SOL2015 March 27 Take A Leaf Out Of The Day


It rained overnight. The wind howled and the trees bent to its unrelenting will. The casualties were strewn on the driveway this morning. An Autumnal aftermath. Leaves of many colours littered the ground. I gathered a few of them up, took them inside and photographed them. Then I wrote...





LEAF

It clung tenaciously
To its sturdy host

Eventually the wind
Separated them
And the leaf
Cast adrift
Began its inevitable descent

Flittering
Fluttering
Falling
To earth
Like a feather, tumbling

On the pathway
It landed
Face up
Autumn shades exposed
Brilliant at the end
Intense hues of
magenta, indigo and russet red
Among the verdant green remnants
A leaf
Beauty defying death




Comments

  1. Unknown27 March 2015 at 18:26

    Beautiful - the photos, and the poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. bonnie K.27 March 2015 at 22:48

    What color!!! So good to see as I look outside my window to rainy gloom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown28 March 2015 at 00:13

    Autumn...Wow...I forget. I love the line, "The wind howled and the trees bent to its unrelenting will." You painted a picture today with words and photos. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. elsie28 March 2015 at 00:39

    What a treasure trove of color landed on your driveway! Then the thoughts that created the poem of the journey to the driveway revealed in a poem. I love the colors you used which made each stanza stand out. The shape of the words could be leaves. Very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joanne28 March 2015 at 04:16

    Love the color of words and leaves! Always fun to hear of fall when I am hoping for the snow to melt outside my window leaving me with spring.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous28 March 2015 at 09:03

    The colors are so vivid in the photos and the poetry. I love the lines "Brilliant at the end" and "Beauty defying death." The words reflect the hope to end well when that day comes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rissa28 March 2015 at 10:45

    Beauty defying death....is that not what happens when death occurs naturally? I love your words. It's completely incongruous to me that you have fall now! If only we had spring, I might not be as envious as I am.

    ReplyDelete
  8. oicurcrazy228 March 2015 at 11:17

    Thanks for posting this. You are a poet and a great photographer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Melanie Meehan28 March 2015 at 14:05

    I have to say it is strange to read about autumn and leaves falling when spring is just emerging where we are in the world. I love the way you write about it, though. Flittering, fluttering and falling...a poem full of strong images. Your pictures are also beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more