Tag: ee cummings

April Poem #7: Puddle-Wonderful

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Every path hath a puddle.

-George Herbert

Rainy days are puddle days for me. Days to stop and ponder my imagination. Wouldn’t it be grand to jump in and slide into another world like Alice through the looking glass? I would so love for that to be possible. Just to stare down into its spring reflection and float away into a peaceful dream. When I think of rainy play days, I think of e.e.cummings and his poem [in just-]. I especially love the line: “when the world is puddle-wonderful; the queer old balloonman whistles far and wee; and betty and isbel come dancing.” I have always admired cummings’s poetic playfulness, his ability to break the rules and jump into a creative space. I endeavor to play with poetry this month and free my hand and mind so that the words will form into something new and curious.

My inspiration for Puddle-Wonderful comes from NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month: 30 Poems in 30 Days, which was created by Maureen Thorson. NaPoWriMo. Today, they suggest writing a poem contradicting a chosen saying or proverb. I chose a quote by George Herbert.

My inspiration for There’s a Puddle in my Shoe comes from Verse-Love, Ethical ELA, which was created by Sarah J. Donovan.Chris Goering supplied the inspiration for writing a poem as a song. There’s a Puddle in my Shoe came into my head as a children’s rhyme.

Puddle-Wonderful

There it is -
Up ahead.
Not an obstacle,
Not a problem.
Just a small pool
Reflecting golden forsythia
and pink azalea.
A puddle so cordial
It invites you in.
Jump, Stomp, Splash!
Explore its water-filled wonder.
Slickers and boots are water-proof,
Skin and hair are not.
Immerse yourself its wet world,
Listen to the laughter,
Return to childhood again,
All is puddle-wonderful.








There are Puddles in my Shoes
	

There is rain upon the rooftops,
Lightning strikes out from the blue,
I hear thunder all around me,
There are puddles in my shoes!

Pitter-patter on the sidewalk,
Slish-slosh and splashing too!
It feels like I am floating,
There are puddles in my shoes!

My hair is wet, my jeans are drenched,
I am soggy through and through,
Dripping-dropping off my elbows,
There are puddles in my shoes!

The water’s rising rapidly,
My skin is soaked; it’s true.
Someone get me an umbrella,
There are puddles in my shoes!
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Magic in the Middle

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I am in love with words.  I don’t know when it happened.  It might have started with “Mama.” Words held meaning, and I was eager from the beginning to express myself. Writing is like breathing to me – I cannot differentiate one from the other.  When I go long period without writing, it’s like I’m holding my breath and turning blue.  And I am.  I am literally turning blue.  I am suffocating.  A little piece of my spirit dies when I don’t write.

Here are fifteen of my favorite words right now:

  1. Aquamarine
  2. Acrobat
  3. Always
  4. Breath
  5. Curious
  6. Journey
  7. Lopsided
  8. Magical
  9. Mud-luscious
  10. Perpendicular
  11. Puddle-wonderful
  12. Puzzlement
  13. Serendipitous
  14. Tangential
  15. Whisper

Number 9 and 11 are words invented by the poet E.E. Cummings in his poem “in just,”which is one of my favorite poems because it is clear that words are Cummings’ playground, and he loved swinging and sliding from one to the other. I’m intrigued when poets/writers create new words to show unique images.  As I grow older, I sometimes forget a word I need for a moment.  I start thinking and thinking and thinking. And I come up with a word, but it isn’t the word I intended.  Then all of a sudden, the right word pops into my head and I realize that both the right word and the wrong word rhyme.  I chuckle instead of becoming upset, because I take it as a sign that I am a true poet and words matter, even – especially the wrong words.

Ruth Ayres wrote recently, “Finding magic in the middle of living.”  When I read her words, I said aloud, “YES, YES, YES!  That is what POETRY is to me!” It is pure magic and it begins with stringing words together: working and playing and putting them together like an intricate puzzle. You set that last piece in place, sit back, smile, and see the whole wonderful image before you.

Number 14 – TANGENTIAL. I have so many thoughts in my head at the same time that sometimes I think I may explode.  Nothing is tangential in my mind, but to others it may not appear so.  Everything, for me, is connected to something else.  This is a wondrous world, and we are connected in ways that are both mysterious and serendipitous.  When we least expect it, someone reaches out – a stranger, a poet, a friend, someone you knew long ago – and steps into your story. Words are the placeholder, the keeper of memories.  They allow you to make sense of your surroundings and uncover the magic.