Welcome to Poetry Friday!
Last week Linda at A Word Edgewise invited us to exchange clunkers. She offered an array of short lines discarded or revised from various poems and offered them up for anyone to snatch and use in exchange for one of theirs.
I belong to a book group with ladies I have known since our kids were young. Together we’ve been through births, deaths, illnesses, marriages, divorce, and everyday ups and downs. We kept going during COVID with the advantage of technology and now use it to include one of our members who moved to South Carolina. We take turns meeting at each other’s houses, and when we are at my house, the sunroom is often our space. So, as soon as I read “In the sunroom, our old lady faces” I knew that was the clunker for me. I even dreamt the perfect poem, but of course in the morning I couldn’t remember it. At least the idea was still there.
Book Group
friends for more than thirty-five years,
we gather in the sunroom,
our old lady faces
bearing the effects of the lives we’ve lived—
exuberant joy
heart wrenching worry
devastating loss
perhaps it’s books that saved us,
or at least brought us together,
anchoring us to each other
sharing the wisdom of words
Draft, 2024Rose Cappelli
Image is from pixy.org.
Patricia has the roundup today at Reverie where she shares the joy of being part of something larger while planting pine seedlings. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.
Imagine the Possibilities 
Three cheers for book clubs! Ours, too, is a circle of beloved old lady faces. We’ve been meeting for almost 30 years!
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Thanks, Mary Lee. Mine meets today!
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What a gift, Rose – truly a part of something that has grown larger and larger over the years. How perfect to find this clunker and shine it into a treasure!
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Rose, it sounds like you all have been on a journey together, riding a wave of books! So lovely that you are there to support each other through highs and lows and that you invite so many others into your circle through their books.
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How wonderful to belong to such a close-knit, enduring book club, Rose!! That clunker had your name all over it. Enjoyed your poem. 🙂
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It gives me shivers when I read of the serendipity of Linda’s clunker & your beloved book group, Rose. That, and your poem, is so special. “Anchored with the wisdom of words” must be like super glue for you all! I hope you shared with your friends!
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Oh, Rose, what a perfect poem to go with Linda’s clunker (or “shard of art”, as Mary Lee called it yesterday). You have made art with it even if it wasn’t exactly the poem of your dream. What a wonderful history you and your book club have shared.
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Thank you for your comment Denise. I’m having trouble getting into a few blogs today. Yours was one of them. Sorry.
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Rose: I’m glad I’m not the only one who crafts the perfect poem while in bed and can’t remember it the next day. Nonetheless, your poem paints a true and intimate picture of your group. Where would we be without our book groups? Nicely done!
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Rose: I’m glad I’m not the only one who crafts the perfect poem while in bed and can’t remember it the next day. Nonetheless, your poem paints a true and intimate picture of your group. Where would we be without our book groups? Nicely done!
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Oh, that line is SO perfect in this poem. What a great backstory, too! I love that this circle of friends is so close, it’s family. Books really can save a lot of us. This shined up clunker brings tears to my eyes. I love it! Linda M.
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Thanks again for the line, Linda!
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Wow, you wrote the perfect poem for that line, Rose! And I love how your poem makes me think about how we don’t wear our heart on our sleeve–we wear our lives on our faces. Thank you for this beauty of a sunny poem this morning.
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What a great clunker! “Perhaps it’s the books that saved us” is such a great line–I teared up.
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Sun, books, friends, sounds like a winning mix with rewarding anchors, thanks for this fulfilling poem Rose!
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What a beautiful tribute to your long-time group, Rose! And another example of how you are all creating beauty from clunkers (which clearly aren’t clunky but are just poems waiting to happen.) 🙂
And don’t you just hate it when you dream the perfect writing and then can’t remember it? Happens too often, lol!!
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Linda’s line, her so called clunker, was the gem meant for you and this poem, Rose! So cool! And your book group truly are the personification of “the wisdom of words”. 🙂
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