Friday, April 25, 2014

DAY TWENTY-FIVE!! Celebrating "ARBOR DAY" for #NationalPoetryMonth + #ArborDay



TODAY IS ARBOR DAY!! What would we do without trees?  So, let’s write tree poetry today.

Many people are familiar with Joyce Kilmer’s poem, “Trees.” Most can at least recite the first stanza ~ the poem is made up of a string of rhyming couplets.

Rather than suggest only one type or poem for today, choose your own form, but remember the rules to the one you use, if it has rules, that is.

If you go with couplets, which is such a pleasant poetry form – easy to write, nice to listen to ~ keep in mind the definition of a “couplet” ~ two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.

Joyce Kimer’s poem has 8 beats (syllables) in EVERY line and the endings rhyme within each couplet. (Yes, the second line has 8 syllables – the word “poem” has 2 syllables). So, count out your beats if you are using couplets or go back and follow the directions for any other style or just do free verse.

Let’s create some new poems about trees for Arbor Day. Cheers!!

Here are some ideas to get you started:














TREES
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

              © Joyce Kilmer

Here's my #ArborDay poem ~ not the greatest, but I wanted to post it for Arbor Day ~ it's about a tree in our front yard that is over 35 feet tall but we only planted it 9 years ago - I posted some pictures of it too. My husband is standing in front of it and he is 6'5" tall so that gives an idea.

ABCB rhyming pattern

Our Tall, Tall Tree

Just outside my front door,
stands the most magnificent tree.
Planted it nine years ago,
now taller than seven of me.

Fastest growing tree around,
it shades us from the western sun.
Leafy havens for the birds,
it comforts me when day is done


Its grandeur adds ambiance
we put up with its messiness.
Only growing for nine years,
its beauty, to us, is ageless.


                                                 © 2014 Stephanie Abney



                                 (this view is looking up at the tree)

5 comments:

Vicki said...

I remember the day
I got my first glasses
I went outside and
Looking up at a tree,
I exclaimed, "It has leaves!"

Ever since that day
I am one of the masses
Who enjoys the sights and
Sounds of all kinds of trees
And I always think, "It has leaves!"

Heidi L. Murphy said...

My tree poem has color in it that wouldn't show up here so it's back on my site at www.murph4slaw.blogspot.com

I did two for today...:o)

Tanya Parker Mills said...

It's been a very long day, but here's mine:

How many trees were sacrificed
For writers' paper through the years,
So poems then could be enticed
To emanate our loves, our fears?

I smile to think they now serve best
As shade beneath which we now write
On laptops, tablets in our quest
To capture truth and share its light.

Stephany Mae (Slater) Robinson said...

The Tree Secret
By Stephany Mae Robinson

Hot summer day
Kissed by white heat
My face seeks relief

Then a cool breeze
Beckons me
Beneath a tall tree

It whispers a secret
With rustling leaves
Of another century

When a girl like me
Sat beneath the tree
Seeking cool relief

We both shared a breeze
Beneath the tall tree
That beckoned me

Stephanie Abney said...

Great job, ladies ~ thanks for participating!! Cheers!!