Day 12 – EASTER SUNDAY ~ “Free choice” poem or prose for National Poetry Day

Day 12 – EASTER SUNDAY ~ “Free choice” poem or prose for National Poetry Day

So, today is Easter for some, Passover for others and could have any other type of meaning (or not) for still others. Let’s just abandon all the rules (as some of you fabulous poets out there prefer to do anyway) and write a free verse poem (or any style) about Easter or anything at all that you choose to write about. Use any poetic form you wish, or prose, or a journal entry. Share it only if you wish – I imagine some work will feel too personal to share today and some work will be just what the rest of us need to hear (well, to read, technically).

Colored Pencil drawing by Stephanie Abney © 2019

Free verse is basically random, without any fixed metrical patterns of any kind and while there is no need to rhyme, it’s totally fine if you wish to use rhyme, but there is no need to count syllables or to worry about much of anything – just let it come. But free verse is actually tricky to make it feel cohesive, but once you get it just how you want it – you will be most happy with it. Free verse poems can be long, short or anything in between, as long as it seems to have a good flow, then you are good to go.

Prose is pretty much any literature; the written word, containing sentences and paragraphs, rather than the form, lines, and stanzas found in most poetry. Both are great. Write away ~ on whatever is meaningful to you today. Nature, family, life, love, religion, Easter, whatever comes to mind ~ go for it.

Here are some of the random thoughts I have had today – more of a reflection, but for what it’s worth:

Easter 2020, the most unique Easter I can remember in my lifetime. It’s certainly the first Easter where I literally could not attend church, even though I want to. Instead, we will have our own service in our home. 

On Friday I participated in an International, Interfaith Day of Fasting and Prayer for the healing of the pandemic, prayers for the caregivers, the economy and for life to normalize again.

It was one of the easiest fast days I have experienced. When the need is so large, the sacrifice feels very small. Despite what was going on in the world, my heart and mind felt peaceful and calm all day long. It’s a feeling I want to hang on to.

This Easter I want to be with all of my family members and loved ones but it looks like that can’t happen yet. I don’t know when things will get back to anything resembling a “normal, typical” day.

Some family members are so close and yet just out of reach. It makes me reflect on how Heavenly Father and the Savior must feel sometimes. They can see us, They want to heal us, to help us and yet sometimes we remain just out of Their reach. I don’t want to ever be out of Their reach. What will I do differently to be close to my Savior and my Heavenly Father?

                          

                   © April 12, 2020 ~ Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.