Poetry

Not all that long ago I was terrified of poetry. I didn't know how to interpret it and didn't want to take the time to truly chew on what I was reading. I'm known as a very black and white personality. Tell me how it is. Don't beat around the bush. Don't try to hint. Just tell me already! Symbolism? Alliteration? Couplets? Nope. 

Well, after reading blogs post, listening to podcasts, and just deciding to jump in, here I am a few months later, enjoying poetry!! 

I don't understand it all. I don't know all the rules. But I am having fun with it and that, to me, is one of the most important reasons to do something. 

I started with Robert Frost. I mean who doesn't love and appreciate his famous, The Road Not Taken?  I picked up this picture book from our local library and read it a few times with my kiddos. I LOVE this book!  Then I borrowed another book on his life with some of his poems spread throughout. Then I got yet another book that the kids and I read through about Mr. Frost and it's been no looking back since! 

We have a few printed sheets of small poems to memorize that have been fun. Edward Lear is hilarious and Ogden Nash, too! My daughter and I enjoy Christina Rossetti. 

I found A Child's Anthology of Poetry at a thrift store a few weeks back and we have gobbled up so many great poems in our morning time. A fave has been Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou. It seems fitting too, as we (and when I say we I mean, "I", because why would my kids have a fear of poetry? That's just silly. :)) have found that when you don't fear something, you can take it full on and you can discover that the thing you really feared was just a misunderstanding, an unknowing, and that thing just might turn into something you love. 

My husband challenged the whole family tonight to write a poem about Winter turning to Spring. It didn't have to rhyme or be anything but your thoughts on paper. This is what we came up with:

The light of days 
begins to grow,
thoughts of summer's
warm glow. 
The snow of Christmas
flows down the road,
melted flakes fill the
river banks. 
Our thoughts turn to 
flowers, apples and bikes. 
Campfires and floats will soon replace 
the snowball and sledding
we've long embraced. 
Spring is near and in our hearts,
it's always welcome and held dear. 
                               - Micheal 


 The Great Thawing Time    

The Bible says there is a time for everything. 
Right now I find myself slipping from Winter to Spring. 

Snow heaps melting,
Days warming,
Happy face on me. 

Days are getting longer, 
Nature is calling out. 
After the last of the melt off
All will be asprout. 

So long nights of roaring fire!
Lazy days of reading!
Hello days of mud and mire! 
Filled days of seeding. 
                         - Rebecca

Spring  

The Spring is coming. The flowers are blooming, petal by petal. All the trees
are blooming, too. And people are having fun in new Spring air. 
                                                                                          - Grace

Flower Bloom 

The flower blooms, the flower is opening into the sunshine. It's a beautiful sight if you see it in late Winter. It's fun to watch it grow and open. It is opening itself to the sun, a flower on the hillside with a big blue sky, some people come and steal it's seeds. They also salt them, then they spit the seeds and the flower is sad that he will not be able to make more. He is a sunflower. 
                                                                                       - Zade

Sun is bright.
Winter cold. 
Wild trees and woods. 
And even seeds.  
                 - August

Raging fire,
cold snow. 
Where did all the heat go?
                         - August


I never want to let fear stop me. I never want to stop growing because I'm allowing something to get the best of me. I want to press on and continue to learn and have fun doing it! I want my kids to see their Mama and Daddy learning right alongside them! For them to know that education doesn't stop after "school hours" or graduation, but that you can enjoy the ride for your whole life! 

I am thrilled to have jumped into poetry. 
Shakespeare is next on my list. 
And Homer. 

What fears are you conquering right now?




 


 

An attempt to write more

The last two years have given me ample time to read, read and read some more. Not having internet gave me a lot of free time and seeing as I'm not really into movies, reading seemed to take front stage. It was a lovely season of quiet, even though getting other things done like paying bills, communicating with others, etc, turned out to be a challenge.  Glad that's over! 

The last couple of years I have had a word come to mind as the New Year approached. It's been a good thing to dwell on that particular word and see how it helps me along. This year, I didn't get a specific word, rather a few resolutions. So traditional, I know. 

I want to drink more water. 
I want to work on having better posture. 
I want to write more. 

Priorities, people! We can't do it all. I know I can't, nor do I want to. Who wants the whole world on their shoulders. Not me! Let's leave that to the One who can truly handle it. 

But we can make the next best choice. Do the next best thing. And often times it seems like it's right there on the tip of your tongue, or welling up from your heart, or something that you can't stop thinking about. That's the thing you should pursue.  I hope we have all sorts of things we are growing in, but like I said before, some take front and center. Reading has been that for me the last few years as I have wanted to learn about more topics and found how joyful reading can be!

But this year, I want to write. I want to stretch myself in my writing as I have stretched myself in reading. Now I read a lot of light, fluffy books. Just look at my  pinterest page and you will see for yourself. But I try to have some books in there that are making me think, even if it's still *just a novel. ;) 

Writing, like reading, can be challenging, fun, a way to grow and learn, an expression of yourself. It can help get those thoughts out and organized which is why I feel the need to do it. I am a sometimes journaler. When I am pregnant or have just had a baby. When we have moved. When I have new ideas or just want to write down what we have done in school lately. But I am not consistent. I hope to be more consistent this year, and hopefully it will become a habit. 

So, here I am starting a new blog because apparently when you don't write on a blog for awhile it can get shut down? Not sure how that works, but I can't seem to get into the other blog. That's OK, I have new ideas that don't always revolve around photography, so it's a nice fresh start. 

My goals for writing:
Write more. 
Keep to my own voice.
Vocabulary.
Grammar.
Writing style.
Writing letters to loved ones.
Reading about writing. 
Just write. When I make mistakes, I can grow from them. If I don't write, I won't be making mistakes, but I won't be writing either. 


Here we go! 

Here's to more writing!