Poem – You, R

You know what’s cool? When you get to do things that you love for college credit. 😀 Case in point: I’m taking a poetry class this semester, which is forcing me to write poetry (which I love) and to get better at writing it (which I am all for). I’m barely a week in, but I’m already very happy with the class. 🙂

If you guessed that that introduction was leading into me sharing one of my poems that I wrote for my poetry class, then you would be right. 😀 The main gist of the assignment was that we were to write a poem about (and ideally, directly to) a letter of the alphabet. This was my response…

~

I watch you running and wonder if you, R

could stop and learn to slow-dance today?

But then I remember that you are always in a hurry,

always looking for the double promise of tomorrow.

You hide from yourself in February, then burst

bright, like a lion’s roar in March, softly

blooming in the middle of April, I wait for you

to tie up the loose ends of the year.

Why do you insist on flirting with the sunrise

edging ever nearer to the rosy, dying stars?

Do you remember your mother’s mother’s mother

winding scarlet promises around her fingers?

You too, find courage hidden within your heart, spy

your reflection in the rush of rivers, feel

at home in the curve of the road, and

dry your tears on the rim of the world.

I watch you leave the past behind, choosing

to stop for a moment in this ripened present,

now you turn eager eyes towards the future.

Have you forgotten that never ends with you?

~

Sometimes I surprise myself when writing – and this was one of those times. I’m excited to see what else this poetry class is going to pull out of my writer’s brain!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this poem in the comments. 🙂 What was your favourite line? Did anything confuse you?