SOL 13/31 & Poetry Friday: Finding Words

Returning for year nine of writing daily in March with my Slice of Life writer friends! Check out Two Writing Teachers for more slices of life occurring every day in March.

Head over to Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme for this
week's roundup of poetic goodness.
Thanks, Matt, for hosting this week.

I wake at 4 am.  Time to write today's slice. I begin with the idea of writing a review of Dictionary for a Better World by Irene Latham and Charles Waters. It finally arrived on my holds shelf, but I still haven't read it. I savor these lines from the opening abecedarian poem,"Words for a Better World."
"Awash in attempts to help cool our fevered world, we
  Begin simply with words." 

I'm just a few pages in when Irene calls me to stop reading and create. I toy with the idea of creating a light (my OLW for 2020) acrostic. As I read, I jot down lines I love in my notebook. I arrive on page 32 and know that I've found today's form, a golden shovel poem.  I borrow Irene's words opposite her "Compassion" poem to create my call to action during tough times.

Moving Forward

When I find myself at loose ends, it
is time to look for my purpose, for it is 
by being intentional that I can often
shake off the doldrums and begin the 
journey toward hope. The smallest 
movements to action can be the moments
of catalyst to move us forward. Drink a glass of 
water, go for a walk, read a book, make connections
with others, think happy thoughts, create something that 
you can share. These are the actions that will carry 
us during times of isolation, that help us 
"hear a humming," the call to muster through
the challenges of the day, to find the 
way to thrive, to "get on with it" in spite of tough 
times, to make today one of the good times. 

- Ramona Behnke

Golden shovel poems are inspired by a line of poetry or text, constructed so that the ending word of each line when read top to bottom composes that line. This poem was built around Irene Latham's quote on page 15 of Dictionary for a Better World.

"hear a humming" - from the poem "Freedom" by Irene Latham on p. 38 of Dictionary for a Better World

"get on with it" - Charles Waters quoting the landmark Monty Python group, p. 17 of Dictionary for a Better World.

And so dear friends, the action I'm taking today is to call my independent bookstore (they need our support now more than ever) to purchase my own copy of Dictionary for a Better World. Filled with poetry, meaningful quotes, conversations with Irene and Charles, and invitations to Try It, this book comes from the hearts of these incredible writers. It's clear to me that this is a book I will dip into again and again.