Be the Flower: List Five Facts

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

Queen Anne's Lace Five Days Later

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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Choose Good Work, Write About It

Planting Snow Glories in November

Photo by Amy LV

Soon-To-Be-Tulips!

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about an action I recently took - planting - and my feelings about it. I have been thinking about the actions that make me most happy, actions including stacking firewood and planting flowers, baking, knitting, and printmaking. Such jobs have nothing to do with screens or noise, and I like it that way. This past month I planted around 600 bulbs in our yard, 400 of them glories-of-the-snow. Each winter I say I will do this...and I never have done so until now. It will be so exciting to see them peep up come spring! I still do have a couple cords of firewood to move to the front porch, but I will wait for a bit of a warmer day.

In this poem, I consider what spring bulbs remind me of (onions, promises) and too, I marvel at their ability to sleep underground and then bloom when spring returns. I wish for my humble poem to celebrate them and too, to celebrate this fulfilling labor. (You would have laughed to see me walk back into our home again and again last weekend, each time calling, "I just planted another 50!")

Grassy Front Yard Last Week

Photo by Amy LV

Snowy Front Yard This Week

Photo by Amy LV

This action of planting - and this poem - have me thinking about what new actions I will take, actions that will make me feel fulfilled and enriched. Drawing is one such action. So is brushing our dogs. I will do more of these things. And what about you? Which actions make you most joyful? Think away from video games and TV shows or movies...which actions bring you delight or make you feel proud of you? You might try writing about one of these actions as a poem - just begin the first line with an action of what your body is doing or with a description of the material you are working with.

Tanita is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at [fiction, instead of lies] with a Carl Dennis poem about earthworms, a beautiful sonnet about gratitude, and information about the New Year's Poetry Challenge (starting December 15) through the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.