Haibun Monday 30/03/2020: Snapshots of Our Lives

Write a prose background to your chosen poem, giving us more details of when and where it happened, who else was involved, the how and the why, including a link to the original poem if you wish, and then sum up the poem in a haiku.  Aim to write no more than three tight paragraphs, followed by a traditional haiku that includes reference to the season. https://dversepoets.com/

I had to look back and find a poem that I wrote last year, that is when I really started writing. I didn’t put it on a blog, as I wasn’t blogging at that point either! I found this poem that I titled “Color my memories” when I was writing poetry for children. I wasn’t really aware then, that poetry is not really desired for publication from traditional publishers. Shel Silverstein was always one of my most favorite authors, so when I began writing I had him in mind. Later, as I looked for a traditional publisher, I read on one bio after another that no one wants poetry for young readers. It is too bad.

This poem I wrote based on real things I remember.

Color my memories

Memories spin in my mind.

Red raspberries out in grandma’s backyard with silver beetles under the leaves.

Blue water swirling with sunshine against an aqua blue liner in the above ground pool.

Green grass to be mowed twice a week with a red walk-behind mower.

Purple irises in the flower garden smelling so sweet but not to pick.

Black tar on the driveway for popping tar bubbles and for sunning all day.

Yellow sunlight as bright as grandma’s huge Chevrolet with no seat belts.

Orange slices cut to quench your thirst and make a fake smile.

Brown shades of skin darkening with each summer day.

Memories spin like a color wheel. (©2019 CBialczak)

Sometimes we believe
Children live colorful lives
One to remember

©2020 CBialczak Poetry

 

8 comments

  1. Thank you for sharing both poem and background, Christine. Quite a few of us have written poems and stories for children, and it’s always a pleasure to read them. I know quite a few children’s poets in the UK and they aren’t having too many problems with publishers. But publishers in the UK do prefer writers and poets to have agents. I enjoyed your list poem very much, which is like a collection of American sentences, from which individual lines can stand on their own. Grandma features quite prominently – a great topic for children’s poems.

    Like

  2. They do, but it may be different colors than ours were, just like ours were different than our parents. It’s a sad passing if Shel has gone out of fashion for children’s enjoyment 😦

    Liked by 1 person

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