#ProgressivePoem #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth

Today is my turn to add a line to the 2022 KidLit Progressive Poem. I am writing on location in lovely Princeton, NJ. It is April Vacation week in Massachusetts, so I am tagging along on my husband’s research trip. The University archives have been closed to the public for two very long years, so this is a big week for him!

I brought along a few of my favorite books in the hope that one of them would hold just the right line for my turn, and indeed The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith does. The moon is beginning to appear in the sky, so I felt like it was time for a shift in the action. With just eleven days/lines to go, perhaps our adventurers should begin their journey home. Just a thought. With that in mind, today I add “The night sky would soon be painted, stars gleaming overhead, a beautiful wild curtain closing on the day.“

2022 Progressive Poem

Where they were going, there were no maps.

     Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today.

Take the adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!

     We have to go back. I forgot something.

But it’s spring, and the world is puddle-wonderful, so we’ll whistle and dance and set off on our way.

     Come with me, and you’ll be in a land of pure imagination.

Wherever you go, take your hopes, pack your dreams, and never forget – it is on our journeys that discoveries are made.

     And then it was time for singing.

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain, paint with all the colors of the wind, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky?

     Suddenly, they stopped and realized they weren’t the only ones singing.

Listen, a chattering of monkeys! Let’s smell the dawn and taste the moonlight, we’ll watch it all spread out before us.

     The moon is slicing through the sky. We whisper to the tree,  tap on the trunk, imagine it feeling our sound.

Clouds of blue-winged swallows, rain from up the mountains,

     Green growing all around, and the cool splash of the fountain.

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden,

     a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad; 

     and they stepped out into the middle of it.

Their minds’ libraries and lightning bugs led them on.

The darkwood sings, the elderhist blooms, the sky lightens; listen and you will find your way home.

The night sky would soon be painted, stars gleaming overhead, a beautiful wild curtain closing on the day.

During the month of April, I am writing poem-ish pieces inspired by my frequent walks in the natural world. Trails, paths, signs, and views always intrigue and inspire me. The Progressive Poem and my line, I believe, fit in well with this theme.

Here is a summary of the poem’s lines 1 -19 — the participating poets and where their lines are from. Over to you, Robyn Hood Black!

1.     Irene  (The Imaginaries)
2.     Donna (The Hobbit)
3.     Catherine F. (The Wind in The Willows)
4.     Mary Lee (Walk Two Moons)
5.     Buffy Silverman (a bit from e.e. cummings)
6.     Linda Mitchell (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
7.     Kim Johnson (from Maybe by Kobi Yamada)
8.     Rose Cappelli (Sarah, Plain and Tall)
9.     Carol Varsalona (Disney Songs)
10.   Linda Baie (The Other Way to Listen.)
11.   Janet Clare Fagal (line adaptation from Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman)
12.   Jone Rush MacCulloch (line adaptation from The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron)
13.   Karin Fisher-Golton (M. Singer On the Same Day In March: A Tour of the World’s Weather)
14.   Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia)
15.  Heidi Mordhorst (Couplet includes 15: The Secret Garden and… 
16. … CS Lewis’ Prince Caspian)
17. Ruth (The Last Cuentista)
18. Patricia (The Beatryce Prophecy)
19. Christie (The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith)

If you are new to the Progressive Poem, here’s the background! This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens. Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem
2 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
5 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
6 Linda at A Word Edgewise
7 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
11 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch
13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
15 Carol Labuzzetta @ The Apples in my Orchard
16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town
18 Patricia at Reverie
19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Kevin at Dog Trax
22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life
24 Marcie Atkins
25 Marilyn Garcia
26 JoAnn Early Macken
27 Janice at Salt City Verse
28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog
30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing

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