Welcome to Poetry Friday in December!
Gratitude is the theme the Poetry Sisters chose this month for our original poems. It’s kind of a low-key challenge for those of us who are in the teeth of exams and end-of-year work emergencies, or who, like me, are preparing for the slog of holiday concerts and staying upright and healthy until the final notes are sung. At this point, we’re grateful for small things, like a full night’s sleep, an unexpected packet of tissues in a cardigan pocket, or the umbrella behind the driver’s seat, and not in the trunk. This delightful poet is equally grateful for… earthworms:
WORMS
by Carl Denis
Aren’t you glad at least that the earthworms
Under the grass are ignorant, as they eat the earth,
Of the good they confer on us, that their silence
Isn’t a silent reproof for our bad manners,
Our never casting earthward a crumb of thanks
For their keeping the soil from packing so tight
That no root, however determined, could pierce it?
Imagine if they suspected how much we owe them,
How the weight of our debt would crush us
Even if they enjoyed keeping the grass alive,
The garden flowers and vegetables, the clover,
And wanted nothing that we could give them,
Not even the merest nod of acknowledgment.
A debt to angels would be easy in comparison,
Bright, weightless creatures of cloud, who serve
An even brighter and lighter master.
Lucky for us they don’t know what they’re doing,
These puny anonymous creatures of dark and damp
Who eat simply to live, with no more sense of mission
Than nature feels in providing for our survival.
Better save our gratitude for a friend
Who gives us more than we can give in return
And never hints she’s waiting for reciprocity.
– (Find the rest at The Poetry Foundation.)
This November I committed to a haiku a day, to help put my mind into the proper frame for Thanksgiving. The Poetry Sisters challenge this month was meant to be a gratitude sonnet – which, while still within my topical scope is a considerable step up in terms of word count. However, since Laura threw down the gauntlet, I (competitively) had to follow suit. Sara was inspired next. Tricia is poem-ing between teaching and stitches, and the rest of the Poetry Sisters will be poetrying through the weekend.
My haiku grew into a brief sonnet – after a little shopping trip which put me in mind of the power of thanks. I hope during this busy season, all of us find this to be true: gratitude greases the wheels, making difficulties and stress easier to bear for everyone.
greasing the wheels
We all have thankful hearts within
Despite the words of thanks unsaid
We’re grateful for what seems built-in –
Convenience, as we move ahead.
The city worker, climbing high
Changing the bulbs or pruning trees.
A cashier’s precise keystrokes fly,
The post arrives as guaranteed.
All gears and cogs, the life we crave
Is fashioned by a thousand hands –
If gratitude no roads will pave,
Its dearth creates a hinterland.
A little wax makes stuck drawers glide:
Likewise, a “thank-you” dignifies.
And here’s a great way to start a new year: The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is having a New Year’s Poetry Challenge! This year’s NYPC will begin on December 15th. Opt-in via email, and you’ll get your first prompt the night of the 14th! If you’d like to jump in, shoot them an email: Info_at_mostpoetry_dot_org. You will receive a prompt a day for 30 days. You choose to write to all the prompts, some of the prompts, or none of the prompts – it’s all for fun. Toward the end of the 30 days, they’ll put out a call for any poem you’d like to share in an NYPC chapbook.
Thanks for dropping by!
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Love your gratitude sonnet — really speaks to the interdependency of all living things, reminding us of all the seemingly small things others do that we too often take for granted. Thank yous “do” dignify. Only wish people were quicker to express thanks than to criticize. And thanks again for hosting. (The earthworm poem took me back to 8th grade science class, when we dissected them.)
Feeling grateful for both of these poems of thankfulness, Tanita! I don’t know what I would do without my little “conveniences.” The least I can do is show a little extra poetic appreciation now and again!
I’m late, but I’m here! Thanks for hosting us!! I’ll be back later to read your post and all the others.
Hooray for the earthworms and the dignifying thank-yous!
@MaryLee: Hey Cousin! Thank you for trusting me with hosting today! And for stopping by, as always.
I love both of your poems. I happen to have a soft spot for poems and stories about insects! And I think its awesome to acknowledge gratitude for the amazing gifts we can take for granted in our lives.
Thanks for hosting, too!
Tanita, thank you for hosting PF this week. Your post is full of inspiration and reasons to be grateful. I especially like your thought: “Gratitude greases the wheels, making difficulties and stress easier to bear for everyone.” I will have to remember this during the week. I am grateful for many opportunities to live life fully with family and friends, spending time with poetry friends at NCTE19, and have the opportunity to write. My post with several different poetry formats encased in digital art at https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2019/12/creating-digital-art-with-flair.html.
