Process

 

‘Prize Malted Brown’ by Owen Simmons from The Book of Bread (1903)

It was my turn to offer the challenge to the Inklings. Newly in love with the Public Domain Image Archive, I suggested that each poet plug a color into the search bar and use one of the images as her inspiration. Like Molly and Heidi, I found that searching for more esoteric colors like aubergine gave no results. So I searched “brown” and got this slice of “Prize Malted Brown” and a small poem about baking.

But that last line got me thinking about how baking bread is like writing, which is also “all process” and this draft happened:

Tanku

 

.

Not Quite Black

 

Fire

 

.

Labyrinth

 

.

Labyrinth

Left, right, left
Around and
Back
Your eyes on the path
Rhythm of steps matching breaths
In, out, in
Now the curves
Tighten and you find yourself
Here

(c) Mary Lee Hahn, 2025 draft

Today's Wisdom

 

Haibun

 

Balance

 

.

After E. D.

 

Emily Dickinson’s birthday was on 12/10 and this was the poem on The Writer’s Almanac. I borrowed all of Emily’s capitalized words (except the ones that begin the lines) and created this draft of a golden shovel:

Begin With a Sensory Experience

 

Two Versions

 

Photo by Cyndy Sims on Flickr

Ode to the October Garden

Tattered curtain of fennel.

 

Grape Hyacinth foliage in front of what was a Blazing Star

Mussels in Inverness

 

Surprises

 

Surprises

Would you have known
to watch for
porpoises and dolphins
as your ferry crossed the Minch
between Skye and Harris?

There’s something to be said for surprises
and also for a guide
generously sharing both knowledge
and binoculars.

(c) Mary Lee Hahn, draft, 2024

Double Dactyls

 

Next Time

 

After Joyce Sutphen’s Next Time.

Ghazal for the Sky

 

Late Summer

 

Unexpected Adventures in Housecleaning

 

You Are Here

 

The Inklings’ challenge this month was simultaneously issued by Catherine, by Ada Limón, and by Mo Daley at Ethical ELA.

Catherine charged us with joining Ada Limón’s Poet Laureate project, “You Are Here.” The Library of Congress website describes it as a “project is for everyone, and I hope people of all ages—poets and nonpoets—will feel moved to write their own response to the “You Are Here” prompt. It’s simple: What would you write in response to the landscape around you?

On Day Three of Ethical ELA’s Open Write last week, Mo Daley challenged writers to try an X Marks the Spot Poem: “Find a print article from a magazine that interests you…Once you have chosen your article, simply draw an X through the page. You will then write your poem using the words touching your X.” I printed the full text of Ada Limón’s challenge to receive my X, and the words that touched the X are italicized in my poem:

“I believe the way we respond to this crucial moment on our planet could define humanity forever. In conceiving of my signature project, I wanted something that could both praise our sacred and natural wonders and also speak the complex truths of this urgent time. It’s my hope that You Are Here will do just that,” Limón said. “You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks aims to deepen our connection to nature through poetry, and You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World is an anthology that speaks to the many different ways we are nature too. It may seem easier to surrender to the overwhelm of the world’s challenges right now, but I believe that singing out, offering something back to the earth, noticing our connection to the planet, could help us all move forward together in a powerful way.”

Limón said this project is for everyone, and she hopes people of all ages — poets and non-poets — will feel moved to write their own responses to the You Are Here prompt. It’s simple: What would you write in response to the landscape around you? People can share their responses on social media if they choose, using the hashtag #YouAreHerePoetry.

“Above all, this project is about rising to this moment with hope, the kind of hope that will echo outwards for years to come,” Limón said.

In the Want Ads

 

Intelligence

 

Wish You Were Here