Poet/blogger Irene Latham‘s annual Progressive Poem has been rolling through
the kidlitosphere all month, and it has finally arrived at my little corner o’ the web! Each day, a different writer adds a line, and on April 30 we’ll see how it ends when Donna at Mainely Writes adds the final line!
A structure began to take shape early on, and by and large the folks who have added to the poem have been keeping that form in place. When Jone MacCulloch added her line yesterday, she referenced a “divining seer” – which was the second mention of a person who is not the speaker.
So now we have the speaker, a child, and now a seer…for a wistful, dreamy sort of nature poem, there’s suddenly a lot of people around! So what is this seer doing? Who is he or she? Let’s find out…
Here is the poem, including my line:
A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky.
A hummingbird holds and then hies.
If I could fly, I’d choose to be
Sailing through a forest of poet-trees.
A cast of crabs engraves the sand
Delighting a child’s outstretched hand.
If I could breathe under the sea,
I’d dive, I’d dip, I’d dance with glee
A clump of crocuses crave the sun.
Kites soar while joyful dogs run.
I sing to spring, to budding green,
to all of life— seen and unseen.
Wee whispers drift from cloud to ear
and finally reach one divining seer
who looks up from her perch and beams;
So the seer is…?? Could be the child, could be someone else, could be an animal – who knows? I’m betting Violet Nesdoly can fill us in when she adds her line tomorrow!
(Side note: I originally ended my line with the word ‘smiles,’ but then realized that Violet’s word choices would be very limited for a rhyme. So I changed it to ‘beams’ not only because it allows for more rhyming words, but the noun version can be used as a ‘perch’! Get it?? I love poetry!)
Want to follow along? Care to see the thought process of the lines that have come before? The 2016 Progressive Poem is making a stop at the following blogs:
April
1 Laura at Writing the World for Kids
2 Joy at Joy Acey
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Diane at Random Noodling
5 Penny at A Penny and Her Jots
6 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
7 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass
8 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
9 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
10 Pat at Writer on a Horse
11 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
12 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
13 Linda at TeacherDance
14 Jone at Deo Writer
15 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
16 Violet at Violet Nesdoly
17 Kim at Flukeprints
18 Irene at Live Your Poem
19 Charles at Charles Waters Poetry
20 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
21 Jan at Bookseedstudio
22 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
23 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Mark at Jackett Writes
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Mary Lee at Poetrepository
28 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
29 Sheila at Sheila Renfro
30 Donna at Mainely Write
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By the way, if you have not had a chance to check out my post from this Tuesday, it’s a poem written by a teenage girl who falls under the autism spectrum, and it’s quite moving and insightful…I do hope you’ll take a look at it!
And for today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup – along with a surprising poem about water and echoes – please visit Michelle H. Barnes’ blog, Today’s Little Ditty!
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perch and beams, who or what could this be? I didn’t get the double meaning of beams until you said it. Yes, poetry is so fun like that!
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Thanks, Margaret. I’m looking forward to learning what the seer is smiling about!
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Love your line and play on words, Matt! I didn’t expect the ethereal direction this poem seems to be taking… but then again, it’s the Progressive Poem, right? Expect the unexpected!
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I know…once the seer showed up, I didn’t know what to do! So figured I’d let someone else decide if it’s a person or creature! Thanks for your thoughts!
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Matt, I love how you’ve helping define the seer…without defining the seer, only giving clues! And how thoughtful of you to think of Violet and give her “beams” instead of “smiles”… rhyme does present it’s own particular challenges, doesn’t it?? Thank you!
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Thank you, Irene! One of the incredible things about poetry is that it’s open to interpretation, so I wanted to instill some of that ambiguity into the poem. As I mentioned, the seer might be a person or animal – but even the reference to “perch” is hopefully thought-provoking, as it doesn’t necessarily pertain to birds.
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Well played, Matt. This is fun, and it will be interesting to see what twists and turns it takes before the month’s end.
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Thanks, Jane! As I implied in my comments to Irene, I like fleshing out ideas, but just not fleshing them out TOO much!
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Well, Violet has her work cut out for her! I’d thought the seer might be an owl, but I can’t picture them beaming… so, what will it be??? I’m staying tuned! Very nice poetic weaving!
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Thank you, Donna!
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Vwry clever and thoughtful, Matt. What a beautiful poem in progress.
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Thanks, Catherine…can’t wait to see what Violet does with this!
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Wonderful to bring more to the seer, and I also thought the end word should be a helpful one for rhyming, Matt, and love that double “beams”, too.. It feels as if you’ve freed the seer to do something bigger now., my imagination’s going wild from your line!
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Thanks so much, Linda! Like i said, I wasn’t’ sure if we wanted to add another character to the mix, or make the seer a character that is already part of the poem…so we’ll see where Violet takes us!
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I love this divining seer and wonder who or what or wear they will take the poem. Yes the beams….clever!! Nicely done and I am grateful I could end a stanza and not have to worry about the rhyme…..very thoughtful of you!! Perched, ready, wondering, eager……a seer…..hmmmmm.
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Thanks, Janet – and as I mentioned to Irene, even the word “perch” has more than one meaning – it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bird! And whether or not Violet sheds light on this, is anyone’s guess…….
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Ah, I can see that now. Interesting. “Her perch”…….clever, Matt.
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Matt, I am intrigued by your line and love the word perch. I am thinking that the seer is the child or the narrator who is filled with the wonder of nature (hence the beaming smile is seen).
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Could very well be the child…we’ll see if Violet enlightens us! Thanks, Carol.
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A poetic cliff-hanger!
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I’m eager to find out who the seer is, myself!
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You are always up for a challenge, Matt, and always answer with something surprising.
Well done!
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Thank you, Robyn!
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I was thinking the seer will be an owl like Donna did. But, we will “see” tomorrow…
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It’s been fascinating to follow the progression of this poem and its unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed hearing a bit about your process as well. Love the double meaning of beams. Ahh….words!
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Thanks, Molly!
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I’m loving this poem! Our best yet!
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I agree, I do think it’s coming together nicely. Thanks, Mary Lee!
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You are a generous passer-of-poems. So kind of you to think of that rhyming line. And I adore the mystery you left to the next writer too. But concrete at the same time. Well played!
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Thank you, Amy! I love ambiguity. 😉
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Love that you’ve put the seer on a perch…and left it up to the next poets to tell us more about her! And the advantage of my reading this a day late, is I get to find out more in one click…
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Thanks, Buffy! Click away!
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More mystery and intrigue! Nice job, Matt! I’m off to see if we have another clue or an answer!
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Thank you, Penny!
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I’m catching up today, Matt, and here we are with perch and “beams”–so much the better choice than smiles, even without the rhymic challenge and the double meaning, because beam is just more *interesting* than smile, more specific and full. Now, if you had chosen “perch” and “bream,” we would have been headed somewhere fishy instead…
Ha!
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Indeed, the seer would have been “angling” for something entirely different! Thanks for your nice comments, Heidi…and yes, I liked the specificity of ‘beams’ much more.
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