Morning Pages
What words will emerge
when I set pen to paper,
before the sun arises
and my eyes clear and focus?
When doorways are ajar,
what silvered light slips through
like dawn on the horizon?
In that liminal state
between sleep and sentience,
will I brush against
another world?
©M. Hogan, 2019
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Laura Purdie Salas at her blog, Writing the World for Kids. She’s celebrating the publication of her newest book, Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations, and inviting poets to contribute equation poems on a padlet. What fun! I just contributed my idea: spider web + dew = masterpiece!
Nix the comfort zone 
i know no one who uses “sentience” so poetically. keep expanding my vocabulary.
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I can’t say it came on the first draft, Dan! 🙂
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Love your masterful equation, Molly. They are fun to write! And your ‘morning pages’ shows that special early time beautifully, and the end, the specter of hope for writers: “will I brush against
another world?” Lovely.
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“the specter of hope”–now that’s a lovely phrase! I loved your moon + rise= poem 🙂 Lovely!
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I like the idea of the in-between. It’s what stood out for me in this poem. Beautiful lines. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you! Transitional times draw me, and dawn, in particular, feels like a time when the veil between worlds is thinner.
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A spiderweb plus dew IS a masterpiece. And, I”m in love with these lines:In that liminal state
between sleep and sentience,
in fact, the whole last stanza.
You make me want to write a poem titled Morning Pages
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Thanks, Linda! This poem started unexpectedly with me noticing the shadow of my hand and pen on the page. If you do write a Morning Pages poem, I hope you’ll share it!
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I like your equation poem. And your morning poem. The photo is stunning.
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Thanks, Brenda!
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Gorgeous!
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Oh that silvered light in your poem! Yay for morning pages.. and spider equations. So very lovely, Molly. xo
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Thanks, Irene. I do love the sense of potential thresholds in the morning.
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I love the mysterious-yet-hopeful tone of your Morning Pages poem. It makes me want to write one of my own. And the spider web equation and its illustration are gorgeous!
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Thank you! I love Laura’s equation poem idea, and I find myself thinking in that form these days. It’s as addictive as writing haiku!
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I’m so glad I stopped by this morning. I share a writing workshop called “Morning Pages.” Your poem is perfect. I love “between sleep and sentence.”
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Thanks, Alice! I’m also glad you stopped by! I hope all’s well.
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You’re on the threshold of stepping into a new dimension of expressive language, Molly. Your poem and spider web masterpiece are fabulous.
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Thank you, Carol. That’s a threshold I will willingly cross!
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Love your pearled “masterpiece” equation poem Molly! And the last stanza in your “Morning Pages” poem is gorgeous, thanks!
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Thanks, Michelle. I moved around the second and third stanzas a few times until I finally settled on this arrangement. I’m glad you liked it.
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Bravo, Molly. Two new poems + spectacular image = joyful Saturday morning reading! I do believe I need to write an Evening Pages companion poem now. Cheers!
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Oh, Christie, I hope you do write that Evening Pages companion poem and share it, too! They are a foreign concept to me as I’m most definitely a lark, not an owl!
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I love your last two lines, especially–that whish of brushing up against.. And thank you for your equation poem. It’s lovely!
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Laura, I just ordered your book and can’t wait to get it. I’ve already talked about it to my class and we’re all composing impromptu equation poems now! Such fun!
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Lovely wistful poem about your quiet mornings with words. I should revisit the idea of morning pages. I read your equation poem to my students. We tried to add a few. The photo of that spider web shows its majesty.
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Morning pages are my only guaranteed writing time, Margaret. I seldom
write at other times during the week. I’m simply too drained after work. When do you typically write?
On another note, my class is loving the equation poem concept! I bet your students came up with some wonderful additions to Laura’s padlet!
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I often feel too tired early in the morning. And I like to start my day with a walk. I write with my students and during my breaks. I always feel like I need more writing time.
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You’re wonderfully productive with the writing time you have!
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Such natural lace & grace with this image – more than a photograph, an art piece by you.
And your poem “Morning Pages” – a lark personality, like me, feels lifted especially, with:
“In that liminal state
between sleep and sentience,
will I brush against
another world?”
I feel anticipation, hope, adventure . . .
many appreciations Molly
– Jan/Bookseedstudio
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Thank you so much, Jan. I’m so glad you could relate to my poem and that sense of potential inherent at dawn…well, at least for us larks! It is a hopeful time and one I cherish.
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Such lace & grace with your photograph, Molly! It’s more than an image, it’s artwork.
And for a lark personality such as myself, your “Morning Pages” poem is a gift, a lift, especially with:
“In that liminal state
between sleep and sentience,
will I brush against
another world?”
Many appreciations for the sense of anticipation of the exciting unknown ahead, which you help me inhabit.
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Love this! I especially like the last few lines of your poem-“will I brush against another world?” Ahhh, love it when our words do that!
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Me, too!
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I like your idea of revealing something when you’re not quite focusing on it, sort of like how you can only see those 3D hologram thingies when you don’t look directly.
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Tabatha, now you have me trying to remember a poem someone recently shared where the poet wrote about trying to capture a poem by not looking directly at it. It’s going to drive me crazy! Do you, by chance, have a clue what poem I’m referring to?
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Yes, you will brush against other worlds, writing while waking! Although I feel your handwriting is way too organized for you to be half-asleep. Nice one.
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My handwriting might be neat, but my thoughts aren’t always coherent! lol
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I wrote this a while ago about coming at a poem sidelong…maybe you’ll enjoy. http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-art-of-language-and-novels-in-verse.html
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Oh, I did enjoy that! Thanks for sharing!
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I love the morning pages and that photo. Wow!
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Thanks, Jone!
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Love this and you capture the precious solitude of the dawn so well here. The ideal time to create! Thanks for sharing! I am a Creative Life Coach and have a poetry blog in case you have time to read? http://www.peacockpoetryblog.wordpress.com and I am also on Instagram as #coachingcreatively, let’s follow each other if you use this medium? Have a good day? Sam 🙂
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