It’s Poetry Friday!
We are hosted by Linda Baie at TeacherDance this weekend.
Join us!
A couple of weeks ago, I fell in love with one of Robyn Hood Black’s artsyletters gems. Look at this! Not only the notebook, but all the goodies!
The Nevermores have been reading Ada Limon’s YOU ARE HERE: Poetry In the Natural World (2024; Milkweed).
I love how each poem situates the reader in their “now.” When I saw Robyn’s beautiful notebook, I thought it would be a perfect space for my own response poems. Sort of a way to capture where I am at the moment.
Then life stopped me in my tracks… A map and someone to help point the way? Perfect timing. After a bumpy few weeks of sad and juggling how to remain hopeful, I turned to a poetic form I learned about through Mary Lee’s post a couple of weeks ago. She credits Heidi M. for this poetic form, called a fault line poem. It sure feels appropriate.
Here is where I am now.
Strength?
We reach for you––impelled by instinct.
How vulnerable are the quaking aspen in fall
that must let leaves go–– here, now––
Do they beg for…courage? As pieces of themselves crumple
to the floor, do they whisper… resilience? Do they
gird roots to stand…steady the days
while colors drain? Find… endurance in rocky terrain?
Muddled dreams are… tough to swallow. Takes
heliotropic… tenacity to face mornings with hope.
We know… You are here – in the heartwood,
a wilderness without words. Searching
for meaning…We are here with you.
draft, PJF
(Thank you to Mary Lee H for your poem last week
and to Heidi M. for inspiring me to try this fault line form.)
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. 
Your fault line poem is so well done, Patricia. I’m moved by “How vulnerable are the quaking aspen in fall that must let leaves go–” every time I read it. There is so much we can learn from nature.
Patricia, I feel like I am standing at the edge of the fault line, and your beautiful poem made me feel like I am not alone. Love the “heliotropic…tenacity” and the “wilderness without words”…thanks for this!
Beautiful, hopeful, strong 🫶
a wilderness without words. Love! xo
Just being, and with others, offers our way to live, and even nurture those in need, and the nature which we love, Patricia. Putting it all together for us in your poem feels like such a gift to treasure, that “We are here” girds against the stormy times. Thanks!
Wow, what a poem…it’s beautiful and it captures that feeling of a faultline. “in the heartwood” is stunning. Well done.
That fault line is such a clever form. Perfectly used here with your words. I am learning as I read everyone’s poems how choosing the right form or no form at all can support and enhance our words.
Patricia, I found these lines:
How vulnerable are the quaking aspen in fall
that must let leaves go–– here, now––
almost unbearably poignant. Beautiful.
Oh I love that notebook, and this fault line form is so fascinating–we need to do this as a Nevermores prompt.
I loved “You are here – in the heartwood, a wilderness without words.” And “We are here with you” made me cry. This is beautiful. xoxo
I’m glad that my inspiration (and Heidi’s form) helped you find a way through, even if it was via a fault line.
Heliotrope and heartwood both such deep and carefully chosen words help to fill out and support this fault line double poem you created Patricia, thanks for sharing, and also all the lovelies from Robyn’s shop such treasures, enjoy!