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Friday, December 20, 2019

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project FINAL POST: WINDOW poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Buffy's Blog for Roundup.

This is the final entry in my 180-post series! You can check out all the entries here. It's been a bit brutal, and some weeks I wasn't sure I wanted to go on... but I did, and here we are. Hooray!!!

For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?

For links to the prompts I've written on so far this year, please click on The Butterfly Hours tab above.

This (final!) month's prompts are train, trophy, typewriter, umbrella, Vietnam, war, washing machine, widow, window.

WINDOW



Window

A poem is a sheet of glass
Tucked between wood frames.
Your world will be transformed
When you peek through the panes.

Lift the sash just a crack,
Catch the scented words.
Breathe deep the new syllables
This moment has stirred.

Now find yourself in the glass,
trace reflection with a finger –
These lines are made to shift and turn,
Embrace the ones that linger.

Work it till it sparkles --
Even clouded glass can shine.
Discover the beauty that happens
When streak and light entwine.

Take it line by line,
Be transparent with your heart.
A poem isn’t choosy –
sunlight or moonbeam: start.

- Irene Latham


Happy Holidays, and thank you so much for reading.


15 comments:

  1. You did it!!!!! So impressed! xo

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  2. YES! Thank you for being a faithful reader, dear Tab. xo

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  3. I love your poem. It reminded me think of my window/ars poetica poem here: https://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2012/04/poetry-friday-stained-glass-windows.html Congratulations on your project! I've enjoyed reading along!

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  4. Irene, congratulations on completing your project. This poem is such a beautifully rendered one that is contemplative and alive with the poetic spirit. May your sabbatical be filled with lots of writing and relaxation. Happy Holidays, Irene. I look forward to hearing more from you and your writing in the future.

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  5. Hooray for you!! You did it!! LOVE your final poem; your sweet spirit shines through. :) Happy Holidays!

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  6. Another lovely poem! I'm going to miss this series. Wishing you and your family a joyous holiday and a happy, healthy new year. xo

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  7. Love your window poem--(and really, it is a window and mirror poem?) Congrats on sticking to and finishing your project. Wishing you joyful holidays, and a world transformed in the new year.

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  8. I've loved this writing journey of yours, Irene - bravo! These lines really resonated:
    Work it till it sparkles --
    Even clouded glass can shine.

    Enjoy the happiest of holidays!!!

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  9. Brilliant....I love poems about poetry. And, I love challenges. Congratulations for completing this challenge. I hope it has given you lots of good material for what comes next for you. I am especially taken with the scented words...and tracing oneself in the poem. So......lovely.

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  10. Irene: Amazing, all your writing! I cannot keep up with your challenge, but I love checking in when I can. Thanks for sharing, and have a wonderful, restful and peaceful holiday.

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  11. Congratulations on finishing your project! I enjoyed your poem! Have a great 2020!

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  12. I like the imagery in these lines,
    "Discover the beauty that happens
    When streak and light entwine.
    Be transparent with your heart.
    A poem isn’t choosy –"
    Congrats for moving ahead with this challenge Irene. Wishing you a Merry Holiday with lots of Cheer! xo

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  13. Wow! This is Amazing! : ) Do you know your accomplishment is a pane of glass tucked between the frame of the year? Look within and through at all you learned, and thank you for sharing it with us.

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  14. Doing a happy dance for you, Irene. Wow! What an accomplishment. I so love that you chose window., as it is through various windows at home that poetry out of doors often captures my attention. Cheers! -- Christie https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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Your thoughts?