across
the landscape of the back yard
in the dark of night –
perhaps searching for shelter
or an end to loneliness.
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli

Heidi has the roundup today at My Juicy Little Universe. Be sure to stop by for a special treat – a conversation with Heidi, Margaret Simon, and Jone Rush MacCulloch on all things poetry for kids and lots of other poetry goodness.