“Sometimes, love looks like small things.” ~ Tracy K. Smith
I’m a big fan of James Crews’s poetry anthologies and often dip into them whenever I need a calming moment of reflection or a fresh dose of inspiration.
Both poets pay homage to their Italian grandmothers, recalling childhood memories that continue to sustain and nourish.
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“Grandma’s Kitchen” by Lisa Pastille.
THE LESSON by Paola Bruni
On Sundays, Grandmother alight on the altar of making and I, only old enough to kneel on a wooden chair beside her, watched. From the cupboard, she unearthed a dusky pastry board, flour formed into a heaping crater, the center hollowed. Eggs, white as doves. Salt. Cup of milk, fragrant and simple. No spatula. No bowl or mixer. Just a pastry board and Grandmother's naked, calcified fingers proclaiming each ingredient into the next. She murmured into the composition until the dough fattened, perspired, grew under her ravenous eye. A rolling pin to create a still, quiet surface. Then, the point of a sharp knife chiseling flags of wide golden noodles. For days, the fettuccini draped from wooden clothing racks in her bedroom under the scrutiny of Jesus and his Mother. Mornings, I slipped into Grandmother's bed, dreamt about eating noodles swathed in butter and the sauce of a hundred ripe tomatoes roasted on the fire.
~ from The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal, edited by James Crews (Storey Publishing, 2023).
“I like the muted sounds, the shroud of grey, and the silence that comes with fog.” ~ Om Malik
“Whose Turn Is It” by Dempsey Essick.
ODE TO GRAY
by Dorianne Laux
Mourning dove. Goose. Catbird. Butcher bird. Heron.
A child’s plush stuffed rabbit. Buckets. Chains.
Silver. Slate. Steel. Thistle. Tin.
Old man. Old woman.
The new screen door.
A squadron of Mirage F-1’s dogfighting
above ground fog. Sprites. Smoke.
“Snapshot gray” circa 1952.
Foxes. Rats. Nails. Wolves. River stones. Whales.
Brains. Newspapers. The backs of dead hands.
The sky over the ocean just before the clouds
let down their rain.
Rain.
The seas just before the clouds
let down their nets of rain.
Angelfish. Hooks. Hummingbird nests.
Teak wood. Seal whiskers. Silos. Railroad ties.
Mushrooms. Dray horses. Sage. Clay. Driftwood.
Crayfish in a stainless steel bowl.
The eyes of a certain girl.
Grain.
~ from Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems (W.W. Norton & Co., 2020)
“Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams” by Vilhelm Hammershøi(1900).
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What’s the first thing you think of when the color gray is mentioned? Dull, drab, boring, noncommittal? Neither black nor white (yet both), gray hovers in-between, taking a neutral, indifferent stance.
“Old Couple” by Elena Roginsky.
We associate gray with aging and cloudy days. Having worked in many office settings, I’ve seen my share of gray cubicles and file cabinets, copy machines and shredders. Gray is institutional, business-like, a calling card for conformity.
In Europe and North America, only about 1% of those surveyed consider gray their favorite color.
Here’s an appeeling little poem to cheer you up. 🙂
“Orange” by Lu-Yong.
THE ORANGE by Wendy Cope
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange— The size of it made us all laugh. I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave— They got quarters and I got a half.
And that orange, it made me so happy, As ordinary things often do Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park. This is peace and contentment. It’s new.
The rest of the day was quite easy. I did all the jobs on my list And enjoyed them and had some time over. I love you. I’m glad I exist.
“The scent of cinnamon is like a hug for your senses, wrapping you in comfort and nostalgia.” – Unknown
photo by Brent Hofacker.
What could be more enticing than the sweet spicy aroma of cinnamon wafting from the kitchen? It carries the promise of something scrumptious in the oven: apple pie? gingerbread? snickerdoodles, bread pudding?
Mmmmmmmm! Warm and woodsy cinnamon feels cozy and comforting. It speaks of Saturday morning cinnamon toast, late summer peach cobblers, hot mulled cider, nutty streusels and autumn’s molasses cookies. It’s snappy cinnamon tea and hot chocolate with whipped cream. Moreover, cinnamon is the smell of Christmas.
