Imagine the Possibilities

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.

Welcome to Poetry Friday!

Since it’s almost April, I’ve been thinking about a poetry project for the month. Although I write a lot of free verse, I also enjoy the challenge of a form. Sometimes it’s just enough to spark an idea or provide some needed structure. I recently used the cherita to write a small poem for Vivian Kirkfield’s 50 precious words contest. It felt like the perfect structure for a small story with a beginning, middle, and end.

The Turned Around Day

Jenny started the day on the wrong side of morning.

She barked at her brother.
She growled at her mother.

But with walks in the sunshine and songs from the wrens,
cuddles and snuggles and smiles from her friends,    
Jenny ended the day on the right side of night.
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

So, I decided to spend April writing cheritas. And, last week on Poetry Friday Jone Rush MacCulloch talked about using the Verse of Ages Poetry Prompts for her April project. I thought it would be fun to use a specific word as a prompt. Word + Cherita = A Poem a Day for April.

_____________________________________

The hellebores are beautifully blooming outside my front window. My April poetry project in 2022 was flowers from A to Z. I wrote a poem about a flower for every letter of the alphabet. H was for Hellebore.

Hellebores

I want to create
a garden of hellebores—
a bouquet of muted purple and rose
nodding shyly,
allowing me to turn up their faces
as I would that of a child.
I want to create
a garden of gentle awakening.
Draft, RoseCappelli2022

Photo is from Brecks.com

Marcie has the roundup today here where she shares some upcoming celebrations of her book, One Step Forward, as well as her poetry plans for April. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.

It’s Poetry Friday! It’s Spring! And the roundup is here!

I’m very happy to be hosting today. In honor of the start of spring, I’m bringing you a few of my favorite spring poems. One of the first poets whose work I became acquainted with was E.E. Cummings way back when I was in college. I read and sometimes memorized many of his poems. This one stayed with me, and every year as a teacher I read it with students.

in Just-
by E. E. Cummings

in Just-
spring          when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

You can read the rest here.

_________________________________________________

Here’s another favorite Spring poem from poet Billy Collins.

Today
by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

You can enjoy the rest here. That first line always gets me.

_________________________________________________

Last week Molly Hogan posted about writing Wordle poems, so I decided to give it a try. I usually choose from a handful of starter words, but one day last week I went rogue and used “tulip” to start. From there I went to “stamp” which just so happened to be the solution. Wordle in 2! I celebrated with a poem.

Almost Spring

In the grocery store,
bouquets of tulips
beckon shoppers
who only stopped in
for milk, or eggs,
or that night’s dinner.

An impulse buy
designed to grace the table
where the rotisserie chicken
will be carved into portions,
they stamp approval
in purple, pink, and yellow –
let spring begin!
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

Please leave your link with Mr. Linky, and thanks for stopping by.