We were given a lovely group of words from Thoreau’s Walden, by Barbara of Briarcat. Remember to head back to The Sunday Whirl to read what others came up with.
Seasons Reel:
Advance and Retire
Spring lies
dormant beneath
the surface.
With skinny twigs
thrust upward, trees
contemplate the crisp
winter day, reel
in the chilly breeze.
Geese stand, walk
along a broad spit
of land, contemplate
the chill, still
depths of the pond.
The spectacle of spring
approaches with
resolution, dances
a reel with vain winter
until it is left kneeling.
Skinny twigs thrust
sunward, dotted
with green buds.
Notes: I must write more on short trips. This one came while on the Metro from Buckhead to the airport, to pick up our daughter. I redrafted at home and had fun playing with repeating words, not necessarily in the same form, or with the same meaning.
viv blake
15/01/2012 at 10:06 am
You had fun and it was fun to read – a great time was had by all!
margo roby
15/01/2012 at 10:48 am
Yes, ViV, this was definitely a party wordle poem and not a conveying great truths wordle poem, like Sharon’s. In which case, it’s nice that a great time was had by all!
mrg
my keyboard is acting up, won’t type several letters which makes making comments tedious. I think I’ll leave my name as it produced it; echoes my mood at keyboards.
Marianne
15/01/2012 at 10:11 am
I wrote about the seasons as well! I especially love this stanza and the image you created:
“The spectacle of spring
approaches with
resolution, dances
a reel with vain winter
until it is left kneeling.
margo roby
15/01/2012 at 10:50 am
Having gone to a British school, Marianne, I learned all the reels, so it was fun imagining this scene.
margo
Marianne
16/01/2012 at 6:16 pm
And thank you, Margo, for commenting on my sidewalk poem! I really am chuffed (chuffed is such a great word!!!)
anl4
15/01/2012 at 11:21 am
This piece seemed so perfect if that can ever be said about poetry? I liked what you did.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:33 pm
Thank you so much, annell. And, I know just what you mean: I never stop picking over my poetry.
margo
Laurie Kolp
15/01/2012 at 11:52 am
This is lovely, Margo… I especially like verses 3 and 4.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:35 pm
Thank you, Laurie. Those are my favourites, too. I may pull them and set them in a different frame.
markwindham
15/01/2012 at 1:20 pm
great imagery, flows well, uplifting. Funny how a set of words can evoke such diverse reactions. i guess that is the point of the exercise. Good stuff.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:36 pm
That’s one of my favourite things about these wordles, mark. I’ll be over to see yours in a minute. I have been keyboardless for a day.
margo
Cheryl's Excellent Adventure
15/01/2012 at 2:31 pm
Very nice. Soft.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:35 pm
Thank you, Cheryl!
Mary
15/01/2012 at 5:46 pm
I really enjoyed this. A beautiful poem of the progression of seasons. Love picturing ‘vain winter’ doing a reel with spring. Tied together seamlessly. One would never know it was written from a word list!
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:38 pm
Thank you, Mary. That’s my favourite kind of comment
And, I did grin when picturing winter and spring in their choreographed steps.
margo
wordsandthoughtspjs
15/01/2012 at 7:13 pm
Love the imagery in this, Margo. The wonderful changing of the seasons, truly missed by me.
Pamela
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:39 pm
Thanks, Pamela! So what is your predominant climate? Are you that close to the equator that you don’t get the seasons?
margo
R.Ross
15/01/2012 at 10:25 pm
I am keeping tabs on what is happening here but too busy to write much or post beyond my own Small Stones blog. Hope to contribute more once I am back in Africa next week.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:42 pm
Ros! Hello. How wonderful to see your face. I miss you, but cannot seem to find the time to even do small stones. Or, it’s part of the whole stress thing I went through when I dropped out of sight. But, I am keeping this regularly and hope to see you more.
margo
tmhHoover
15/01/2012 at 10:29 pm
It could be that it is just before 11PM… exhaustion just creeping in- but that first line really held me.”Seasons reel: Advance and Retire”. These words will show up in my dreams tonight I am sure. Spring just bowed to winter up here in Virginia.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:44 pm
Hello, Teri. How lovely to see you. The weather has led the seasons quite a dance this year. We seem to miss the worst of everything here in Atlanta. Might miss winter altogether, although I wouldn’t mind a couple of weeks. Stay warm!
margo
Susannah
16/01/2012 at 2:26 am
“Geese stand, walk
along a broad spit
of land, contemplate
the chill, still
depths of the pond.”
– Just beautiful!
I love what you did with the wordle words.
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:47 pm
Thank you, Susannah. Now that you have separated out he stanza, it’s interesting for me to read it. I may separate the geese from the trees and write another path!
margo
brenda w
16/01/2012 at 9:54 am
This is gorgeous, Margo. I love “dances a reel with a vain winter until it is left kneeling.” Exquisite. This reads like a (large) stone. Your observations served you well.
Winter’s visit to Montana has been unimpressive east of the continental divide, I’m not ready for it to leave until it dumps more white stuff. Let it snow!
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 3:50 pm
Thank you, Brenda! I have decided like writing stones of any size, as a form but need to find something that makes them relevant i the way of a connection or significance.
You go girl! Bring on the snow. Heck…I’m just trying for a cold week. I daren’t hope for a week of snow like we were gifted with last year. But I’ll work on Montana.
margo
purplepeninportland
16/01/2012 at 4:10 pm
Wow! “dances a reel with vain winter” Beautiful imagery here.
sara
margo roby
16/01/2012 at 4:46 pm
Thanks, Sara. That was my problem word and a fun way out of the jam.
margo
Cathy
17/01/2012 at 9:16 pm
Great poem! Spring is still sleeping in my area.
margo roby
18/01/2012 at 7:18 am
I wish spring would sleep a little longer here. She has been a little too aggressive. I’m not sure we have even had winter!
Irene
17/01/2012 at 10:57 pm
This carries descriptive power of winter/spring.
margo roby
18/01/2012 at 7:19 am
Thanks, Irene.
Traci B
18/01/2012 at 9:35 am
I like the thought of the seasons dancing with each other, weaving in and out in a reel. It’s very evocative and accurate, too; we don’t just have months of cold and then suddenly it’s spring. The two intertwine. Well wordled.
margo roby
20/01/2012 at 11:42 am
Sorry for the late reply, Traci. Having the blog blacked out for twelve hours seems to have thrown my entire week out of whack.
Thanks for the comment. I don’t necessarily notice seasonal movements on a small scale but with this year’s crazy stuff, it really is as you describe ‘dancing with each other, weaving in and out’. I see it daily.