Thursday, March 27, 2014

SOLSC #27: With apologies to Robert Frost on the occasion of his birthday

 
    Today I join my fellow bloggers in
"serving up a slice" to the March SOLSC
   sponsored by Two Writing Teachers.
I adore Robert Frost and today (March 26th) is his birthday!  

I love Susan Jeffers' illustrations for "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."  Who can resist the page where the farmer makes a snow angel?

I performed "After Apple Picking" for a college speech class.
I love the rhythm in these words:
"And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in."

More than 35 years ago, I asked Harry, a Chinese artist friend in Hong Kong, to create a painting for a favorite Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken."   When we moved to Houston, I left the painting behind at my BFF's house in Tulsa.  I always stop by to visit it on my Oklahoma visits.  I'm glad it's there.  On a recent visit, my BFF's son and I shared Frost poems all evening.  Something about the painting led him to Robert Frost.  I can't remember if I had a copy of the poem to share with the artist, or if I just described a bit of it to him.  No matter that Harry didn't paint a yellow wood,
"...the two roads diverged in a wood...And that has made all the difference."

Thanks, Christopher, for sending this picture of the painting.

Today a student shared "The Pasture" with me.  The invitation, "You come too," made me think about each of you, my friends at Two Writing Teachers.  So, with apologies to Robert Frost, I share my version of "The Pasture."


              The Challenge

I head upstairs to write the nightly post;
Each daily slice extracts a bit of time
(Sometimes I even want the words to rhyme)
It shouldn’t take too long. – You come too. 

I pause to savor words from blogger friends
Who join this month of madness.  We’re insane
I know I’ll  find some words that will sustain.
It shouldn’t take too long. – You come too. 

                                           - Ramona

4 comments:

  1. I love the fact that you were able to share poems with your friend's teenaged son. What a joy that must have been. I think about that with my nephew. I have a feeling that my daughter will be into poetry, but it would be really cool if my 8 year old nephew and I could share a catch and some poetry. I'm still the cool uncle, but it'll be tough to maintain that status. He's gonna be a heartbreaker!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every.single.bit of this is wonderful, Ramona, and your poem just touches me so much. It's been quite a month of getting together, hasn't it? Thank you, the poem is so well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So glad we've come along on this adventure, Ramona...always a challenge, but so worth it!

    ReplyDelete