Thankful Poetry Friday

Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year is going to be a quiet affair. I'm looking forward to a simple holiday this year, grateful that my in-laws are still part of my life, grateful that my youngest daughter is living in the same town with me, grateful for my dear hubby. Last week he told me I was the greatest blessing of his life. What a sweet man. So my Thanksgiving poem is for him.

I've been experimenting with a few traditional poetry forms this week. I tried my hand at linked sonnets, but that effort is not printable at the moment. Poetry forms can be maddening sometimes. Playing with them, forcing my words to conform to meter and rhyme often distills the thought process, even if I throw out the form and keep what's left. That's what happened as I tried Tricia's Terzanelle poetry stretch. It was definitely a stretch, and still not especially skillful, but I like the result. I kept the pattern, but threw out the rhyme.

Thankful

for the late rose
blushing red
against my cheek

for the sunset
masked by clouds
blushing red

for the first hesitant
blink of starlight
masked by clouds

for the barred owl
startled by
blink of starlight

for the fog
your warm breath
startled by

the night sky
for the late rose
your warm breath
against my cheek

© Doraine Bennett 2015

Tricia hosts the Poetry Friday roundup today at Miss Rumphius Effect.

Wild about Antarctica!

Today I'm celebrating with dear friend, Irene Latham, on her ten year anniversary in the blogosphere. Irene has inspired me, challenged me, and entertained me for many of these ten years at Live Your Poem, where she does exactly that!

Many of us in the Kidslitosphere begin January with "One Little Word" for the year. I'm not sure, but this may have been Irene's invention, too. Irene's word for 2015 is WILD. You can see her post here, along with a pretty wild picture of the wild little girl she was. It's only appropriate that she has invited those of us who know and love her to be wild with her today. 

Here is my take on the topic. I'm still stuck in Antarctica, definitely a wild place. Cape Denison, the home base of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson, is the windiest place on earth. Katabatic winds blow down the surface of the Antarctic ice cap, pulled by gravity, gathering snow, until they reach hurricane speeds. These rivers of icy wind can blow for days. Explorers of old and research scientists of today can only sit and wait for the winds to cease. 

The poem below is a mask, or persona poem, written in the voice of the wind. Stop by Irene's blog where she is rounding up all of today's wild celebration posts. Happy Anniversary, Irene!

Katabatic winds at Cape Denison, Antartica. Photograph by Frank Hurley, 1912

Wind Warning

Set no foot here
or suffer violence.
This shore belongs to me.

A blizzard of rage,unbridled,
I plunge down ice. I plow
the snow, slam walls of white

against your face—a maelstrom,
uncontrolled. My raging
blast demands retreat.

A knife of driven air,
my wild banshee scream
prophesies despair.

© Doraine Bennett 2015