In the Reactions section of the Nov/Dec 2019 Poets&Writers Magazine, I read, “Much of the advice and coaching I offer to undergraduate students who are contemplating MFA programs is to take some time to think about what they actually want out of it, to reach out to people who teach at certain programs or those who may have attended,” in a letter from a reader. In another letter I read, “I was a resident of Ha’ikū, Maui, and occasionally saw Mr. Merwin at the post office—like the day after the news reached Maui that he had become the U.S. poet laureate.”
This got me thinking about the reach of poetry, and how we are reached as readers. Reach has so many meanings. When I looked it up on dictionary.com, I found ten definitions for a verb with an object, eleven for a verb without an object, and eight as a noun. But I would like my poem to succeed in making contact with, influencing, impressing, interesting, convincing, etc
The Prompts
NaPoWriMo : write a poem that recounts a historical event
PAD Challenge : write a poem using at least three of the following six words: bear, collar, flair, hear, praise, ramble. Or for extra credit, use all six words.
Today’s Poem
A Bear in the Area
I think of the bear warning
in the park, the print on the map
rambling so close to homes
when I find the worn open collar
tucked behind the rhododendron
in the corner of the fences
the blue bell flair
not in its belly
I hear rustling and freeze
praise the squirrel
for its metronomic
chirping while scurrying
up the tree away from me.
Experience Writing 