It’s Poetry Friday!
I always enjoy reading what the Poetry Sisters are doing on the last Friday of the month. In January I learned on Laura Purdie Salas’ blog that their challenge for February was to write a Word Poem, so I decided to play along. I wasn’t sure what word I would use until I read Rebecca Gardyn Levington’s February newsletter. Rebecca always challenges her readers to write a poem or story inspired by a word (#RebeccasWordChallenge). The word she offered for February was “Forget.” I let it roll around in my head for a while, tried different approaches, and finally came up with this.
Forget
Forget is a jittery word.
It scurries
from here
to there
scooping up thoughts
tossing them to the wind
where they scatter like autumn leaves.
Forget can team with forgive
to sweep away impulsive actions
or words that took too long to form.
But sometimes forget slows.
It searches along pathways until
it stumbles into something once buried –
a memory,
an idea,
a promise –
surprising it with new life.
Draft, RoseCappelli2025
Denise has the roundup today at Dare to Care where she offers two powerful word poems. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.
Imagine the Possibilities 
What a fun poetry challenge! You nailed “forget”, Rose — I love that forget scurries.
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A jittery word! Yes. Thank you, Rose! xo
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“Forget can team with forgiveness …”YES!
I’m so glad you joined in the prompt. Thanks for sharing your poem.
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Love your poem — so cleverly written!
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Yes…s surprising how it stumbles onto those fragments of thought it so gleefully tossed around! “Surprising it with new life,” indeed.
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Rose, I adore your poem!! The first stanza makes me think of a rambunctious child, and then you pair “forget” up with “forgive.” So lovely!
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Fascinating poem, Rose! I love those visuals.
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I love what you did with “forget”, Rose, that “scooping up thoughts” & then the hope of slowing down!
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Rose, I love what you did with this word. I am learning more about a lot of words today, with these poetry treasures. One of my favorite lines in your poem is about when forget gets paired with forgive to sweep away “words that took too long to form.” Beautiful.
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Thanks, Denise.
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I love your exploration of “forget,” Rose. It’s extra poignant to me–that first stanza especially–because my mother-in-law is going into memory care as her dementia worsens…The forgetting is so painful to see…
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I’m so sorry, Laura. You are in my thoughts.
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You work an excellent poem for “forget.” I can relate so well to your first stanza. I usually have so much on my mind that sometimes my thoughts for sure scatter like autumn leaves. Beautifully written, Rose.
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Thank you, Linda.
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I’m not sure if my first comment went through so I’ll just say that I loved your poem, Rose!
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I love the movement/exploration in each of your stanzas, Rose, especially the stumbling into something once buried. It’s a relief to recognize the upside of an aging (speaking from experience here!) memory.
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Thanks, Buffy!
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Ooh, I like forget teaming with forgive. What a good poem to start Sunday with, Rose.
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I love the words jittery and scurry (and the sounds they make). Hoping we’ll get to do this prompt for the Nevermores!
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Good idea for the Nevermores!
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I loved the words jittery and scurries. I’m hoping we’ll get to do this one for the Nevermores prompt!
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You nailed it! I hate forgetting things and jittery is just the right way to express that feeling!
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I feel “Forget is a jittery word” in my bones these days, Rose! 🙂
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