AHEAD OF US
Ahead of us, we paused to listen to the hum of the wind over the power lines, an eerie song that even the dog found a bit disconcerting. The bright blue sky and it’s cloud would soon be tinged in oranges, reds, and pinks from the setting sun.
BEHIND US
Behind us, another story unfolded, and as I looked at it with the hum of the wires behind me, I remembered that I had recorded the evening song of watershed birds, just a short way from this spot. You may need to turn up the volume here as the highway sounds seem louder than the birds.
The watershed area is just down the hill from us here as we stood bathed in orange-yellow streaming through the old elm tree over the autumn’s golden grasses and onto the rabbitbrush in the foreground.
It was a bit surreal to turn from this and back to the almost empty and boundless blue sky beneath which another song caused us to pause.
WRITEOUT’S CONTRAST POEM
In the Choice Board for WriteOut’s Poetry for the Planet, is a wonderful lesson in noticing contrasts between man and nature by Amy Hirzel, Poet and teacher consultant with the Kent State Writing Project. I was pleased to see that her poetic language examples were exactly what I taught: Figurative Language and “Author’s Musts” to my middle school students.
As my husband and I stood listening and then turning around to view the changing sunset, we discussed the contrasts. And, after watching Amy’s video and reading her slides and example, I mused and composed a poem about the two songs in our favorite place to walk Guthrie, our black golden-doodle.
As Amy suggested, the first part shares about one artifact, in this case nature’s sunset through the elm. The second stanza explains the second artifact, man’s power lines beneath the blue sky. The third stanza connects the two. I attempted to include poetic language.
SONG OF CONTRASTS
Song of Contrasts
Behind me
the sun is a blazing fire
casting its yellow glow
across autumn’s golden grasses
through the elm’s gnarled limbs
asking for evening birdsong,
asking for a lullaby of calm,
lulling the day’s creatures into sleep
before night’s nocturnals creep
and moonshine shapes soft shadows,
the sunshine cedes ’til morn’.Ahead of me
aluminum wrapped steel wires
are thin webs of sheathed lightning
flowing for miles and miles and miles
held by parallel poles repeated
in evenly spaced spans over which
the wind weaves and leaves a hum,
a hum of eerie, uneven moans
crying for escape to warm the homes
the setting sun leaves cold beneath the web,
below the boundless blue sky.Sunset’s melody-
soft lullaby sung by birds,
muffled hum of wind
that wefts wires of sheathed lightning-
songs merged of man and nature.#writeout
Sheri Edwards
Photography/Poetry/Contrast Poem
10.17.24
I hope you enjoy the poem and find time to step out into your yard, walk down the city street, or go to a park to find the contrasting, yet melding of man and nature.
JOIN IN!
This post is part of the October WRITEOUT adventure, October 13 through the 27th, partnership of the National Writing Project and the National Park Service — a chance to enjoy the outdoors with poetry, prose, and parks for Write Out 2024. Organized as a public invitation to get out and create, supported by a series of free online activities, Write Out invites educators, students, and families to explore national parks and other public spaces. The goal is to connect and learn through place-based writing and sharing. Check out this infographic for the flow of the this week and the Choice Board to get you started for WriteOut’s Poetry for the Planet.
Learn more and sign up: https://writeout.nwp.org
This is my seventh year with WriteOut with all my WriteOut posts here.
I wonder, if I draw a line... 