Queen Anne's Lace in Our Pasture
Photo by Amy LV
Students - I have been writing a lot in my notebook this week, about everything and nothing. My notebook is a place to spend time with an old friend -- me. And sometimes when I write, I think that maybe, just maybe, I don't know myself as well as I thought.
Well, while I was up picking blackberries, I was taken by the Queen Anne's Lace. Big hand-sized doilies of flowers looking up at the sky. They were begging me to write about them.
I got an idea, walking Cali and Sage around the pasture, eating blackberries, thinking about flowers. My idea was this: I will find five facts about Queen Anne's Lace before I write any poemlines. Googling around, I found these facts, though there was a conflict about which Queen Anne...England or Denmark?
Five Facts
Notebook Photo by Amy LV
The only thing I knew going into the poem was that I wanted to write about how Queen Anne's Lace looks like fireworks to me. I liked that idea of silent fireworks.
Many scribbles, cross-outs, and drafts later, here is where I chose to stop for now. Today's version is written in the voice OF the Queen Anne's Lace, but earlier bits were written ABOUT the flower, simply describing it. This is one way you can always revise your writing: try a different point of view.
As for five facts, I think I will play with this idea all week long. I plan find topics that interest me and search for five facts about each. Then...I will see what comes of it. Of course I know that sometimes five facts will lead to fifty facts...the secret is that the five will get me started and invite me in. Sometimes a kind and simple door is all a writer needs.
Feel free to try anything I try here. It's all play.
If you think you see some Queen Anne's Lace growing near you, be sure that it is not Poison Hemlock. These two plants do look alike, and Poison Hemlock is very poisonous. Never eat something you are not sure about. Check with an expert.
Kat is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup from Downunder at Kathryn Apel with some delightful pet poems and inspiration for poets of all ages to photograph and write about the animals in our lives along with the hashtag #petpicpoem. Remember: all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.
I'm off now to watch Cali and Sage and Firepaw and Fiona and Winnie and Tuck and the chickens and some butterflies and ants.
xo,
Amy
ps - Update! I had read and then someone on Instagram shared with me that you can put Queen Anne's Lace in a jar of colored water and watch the flowers turn the color of the water. I tried this later today. If you look closely, you will see pinkish petals!
Pink Queen Anne's Lace
Photo by Amy LV
Photo by Amy LV
And here, you see why Queen Anne's Lace is sometimes called Bird's Nest. When the flowers dry out, they look like birds' nests!
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