We are actually enjoying some much needed rain here in San Jose this week so this poem by Lawrence Schimel, akadesayunoencama , appealed to me. It originally appeared here in the Christian Science Monitor. It is reprinted here with Lawrence’s permission.
Cloudy, With a Chance of Poems
The Weatherman predicts
a partially sunny day.
But the Poet doesn’t care
if it rains or if the sun shines;
there’s poetry in every kind of weather.
An idea for a poem
blows in like a sudden storm,
words dropping into the Poet’s mind
in a clear, quick rhythm
like the pitter-pat of rain
against the rooftop.
An image seen in the shadow of a cloud
suddenly sparks another poem
quick as lightning forking the sky.
Fair weather or foul,
the Poet welcomes all possibilities.
The Poet predicts today will be
a day with a chance of poems.
by Lawrence Schimel
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I love it… Poems out there crackling on the air at all times, waiting to be snatched!
Janet @ acrossthepage
Isn’t that just a perfect image?
I love this, Susan. I love weather, poetry, and poems about both! This one gets me in every way possible.
I especially like:
words dropping into the Poet’s mind
in a clear, quick rhythm
like the pitter-pat of rain
against the rooftop
Lovely when that happens!
Rereading this poem with the rain pounding down on our roof outside made me feel like the words and ideas and images were all just there, in the air, waiting for me to snatch them up.
from Laura at Author Amok
Hi, Susan. I love the onomatopoeia in the second stanza. I’m going to try pairing this poem with Eve Merriam’s “Weather” for my kids’ poetry workshops.
Re: from Laura at Author Amok
Laura, Great idea for that pairing. I hope it works well for the workshops.
TadMack says: : )
Oh, I live in hope of this, especially for the sestina with which I am wrestling… here’s hoping that words really do drop in a “clear, quick rhythm…”
Re: TadMack says: : )
Good luck with your sestina. I haven’t attempted one yet but I am going to try soon!
Love it! This is so true, I look at so many of life’s situations to wrap a poem around.
Kelly Polark