Merely Day By Day

Here we are! Today is the last day of National Poetry Month. In this week's reading of The Practicing Poet, Adele Kenny shared poems written in sections. I will occasionally use this organization strategy in an essay. I thought I'd try it in this final poem of the month. On Deception i. who can explain magic? charms, spells,  a powerful force unexplained: an illusion, a lie believed. ii.  as a child I remember sitting in magic shows, believing everything was real. my grandfather would take all of us. we'd watch people disappear and return smiling.  iii. poetry: the wave of the wand cannot solve the problems on the page, staring at a blank space, waiting for the magic, searching for a lucky charm. © Cathy L. Mere, 2024  For April, I will be taking a deep dive into  The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics ,  edited by Diane Lockward. This book is full of 30 craft tips, so it is the perfect way to shape this month's challenge and dig into the craft of poetry. Stop b

I was looking for something light and fun today when the news reported the escape of four zebras. Apparently, at the time of the report, three had been caught, but one was still on the loose. All I can picture is this one zebra out there living her best life - even if only for a short time. ( Here's the story from the New York Times .) Photo by  Fabrizio Frigeni  on  Unsplash The Great Escape  The grass is always greener       on the other side, they say.  I wanted to find out and       my chance it came today.  With slow and steady movements       I began to work the latch.  When I felt it give a little,       a plan began to hatch.  The doors began to open,      so  our dazzle we did run,  to find some greener pastures,       and maybe have some fun.   My friends weren't all that certain     that  my plan was all that wise.  They started to have cold feet,      and  gave up on the prize. But this zebra had a mission,       greener pastures were my goal.  So I made my big esc

  For April, I will be taking a deep dive into  The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics ,  edited by Diane Lockward. This book is full of 30 craft tips, so it is the perfect way to shape this month's challenge and dig into the craft of poetry. Stop by my Substack page,   Merely in Progress , to follow this month's writing journey, where you will also find reflections, links, and inspiration across the challenge.  Of course, this month is all about writing poetry, so I will have a new poem posted here each day utilizing a craft tip from the book. Here we go.

  Penny for your thoughts seems too small a price considering inflation and all. Who wants these thoughts anyway? To cut to the chase, they're just filled with worry. Worries like these can keep one up at night, put butterflies in your stomach. I suppose worries are a dime a dozen anyway, there's always plenty to go around. Let's face it, worries hit us at the drop of a hat when we least expect them. Though we try to push them away, work to ignore them, they sneak up when we least expect it. It costs an arm and a leg to bury them deep in the earth.  © Cathy L. Mere, 2024 Of Note: A little 4/28/24 update: Hold your horses! Early in Lockward's book, The Practicing Poet,  Pattiann Rogers (pp. 75-81) talks about list poems. She shared a few examples of poets using idioms to write their poems. It was lighthearted and fun to read. I decided to try it  after making a long list of idioms and looking for a thread that might work.  Then, this morning, I woke up to this post by Po

It's Poetry Friday...and National Poetry Month.  Today's Poetry Friday community roundup  is hosted by Ruth at " There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town ."  Stop by for all the poetry joy you need today! (If you're interested in the madness I've jumped into this month, scroll to the bottom of this post.)   On Home Recently, I went to see Joy Sullivan and Maggie Smith in a conversation hosted by Gramercy Books . Joy's new poetry book "I nstructions for Traveling West "  had just been released. As the evening was concluded they took one more question. A man in the back of the room asked, "Joy, what have you learned from leaping, and Maggie, what have you learned from staying rooted?" I found the question fascinating. Joy went on to talk about what it was like to leap. Maggie talked about what it was like to be rooted. However, if you really listened, you heard Joy talk about the anchor of her home community. If you've read Mag

  Photo by  Mykola Swarnyk , Wikimedia Commons birding. northern flicker, sings an unfamiliar song, hiding somewhere in the prairie. unexpected surprise.  © Cathy L. Mere, 2024 Today, I decided to try writing a pensee poem. This is the first time I've done so, and I thought the form was a bit trickier than I had anticipated. Thanks to Marcie Flinchum Atkins for introducing it to me in her Poetry Friday post last week.  Pensee   5 lines (2, 4, 7, 8, 6 syllables) Line 1—introduces subject Line 2—description of subject Line 3—action taken by subject or for subject; has a verb Line 4—info about time and setting Line 5—final thoughts For April, I will be taking a deep dive into  The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics ,  edited by Diane Lockward. This book is full of 30 craft tips, so it is the perfect way to shape this month's challenge and dig into the craft of poetry. Stop by my Substack page,   Merely in Progress , to follow this month's writing journey, where you wi