Imagine the Possibilities

It’s Poetry Friday!

I’ve been excited to welcome back the bluebirds and to watch them form a family. I don’t know if the male is my original friend, Fred, but I like to think he is. Just this week the five eggs hatched. I had to be quick with my camera as Fred is very protective, but here they are just a few hours old.

Hatchlings

five eggs nesting
miracle of life transforming
hatchlings greet the world
Draft, 2025RoseCappelli

I write a lot of poems about bluebirds. Here’s one from a few years ago inspired by One Dark Bird by Liz Garton Scanlon, a beautiful picture book about a murmuration of starlings.

One Blue Bird

1 blue bird
waves a wing
scans the sky
starts to sing

2 fine friends
build a nest
twigs and grass
woven, pressed

3 smooth shells
next day 4
not done yet
there’s one more

5 warm eggs
nestled deep
peck, peck, CRACK—
cheep, cheep, cheep!
Draft, 2023RoseCappelli

Sarah Grace Tuttle has the roundup today here where she shares her April Poetry Project, What May Not Be Erased: A Chapbook of Protest Poetry. Be prepared to be inspired! And be sure to stop by for lots more poetry goodness.

It’s Poetry Friday and today I’m sharing a couple of the cheritas I’ve been writing during April. Last week I was taking care of my grandkids, but I did manage to write each evening before the exhaustion of the day took over.

The first one is in celebration of Earth Day using the word “ebb.”

Giving Thanks

Wonder wanders at the edge of the sea.

Ebb and flow,
to and fro.

Tide holds treasures buried deep.
Thank you, Earth.
Thank you, Sea.
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

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Last month I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show. One of the displays depicted a whimsical Alice-in-Wonderland-type dinner or tea party. I snapped a picture but didn’t write anything to go with it until “magical” came up as my word prompt.

Magical

The invitation read “Tea at Two.”

I followed the map into the deep woods
where fairies dwell with turtles and squirrels.

Guests gathered around a table
set with lavender and sunflowers
ready for a magical afternoon.
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

Heidi has the round up today at my juicy little universe where she shares news about recent adventures and the next line for the kidlit progressive poem. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.

It’s Poetry Friday and also my turn to add a line to this year’s Kidlit Progressive Poem. But before we get to that, I’ll share a cherita I wrote this week as part of my April poetry project. My inspiration came from the word “astonish” and the unusually cold weather.

Is It Spring?

Daffodil woke

astonished to discover
frost on its bloom.

Just some April foolery
from mother nature
before sun smiles.
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

The progressive poem originated in 2012 through the efforts of Irene Latham who passed it on to Margaret Simon in 2020. That’s about the time I started participating. Poets who want to join in sign up for a day to add a line to the poem. They copy the poem onto their blog, add their line making comments on their process if they like, then pass it to the next poet. The topic is open but should be suitable for children. It’s fun because no one knows where the poem is headed. Sometimes a pattern is detected early on and followed, but there are always surprises.

The poem, as I see it so far, calls on the reader to experience spring through heightened senses. It hints of artistic expression through the use of strong verbs. I decided to keep that going, as well as the structure of the quatrain. Admittedly, I played a little with the meter. Here’s what we have with my line added in bold:

Open an April window
let sunlight paint the air
stippling every dogwood
dappling daffodils with flair

Race to the garden
where woodpeckers drum
as hummingbirds thrum
in the blossoming Sweetgum.

Sing as you set up the easels
dabble in the paints
echo the colors of lilacs and phlox

Now it’s Fran’s turn at Lit Bits and Pieces.

Here are the contributors for the month:

April 1 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 2 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 3 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Denise at https://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/
April 6 Buffy at http://www.buffysilverman.com/blog
April 7 Jone at https://www.jonerushmacculloch.com/
April 8 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 9 Tabatha at https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/
April 10 Marcie at Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 11 Rose at Imagine the Possibilities | Rose’s Blog
April 12 Fran Haley at Lit Bits and Pieces
April 13 Cathy Stenquist
April 14 Janet Fagel at Mainly Write
April 15 Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
April 16 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm
April 17 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 18 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 19 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
April 20 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 21 Tanita at TanitasDavis.com
April 22 Patricia Franz
April 23 Ruth at There’s No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
April 24 Linda Kulp Trout at http://lindakulptrout.blogspot.com
April 25 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
April 26 Michelle Kogan at: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/
April 27 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 28 Pamela Ross at Words in Flight
April 29 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 30 April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors

Irene has the round up today at Live Your Poem. Be sure to stop by for another taste of spring and lots of poetry goodness, and thanks for reading.