This "Short Composition for Two Harps"
by Tudor Tulok is 1 minute, 53 seconds long. In my mind, I saw daffodils blowing in the wind. But this is what I wound up writing:
THE GLORY OF SPRING
Flowers aren't the only ones
who bloom in spring.
In classrooms everywhere
children are opening
as suddenly as tulips,
waving their hands in eager confidence
like daffodils in the breeze.
Stubborn and tenacious as dandelions,
they have mastered
subtraction or sentences or similes.
They have arrived
and they know it.
Teachers witness this glorious blooming
each spring
and it never ceases to amaze.
We know they will leave us soon,
so give us a minute
to appreciate the glory of spring.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
Yesterday, I let my students listen to this music so they could share some of their writing here.
that sound calms
me down every
time I hear
it going past
nice and fast
just the
way I
dream
it
--B
SOUND OF BEAUTY
The brush of a harp.
The melody.
The sound.
The feeling.
The beauty.
--No
ANGELS
It feels like
angels are flying
over me,
playing their soothing harps,
sounds relaxing.
--Na
FLOWERS AND HARPS
When I think of flowers
I remember the
sound of harps. They are
both peaceful and
relaxing. They make me feel
safe.
--Jo
peace harmony
freedom
happiness
Litmus
Lozenge
vengeance sorrow
pain agony
honor courage
respect
--Re
TWOs
Two harps
play
two beautiful
sounds
like two flowers
twirling around and
around
like two friends
caring for
each other
like two blue jays
singing
sister and brother
like two people
giving gifts on special days
like two children
wanting
to play
like two angels
watching
for us
like two harps
playing
two
beautiful
sounds.
--Ra
Had to remember
A loved one.
Running my fingers on the strings making
Peaceful music.
--M
NICE SOUNDS
That sound, what is that
it's so...peaceful.
It makes me calm down,
overjoyed, I went to where
it came from.
It was at a church
it was a girl playing
her harp.
I walk in and
she stops, she looks
at me then looks away
and starts playing
again.
--G
HARPS
The music from heaven
letting us know the right way
like a rainbow in the clear sky
it is quiet music that
makes us feel safe.
--Y
HARP
The music is peaceful
like crickets making music.
All the sounds come together
like every feather of a bird.
This piece had harmony
like a two instrument symphony.
Playing my harp
making beautiful music.
Plucking the strings,
playing something inspirational.
Inspiration,
that made this poem.
--J
no stopping
back and forth, forth and back.
no stopping; for there is no
time in this new world.
back and forth, forth and back.
as i lean against ellis,
i try to remember those days.
back and forth, forth and back.
one year more until
this war is out of my head.
back and forth, forth and back.
my life is full of melodies,
and i need them to live.
--S
The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is
"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations."
Each day in April, I will feature media from the
Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065
freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.
I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!
You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.
and the upcoming (Nov. 2013) 
