Every month, one member of my critique group poses a challenge for us to respond to. I love how these challenges push me, and am always astonished at where some of these poems lead. This month, Linda challenged us to write an aubade, “a poem or piece of music appropriate to the dawn or early morning.”

As I said, these challenges always lead in unexpected directions. I struggled to come up with a way into this poem. Then, while I was walking one morning, the phrase “brittle blue sky” came into my mind and became the key to this draft.

This painting, which I found through Google Arts & Culture, also helped this draft come together:

How long has it been 
since we last went to the lake?
Twenty years? More?
It feels like yesterday
when we woke to the cry of loons,
whispers of the water kissing the rocky beach,
patches of light filtering through wispy pines

The sky brightens,
and my dream dissolves
into a patchwork of green and gold pixels.

The lake recedes into memory,
scattered among my worries 
of today.

Outside, jays squawk and squabble,
and the maple is a shock of scarlet
Against a brittle blue sky.

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2020

Please be sure to visit my fellow Sunday Night Swaggers to read their aubades:

Heidi Mordhorst @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone

Then stop by and say hello to Susan Bruck at Soul Blossom Living for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard are two of my poetry idols. I have shared their poetry with my students since I began teaching. More recently, I’ve been fortunate to learn from them at workshops and conferences. One silver lining to everything being moved online this year is that I was able to be part of “The Craft and Heart of Poetry,” their amazing Highlights workshop.

This draft is the result of a quickwrite Georgia and Rebecca shared during the workshop. It isn’t perfect, but I had fun writing it. Thank you, Rebecca and Georgia, for your never-ending inspiration!

Halloween Frighting

Ghosts ghouling
Zombies drooling

Vampires slurping
Mummies lurching

Ogres crunching
Trolls munching 

Witches hocusing 
Goblins pocusing

Skeletons rattling
Demons battling

Werewolves chomping            
Frankensteins stomping  

Orange moon lighting
Halloween frighting

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2020

Please be sure to visit Linda Baie at Teachers Dance for a Halloween edition of the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Several months ago, I suggested that when my critique group partners and I resumed our monthly challenges we write “In One Word” poems. This form was created by April Halprin Wayland and you can read about it here.

I’ve been tinkering with ideas for this poem all summer. After playing with several potential words, I stumbled across the word “plentitude.” This word appealed to me for several reasons, including the fact that it seemed be contrary to the current state of our country. I’m not thrilled with this very drafty draft, but perfection isn’t the goal of these challenges.

Pick up a pen.
Write the secrets of your heart. Let
your truths flow, set down in
ink for all to know. Don’t dilute
the facts. Everyone is entitled
to tell their story, sing their tune.

So let’s lean in, tilt
our heads, lend
our ears, and listen to each line
with an open heart. Tend
and nurture one another, unite
and celebrate our plentitude.

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2020

Please be sure to visit my fellow Sunday Night Swaggers to read what word they chose for their “In One Word” poems.

Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone 
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Heidi Mordhorst @ My Juicy Little Universe
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche

Then head on over to Carol Varsalona’s blog, Beyond Literacy Link, for the Poetry Friday Roundup and Carol’s stunning “Embraceable Summer Gallery.”

In July, the Poetry Sisters challenged one another and all Poetry Friday participants to write etherees. As Tricia Stohr-Hunt explained on her blog,

An etheree is a poem of ten lines in which each line contains one more syllable than the last. Beginning with one syllable and ending with ten, this unrhymed form is named for its creator, 20th century American poet Etheree Taylor Armstrong.

I’ve never tried to write an etheree, but the mathematical progression appealed to me. But what to write about?

Our house is surrounded by hay fields. At this time of year, each one is a glorious patch of wild flowers and grasses, birds, bees, and butterflies that deserve a poem that celebrates their beauty.

Queen Anne’s Lace Etheree

Queen
Anne’s lace
fills summer
fields, clusters of
lacy white haloes
soaking up bright sunshine,
hosting bees and butterflies–
a serve-yourself, all-day buffet,
soon to be transformed into silage,
live up to its other name: cow parsley.

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2020

Please be sure to visit Ramona at Pleasures from the Page for the Poetry Friday Roundup!