I LOVE writing mask poems! It's fun pretending to be an animal, a plant, an element of nature, an inanimate object and speaking in a voice other than your own. I enjoy imaging what it might be like to be the sun or the moon, a lion or a grizzly bear, snow or the rain, an evergreen tree in winter or a maple tree in autumn.
Years ago, I wrote a collection of animal mask poems (Voices All around Me)--which is still unpublished. Months ago, I decided to include some of those poems in a new seasonal collection of animal and plants that children often see/hear in their own environment--including spring peepers, honeybees, apple blossoms, ladybugs, a garden snake, earthworms, a mole, a maple tree, wild geese, snowshoe hare, a spruce tree, and a hibernating woodchuck.
The collection has received one rejection to date. I think I may try another publisher one day.
I thought I'd share Dandelions, one of the poems from that collection, this morning:
DANDELIONS
We go where WE want. We
do as WE please.
We live without limits
or boundaries.
Uplifting breezes carry
our seeds
Hither and yon. YOU
call us weeds!
We don’t grow in gardens. We live wild and free.
We’re independent.
That’s how it should be.
**********
Mary Lee has the Poetry Friday Roundup over at A Year of Reading.
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10 comments:
Go, Dandelions!! Love that attitude!!
Wonderful poem! I wrote a mask poem without even knowing what it was called. And it's the voice of a dandelion! Great minds... Here's the link in case you are interested in another take: https://friendlyfairytales.com/2016/05/02/dandelions-delight/
Awesome poem! As a kid, I had a hard time seeing them as weeds. I loved picking them in the summer. I love how you depict them as wild and free. Maybe that is why I loved them as a child. (I was a bit too wild and free, perhaps.) :)
Such a delightful poem... deep with meaning. When I finished reading I thought of all the dandelions that my kids and grandkids have given me... They are childhood's bouquet of choice.
I love hearing about those 'independent' dandelions, Elaine, out first sight of color after drab winter.
Ha! I can hear the chorus of these cute little monsters in my head....kinda like munchkin voices! Great job. Very much a strength in numbers kind of flower.
Hooray for wild and free!
"We do as WE please." - indeed dandelions do! You've capture their rebellious and sassy attitude perfectly. =)
I've never thought of dandelions as weeds. I love that you've given them such a strong, independent voice!
Love the poem and oh I wish I could read all of your unpublished collections. What fun awaits!
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