Tanita, thanks for hosting PF this week. I love the overall feel of your post-there is never enough gratitude in this world. I am grateful for the poetry community, many of whom I enjoyed spending time with at NCTE19. There is so much to be said by your inspirational quote, “Gratitude greases the wheels, making difficulties and stress easier to bear for everyone.” Your sonnet is beautifully written. I have yet to be able to compose one but I do share different poetry formats and digital art. My post linked up at https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2019/12/creating-digital-art-with-flair.html.
Believe it or not, I actually considered writing about worms this week! I love the poem you shared and also your sonnet. The third stanza is my favorite, especially these lines:”the life we crave/Is fashioned by a thousand hands –”. I’m hoping to participate in your New Year’s Poetry Challenge. What a great way to start a new year! Thanks for the opportunity to do so, and also, thank you so much for hosting this week!
Hi Tanita, I hope I’m logged in correctly. I love that worm poem–and the reminder to be grateful. There is much to be thankful for, even those small, unappreciated things. I’m sharing some poems from my ADvent reflections: http://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/2019/12/06/poetry-friday-a-season-of-waiting/
Hi, Tanita. Laura Shovan here! I’m looping back to respond to your post. That worm poem is wonderful — a whole world beneath our feet to be grateful for. The details in your sonnet stick with me, especially the post that’s delivered.
I’m in! Wrote a golden shovel for my poetry sisters.
http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2019/12/poetry-sisters-write-within-gratitude.html
@Tricia: YAY! You did it!
I’m grateful for the wax as well. Anything that helps me glide instead of slide!
Here’s my hasty post about my gratitude for moments of stillness (I’m grateful you’re hosting or I might not have gotten anything up at all!). https://saralewisholmes.blogspot.com/2019/12/poetry-friday-gratiude.html
Tanita: I love the “greasing the wheels” and that it points to the dignity that is shown by a few words. Thanks for this thought, and yes, I will be thinking of many small things that are often overlooked. My blog is up. I will try to post the link here… we’ll see…https://kceastlund.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-crazy-thing-just-before-christmas.html
Hi Tanita, I’m commenting here because I cannot seem to do so on the Poetry Friday post. We have a worm bin at our home, so appreciating the worms’ work of turning our vegetable trimmings into great soil is natural for us! Great poem. Your sonnet is wonderful – “the gears and cogs of our lives” is a great image. Yes, to all the little moments of sharing and thanks that give so much meaning. I tried to leave my link by inserting the code, but not sure if it worked. I cannot see other links.
https://joyceray.blogspot.com/
@JoyceRay: Three cheers for another worm-bin person!
Tanita, we even take them traveling to our summer home! I don’t see my link in the list above. Maybe you haven’t put it there yet?
@JoyceRay: Aargh! Sorry for the oversight! I think we’re all here now.
Tanita, I love your sonnet, and your entire post was the springboard for my post and poem choice this week.
I’m grateful for *you*! 🙂
Thanks for hosting!
@Karen: Aww, thank you!
My class & I took over the responsibility of the garden’s ‘worm bin’ & then I learned to be grateful for those creatures ‘who eat simply to live’. Wish I’d had that poem for my students. And your poem, yes, our thanks should go to ‘a thousand hands’. Your words will follow me through the days noticing more, Tanita! And Laura is right, no link! I left mine on the earlier post. Thanks for hosting!
Hi Tanita, Thanks for hosting today! I’m sharing a haiku of those I’ve been writing this month, considering the uncertainty of our times and being grateful for what is certain, like our community! Here’s the link: https://www.teacherdance.org/2019/12/poetry-friday-all-about-certainty.html
I think I finally figured out how to get logged in successfully to comment on your website. Yeah! I am grateful for little things like technology working like it’s supposed to! Gratitude can make such a difference. Thanks for the reminder, and thank you for hosting today!
Hi Tanita. There is so much to be grateful for, the worms under our feet as well as workers trimming trees and changing light bulbs, making our lives so much easier. Thank you for such a lovely, and well written, sonnet.
Tanita, yes for the little things! I told the postal worker recently as I mailed some stuff overseas how grateful I am for the U.S. Postal Service (despite my occasional complaining about it). Seeing the haphazard, slow systems of some other countries–wow, that’s enough to make me feel incredibly appreciative!
I love the idea of being “grateful for what seems built in.” And your examples of that. This is such a great reminder in this busy season:>) There is always time for gratitude, and, frankly, the busiest times are when we need even more to take a minute to express it to someone!
Thanks, Tanita!
PS Your link to add links isn’t working. Instead it gives code for sharing the link-up.
Instead of NaNoWriMo, I did RoPoWriMo in November. Today I’m sharing the 49th and final Robot Poem I wrote: Moon Boots, a nonet.
