Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, today’s Poetry Friday hostess extraordinaire, recently posted a daily prompt for Laura Shovan’s Water Poem Project. She suggested writing about a water memory. I haven’t had much opportunity to respond to prompts lately, but this one caught my fancy.
Once
Once
I stood
beneath a lacery
of leaves
woven
by towering trees
bedecked
in dappled sunlight.
A brook
threaded its way
down the hill
around and over
moss-covered rocks,
its crystalline waters
burbling,
spilling,
running free,
their song
as refreshing
as a cool breeze—
A gift
from the forest
to me.
© Molly Hogan , 2020, draft
Make sure to visit the PF Roundup at Amy’s amazing blog, The Poem Farm. You can also check out Amy’s National Poetry Projects, both current and past. Set aside some time and prepare to enjoy yourself!
(Please forgive the formatting—we’re going on 24 hours without power and I’ve never used my phone to post before! I’ll need to add links later too! Update: 36 hours later and we just got power back! Woot!)
Nix the comfort zone 
What a pleasure to read. Thank you.
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Thanks!
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This is a lovely memory–and brings back memories of “creek hiking” with my daughter. Those times were gifts from the forest to us. And I love the “lacery of leaves”
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Creek hiking sounds wonderful! I bet there are some poems hiding in those memories.
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A lovely flow from forest to brook. Just returned from a paddle down the bayou and it felt like this, a gift. Hope you get power back soon. What a pain! Is it cold?
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Someday I’d love to paddle down your bayou, Margaret! It always looks so serene. (The power is back up finally! Yay! Luckily it wasn’t too cold.)
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I feel refreshed just reading your water memory with the burbling crystalline waters.
Wonderful imagery!
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Thanks!
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The sounds of the words in your poem bring us right there. I, too, love “lacery of leaves” and “threaded” as well…and the list of verbs. I feel linked by our water memories. I hope your power returns soon and wish you all health. xx
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Thanks for hosting this week, Amy, and for the great prompt.
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Molly, I also noticed the twining series of words: lacery, woven, dappled, threaded. Perfect for a watery poem, even though we don’t reach the water until the end. Wishing you more power and more spring, more watery memories.
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Spring is definitely making her way shyly into the landscape. 🙂
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I too, love that “lacery of leaves.” And I never tire of the sound of burbling water!
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The sound of water burbling under the ice is especially wonderful 🙂
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I just restarted a Time of Corona subscription to the New Yorker. Mercy me, I wish they had some poetry likes yours to connect with, and let’s be honest, actually understand. Thanks for your antidote to New Yorker quote poetry. I don’t think it’s because I am grad of Arizona State that I don’t get it.
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This made me laugh, Dan! lol An antidote to New Yorker poetry….lol
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Hoping that the power has returned, but really I love the formatting, like water streaming down the mountain, “burbling,/spilling,/running free,” It’s lovely, Molly!
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Thanks, Linda.
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Oh, my the imagery, rhythm, and rhyme! I am there. I too love, “beneath a lacery of leaves woven by towering trees!” I like your use of the words, “lacery, woven, threaded” and how they sew your poem together. Love how the brook is a song and a gift, which I agree on, and your poem is also a gift!
It’s interesting because I can relate to your poem so well because I also wrote a poem about a brook from the same prompt and it has some of the same words as your poem, but I refer to the water as music instead of a song. However, your poem is way better than mine. Would you like me to share it with you over email?
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Your poem ‘burbled’ into my heart and brought me a glimmer of the tranquility you felt on that water walk. Thank you. 🙂
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So clear and exhilarating, Molly – like stepping momentarily into a fantasy world. “Lacery”- how I love that.
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Stunning imagery in this, Molly. “Lacery of leaves” is exquisite! The perfect prompt for you, I guess.
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Gorgeous. I loved this line: bedecked
in dappled sunlight. Love “bedecked” and “dappled.”
Beautiful poem.
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Dappled is a favorite word of mine, too. You’ve done an amazing job bringing this scene to life, Molly. Oh, to be standing by a burbling stream in the sunshine. Thank you for sharing this gift with us!
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