April 4th Poems
Today’s prompt: write a thankful poem. Another option is to write a tribute poem. The thankful/tribute poem can be dedicated to a person, an inanimate object, an idea, a day of the week, etc.
Hands
Calloused hands
built the fires–and kept them burning
steadied a shotgun
Smoothed curls and swung axes
Fashioned dresses from flour sacks
rocked cradles
sewed buttons
baked bread
Boiled laundry in hot tubs
and scrubbed
and scrubbed
Grew tomatoes and preserved them
Quilted
Played pat-a-cake
tied ribbons
wiped tears
embraced life
Beautiful hands
–Amy
Horses
They allowed us to tame them,
way back when,
’cause we’d never’ve pulled ourselves
out of the muck without their help.
They carried and heaved and nourished
our burdens of
hunger, shelter, expansion, war
and even introduced us to flight.
For there is nothing in heaven or earth
like galloping,
thundering across a broad plain on a warm back
arms out to the side.
I fly.
And the wind accepts
my prayers
of thanks.
–Candace
(tribute)
TO JUDY
“A long time ago”, we . . .
How long ago was it, sweetheart?
Really?
Well, let us just say that
It was a long time ago.
Do you remember how,
At the end of a hot summer workday,
We would drive up the canyon,
Park, and sink our six-pack
In the icy waters
Of a laughing glacial creek?
Do you remember how
We would sit together on a boulder
In the middle of that merry stream,
Enjoying a cold brew and
The sound of the wind
In the pines overhead.
Do you remember how we loved
The coolness of the canyon,
The mountain blue of the sky,
The scent of the pines,
The air,
Each other.
God, it was good.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:59 amWe were still young,
Almost broke and struggling, but
I would look at you, and
You would look at me
And fortune and prospects made no difference.
No difference at all.
Jerry, I love your poem about Judy. Nicely done, especially the first stanza. And the last two lines.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:10 am