Thursday, December 17, 2020

Someday is now

 Hello Poets,

Who's got snow? Me! Well, frozen rain on top of snow that can't drain quick enough at 34 degrees. 

Yuck!

I have used my TWO snow days to read a book (an actually paper-pages book!), cook, bake, craft....and sleep-in until the cat and dog demand breakfast. What a lovely tiny break.

Are you familiar with this C.S. Lewis quote?

"But someday you will be old enough for fairy tales again."

It's true! I pulled the leather-bound copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales off a shelf and am reading old stories again. My goodness, they were violent. I don't remember as much of that from my younger days. 

Fairy tales are seeping into my current writing. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a miller saying, yes to The Wicked One...Janice asked, "What did the Wicked One want?" 

I'm writing my way to an answer. 


A flock of waxwings is called a museum
https://twitter.com/HaggardHawks/status/1337044844640935941?s=20


I was a great reader of fairy tales. I tried to read the entire fairy tale section of the library.     ~Beverly Cleary


A Museum, A Thicket, Gravel

A flock of waxwings is called a museum.
A cluster of chokecherries -- a thicket.
Gravel litters the ground beneath birds feeding.
Our miller wonders what the Wicked One wants.
He prepares his heart to say goodbye to Ox
still stamping at the turning lantern gear
or, fabric for flour sacks, even flour itself.

No

The Wicked One merely wants what's behind the mill.
That scrubby land back yonder?
That bird thicket in gravelly soil?

Deal

Wicked One hands over a velvet sack of gold coin.
This is a payment.
There will be more.
I'll return in three year's time
to claim what is mine.

Wicked vanishes
Miller runs round into the house
calling for his wife.
Ox plods and lows.

(c) Linda Mitchell -- draft

This week's poetry round-up host is our painter-poet friend, Michelle Kogan. Make sure you stop in for a bit more poetry. She is a gracious host.


11 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying this fun tale you are unraveling… Now I want to know what happens when Wicked comes back in three years. I like the weaving in of definitions at the beginning too. Lovely image of waxwings and chokecherries. And I agree with you on the fairytales and violence, but somehow I always want to finish them and read more… Thanks Linda!

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  2. I feel the miller will regret his decision. Love the beginning with the waxwings and chokeberries. You make me want a snow day to read fairy tales. But alas, today is our last day before the break and I'm happy for that. I'm looking forward to days filled with grandchildren.

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  3. Wow, Linda, this is so good. Those waxwings are absolutely gorgeous.

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  4. I've seen those waxwings in various times & they deserve the name "museum"! Your fairy tale leaves me interpreting through a political lense. Ah, this year groans with underlying messages. I am so intrigued that the lesson learned will be hard, Linda. Wonderfully done!

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  5. You've certainly made good use of your snow break! Love that you've rediscovered fairy tales. What a cool poem. Those waxwings are something else -- and I never knew a flock was called a museum.

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  6. Linda, I like that you are luxuriating in reading and resting time during your snow days. We will be driving to Gainesville on Sunday for our new house closing on Monday. It will be another quick trip so thanks for the weather report. As for the Wicked One and the miller tale, it is a wonderful fairy tale with lessons learned perhaps in the future. Well done!

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  7. First of all, I love that a flock of waxwings is called a "museum." Secondly, I feel a series of poems coming on. You have to follow up with this and let us know what's so special about "that scrubby land back yonder." Looking forward to the next installment!

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  8. There's a timeless quality to this that I love, Linda. So many vivid images, and so much rich language. Thank you and happy holidays!

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  9. I was not familiar with the C.S. Lewis quote, Linda, so thanks for sharing. Coincidentally, a museum of waxwings roosted in our neighbor's backyard tree a few days ago. I hadn't seen a waxwing in ages before that. I had no idea of the name for a flock of them. Intriguing, as is your poem. I agree with others who want to know what happens when the Wicked One returns. Well done!

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  10. My gosh, all the photos online of waxwings look filtered because their wings are so smooth. Cool! And, oh no on the wicked one (land developer?). I agree with Mary on your rich, vivid language. Lovely!

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  11. Those waxwings! Thanks for the CS Lewis quote. When will The wicked One return?

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Friendly, positive comments and feedback are always welcome here. Please let me know I'm not just whistling in the dark!