For this first Friday of the month, my Sunday Poetry Swagger group writes together to a shared prompt. This month Linda Mitchell suggested the Poets.org #ShelterinPoems project. I decided to do an “after” poem from poet Barbara Crooker’s April poem that she posted on her Facebook page. I love Barbara’s writing, how it flows beautifully line to line.
BIG LOVE
I’d been traveling and missed this spring’s shy
unfolding. So when I returned, it was as if
a magician had walked around the yard
with a glossy black wand: Pow! Lilacs,
purple, white, wine-colored; scent to rock you
back on your heels. Bam! Dogwoods,
a cotillion of butterflies on bare black branches.
Shazam! Peonies exploding, great bombshells
of fragrance and silk. Tada! A rainbow row
of irises, blossoms shooting from green stalks.
Azaleas! Rhododendrons!. Everywhere I look,
the yard is ready to send its bombs bursting in air.
So push down the plunger! Let every twig and stem
erupt into flowers. Soon, it will be June, and all
of this opulence will be spent confetti littering
the lawn. I’m standing here, slack-jawed
and gob-smacked, shell-shocked into love.
Out by the bird bath, one by one, the poppies
slip their green pods, slowly detonate
into silent flame.
~Barbara Crooker
Backyard Spring
I’ve been sheltering and missed this spring’s green
Margaret Simon, after Barbara Crooker
beginning. So when I walked out, it was as if
Jack had been by with his magical beans: Bada-bing! Cypress
needles feathered like peacocks showing wings; emerald
out of the blue. Bravo! Clover, a-dime-a-dozen flaunting
purple lily-like miniatures. Good heavens! The wisteria vine
drapes around, around. Everywhere I look,
the yard is ready to dance the day away.
So grab your partner! Take a two-step (six feet apart)
and let the green lawn party commence. I’ll invite
the wood ducks, squirrels, and herons. Set up
swing-back camp chairs. Out by the bayou, we’ll watch
the sunset draw orange curtains
into silent flame.
Swagger Group #ShelterinPoems
Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
Reflections on the Teche 
What a fun pair of poems. The onomatopoeia are delightful. I’m partial to bad-a-bing! Oh, and that two-step (two feet apart) with the play on two is funny good fun. Thanks for such a positive vibe to a weird time. These are both poems to shelter in.
Depending on where you live, you get a different show, don’t you? it’s subtle here in NY state. Still wet and chilly, a little greener every day, and the very first spring flowers. Your poem made me want to go to the bayou, listen and look around at the flowers and sky.
I love this glimpse of spring in such a different area of the country. We are blanketed in snow again today. Spring is still weeks away. Spring through poetry sustains me for that time. Those final image is so surprising and lovely–the orange curtains in flame.
Look at those beautiful dime-a-dozen clover! Good heavens! I especially like “Cypress/needles feathered like peacocks showing wings; emerald/out of the blue.”
Your response poem fits so well with the original, Margaret! Nicely done.
Both of these poems are fun and bring me spring flowers! I’m lucky I have a few crocuses in my garden. Your purple clover, which I’ve never seen before is so pretty! Great imagery in your lines, “Cypress needles feathered like peacocks showing wings; emerald out of blue,” and I love your personification in this image, “we’ll watch the sunset draw orange curtains into silent flame.” Your dancing element brings movement and fun.
I really enjoyed both of the poems, and–before I saw your video–thought just how much I enjoyed your exclamation words. Your video was great, too–thank you for that insight into your work!
It is amazing to me the wealth you always offer here. Margaret. A wellspring always bubbling over … I love the lighthearted dance-themed backyard poem with the lovely bayou closing.
So much goodness in both of these poems. I loved how you used this as a mentor. I love the image of setting up chairs and watching this lovely show of spring from your backyard.
A garden exploding into spring seems like the perfect place to shelter. I love your response to Crooker’s poem, especially “the yard is ready to dance the day away.” Thank you for this taste of spring on a very dreary day.
Barbara Crooker never fails to delight me and the poem you shared is wonderful. What a wizard of a poet she is! Your response poem takes her idea and makes it your own Louisiana version. I appreciated how you wove in your love for dance with that two step. Reading it and imagining lingering by the bayou with you was a delight this morning.
I do love Barbara Crooker’s poems, feels as if she’s sitting right beside me, visiting! You wrote a lovely “after” from hers, Margaret. We are behind you by quite a bit but I know someday that “confetti” will also strew across our lawns. I love “the yard is ready to dance the day away.” After our snow Thursday, all warm again & greener! Have a good weekend!
This is me: “I’m standing here, slack-jawed
and gob-smacked, shell-shocked into love.”
This spring is as vivid and meaning-filled as the spring after I’d been diagnosed with breast cancer…
I love Barbara Crooker’s poem and yours! I watched the video earlier – it must have been from your post on Facebook. Thanks for all you’re doing! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Well, I sure like Barbara’s DDT no TNA no DNA no TNT (there it is!) metaphor. “Push down the plunger, slowly detonate into flame.” And your response poem is just so loosely joyful: “Cypress
needles feathered like peacocks showing wings; emerald
out of the blue.”
It’s nice that we can grab our partner, Spring, and two-step face-to-face even while staying six feet away from other dancers. Loved seeing your video too!
Margaret, thank you for the lovely spring visit to the bayou, modeled after Barbara Crooker’s poem. Your video is soothing and shares you excitement for describing the beauty of the bayou through the exclamation words inserted. Onomatopoeia is such a fun way of jazzing up a poem. I also am fascinated with your ending and its gorgeous description: we’ll watch/the sunset draw orange curtains/into silent flame. Sigh! I hope you offer one of your gorgeous image poems to my Nature Nurtures Gallery.
Both of these poems bring a smile. I am enjoying watching spring unfurl here. It is a jaw-dropping, gob-smacking show.
I love the dance party on the bayou. These poems celebrate what can’t be squelched. Spring joy!
Fantastic! I will gladly two-step with you two states away, Margaret. 🙂 I also like the way you described Barbara Crooker’s poetry—I feel the same way.