March Slice of Life No. 10.
I.
I finally caved and joined a poetry writing community, taking up the challenge to write a poem each day from a “food” prompt for the month of March. Today’s prompt was a collage of seed photos. Here’s one of them, a display of seed packets.
II.
First, I wrote a poem based on a parable told by Jesus, recorded in the three Synoptic Gospels — Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15.
A Great Harvest
A sower went out to sow.
Scattered his seeds
on the pathway and
the fowls of the air
devoured them
Scattered his seeds
on stony ground but
scorched by the sun
they withered away
Scattered his seeds
among thorns that
sprang up to choke them
and there was no fruit
Scattered his seeds
on good ground,
they sprang up and
great was the harvest
A sower went out to sow.
© 2019 Alice Nine All rights reserved.
III.
Then, I wrote a skinny. (What is a skinny? Read more… )
My Garden
From so many seeds, tiny plants
© 2019 Alice Nine All rights reserved.
pushing
down
fibrous
roots
pushing
up
green
shoots
pushing
tiny plants from so many seeds
IV.
And because I am a teacher, because so many of my friends are teachers, and we know about planting and nurturing seeds, I had to include this quote.
____________
Thank you to
Two Writing Teachers
Love the idea of a picture prompt for poetry!
I love how you’ve managed to create two entirely different tones with poems on seeds. I am hopelessly behind with Laura’s challenge, and slicing, also. Too many balls in the air!
Thank you, Catherine. It is a challenge, doing both!
I don’t know why but I love the metaphor of seeds. Each one of these poems are visually beautiful and full of words that enhance our mental pictures. I can’t pick a favorite because they are all the best. You have such a wonderful gift.
Thanks for sharing your poems and the quote.
I enjoyed and connected with – A Great Harvest, as I have heard the verses repeatedly. This is the first time I have read a skinny poem and I will be reading about it and writing one for my post. I also like the way you connected the seeds and growth with what teachers do.
Like all of the poems. I definitely agree with your last example. Teachers do plant seeds and with nurturing we see those seeds of learning grow within our students.
I love the skinny here – it really works! Mind if I take it as another example for my students?
You sure may!
When I saw your title, I had to read it. It’s amazing how life comes from somthing so tiny. I’m thinking of planting something different with our students this year. We have a community garden and thought about planting potatoes!
Yes, love the skinny poem and the biblical version of seeds and really love the quote about teachers, that’s just precious!
A parable poem for Sunday reflection, that is a gift.
I love the way the poem gives the image of how hard those seeds are working in the spring – pushing up, pushing down, trying so hard to take hold. I love the connection to our own teaching and nurturing too.
Thank you for sharing your skinny poems. They are lovely. I was especially moved by the one based on Matthew. It was a reflective read for this Sunday morning.
Thank you also for including directions on how to write a skinny poem – I hope to include one this month.
What a delightful challenge. Are all the prompts visuals? I appreciate your three acts and the work of returning to the beginning and seeing how differently you can approach the topic.
I love your skinny garden poem. With so few words you were able to capture the movement of a garden’s growth.
Thank you for introducing me to a Skinny! I want to try one now. I think it is wonderful that you are part of a writing community. Poetry is a genre that I want to read more, write more and feel more comfortable with. I also like how you numbered the sections of your post.