Painting by Dorothy Quinan, 1970
Photo by Amy LV
Students - Yesterday, we went to a biiiig thrift store in downtown Buffalo. We came home with many goodies, and I took many photographs. This painting made me feel serene and summery, and so I chose to write a haiku to go along with it. Haiku is a form that I do not attempt often, and so today is a bit unusual for me.
I wanted today's poem to show the contrast between winter in the real world and summer in a painting, where the seasons never change. With only seventeen syllables, this takes lots of experimenting. I wanted to show the painting, and so color seemed the best way to do that. And of course, I always adore simple color words with simple nouns.
Here in my poemdrafts, you can see many of the possible lines that I tried out and threw out. If you'd like to read a few tips about writing haiku, check out haiku world.
Picture - Draft Page Spread #1
Photo by Amy LV
And when I finished and sat to type, something felt eerily familiar. Yes. The red. And the chickens. And the gazes (glazed). I somehow channeled a few words of William Carlos Williams's The Red Wheelbarrow in very few lines and in the same order...without even knowing it. I tip my hat to you, WCW. Thank you for living in my very blood. Those mentor poets - they just travel around inside of us all the time.
Painting Close Up
by Dorothy Quinan
Photo by Amy LV
Back of Painting
by Dorothy Quinan
Photo by Amy LV
Guess what? I bought a painting.
Me & My New Painting!
(I bought a frame too!)
Photo by Mark LV
The winners of last Saturday's book giveaway are:
FOREST HAS A SONG - Linda A.
THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE - Victoria W.
Winners - please send me an e-mail to amy at amylv dot com with your address, and I will mail your books sometime this month! Stay tuned for the exact same giveaway tomorrow and every Saturday of April 2014.
Robyn Hood Black is hosting today's Poetry Friday festivities over at Life on the Deckle Edge. All are welcome, and if you'd like to know more about Poetry Friday, read Tabatha Yeatts's great April 2014 explanation over at Savvy Verse & Wit. Happy Poetry Friday!
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