Friday, July 23, 2010

Things to Do If You Are a Mountain: An Original List Poem


As some of you may have noticed I’ve been blogging “light” in recent months. I haven’t posted a book review in a long time. Now that my mother is settled in her new residence and my daughter’s wedding is in the past—maybe my life will return to normal once again. I’m hoping I’ll get myself back into my regular blogging groove soon.

I always try to post on Poetry Fridays. For this week, I selected another one of my “things to do” list poems that I’ve scrubbed from my Things to Do collection.


THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A MOUNTAIN

Wear a snow-white cap
and a thick coat of evergreens.
Scratch your stony back with glaciers.
Tower over the tops of other mountains.
Let the sun sparkle on your summit.
Hide drowsing bears
in your deep brown pockets.
At night
poke your head above the clouds
and peek at the stars.



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The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Language, Literacy, Love.
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You may want to view the video I posted at my Political Verses blog today--Sarah Palin's Geography Song: Fifty Nifty States. It's pretty funny!

9 comments:

Linda said...

Another beautiful Things to Do poem. I especially love the line
"Scratch your stony back with glaciers." Your imagery is spot on!

As far as life getting back to normal, boy, I could use some of that too! I can't believe I'll be getting my classroom ready again in just two weeks!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Linda,

There was so much excitement in my life in regard to my daughter's wedding. My husband and I had such a wonderful "wedding weekend" that we found it difficult coming back to earth after one of the most exhilarating experiences of our lifetime.

It must be difficult to think about getting your classroom ready at this time. I remember what is was like when I was teaching.

Bridget R. Wilson said...

Beautiful poem, Elaine. I'm especially appreciative as I live in the mountains.

Mary Lee said...

I'm loving the mountain's "deep brown pockets"!!

jama said...

This one made me smile from the first line. Just amazed at how crisp the language is, how fresh and delightful the images . . . another gem to be sure. I'm especially partial to those drowsing bears :).

Grace Lin said...

I hope the rest of your "Things to Do" poems are out in a submission to a publisher!!!

Amy L V said...

"Hide drowsing bears/in your deep brown pockets" How enchanting! These THINGS TO DO poems are such direct and cozy snapshots of their subjects, and I look forward to reading more! (Here and bound.)

Rebecca Gomez said...

Very nice. Makes me wish for a day as a mountain!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks, everyone, for your nice comments. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I was feeling crummy yesterday. Thought maybe I had come down with a bug--but I think I may have allergies. In addition, I haven't been getting much sleep
lately. I'm taking care of my daughter's cat while she's on her honeymoon. Now there are two cats in the house running around at night--and sometimes hissing at each other.

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Grace,

I'm just about done with the collection. I think I need just one more poem. Hope to write it this weekend. I'm meeting with my poet/teacher friend Brad on Tueday. I'm bringing the manuscript along for him to critique.

P.S. I'll email the manuscript to you.