FOR VALENTINE'S DAY: Epigram For Mourning Doves

Not long ago I was awakened from a deep, early morning sleep by a glorious; “whoo WA whooo,” the call of a mourning dove. It’s a sweet, sad, unmistakable song that reminds me of pine trees and maple trees, dappled feathers, sunshine and childhood; not a bad way to start the day. I lounged and listened as I woke up. You can visit All About Birds if you want to hear a sound very similar to what I was hearing: MOURNING DOVE SOUNDS

This particular mourning dove was perched on the railing just outside my bedroom window as the sun came up and he was so intent on his singing that he didn’t even stir when I started to snap photos through the window from less than ten feet away:

 “What,” I wondered, “could cause such focus?” Well, the good people at All About Birds had an answer to this question. Here’s what they say: You can often hear paired males give the three-parted “nest call” while nest-building: a coo-OO-oo, highest in the middle. Females sometimes call ohr ohr while sitting on the nest.

It turns out that, despite its melancholy name, this male bird was content. He was part of a pair, nesting, and calling to his mate. 

All About Birds say that the female returns the call with a short ohr ohr. I did hear a female call back on this particular morning, but I didn’t see her and eventually the male on my railing flew away, presumably to meet the female at their nest. And so in honor of this happy mourning dove couple, and in celebration of Valentine’s Day, I wrote a slightly anthropomorphic poem:

EPIGRAM FOR MOURNING DOVES

The early morning mourning dove

Sings: whoo WA whooo, up here, my love.

An echo back: whoo whoo, down here.

Come help me build our nest, my dear.

© 2013 Tamera Will Wissinger

Happy Valentine’s Day love birds and bird lovers alike!

For Verseday #7, Gabrielle Prendergast is featuring Tim Sinclair, Australian verse novelist and poet, who is talking about poetry and real love at versenovel.com 

Also featured today is Marci Atkins, who, for Valentine's Day, is offering a printable annotated list of her favorite Haiku books at marcieatkins.com

And tomorrow Poetry Friday is being hosted by Linda at teacherdance.com

02.14.2013 

A POSTER FOR NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

In preparation for April's National Poetry Month, The Academy of American Poets recently unveiled their 2013 National Poetry Month poster. Graphic artist Jessica Helfand designed the poster to echo this year’s celebration of “the important and enriching role that letter writing has played in the lives of poets.” I wanted to share it here because I think it's beautiful and thought-provoking:

I think the poster is quite striking. I love how, from a distance, the poster looks vintage, intriguing, and maybe a bit random, but upon closer look, the intricacies of each piece quilted together create something structured and significant, essential even – echoing how each word in poetry works, I think. Look at that amazing postcard penmanship, the rich colors of the print ink, the shape and feel of the primer letters and numbers in the corner. Can you just feel and smell the dusty paper, taste the cool metal weight of one of those pens on your lips as you think of that just-right phrase? There are tickets, envelopes, an invitation. It seems to say: “Look where we’ve gone, what we’ve been, how we’ve operated. Where might we go, what will be, how it will happen?” So much poetic goodness.

If you click on the poster, the link will take you to the Academy of American Poets site where there are many wonderful Poetry Month activities already planned, and if you're organizing any Poetry Month events, you may request a free poster! 

More about poetry: 

For Verseday today, Gabrielle Prendergast is welcoming verse novelist Carolee Dean at versenovels.com  

Tomorrow, Poetry Friday is being hosted by April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors

THE POET’S PALETTE: Back to Poetry Basics

Yesterday for Verseday #3, Gabrielle Prendergast highlighted the poetic forms that she used when she wrote her forthcoming verse novel, AUDACIOUS.It got my attention because I LOVE using forms when I write poetry, and I used many forms in my own forthcoming novel in verse.

One of the best surprises of using poetry forms in my work was that it gave me an opportunity to intensely study poetry, to understand poetry’s fundamentals, and to even discuss some of those basics in a section of end matter. It’s an example of how my writing ended up educating me.

After months of diving the depths of the ocean that is poetry, I came away with this thought: Any poetry form that has ever existed would not be if it weren’t for rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, and/or poetry techniques. (Maybe this is common knowledge among poets, but for me, it was my poetry eureka moment.) I think that every poem – from the simplest nursery rhyme to the most complex Shakespearean play, owes its existence to some combination of these four humble poetry basics. Even free verse (which isn’t really free) has evolved from these poetry fundamentals.

Stated another way: Writing in verse without using different combinations of these basics would be like an artist trying to paint without red, blue, yellow, or black & white. What does that leave? Nothing. As I understand color, every shade is an outgrowth of these primary colors, and black & white create tonal differences. The same holds true for poetry - without rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, and poetry techniques, poets have nothing – no way to make poetry. (Not even free verse, which, remember – if it is truly free verse poetry – is not free.) With these essentials, though, poets have a palette that allows every poetic color available in order to create the richest, most diverse poetry paintings in any form they care to follow or can imagine.

What's on your poet's palette these days? A big dollop of rhythm and rhyme? A bold dash of stanzas and techniques? A touch of free verse? Which basics are you using to paint your amazing poetry? 

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Poetry Friday is at Violet Nesdoly's

Verse Day is at Gabrielle’s versenovels.com

1/18/2013 

THE PASSING OF THE YEAR 2012

While considering how to write about the ending year, I received the gift of a poem that arrived in my inbox from The Academy of American Poets. The poem: THE PASSING OF THE YEAR by Robert William Service, “The People’s Poet.” It seems appropriate to share a portion of this poem as I think of my gratitude toward 2012. It is a contemplative poem, well constructed, not too difficult, and one that I’ve reread and pondered. For those who are interested, it’s an iambic tetrameter with an A B A B rhyme scheme. At times, Service speaks directly to the old year, a technique called apostrophe. What I find most appealing is that Service has reached through the decades and captured the universal mixed emotions that sometimes happen this time of year – something akin to the joy and/or sorrow of what was, mixed with the melancholy of what might have been, infused with gratitude, wit, and ultimately a call to carry on. It captures the essence of what I had hoped to say. Here are the last two stanzas of THE PASSING OF THE YEAR by Robert W. Service as we say goodbye to 2012:

And so from face to face I flit,

The countless eyes that stare and stare;

Some are with approbation lit,

And some are shadowed with despair.

Some show a smile and some a frown;

Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:

Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!

Old weary year! it's time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;

My fire is almost ashes too;

But once again, before you go,

And I prepare to meet the New:

Old Year! a parting word that's true,

For we've been comrades, you and I --

I thank God for each day of you;

There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!

This poem is in the public domain. If you would like to read the entire poem, click to visit The Academy of American Poets.

 12/31/2012