It’s #PoetryFriday!Â
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This week’s round up is hosted by Karen at Karen Edmisten*.Â
This is what life does to you:
Weeks before you hit a wall of discouragement, you sign up for a poetry workshop at Highlights with two of your poetry partners.
Imposter syndrome visits.
You cheer yourself up with a month of poetry and in the midst of National Poetry Month, you spend four days and three nights at the feet of Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Carole Boston Weatherford and Carol Hinz.
You walk the woodsy trails with two of your Nevermores poetry partners.
You meet fellow poets whose words energize and encourage you.
You write.
And you return home to poetry gifts in the mail – haiku surprises (thank you, Marcie!) and reminders that “poets take up pens/april is poetry month/words bloom everywhere” (thank you, Linda Mitchell!).
Just before the rains
gray skies burst with magnolia
fireworks
Photo & Haiku ©2023
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
stitched art card “surprise” and collage haiku postcard:
poets take up pens
april is poetry month
words bloom everywhere
L. Mitchell 23
Rose gave the Nevermores our poetry prompt for this week:
Write a poem that is also a letter. It could be to your past or future self, a friend, an emotion, an object or place, a character in a book or a manuscript you’re writing.
At the end of an incredible stay at Highlights, with Wendell Berry’s The Peace of Wild Things
on my heart, I was inspired to write my poem as a letter to Mr. Berry.
The Peace of Wild Things (by Wendell Berry)
Â
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake…
Dear Mr. Berry,
The peace of wild things
lives in the hills of Milanville,
tucked inside a pine-paneled cabin.
Nearby, the woods wait, the river rushes.
A pileated pecker taps his reminders:
Come rest in the grace of the world.
The peace of wild things
lives in poets sowing words,
in blankets and banjos fireside,
in leaps of faith and friendship.
When despair for the world grows in me
I will kindle a memory,
of pencil and page and precious time.
Sincerely,
Patricia J. Franz
©2023, Patricia J. FranzÂ
I’m going to be an authlete
in Madness! Poetry 2023
Billed as “the biggest tournament of children’s poetry ever conceived,”
64 poets will go head to head with original poems based on word prompts.
You can join in the fun – as an individual or better yet, as a classroom- by signing up and voting for your favorite poem.
The fun begins on April 25th!
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Hi dearie!!! I just caught up on your 30 days of poems. Let me know when you publish your poetry book on your world in Arizona!! I love them all – well the scorpion poem gave me the chills. As a mom, I loved the Underwear poem!! Miss you Patti!
Looks like a very nourishing trip. I like “I will kindle a memory,” such a good verb. Good luck with the Poetry Madness! Exciting 🙂
Your workshop sounds wonderful, and I am jealous.
The last two lines of your poem evoke a lovely sense of peace.
Good luck for Madness!
Patricia, so much newsy April poetry goodness here today! First, lovely photos of your Highlights adventure, and what a great experience. I’m glad you got to attend. I love the postcards you received from Linda and Marcie. Finally, the letter poem to Wendell Berry, building new images of your writing retreat around his words, is masterful. And another “finally”, all the best in the Madness! Poetry brackets this year.
Lovely, as always, Patricia. Of course I love everything about this post and will cherish the memories of our time at Highlights always. I’m hankering for a little banjo pickin’!
Sounds like Highlights was just what the poetry doctor ordered! Lucky you to be able to go with friends. Mr. Berry’s poem is a favorite of mine, and I love your letter to him. Good luck with Poetry Madness! I was there when it all got started. Stressful, but fun!
How wonderful! I didn’t know that was YOU in the photo next to Marcie and Rose and Irene. I’m so happy for you. I attended Highlights several years ago and I aim to get back!
Highlights is such a wonderful place. I love what you wrote to Mr. Berry & am happy you had fun with everyone, including Irene & Charles. “I will kindle a memory,” works very well!
Oh what a week we’ve had! I’m glad you returned home to poems. 🙂 And I adore your Wendell Berry poem.
Patricia, Highlights sounds like it was incredible (no surprise there!), and I love your epistolary poem!
I love Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things” and loved your letter to him, too. Especially loved:
“I will kindle a memory,
of pencil and page and precious time.”
So glad you had those precious days!
Beautiful poets, beautiful letter, and beautiful image – magnolia fireworks against grey skies. Good luck with the Madness! I’ll be voting. 🙂
So beautiful, Patricia – Your whole post made me recall past times of overflowing inspiration at Highlights conferences. What a special week you all enjoyed! And, I really needed to read that Wendell Berry poem this week – thanks. I’m sure all those kindred folks during your week there could learn a thing or two at your feet, too. All in this together!
Great to meet you at Highlights, Patricia! This poem is one of my favorites. Your poem feels like an ode to Highlights.
Nearby, the woods wait, the river rushes.
A pileated pecker taps his reminders:
Come rest in the grace of the world.
Beautiful!