Blog # 9 Where I am From Poetry

I love WIF poems  I think there is something beautiful and magical in examining our pasts, presents and futures.  I also have to admit, I love genealogy and  a good story and most WIF poems combine the two exquisitely.  I also think like we saw in the Poem Crazy chapter 17 sometimes where we truly are from may not be the place we were born.  Sometimes there are older stories calling us from the past and that is where we truly come from. They are windows to our souls and they are maps of our journey in life. Open the corridors of your mind and just explore. Remember you are you and this poem is you and let it come and reflect you; of course you are the expert on you and so it should encompass it all. Your blog assignment this week is to create your own WIF poem.  You can use the model from Poem Crazy, you can use Georgia Lyon's poem or Kelly Norman Ellis' poem as templates, or create your own. Pick whatever style you like but truly create something that tells us your story and where you are from.

Where I'm From

       George Ella Lyons

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
          from Imogene and Alafair.
I'm from the know-it-alls
          and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul
          with a cottonball lamb
          and ten verses I can say myself.

I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
          to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments--
snapped before I budded --

leaf-fall from the family tree.

Raised by Women

I was raised by
Chitterling eating
Vegetarian cooking

Cornbread so good you want to lay
down and die baking
"Go on baby, get yo’self a plate"
Kind of Women.

Some thick haired
Angela Davis afro styling
"Girl, lay back
and let me scratch yo head"
Sorta Women.

Some big legged
High yellow, mocha brown
Hip shaking
Miniskirt wearing
Hip huggers hugging
Daring debutantes
Groovin
"I know I look good"
Type of Women.

Some tea sipping
White glove wearing
Got married too soon
Divorced
in just the nick of time
"Better say yes ma’am to me"
Type of sisters.

Some fingerpopping
Boogaloo dancing
Say it loud
I’m black and I’m proud
James Brown listening
"Go on girl shake that thing"
Kind of Sisters.

Some face slapping
Hands on hips
"Don't mess with me,
Pack your bags and
get the hell out of my house"
Sorta women

Some PhD toten
Poetry writing
Portrait painting
"I'll see you in court"
World traveling
Stand back, I'm creating
Type of queens

I was raised by women

                  Kelly Norman Ellis

A Place of Our Own Blog #8

Many poems owe their existence to a place.  There are places we remember or we experience and we want to capture them with our words.  In chapters 15 and 16 Goldsmith-Wooldridge discusses place in poetry.  The places that inspired her both as a child and adult; the thoughts these places evoked and what Plum Nelly taught her about poetry.  In the practice she asks you write about a place... I would like you to create a poem based on a place for this weeks blog.

Blog #7 Ordinary Magic

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.”
                                                                                 ― H.G. Wells

I love this quote from H.G.Wells; it always makes me think of the ordinary magic celebrations in Poem Crazy and all the ideas we have been reading. I love the relation of things in new and unexpected ways, and the idea that if we are open to all of the life that is around us we can live in a constant state of amazement.  As I journal and write this I am drawn to thinking of Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland, so much of our life has to do with perspective.  We can see things one way, and if we wait a moment and cock our head slightly we can see it in a whole new way.  Life is a miracle and a mystery; so much to explore and experience.  So many tiny celebrations to create throughout each day! So don't waste a minute...get busy and blog about the celebration you created from practice 12 or the poem you created inspired by your celebration.