This week marked the official end of Laura Shovan’s February Poetry Project. Heading back to school after break and starting up the Slice of Life Challenge this week impacted my poetry writing, and not for the better. Here are a couple of my ekphrastic poems from the past week. Considering how much I’ve enjoyed this month, I expect they won’t be my last!
Moon Song Connection
We are each alone
in our wooden crafts
Adrift on textured blue seas
our stories wax and wane
transform
Multiple washes
seep into our fabric
From shadow and light
patterns emerge
When you find your own
true keeper color
within your tilted craft
turn your face to the heavens
then croon your moonlit melody
fling the luminous notes of your life song
with wild abandon
skip them across the waves
to linger in salty breezes
until they reach,
perhaps,
another solitary voyager
in his own wooden craft
on his own textured blue sea
A connection as fragile
and magical
as a moonbeam
M. Hogan (c) 2018
inspired by the batik “Moon Song”
created by Lisa Kattenbraker
Indian Cotton Summer
Watching the young girls
on the beach
she remembered
long-ago languid days
of sun-kissed promise
endless beach walks—
secrets shared and
futures planned—
and the soft swish of
her Indian cotton skirt
on her sand-flecked shins
Where had it gone?
Was it packed away
in a box somewhere?
Or had it simply disappeared
like so many other things—
some barely remembered
and others
keenly missed
M. Hogan (c) 2018
Acrylic on newsprint
by Laura Laughlin
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Renée LaTulippe at her blog, No Water River. She’s highlighting poet extraordinaire, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. Be sure to stop by and visit!
Nix the comfort zone 
I miss all those quirky, lovely art prompts. I’ll have to go back and try to catch up at some point. Great job on yours. I have a poem using that first piece of art this week, too. 🙂
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That batik was one of my favorite art prompts. If you have time, visit the artist’s site. Her work is stunning and it’s really fun to read about the process. I may catch up on the prompts I missed some day… or I might not.
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I did visit her site. That was partly why I wrote my poem the way I did, from all her titles and the different versions of her batik art.
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These are lovely, Molly… those connections… and I love questions in poems. Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks, Irene. I’ve found myself posing lots of questions in my poems lately. I’m not quite sure why.
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I’ve loved all your poem responses, Molly, enjoyed writing along with you! This time, I especially love that “Was it packed in a box somewhere?” Somehow it means more to me than the realistic idea. I suspect we all hold “boxes” of things in our memories. Thanks for sharing these.
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I’ve loved reading your poems as well, Linda. You always have an interesting take on these prompts. I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic and unsettled lately, and I think a lot of that is emerging in my poetry.
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I’m glad we had this poetry month to lean in, but it’s been a really hard month, no surprise to be unsettled and nostalgic for easier days. Hugs and keep writing!
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What a great month of poetry you’ve had!
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It’s been a fun month. It’s definitely interesting to switch over to prose for the slice challenge!
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I am in love with “Moon Song” and your response, especially the “connection as fragile/and magical/as a moonbeam.” What a wonderful month of poetry! What treasures will April bring?
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After two months of daily “publishing”, I think I may be wrung dry by April, lol!
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Now don’t be too hard on yourself, Molly! Two beautiful poems that didn’t exist before this week… so what if there weren’t more. You were creative in other ways. 🙂 Your first poem reminds me of the quote I shared in my blog post… about teachers and students being fellow travelers.
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Thanks for the positive words, Michelle. I’m going to go check out your post and the quote you mentioned. Happy writing!
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Great poems, Molly. These two art pieces were among my favorites. It was a fun and challenging month.
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I loved both these pieces as well, Alice. It was such fun to see what art people had in their homes and then try to respond to it. A great month!
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Well done, well done!! The creation of any poem is an act worth celebrating, whether it’s two or two hundred!
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Thanks for the positive outlook, Jane!
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It was so fun doing the Ekphrastic poems and it was already great to read one of yours!
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Thanks! It was a wonderful experience!
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The stimulus a poet derives from a visual cue often reveals a quite magical connection. Thank you sharing more of your Ekphrastic poems Molly. I particularly enjoyed your reference to memory -‘some barely remembered, others keenly missed’ in your poem, Indian Cotton Summer.
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I’ve found the entire project quite interesting. Often my response goes in an unexpected direction. Perhaps that’s the magic you mention!
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It’s been a great month of reading and writing poetry together! I’ve enjoyed all your poems and your encouraging words through the month! These two are lovely.
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It’s been great writing with you as well–what a fantastic community! I found myself missing poetry writing today and had to carve out some time to play. Withdrawal, I guess!
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Love the artwork, love the poems. Beautiful work!
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Thanks, Leigh Anne. These art works are both quite lovely, aren’t they? Great inspirations!
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I love the voice and imagery in Moon Song Connection. What a wonderful poem!
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Thank you. The batik was a fabulous inspiration, as was the artist’s site and her explanation of her work.
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I love all your clever batik references in the first poem. So fun! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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Thanks, Ruth. I had a great time learning about the batik process and then trying to incorporate some references to it. I’m glad you noticed! lol
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Thanks for sharing these here, Molly – I had not had time to read a lot of the poems posted on the FB page, and these are so heartfelt and beautifully worded.
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Thanks, Matt. I keep going back to the FB page and discovering more. What a treasure trove of poems was created last month!
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I’ve always considered myself having this love affair with the moon, so your moon-song connection spoke to me a great deal. Enjoy your week!
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