Slice of Life Story Challenge March 12 - A New Leaf

I have a notebook purely dedicated to poetry. I have been periodically lifting poems from my old writer’s notebooks, revising them and then entering them into my poet’s notebook, titled -'Poetry Is My Oxygen.' The name comes from a conversation I had with a young writer, some years back, just as I was leaving a Grade 5 classroom at PS 20 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.N.Y.  A boy approached me and spoke. 'Poetry is my oxygen,' he said. 'What's yours?'

It's an odd assortment of poems. They are random examples of verse.They don’t fit into any particular theme or topic. I guess I just wanted these poems to have company. 

Yesterday, I entered a poem simply titled, ‘Leaf’ into my collection of eclectic poems. The poem, inspired by a leaf I found lying near our garage took some time to evolve. My initial response was to take a photograph of what caught my eye. I was attracted to its vibrant colors. It was some time later that I found myself wishing to tell its story.







Comments

  1. elsie12 March 2014 at 22:33

    What a gorgeous leaf and a poem to tell its story. "Death defying beauty" so true! I love the story about "What's your oxygen?" I'm thinking picture books are a big part of my oxygen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dogtrax12 March 2014 at 22:47


    I breathe in words:
    rhythm-in
    rhythm-out.
    Imagining emotions
    in flux, in flow,
    in the unstated observations
    of a writer in motion
    where what I don't write
    is what I mean to say.

    -Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ramona12 March 2014 at 22:55

    This is a perfect post to share with my students today. I'm trying to help them find writing ideas everywhere. We'll talk about a leaf and then discuss the big question, "What's your oxygen?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12 March 2014 at 23:18

    Beautiful poem! Love the "vermillion, indigo, and gold"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12 March 2014 at 23:43

    Hey Alan, I lOVE Poetry is my Oxygen!!!!! You always blow me away when I click to your latest post,
    Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beverley Baird13 March 2014 at 12:09

    What a lovely title - so true. Such a beautiful poem.

    ReplyDelete
  7. writekimwrite13 March 2014 at 12:50

    Many inspirations are found from you for me today. The idea of a poetry only notebook, "Poetry is my oxygen" and the leaf poem. My favorite part "Intense shades of vermillion, indigo and gold among its verdant green remnants." Beautiful word choice there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Melanie Meehan13 March 2014 at 13:28

    Beautiful poem, Alan! I love the idea of the leaf landing face up. Funny how everyone had favorite parts--that's mine! It made that leaf so human--

    ReplyDelete

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