Join Delores, Mother Owl, and I as we give this topic our all.
You can leave a poem in the comments, or post on your own blog. If you do the latter, please leave a note in the comments to let us know where to find you. If you'd like to have your blog linked in the preamble (like Delores and Mother Owl, above), let me know!
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Generally when I start to do my Poetry Monday post, the topic will spark a connection in my head, and until I write about that connection, my own creativity seems to be stifled. Sometimes that connection story makes it into the blog post, and sometimes it doesn't, but that process is almost always the first step in my poem-writing.
This week it's happening again. The topic is Hope. The immediate (and then maddeningly persistent) thought in my head is . . . "Hope" is the thing with feathers, the famous poem by Emily Dickinson. (Read her poem, plus a fine analysis of it, here.)
But . . . I want to write my own poem about hope, and now that I've emptied out the drawer in my brain that has Emily's poem in it, I can finally do that. It's another Haiku today, because last week was very busy and my little brain can only hold so much stuff.
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Hope Remains
Hope is what endures
When reason, fact, and logic
Retreat, defeated.
 |
This person may be a little too full of hope. |
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Wishing you a week where you don't have to rely on hope alone. But if you do, wishing you lots and lots of it.
Really like your poem. Sometimes few words pull a big punch.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Red. Often I feel like I'm cheating somehow when I write a short poem, but I need to get over that :)
DeleteHope is what occasionally brings a smile to the face of the faith I have that we'll eventually be all right.
ReplyDeleteIt's also an album by the band Klaatu.
...And an essential part of the positive attitude that I'm told I have sometimes.
I like your poem, but I don't think I'd hold all of those kittens with a short sleeve shirt on...
-Doug in Oakland
That person was pretty optimistic about not getting scratched, eh? lol
DeleteYour first sentence is a poem in itself. Well said.
Hope is fragile and valuable. So very valuable. Love your haiku.
ReplyDeleteIt is a tad sad, and confirms me as a mad cat woman, but I find that bunch of fur endearing.
Isn't that armful wonderful?! Not everyone would agree, but we cat slaves do :)
DeleteI like your description of hope. So true.
a bouquet of kittens! I HOPE whoever received those were happy to get them.
ReplyDeleteHah! I see what you did there :) And I hope so too.
DeleteYour poem is lovely and succinct. I will add an address of a poem that may serve as my contribution: https://atrialinvader.blogspot.com/2014/06/peace-garden.html
ReplyDeleteThank you, Geo., And I love your poem. Gardens are always hopeful places.
DeleteI like haiku. Yours is well turned. I'll have to write a haiku on my favorite food now.
ReplyDeleteThe thing running around in your brain that you got to chase away before you can go on. I can so relate. I took a bath singing "Hope of deliverance" at the top of my ugly voice, before my brain was ready to take on the task ;)
And yes that cat person is too full of hope ;)
Ha ha! I can imagine your singing to get the hook out of your brain! Maybe I should try a verbal cleanse rather than writing my impediment down. I wonder if it will work for me too . . .
DeleteWhere would we be without hope ... and a bunch of cats?
ReplyDeleteHah! You've nailed it :)
DeleteAnd thank goodness it does endure ... what would we do without it?
ReplyDeleteFavourite Food huh? Wow...this may be a LONG poem.
LOL!
DeleteAnd yes, when hope is lost, life is very hard.
this is striking and very appropriate piece of poetry dear Jenny !
ReplyDeleteyou did the magic with few words and poured the whole ocean in one drop truly and EXCELLENTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES HOPE IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID IN YOUR AMAZING SHORT POEM :)))
you are wonderful my friend!
loved the poem shared by link too!
more and more blessings to you dear Jenny!
hugs!
Thank you for all the kind encouragement you always give in your comments, dear baili. I love the way you described pouring the whole ocean in one drop - that is poetry itself. Hugs to you in return!
DeleteThe Haiku is terrific, simple and pointed. A single rose might have been preferable, even if nicked from a garden.
ReplyDeleteThank you - and are you not a cat person, Andrew?? lol
DeleteLove you haiku! How true it is.
ReplyDeleteHope is truly the last thing to go, isn't it? Thank you, my friend.
DeleteThere's a book called "Grief is the Thing with Feathers," which I didn't realize takes its title from Emily's poem until I read this post.
ReplyDeleteWhich has nothing to do with hope, really. Sorry about that.
Love your poem -- succinct and certainly true!
Thank you. And now I need to find that book. It must have SOME connection to hope if it based its title on that line from the poem!
DeleteThat is so true, Jenny. I will often cling to the smallest of hope even when reason tells me not. Giving up, so far, is not an option.
ReplyDeleteWhat is that other line? . . . "hope springs eternal" . . . I really think people are wired to have hope in the worst of circumstances, and when it is lost, things are grim indeed. Keep hoping, Arleen. Hugs, my friend.
DeleteI believe that hope is a good way to cope.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Marie!
DeleteHeeheehee! Yes, i like cats, but that seems excessive even for this cat lady.
ReplyDeleteHope is sometimes the only thing that endures. Well said!
Hope gave me only this haiku.
I like your haiku very much - it gave me something to think about.
DeleteThat is a great poem. Fewer words often have deeper meaning!
ReplyDeleteI think when I use fewer words I'm forced to make them count. It's a good exercise :)
DeleteJenny:
ReplyDeleteWow! Very nice.... and so very succinct!!!!!
I cannot wait to see what happens in the "Favorite Foods" one!
PipeTobacco
Thank you, PT. I can't wait, either . . . it's always a surprise :)
DeleteHope all is well for you, jenny_o. Thanks for making me laugh by sharing the cat photo.
ReplyDeleteGlad to make you laugh, Mr. S!
DeleteI love your haiku! Beautifully said, in just a few poignant words. (And who could resist a bouquet of kittens?) :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane. And a bouquet of kittens would be far preferable to me than a bouquet of flowers, as long as I could return them in a few days. I may be a cat lady but I'm not a crazy cat lady . . . yet.
Delete