Thanks for hosting! https://laurashovan.com/2019/12/poetry-friday-robot-poems/
Hi Tanita! This is such a beautiful post. Thank you for the Carl Dennis poem (I also love his “Candles”), the information about the New Year’s Poetry Challenge, and especially your gorgeous sonnet. It is true and beautiful and a gentle reminder during these busy days. xx
Over at The Poem Farm, I have a poem inspired by a piece of good work I enjoyed last week. You can find it here:
http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2019/12/choose-good-work-write-about-it.html
Good Poetry Friday!
OOOOps! I posted this in the last post. Hi Tanita, It’s nice to meet you. I haven’t been to your blog before–I don’t think. I love poetry challenges. Thanks for the tip! This week, my critique group, The Sunday Night Swaggers, are sharing responses to this prompt: Beauty in the Un-noteworthy/Ugly. I attempted to pair something not usually considered beautiful with a classic poetic form at
A Word Edgewise. https://awordedgewiselindamitchell.blogspot.com/ .
Enjoy Poetry Friday!
Linda M.
Hi Tanita, thanks for hosting! Sounds like an interesting challenge… I’m sharing nature haikus that I’m writing for December and tagging them #natember at: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/2019/12/06/poetry-friday-nature-and-december-natember/
Hi Tanita. Thanks for hosting today. December is a bit crazy around our house so I’ll pass on the The New Year’s Poetry Challenge I think. (Who knows I may change my mind, get the prompts and see what happens.) Today I’m sharing a poem from Robert Heidbreder’s book: Life Long Distance.
https://dickenslibrary.blogspot.com/2019/12/poetryfriday-december-6-2019-life-long.html
Have fun with the new poetry challenge and thanks for hosting this week.
At Alphabet Soup, I’m sharing Jeff Friedman’s “Poem for Ross Gay.”
https://wp.me/p1GE6P-aMx
Thank you for hosting, Tanita! I am notoriously bad at keeping up with challenges, especially at this time of year! Ironically, today I’m sharing my response to a challenge Molly Hogan posed to my critique group to find beauty in the ugly:
https://readingtothecore.wordpress.com/2019/12/05/poetry-friday-finding-beauty/
Hi, Tanita – (I’m not sure if I’m actually logged in correctly, or if the strange little icons etc. I see appear with my comment?) – Anyway, thanks for hosting us today! The prompts sound terrific, but we’ll be in and out visiting family and such throughout those weeks, so I’ll try to just enjoy what others come up with. I have a 19th Century humorous Christmas poem today: “Kris Kringle’s Surprise” by Henry Davenport.
http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog/posts/35318
Happy December!
Hi Tanita! Happy holidays!
I posted A Position at the University by Lydia Davis at my blog, Bildungsroman.
https://slayground.livejournal.com/899071.html
Thanks for hosting this week, Tanita, and good luck with your New Year’s Poetry Challenge! I’ll be taking a pass since I’m taking a hiatus. Today I’m taking the opportunity to wrap things up at Today’s Little Ditty, sharing some good news and talking a little bit about plans for the new year. https://michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/2019/12/sweet-wishes-and-plans-for-new-year.html
Hi Tanita. Thanks for hosting. My post is about Thanku: Poems of Gratitude. http://janicescully.com
Thanks for hosting. The Poetry Challenge does sound cool. In my post I share my poem that is part of the anthology Thanku: Poems of Gratitude. http://janicescully.com
Hi, Tanita! I will check out the NYPC (never too many prompts, right?) I’m in with my “beauty out of ugly” poem too. Thanks for hosting us this week!
https://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2019/12/sunday-swaggers-challenge-beauty-in-ugly.html
Hi, Tanita. Laura Shovan here! I love daily poem projects. I just finished writing a month of robot poems. I’m sharing the final (40th!) poem for Poetry Friday this week. It’s about a robot who has new moon boots. Thanks for hosting. https://laurashovan.com/2019/12/poetry-friday-robot-poems/
Nice to meet you, Tanita – thanks for hosting! Today I’m recapping some of the highlights from this year’s NCTE convention: https://wp.me/p2DEY3-2iM
Hi Tanita, It’s nice to meet you. I haven’t been to your blog before–I don’t think. I love poetry challenges. Thanks for the tip! This week, my critique group, The Sunday Night Swaggers, are sharing responses to this prompt: Beauty in the Un-noteworthy/Ugly. I attempted to pair something not usually considered beautiful with a classic poetic form at A Word Edgewise. https://awordedgewiselindamitchell.blogspot.com/ .
Enjoy Poetry Friday!
Linda M.
Hi Tanita! Thanks for hosting! The New Year’s Poetry Challenge sounds cool. I have arranged to do an exercise a month next year from The Crafty Poet by Diane Lockward. Are you familiar with that book? I don’t own it yet, but it seems good!
My post today is about the Academy of American Poets: https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/