It’s Poetry Friday and Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe is hosting. Thank you Heidi! Make sure you check out what she has in store for poets and poetry lovers.
First have to say I want to renew my support for the Black Lives Matter movement after yet another unnecessary death. My heart goes out to Jacob Blake’s family. Can our country get any worse? My optimism lies only with the possibility of Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in the fall and remembering heroes like John Lewis who never gave up.
My thoughts are with also those who have suffered injury and loss last night from Hurricane Laura and who are in danger still.
Today I woke up to thunder and lightening in Upstate New York which is in no way to be compared to that hurricane. Still, all storms inspire respect for the power of nature.
Last week a poem I wrote was published on line. It had been inspired by the run of the mill, but still dramatic storms I watched in my back yard as a child.
I was pleased and grateful, of course, that my poem was accepted but reading it again, I felt that it needed revision. A lot! Maybe my craft is improving, so I see it more easily. I can only hope. I revised it and will share it here. It was initially imagined as a picture book but ended up a poem.
PLAY!
The sky wakes like an orchestra
tuning violins and oboes before a show.
In a sudden wind
leaves swoosh in my yard.
Pine trees sway to beckon
black swollen clouds to play.
Caterpillars hide.
Bees, dusty with pollen,
return home.
Crows caw like a
thousand stage hands
as the curtain rises
and fat drops splash
here and there.
But soon leaves rattle
like snare drums.
Thunder booms!
Cymbals clash!
lightening flashes . . .
When the curtain falls,
and quiet settles over all,
Maple trees bow,
and high in the balcony,
a rainbow applauds.
© Janice Scully2020
Again, I’d like to express my concern for all those affected by last night’s hurricane.
I’ll end by sharing a video of one of my favorite Gershwin songs, “Stormy Weather.” It is sung by Etta James.
Stay well, everyone, and safe. Thank you, Heidi, for hosting.
If you want to know more about Poetry Friday, find it here, on Renee LaTulippe’s website, No Water River.