NPM: M is for Hope

Catherine Flynn9 Comments

On to the letter M… I planned on writing about moss today, and had been reading Robin Wall Kimmerer‘s first book, Gathering Moss, for inspiration. After reading Jone’s post about found poems yesterday, I decided to let Kimmerer’s lyrical and poetic words speak for themselves. Here is a found poem from Kimmerer’s essay, Ancient Green.

M is for Hope

Why?

Because…

Ancient green
mosses remember,
turn time into life.

Mosses bask
In a solar powered home
fill the boundary layer
with their velvety greenness…

Healers of land,
teachers of how we might live.

Thank you, Robin Wall Kimmerer, for sharing your wise, beautiful soul with us.

IvoShandor, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope
Day 9: Hope is
Day 10: I is for Hope
Day 11: J is for Hope
Day 12: Hope is…
Day 13: L is for Hope

NPM & Poetry Friday: L is for Hope

Catherine Flynn12 Comments

Happy Friday, everyone! It doesn’t seem possible that we’re halfway through National Poetry Month already! Naomi Shihab Nye tells us that “poems hide.” I think that hope can be hidden, too. We just have to learn how to see it.

Today I’m sharing a slightly altered version of a poem that was recently published in The Birmingham Arts Journal. Thank you, Irene Latham, for encouraging me to submit my poems to BAJ! Although it was written long before I thought of this project, hope is woven into every line.

L is for Hope

Why?

Because…

a decaying leaf
stripped of its
lamina, transformed
into a transparent
filigree of fibers
is tucked into
a house finch’s nest
cushioning speckled
eggs, tiny as  thimbles.

Drained of chlorophyll,
brown as the dirt
it will soon become, the leaf 
tumbles on a gust of wind
to the ground
where earthworms
will burrow and nibble
away at the remnants
of once sturdy xylem,
casting its remains 
aside.

Decomposed into soil,
it waits, silent and still,
for heart roots to
absorb its nutrients,
sustaining a stand of beeches,
powering hungry new leaves.

© Catherine Flynn, 2023

Please be sure to visit Jone Rush MacCulloch at her blog for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope
Day 9: Hope is
Day 10: I is for Hope
Day 11: J is for Hope
Day 12: Hope is…

NPM: Hope is…Katydids

Catherine Flynn8 Comments

Hope is…

the promise of katydids:

spending long summer days
disguised as emerald green leaves;

spending long summer nights
strumming their love song.

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2023

Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope
Day 9: Hope is
Day 10: I is for Hope
Day 11: J is for Hope

NPM: J is for Hope

Catherine Flynn12 Comments

J is for Hope

Why?

Because…

All winter long
a chittering of juncos 
forage for seeds
under a maple tree,
hopping on short, slender legs,
their pink beaks pecking
in snow or leaf litter.
Tilting heads from side to side,
bright black eyes
always alert
for hawk’s shadow,
ready to flutter for cover
in an instant
melting into a
gray and white world.

Draft, © Catherine Flynn, 2023

I was traveling yesterday and honestly had hit a wall with these poems. I turned to Valerie Worth’s Small Poems for inspiration and found it in “Dog.”

Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope
Day 9: Hope is
Day 10: I is for Hope

NPM: Hope is…Indigo Buntings

Catherine Flynn12 Comments

Hope is…

an indigo bunting,

small splash 
of summer sky,

alighting in the
laurel bush on a cloudy
April morning

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2023

I think the “Hope is…” beginning works better for this poem. Although I used the cherita form (thank you for the inspiration, Mary Lee!) this isn’t exactly a story. But poets are always breaking rules!

Dawn Scranton from Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope
Day 9: Hope is

NPM: Hope is…

Catherine Flynn13 Comments

Today’s letter is H, and because H is for hope and also for hawk, I’m going to mix things up a bit. Today I’m using Natalie Babbitt’s “Delicious is…” format, defining hope using an acrostic about my neighborhood hawk.

Hope is…

Hawk, sitting still as a statue
Atop an old snag
Waiting, watching, her
Keen eyes peeled for her next meal.

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2023

(I had decided to write this as an acrostic before reading Anastasia Suen’s clever tutorial, but was glad to be reminded of the importance of story.)

Photo by Carlos Veras on Unsplash

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope
Day 7: F is for Hope
Day 8: G is for Hope

NPM & Poetry Friday: F is for…

Catherine Flynn25 Comments

Spring break has begun! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I’m looking forward to having time to catch my breath. Somehow I have managed to keep up with my poetry project. Because it’s the first Friday of the month, it’s also the Inkling challenge. This month, Mary Lee randomly chose these words: knuckle, denial, turn, cautious, then asked us to “use three or more …in a poem.” At first, I had no idea how I was going to work these words into a poem about hope and keep the alphabet pattern I’m using. But I kept thinking. When I was scrolling through photos on my phone, looking for something else, I found this:

Problem solved! My plan for this project wasn’t completely clear when I began, but I have decided to try to write about plant or animal species native to my area. This picture was taken on a walk last spring. I also have been playing with different forms. A Fib seemed like a natural fit for a poem about ferns. Today’s poem is a variation, beginning with one syllable, building to eight, then working back to one syllable.

Ferns,
green
spirals,
uncurl like 
a fist, cautiously
at first, one knuckle at a time, 
then swiftly turning into a 
wide sail, soaking up 
sustaining
light from
the 
sun

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2023

Please be sure to visit my fellow Inkling, Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche, for this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup AND the next line in the Progressive Poem. Then check in with the rest of the Inklings to see how they responded to Mary Lee’s challenge.

Heidi Mordhorst @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone

Previous NPM Posts:

Day 1: H is for…
Day 2: A is for Hope
Day 3: B is for Hope
Day 4: C is for Hope
Day 5: D is for Hope
Day 6: E is for Hope