Happy Poetry Friday!
Sometimes ideas just pop up when you least expect them to. Yesterday I was struggling to figure out how to spell a word and I starting thinking about how my skill level in many things has changed as I’ve gotten older. It’s not that I can’t do them anymore (well, I guess in some cases that’s true), it’s just that I often have to approach something differently or expect that success might be delayed. Before I knew it, I was writing, and a poem was surfacing.
Digging Deep
I used to be a good speller—
knew my way around i and e,
silent letters,
onsets and rimes.
Words can free an idea,
conjure a smell,
create a poem.
But lately, sometimes the easiest words,
the smallest tasks,
are a puzzle I can’t let go—
like names buried too deep,
or memories covered in fuzz.
If I dig deep enough
I know I can find the solution.
I used to be a good speller,
and maybe I still am.
Draft, 2023RoseCappelli
Jan has the round up today at Bookseed Studio. Be sure to stop by for a garden of poetic goodness and a lovely introduction to poet/gardener Sharon Lovejoy.
Imagine the Possibilities 
I love this Rose, and can relate. Spelling, people’s names, directions – all seem to get a little harder every year.
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Thanks, Sally.
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Oh, this is so sweet and vulnerable and curious. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for reading, Liz!
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I’m having a hard time with my aging brain. It’s frustrating. Your poem captures this and lets it go. I’m glad that we have spell check and Siri these days to help.
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I don’t know what I’d do sometimes without Siri’s help.
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Oof. That third stanza rings so true for me!
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I can so relate to this. THose memories covered in fuzz– a perfect description of what it feels like in my brain some days.
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Hard to let go–true, and perhaps a combination of persistence and being able to set it aside and return to it later brings us where we want to go, thanks for sharing Rose!
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It’s great that you’re questioning what’s going on, with a poem and a strong voice, Rose! Keep on with that query!
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Love the poem. I haven’t lost the spelling yet, but the name recall, well, that’s happening.
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Sometimes I wonder if I used to be a good [fill in the blank]-er or if now, as I age, I just think longer about these things (wink wink). Thank you, Rose. Your poem feels like a pause.
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Boy, can I relate. But it’s not just memory, right? It’s that we keep learning more and more and more. And now we understand rules MORE deeply, or we have more enthusiasm for the exceptions, or we get lost meandering around the history of a word and start wondering about its usage in various situations…or maybe this is all just me–ha! Also, my memory is just crap!
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Oh, my does this hit close to home for me. Those names buried deep. I can so related to those words. I don’t like this aging. I’m realizing that the graceful aging I admire in others is much harder than it looks. Thank you for turning your experience into this thoughtful poem.
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