I love the possibilities presented by this poem by Billy Collins:
Horizon
You can use the brush of a Japanese monk
or a pencil stub from a race track.
As long as you draw the line a third
the way up from the bottom of the page,
the effect is the same: the world suddenly
divided into its elemental realms.
A moment ago there was only a piece of paper.
Now there is earth and sky, sky and sea.
You were sitting alone in a small room.
Now you are walking in the heat of a vast desert
or standing on the ledge of a winter beach
watching the light on the water, light in the air.
From The Art of Drowning.
Do me a favor--get a blank piece of paper and draw a line a third the way up from the bottom of the page. Imagine it's a horizon and write a poem!
Here's mine:
It's Raining Worms! Hallelujah!I'd love to see your poem or a link shared in the comments!
After a spring shower
leaves earthworms
on the horizon, the
ant looks up and wonders,
for just a moment,
about the sky above.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
The Poetry Friday Round-Up is happening at A Teaching Life.
Photo by WhatiMom.
A third the way up the page
ReplyDeletebut more than halfway up my life -
I'll pause this evening
for the sunset.
Thank you for the poems and prompt, Diane!
Lovely lines, aren't they!
ReplyDeleteLove your ant's eye view, Diane!
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly! Keep warm! Keep off the roads, too, after 4 PM it's forbidden and you'd be subject to a $500 fine!
DeleteHope everyone is safe up there. Loved your wondering ant, Diane - and I imagine any ants and worms are in bunkers!
DeleteDiane,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the Billie Collins' poem and for the exercise. I enjoyed your poem.
golf score yellow stub
draws the horizon
ever closer
at sunset
we hold hands
under a rosy blanket.
Oooo, Joy, I like them both! Thanks for posting them!
DeleteHi Diane. I am thinking about your poem and remembering my kids rescuing stranded worms on the sidewalk after a rainfall. Maybe there is a poem between turf and sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteumm...I still do that...
Delete(Me too, Mary Lee! ;0) )
DeleteLaura, as a fan of Valerie Worth, I'd say there's a poem waiting in every small space!
ReplyDelete"In darkness of sorrow,
ReplyDeletesalvation divine:
a future awaits along
one simple line."
Thanks for sharing!
A story in four lines! Nice...
DeleteWith one line drawn
ReplyDeleteI think of dawn,
long roads,
antelope.
Growing up in Eastern Colorado, that straight line a third of the way down from the bright blue sky was a way of life for me.
I've never been west of Pennsylvania! One of these days...
ReplyDeleteVery nice.
ReplyDelete