Good aromas transcend time and space by not only stimulating the appetite, but conjuring up satisfying, sensory-rich food memories. We thank Nebraska poet Judy Lorenzen for permission to share her poignant poem and for commenting on what inspired it.
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“Cinnamon Roll” by Justin Clayton
CINNAMON by Judy Lorenzen
with a line from William Butler Yeats
Where goes the memory wandering but to the house of my childhood to smell the sweet aroma of Mother's baking goods. Where her kneading hands are covered in butter or in flour where the crimson spice's fragrance hangs in the air for hours. And there is nothing better than in her presence here, to see her face, feel her embrace, I feel the welling tear. The loaves of bread and rolls dark red, were love that served the child, where time is gone and memory lives my mind rests for a while. I didn't know how fast time passed, holding her cinnamon-scented hand, For the world's more full of weeping than I could understand.
Cinnamon-Streusel Coffee Cake via King Arthur Flour.
NOTE FROM JUDY:
“I bought a cinnamon-scented candle the other day. After I opened the lid to take in the perfume, my mind went straight back to my childhood. My mother was such a wonderful mother, a natural teacher who was always teaching my six sisters and me about the flowers, night skies, stars, constellations, the birds and their songs—everything.
She taught my sisters and me to read before we went to school, using the King James Bible. She had memorized a lot of poetry in her childhood, and sometimes, these long, beautiful poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, W. B. Yeats, Robert Frost or John Neihardt, among others, would come pouring out of her. I’d watch her face glow as she quoted them and listen to the music in the poetry. I was mesmerized by her and all of her abilities—we all were. We just never stopped learning from that wonderful woman.
l to r: Jamey, Joy, Mom, Judy, Jonna & Jacki (Jo & Jill not pictured).
Because there were seven of us girls, she baked a lot, and we all loved those days. The cinnamon smell lingered around the house all day. When I walked home from Engleman Elementary on baking days, I could smell the cinnamon on the winds as I got closer to home, and I knew what was waiting inside those doors. Such sweet memories!
I write memoir poetry, and many times, a smell, a song, or a thought triggers a poem. The cinnamon candle made me think about how much I miss my mother and her sweetness, and I remembered that line from Yeats’s poem ‘The Stolen Child’ that I loved so much. I thought about how true it was that I didn’t understand then that the world was so full of weeping. I knew I had to end my poem with that line—she loved that poem.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Judy Lorenzen is a poet and writer who holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work appears in journals, anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and on calendars and websites.
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Lovely and talented Irene Latham is hosting the Roundup at Live Your Poem.Be sure to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Enjoy your weekend!
It’s time once again to read, write, share, and simply indulge your love for poetry in every way. I’m happy to be back rounding everyone up this year and look forward to checking in with all of you throughout April.
New to National Poetry Month and wondering about ways to celebrate? Visit the NPM webpage at The Academy of American Poets (poets.org) for a cool list of activities, initiatives and resources. You can learn about Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 18), sign up for Poem-a-Day to receive poems in your inbox, and review 30 Ways to Celebrate NPM online, at home, in the classroom, or at readings/events near you. Do as much, or as little, as you please. Just enjoy!
The 2024 poster features artwork by award-winning children’s author and illustrator Jack Wong, and lines from “blessing the boats” by beloved poet Lucille Clifton. Wong was selected by Scholastic—the global children’s publishing, education, and media company—to create the artwork for this year’s poster as part of a new National Poetry Month initiative between the publisher and the Academy of American Poets. You can download a free PDF of this poster here, and check out the Teach This Poem lesson featuring the poem and the poster here.
Now, here’s a list of what some kidlit bloggers are doing. If you’re also celebrating National Poetry Month with a special project or blog event, or know of anyone else who is, please email me at: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com, so I can add the information to this Roundup. Thanks, and have a beautiful, inspiring, uplifting, productive, and memorable April!
Jama's Alphabet Soup 