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Posts Tagged ‘Wallace Stevens’

Poetry Friday: Ten Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

Posted in being mamére, Poetry Friday, tagged , , on September 27, 2024| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem.

This last Friday of September, the Poetry Sisters called out a challenge based on Wallace Steven’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. I enjoy puzzling together ideas into poem forms. In the model poem, Stevens uses few words in each stanza to convey a single emotion or thought.

I became intrigued by the idea of looking at grandchildren, not a single one, but the idea of having a grandchild. I have three daughters, and have been blessed with 4 grandchildren, ranging in age from 5+ years to 21 months. Each of my daughters have had at least one miscarriage.

To write this poem, I started using sticky notes, I carried the collection around for a few days. It worked well for separating each one and arranging them into some logical order. Thanks to my Inklings’ honest feedback, I am ready to publish this poem here, but I’m not leaving it. I want to feel that it will grow as my grands grow and reveal more to me about this amazing journey in grandparenting.

Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

I.
Grandmother
Mother
Daughter
3 in 1
1 in 3
Egg to egg to egg

II.
Cut the cord
connection broken
New bond forever woken.

III.
Cells divide.
Divide again.
Sometimes there is no
heartbeat.

IV.
The way a mother looks
at her child with purest adoration–
A bloom of a flower planted
long ago.

V.
Golden curls,
crystal blue eyes–
Precious gems to hold.

VI.
Hand sign
three fingers
I
Love
You

VII.
One day she’s Ariel
another Anna, Batman, Spiderman—
always a fierce girl wonder.

VIII.
Whose eyes are these?
I think I know. I’ve seen them
from a portrait glow.

IX.
Whispers at bedtime
“Sing me the song you sing”
A grandmother’s lullaby.

X.
Curve our bodies together
and turn pages of a book,
We enter a magical place.

Margaret Simon, draft

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#NPM2018: 13 Ways of Looking at a Heron

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged , , on April 23, 2018| 2 Comments »

National Poetry Month 2018

Heron in Flight by John Gibson

After Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. 

 

I.

Taking flight,
one heron, great and blue,
lifts on kite-wings.

II.

At daybreak, he stalks
early risers
stealthily staring
at the water’s surface.

III.

The heron looks long
at his own reflection,
beauty knows beauty.

IV.

Straight as an arrow on a hunt
for its mark, heron’s beak
pierces the sky.

V.

Sun beams dance on waves
winking at heron’s stature,
inviting his participation
in the day.

VI.

My totem, Heron,
teach me
your lessons of grace.

VII.

As evening falls, heron
circles back
to tell me good night.

VIII.

Times with heron
I value silence
and know God.

IX.

Heron’s squawk
scrapes on Goose’s last nerve.
A cacophony on courthouse steps.

X.

At the sight of heron flying,
barely skimming water’s surface,
even playful children
stop and admire.

XI.

Heron lifts his wing
to preen like an awkward teen
crumples over his tall body
to tie his shoelace.

XII.

A storm raged during the night,
heron stood still
never losing his grip
on the fallen log.

XIII.

I haven’t seen Heron for days.
He will return. He may not return.
The light on the lake fades.

–Margaret Simon (c) 2018

If you are interested in joining a photo-poetry exchange I am hosting, click here.

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