Planting Snow Glories in November
Photo by Amy LV
Soon-To-Be-Tulips!
Photo by Amy LV
Students - Today's poem is about an action I recently took - planting - and my feelings about it. I have been thinking about the actions that make me most happy, actions including stacking firewood and planting flowers, baking, knitting, and printmaking. Such jobs have nothing to do with screens or noise, and I like it that way. This past month I planted around 600 bulbs in our yard, 400 of them glories-of-the-snow. Each winter I say I will do this...and I never have done so until now. It will be so exciting to see them peep up come spring! I still do have a couple cords of firewood to move to the front porch, but I will wait for a bit of a warmer day.
In this poem, I consider what spring bulbs remind me of (onions, promises) and too, I marvel at their ability to sleep underground and then bloom when spring returns. I wish for my humble poem to celebrate them and too, to celebrate this fulfilling labor. (You would have laughed to see me walk back into our home again and again last weekend, each time calling, "I just planted another 50!")
Grassy Front Yard Last Week
Photo by Amy LV
Snowy Front Yard This Week
Photo by Amy LV
This action of planting - and this poem - have me thinking about what new actions I will take, actions that will make me feel fulfilled and enriched. Drawing is one such action. So is brushing our dogs. I will do more of these things. And what about you? Which actions make you most joyful? Think away from video games and TV shows or movies...which actions bring you delight or make you feel proud of you? You might try writing about one of these actions as a poem - just begin the first line with an action of what your body is doing or with a description of the material you are working with.
Tanita is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at [fiction, instead of lies] with a Carl Dennis poem about earthworms, a beautiful sonnet about gratitude, and information about the New Year's Poetry Challenge (starting December 15) through the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.
Please share a comment below if you wish.
Love your idea of the bulb's promises, Amy. Like seeds, I am amazed at the secrets they keep, told to us in spring. Love your planting & those pictures, the poem "Good fall, Good winter, Good night."
ReplyDeleteOne of the GLORIOUS things about Scotland when I was there was seeing people plant daffodils and crocuses by the thousands. They'd cover whole hillsides. I cannot WAIT for your photographs in the fall - I always say I'll plant a bunch of bulbs and never do it, but now that you're doing it... I'm doing something, too! Good Fall. Good Winter. Good Night.
ReplyDelete(Also your Barry Lane song just made me teary. I love that.)
I love this line. "Round wrapped gifts in papery skin." The best thing about bulbs is that after winter is over, they bloom without us having to do anything.
ReplyDeleteI like your prompt of considering an action that makes us happy. I am cleaning out my basement so it can be refurbished, and although I often find cleaning boring, I am really into this because of the hope of a bright clean new space. I am surprised at my excitement! Best of luck with your bulbs. I would find that fulfilling also. My best to you...
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful poem. I love it! Sweet and joyful - with room to grow.
ReplyDeleteHi, Amy. Okay! You've given me courage to plant my bulbs -- I was afraid I had missed the window. I love the idea of tucking the flowers in for a peaceful sleep (I hope the moles in my yard don't turn them into nightmares!)
ReplyDeleteI thought about how my action make me happy: time to create, planting. My tulips are poking up in the container.
ReplyDelete"snuggle in soil yet feel the light" is so perfect!
ReplyDelete"They have no smell. They have no sound.
ReplyDeleteI tuck them in November ground."
An act of faith is this bulb-planting that I too never get to. But the snow has not come to us yet, and maybe today as I'm hanging bulbs of light inside the house I can plant 20 bulbs of spring outside that are sitting next to my front door! Grounding grounding grounding work in a time of tumult!
I hope your lawn explodes with waking blooms next spring! I hope you'll share pictures and poems then, too. I appreciate your invitation to savor actions, especially those away from screens. I'm learning to crochet, so that is one to write about. And I hope the bulbs I transplanted when we moved in March (the wrong time of year to replant them) will gain strength from this winter's nap and bloom in the spring.
ReplyDeleteOh how I love these words:
ReplyDelete"Good Fall.
Good Winter.
Good Night.
They snuggle in soil yet feel the light."
So affirming for our long winter nights. Thanks, Amy!
Maybe next fall it will be MY turn to plant hundreds of bulbs instead of saying, "Oh, snap! I waited too long again this year!"
ReplyDeleteWe had an all-AmyLV Poetry Friday in room 226 yesterday. Every student browsed your archives, chose a poem, and shared it with the class. Thank you for you generous gift of accessible kid-friendly poems!!
"I will sing them lullabies" what a lovely line within this sensitive poem. And what a display of flowers you'll have in the spring. I wonder if it's too late to plant a few I still have waiting for me… thanks Amy! :)
ReplyDeleteSix hundred bulbs?!I will keep the image of them as they "snuggle in soil yet feel the light" tucked away with me throughout the winter. I can wait to see the pictures next spring! Thank you for this lovely, hopeful post, Amy!
ReplyDeleteWe're all counting on you to post photos of the glory this will be when spring comes! I love this post, and especially the title: "Choose good work, write about it." What could be better work than planting for the future?
ReplyDeleteAmy, I was inspired by you in my Poetry Friday post today. <3
ReplyDelete