Yet There is Method

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a fantastic breakout session that was part of the 2021 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi.  The session, with poets Irene Latham, Vikram Madan, and Laura Purdie Salas, was entitled Word-Joy: Experience the Transformative Power of Poetry.

It was a fantastic workshop, filled with plenty of material that I’ll put to use in my classroom very soon. Many thanks to Irene, Vikram, and Laura!

One of the forms I was introduced to today (thank you again, Irene) is called a nonet.  Nine lines, the first with one syllable, the second with two, and so on until the final with nine.  Sometimes the poem starts with the longest line and ends with the shortest.

Here’s one of the few that I wrote yesterday.

Trees

Trees
standing
tall and strong
with leaves blowing
and branches swaying.
As the spring months go by
and the summer days approach
I look forward to the long walks
the time spent beneath their canopies.

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For better or worse, it never occurred to me that I was wearing a mask for this picture last night.

Sitting by a stream
pondering the detritus
at the water’s edge
I’m in awe of all that lives
because of all that doesn’t.

Can an empty trailhead be wonderful?
Solitude
Discomfort
Excitement
Comfort
Solitude
Alone
Silence
Peace
Solitude
An empty trailhead can be wonderful.

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An unusual thing happened last night: My wife and I pulled into the parking lot at one of the trails we like to hike, and it was empty.

Not a car to be seen.  Empty.

As you can tell from reading the last paragraph or so, that doesn’t happen often. It was cool, but kind of strange.  Quiet and disquiet all at the same time.  

The hike was wonderful.  Quietly wonderful.

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Thank you, Christie Wyman of Wondering and Wandering, for providing me with a link to help me understand this poem form that I’ve been seeing recently.  This is called a Skinny Poem, and–it must be said–I’m not exactly following the rules right out of the gate.  That’s okay.

As Christie did, though, I’d like to share info with my readers as well. The Skinny Poetry Journal’s “About” page can be found here.

Unaware of my presence
a sparrow alit on a trellis near me
with a live wasp held tightly in his beak

I can’t be sure who was the most surprised
but of the three of us
I suppose it was the wasp