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when a cool summer day

feels like early autumn,

the dew point is manageable,

and there’s a tease of a breeze

under sunny, pale blue skies,

I’m that wide-eyed 10-year-old

staring up at waltzing clouds

conjuring up audacious adventures

and mysteries I alone might solve,

heedless of the world beyond,

and each of its stark realities

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~ a fascinating ‘nother look at an old classic

Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash

I’m reading a 10th grade book assignment,

one I’d merely skimmed at the time

*

it’s overwhelming what they’d endured

the hardships, the struggles, the isolation

*

they believed in, they trusted the promise

of this new Canaan, this soil-rich land

*

but, now, look where we’ve come

just look at what’s become of us

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~ we only need an openness and an eagerness to embrace the possibilities!

A surly old poetry colleague used to harangue his fellow writers whenever an uncommon or foreign word, expression or phrase was used in the poems we shared in group gatherings. I always held a different (read: healthier, more vibrant!) take on the matter. I love stumbling across fresh-to-me opportunities in poetry and prose to gain new knowledge and insights.

This morning, during my daily poetry readings, I discovered the following words and phrases, all new and previously unknown to me:

  • the florin: a historically significant coin, first issued in Florence in 1252
  • the joyous noise of polyphony: think ‘morning bells are ringing’ in what we used to call singing in the round when I was in Girl Scouts.
  • Odin’s ravens: Huginn and Muginn in Norse mythology, ‘thought’ and ‘memory’, respectively; they flew across the world gathering information and each night returned to whisper what they’d learned into Odin’s ears, welcome additions to his arsenal of wisdom.

Life-changing, attaining these simple lessons? Probably not. But, with a smile on my face, I enjoyed the process of discovery, the ‘aha’ moments and the tucking-away of precious new (and perhaps useful) information for future writing endeavors.

Here’s to our own special ravens!