National Poetry Month '24: Being Rooted

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 "Instructions 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 Maggie's book, "You Could Make This Place Beautiful," you know Maggie took a giant leap in her life. 

Like Maggie, I've always been rooted. I've been playing with this idea. Today's poem comes from that...but I'm still not close to where I want to be with it.

Being Rooted

is home only place?

    only gray skies and winter?

    the deep greens of spring?

is home bird songs and prairies?

    dandelion wishes,

    and spring peepers?

is home small-town hellos,

    warm waves,

    and familiar faces?

is home kaleidoscopic sunsets,

    fields of beans and corn,

    deer roaming at dusk?

is home starry nights,

    moonlit skies,

    and fireflies?

can home be packed 

    into your pocket

    and carried with you,

to the places your soul sings?

    is home only place?

    or is it something more? 

© Cathy L. Mere, 2024 

For April, I will take 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.