finding spring

celebrating Easter is

a message of hope

every year, snows of winter fade and

warmth of sunshine returns

Iowa’s bountiful fields begin the annual miracle

a reminder that the world continues

at its regular rhythm

farmers prepare to plant

kids play in fresh air and sunshine

grass rises…an emerald carpet

flowers decorate…live beauty

birds sing…beckon us outside

we are once again reminded

of the simple joys of life.


A poem “found” from phrases of an editorial in the April 3, 2021 issue of the N’west Iowa Review. Also known as a “blackout” poem because I used sharpie to black out all words of article NOT selected for poem.

ralph’s legacy

Like kids acting
like a crowd of kids
got small fire all right,
again that strange mood
of speculation so foreign;
when lit from above or
below–what was a face?

Inarticulate in effort
to express mankind’s
essential illness, living
through circumstances
in which incantation
was powerless to help.

Ground was turned over
near the pig-run and
droppings that steamed
(bent down as if loved them
and sized them up… )
at last, gave up and

Looked back; saw the
white teeth and dim eyes,
the blood—and gaze held by
ancient, inescapable recognition
softly surrounded by a fringe
of inquisitive creatures beneath
the steadfast constellations.

Semicircle of little boys,
bodies streaked with colored clay,
sharp sticks in hands, standing
on beach making no noise at all,
and in the middle, (he) wept
for the end of innocence, the
darkness of man’s heart, and the fall.

 


A “found poem” constructed entirely of quotes from William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies.  A prompt I discovered on Tweetspeak Poetry’s lovely site…I receive a daily poem from them.