A poem melts in spring – Liturgy of Seasons

by Marcus on June 11, 2009

: Image by fieldtripp via Flickr

I was talking with my friend, Tina Howard, about an upcoming book in the CBA called Snow Melts in Spring. Tina does blog tours for CBA clients via her site BlogTourSpot.com, and I’ve learned a lot from her. She’s sharp. Hard-working too. That goes a long way in my book.

This week, she’s leading a sponsored discussion of Deborah Vogts’ newest book. This isn’t one of the sponsored posts. I’m not receiving payment or free books or anything. But I was interested in Tina’s new idea to open up the boundaries of the traditional blog tour.

This time, she’s inviting creative and tangential responses to the tour topic. Here’s how she phrased the “writer’s option”:

Post your assignment (below) sometime during the week of JUNE 8 – 12, disclose you are participating in the tour, and link to the writing page on the Blog Tour Spot. If you would like to include a link to Snow Melts in Spring on Amazon, and/or Deborah’s website, we’d appreciate it – but it’s not required.

Assignment: We’ll start with simple “freestyle” project. Write a post or note (no more than 500 words) about any topic, but include the words “snow,” “melt,” “spring,” and “horse.” Bonus if you work in the phrase “Falling in love isn’t an option.”

Also, Random Acts of Poetry (RAP) over at HighCallingBlogs.com (the best blog network for folks interested in having a Christian attitude in their work and life) highlight each Friday. Here’s the prompt this week from L.L. Barkat over at Seedlings in Stone.

Poetry prompt: try collecting phrases from the conversations around you or from street signs, cereal boxes, book covers, wherever. Choose one or two to pop into a poem.

Being a long time fan of arbitrary rules for poetry (like stuff from the Oulipo group), this was too fun to resist. Here is my offering, following all of the rules–even the Bonus.

Liturgy of Seasons

Falling snow is no option
in south Texas. Our best fall is three
days of clustered maples coughing
red leaves while the live oaks
turn grey. Come spring oaks drop
dead leaves without any blaze
of color. By summer it all melts
anyway. Sidewalks. Schools. Churches.
(Condensation drips from Christ’s toes.)
Cars. Cats. Dogs. Horses. Cows.
Falling in love isn’t an option
unless you arrive with a round
of Roy Rogers on a tray over ice.

Tagged as: Arts, CBA, Writer, Writers Resources

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Poetry as Spiritual Practice: Part 2 | HighCallingBlogs.com: June 12, 2009 at 6:02 am

{ 11 comments }

1 nancy June 11, 2009 at 1:01 pm: so when do ya’ll fall in love in south texas?
2 spaghettipie June 12, 2009 at 2:30 am: Thanks so much for participating (and the kind words!) – I loved your contribution.

And an extra gold star for working the bonus phrase in!
3 deb June 12, 2009 at 4:57 pm: melting in the heat… clever
4 Marcus June 12, 2009 at 7:07 pm: Let me tell you, deb, we melted today. Brutally hot. : )
5 Laure June 12, 2009 at 9:02 pm: here in colorado we get a boat-load of snow. next winter i’d be happy to overnight you some. there are some great visuals in this piece, marcus.
6 Marcus June 13, 2009 at 8:40 am: Laure, I lived on the Air Force Academy once upon a time. Come late April I had had my fill of snow for all eternity.

Thank you for the kind words about the poem’s imagery.

I enjoyed your found poem piece this week!
7 sojourner June 15, 2009 at 6:58 am: You get an A+ for this assignment :0) I like this line: “(Condensation drips from Christ’s toes.)” It put a bit smile on my face. The thought of condensation dripping from Christ’s toes in the heat of Texas just gave me cooling comfort.
8 Deborah Vogts June 19, 2009 at 9:05 am: Hi Marcus, thanks for joining in on the fun with my book title. If you’d like to view the book video for Snow Melts in Spring, please visit my web site or blog and then you’ll have a “hint” of why I gave it that title.
9 Megan Willome June 20, 2009 at 10:41 am: I’m too late for the blog tour, but I wanted to try the poem. This is for my aunt (mom’s sister) who just started her battle with breast cancer, written from the perspective of her 25-year-old daughter. I confess to stealing from their Facebook pages.

Spring left last week and the ground still has snow.
Mom got the word yesterday: cancer.
There is no horse for her to ride off into the sunset
the one quickly slipping behind the Tetons.
Falling in love isn’t an option –
She and my dad sit tight together after 32 years.
I look out the window of my cabin.
I see white mountains, gray skies,
bits of green grass tasting the breeze.
I snuggle with my dogs
pour a glass of really good wine
and wait for my man to finally propose.
Mom hopes we’ll marry in Barbados
so she can plan another sailing trip
with Dad.
No dogs allowed.
10 Marcus June 23, 2009 at 6:21 am: sojourner, in Texas everyone sweats. Even God.

Deborah, thanks so much for stopping by! Everyone go check out her book.

Megan, I’m so sorry to hear about your aunt. The poem you wrote for her is a beautiful gift (like Sam has been talking about at HighCallingBlogs.com)

I especially liked this line: “bits of green grass tasting the breeze.” And the last five lines.
11 RobertLMach September 17, 2009 at 9:23 am: If you have a gravel road, make sure that the piercer did not touch the ground (and therefore the collection of best snow blower stones, which can be difficult and snow damage, if the objects on the road near the storm.