This month’s Ditty Challenge made me smile. Jesse Anna Bornemann challenged readers of Michelle Heidenrich Barnes‘s lovely blog to
“Write a poem inspired by song lyrics…Pick a Beatles song (or, if you’re not a Beatles fan, a song by your favorite band), write down as many words from the song as you can, then compose a poem that uses at least three words from your list. Don’t tell us the song that inspired your poem—see if we can guess!”
I am a huge Beatles fan, so lyrics started flowing through my mind immediately. So many tunes were tumbling around in my head, I quickly realized it would be really hard to pick a song! Another challenge that was soon apparent is that many Beatles songs are long on repetition, meaning that word choice could be limited. Then, one afternoon in the grocery store, a Beatles song began. Bingo! This was the song to use.
Repetition isn’t a technique I use often enough, so I took my inspiration a step further and used a repeating line throughout this draft.
“Our Yard”
Our yard is teeming with life.
Each evening, deer wander through,
Happy to forage on grass
And golden apples that have fallen,
A ring of sweets under the tree.
Our yard is teeming with life.
Each evening, a band of crickets
And other insects
Sing their summer song.
Each evening, a hawk
perches high in the pine tree,
waiting to spot a mouse
Running home to his burrow.
Our yard is teeming with life.
Catherine Flynn, Draft © 2019
I count eight words from the song I chose. Can you guess what it is?
The hawk on the lookout for supper.An update: The Beatles song that inspired this poem is Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. The words from the song are: band, life, ring, sing, home, yard, happy, and golden. Thank you to Jesse and Michelle for this fun challenge!
Please be sure to visit Kathryn Apel at her blog for the Poetry Friday Roundup!
Reading to the Core 
My mum was a Beetles tragic, but I wouldn’t have a clue! (I will only go so far as to guess that words relating to the song include; golden, band, sing, song.) I DO know that I love what it has inspired for you, though!
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I had fun with this challenge. I downloaded Abbey Road and listened until inspiration came. I can’t figure out the song. I keep going to “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
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A Beatles fan…an original from the days the surfaced in the sixties ie 9th grade. But no clue as to song yet. However love your poem and you effectively used repetition! I feel like I am in your beautiful yard.
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Ugh. Typos. *they not the!!! * Forgot to proofread. Not a good phone typist!!!
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Love that you ‘see’ so much with your yard ‘teeming with life’, Catherine. I thought the song was Summer’s Day Song or Here Comes the Sun, but can’t make it fit. Whatever it is, it’s a lovely song/poem of its own.
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Catherine, you stumped me too on the title. Great use of repetition. It makes me want to travel to your yard that is teeming with life.
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Oh that ring of sweets under the tree–I love that. Nice repetition. I’m glad you played with it. It works in this poem. Is the song, ‘Our House?’
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Your repetition worked beautifully here! I like that you double challenged yourself 🙂 and, like Linda, I love that “ring of sweets”. I can’t even guess at the originating song though. Well done!
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I am a Beatles fan from way back when… I can’t guess the song, but I do think you should submit your poem someplace. It is WOW!
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I’m glad I wasn’t the only one stumped as to the song. Of course, once I played the video, I recognized it. I love the peaceful image of your yard that you create in your poem. The repetition emphasizes that peacefulness that is not empty but teeming with life.
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I knew this was a Beatles song, but I kept thinking of “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The ring of golden apples is a beautiful image — timeless.
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I love “A ring of sweets under the tree” too. Sounds like a happy, happening yard!
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I love the direction you took this, Catherine. Still life-affirming, but with an entirely different tone. I, too, was thrown off by your title that brought CSN to mind, though I knew it wasn’t right. Great job with this challenge!
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