Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit radiant Rose at Imagine the Possibilities for Roundup.
This week I started teaching Haiku workshops for Friends of the Locust Fork River. (For the first time ever, their annual contest will include poetry!) And since poetry is for all ages, I shared time this week at our local Senior Center and also with 7th and 9th grade biology students at Locust Fork High School. I've got a couple more sessions in the coming weeks.Yay!
Something I've been thinking about lately is how poetry is tied to dreams. I have oft shared the book From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler. (Sure, the subtitle says "fiction" but the book applies to poetry as well!) And I myself have written and shared quite a few dream poems here at Live Your Poem:
Fishing in Spring (Life is But a Dream)
And today for this week's installment of ArtSpeak: FOLK ART, I've got a (dreamy) piece by Joseph Garlock, who was a Russian immigrant-turned-American-artist. Also, while researching for this poem, I found this great article on shepherding (written by a shepherd). Thanks so much for reading!
So Says the Shepherd of Dreams
When sheep
descend from sky
desert throws bouquets
at their feet
and prickly cacti
(usually so solemn)
lift their arms
welcome, welcome!
Such a beautiful image of the cacti lifting their arms in welcome. You are busy, Irene!
ReplyDeleteA welcome from prickly friends is always extra special. :)
ReplyDelete"The Shepherd of Dreams" <3 Thank you for sharing poetry joy with young and old! xo
ReplyDeleteThe cacti do look like they're welcoming the sheep with their arms. Charming poem, lovely art. What a treat, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love that welcome image, too, Irene. The poem & art is lovely. I enlarged it & took a nice, long look. Time to welcome some color back into our worlds!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a shepherd for my sheep-dreams!
ReplyDeleteI love your dreamy desert, Irene! How those sheep must love all the spring bouquets!
ReplyDeleteIrene, I so love the idea of the cactus throwing bouquets at the sheep's feet. The Haiku workshop sound great, and yes to poetry for all ages. That is a lot of dream poems you have shared. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love the way your mind works, Irene! "When sheep descend from the sky." You think so creatively and paint stories with such apparent ease.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh I love that last stanza! This poem hits home for me. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh I love the dreaminess of this poem, and the idea of the cactus lifting their arms in welcome. And well done on your efforts inspiring other poets through your workshops.
ReplyDelete"welcome, welcome" is such an embrace from the desert. Wonderful dream poem. Thanks for the book tip, too!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is such a wonderful image, Irene. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many unlikely yet matter-of-fact aspects here--just as in dreams things are wild nonsense balanced in ways that could not be otherwise--sheep descending from the sky to the desert, for example. I'm taken.
ReplyDeleteIrene, dream poems sound so soothing and I like yours. I sent you three image poems for your project. I will send more when I have time to do so. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your dream poems and I often write about my dreams, too. And look at that -- it's letting me comment as myself again! :-D
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