It seems only fitting to end National Poetry Month by re-visiting an incredible poetic adventure and challenge that I had the good fortune to be a part of.  It was a journey of words, histories, friendship, illumination, trust and absolute beauty; an exercise that showed just how powerful poetry can be. It was inspired by Brooke, a woman who weaves magic into everything she writes, and who invited others to find the magic within themselves, through poetry.  What could be cooler than that?

The extraordinary poems were written by, Brooke, Tom, Wulf, Bojana, Tanya, Miriam, Brad, Elizabeth, Steve,  and Kim

The adventure began with this poem from
George Ella Lyon.

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush,
the Dutch elm
whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from perk up and pipe down.
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments–
snapped before I budded–
leaf-fall from the family tree