Poems about the Wind

Happy Poetry Friday! This week our host is Molly Hogan at her blog Nix the Comfort Zone. She’s been busy lately, getting ready to return to the classroom and taking pictures of Monarch caterpillars that she shared this week on her blog. Stop by to see what she has in store for Poetry Friday.

I’m enjoying a brief on-line workshop on children’s poetry with Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich. It’s wonderful seeing poets I’ve met at previous workshops and sharing work, reviewing nuts and bolts of writing.

I’ll share a poem I wrote for the workshop last week about the wind. The prompt was to write about the wind, paying attention to verbs:

THE WIND


It white-capped the lake, waves slapped at the shore,
stronger and stronger,
today around four.


It pummeled the pebbles, an old plastic chair,
our collection of driftwood
and took them somewhere.


By Janice Scully
Not windy, but this has become a favorite spot for me, Long Point State Park on Cayuga Lake. Lots of room for social distancing on this hot Monday afternoon.

Here’s a poem by Shakespeare about the wind comparing its bite to the bite of a friend’s ingratitude.

BLOW, BLOW THOU WINTER WIND
by William Shakespeare

Blow, blow, thou winter wind 
Thou art not so unkind 
As man's ingratitude; 
Thy tooth is not so keen, 
Because thou art not seen, 
Although thy breath be rude. 

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 
Most freindship is feigning, most loving mere folly: 
Then heigh-ho, the holly! 
This life is most jolly. 

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 
That does not bite so nigh 
As benefits forgot: 
Though thou the waters warp, 
Thy sting is not so sharp 
As a friend remembered not.
 
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: 
Then heigh-ho, the holly! 
This life is most jolly. 


Have a jolly week and stay safe. My thoughts are with all the teachers and students who are planning for a return to school.

Want to know more about Poetry Friday? It’s here, on poet Renee LaTulippe’s website. Thank you Molly Hogan for hosting today!