Pondering: This Gift

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
        ---Christina Rosetti

Christina Rosetti

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 17 of FEET IN THE CREEK. 

Week 3 Poets:

April 15: Myra Cohn Livingston

April 16: Mary Ann Hoberman

For each day I have chosen a favorite poem, a favorite poet, or a favorite friend. I will look at the work, decide what draws me to it, what makes it resonate for me, and then write my own poem about the creek with those techniques in mind. These are first drafts, so nothing will be especially polished, but they will be starting points for revision after the month is done. Feel free to follow along or join in.

Today's poet is Victorian poet, Christina Rosetti, who once said, "My heart is like a singing bird." She also said this: "Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun."


Who Has Seen the Wind?

by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

My Intention: Write a rhythmic (or lyric) poem that uses a reversal in phrasing and is a reflection or a conversation about something seen or unseen.

Turtle in the Sun

I think

you are a rock.

You think

I am a tree.

I inch a little closer

so I can see.

But I am 

not a tree

and you are

not a rock.

As soon as I move,

you're gone. 

Plop!

© Doraine Bennett, 2016. All rights reserved.

Week 1 poets:
April 1: Ralph Fletcher
April 2: Douglas Florian
April 3: Progressive poem. Catch up here.
April 4: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
April 5: Walt Whitman
April 6: Irene Latham
April 7: Carmen Bernos de Gasztold

Week 2 Poets:

April 8: Janet Wong

April 9: George Ella Lyon

April 10: Bobbi Katz
April 11: Nikki Giovanni
April 12: Margarita Engle
April 13: Mother Goose
April 14: William Carlos Williams