Last month, Tanita Davis shared the details:
Poetry Peeps! You’re invited to join our August poetry challenge!
Here’s the scoop: this month, we’re doing haiku…sonnets. If your response is a baffled “What?” no worries. Basically four 3-line haiku plus a couplet of either 5 or 7 syllables equals the traditional 14 lines you’ll find in a sonnet. If you haven’t written a sonnet, or “little song” in a minute, Folger has a Shakespearean guide, while the Poetry Foundation has the deets on other forms. Are you in? Good! Start today so you can be ready to share August 28th in a blog post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. See you then!
__________________________________________________________________________
So, as usual, I got to work right away.
Oh, wait, no.
I didn't.
I checked my planner yesterday and found the note I'd made: "Tanita's August Poetry Challenge — post on Aug. 28th."
Ummm ... okay. So, this morning I got to work.
I don't know if this is haiku, or if it's a haiku sonnet, or if I should've tried to nail down some iambic pentameter (I guess not? Because ... haiku?) Anyway, I just started in on something I've been thinking about a lot lately — the way that, when your kids grow up, they begin drifting in and out of your house in varying patterns. (College, staying with friends, traveling to see the long-distance boyfriend, moving to a new town after getting married, coming home and sleeping under your roof again for a holiday gathering...) As a mom, I have never stopped waking up and asking myself, "Where are my daughters today?"
Here's the haiku sonnet I came up with.
Counting heads
Karen Edmisten
Being a mother,
someone said, is counting heads.
Where is everyone?
Easy when they’re five.
They are all at home, of course.
Yard, kitchen, their room.
Adult kids, new phase.
I wake up, reorient
to each day’s difference.
Who’s under my roof?
Is anyone traveling?
Is everyone safe?
Counting their heads never ends.
I count each head in my heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
18 comments:
Oh, boy! Your haiku sonnet is perfect for me today...I have one in Sydney Aus. ready to run a marathon on Sat. Another is serving as cheerleader to older sibling, a third in grad school hours away and thank goodness one who is home, going to school and working as my personal assistant. It's weird to pause in the day or night and pinpoint where everyone is and how they are...I will never stop counting heads. Great sonnet, Karen.
Linda, that pause is what we all share, isn't it? Pause/locate/check/sigh. Motherhood. :) ❤️
Karen, this is perfect. Making sure everyone is safe and accounted for is a job that never ends!
You've got the heads, God's got the hairs.
Between the two (well, let's be real - just the One, but your tally is for you) your babies are wholly covered. ♥
Tracey, thanks. Did you see Cathy Stenquist's post today? She and I are on the same mom wavelength today, I think. :)
Tanita, you made me laugh. It's so true that my tally can only go so far and do so much. :D Thanks!
Though my "kids" are way older now, keeping track of where they are, where they're planning to go is something all in the family don't stop doing! It's nice they love to travel, but it is sometimes a surprise to hear from my son who's at a meeting in Mexico! "I count each head in my heart." can't be more perfect, Karen!
Perfect, Karen! My kids are in their forties, and I still think of them at least once a day, wondering what they are doing, where they are.
I totally get the head counting thing. I am at my most peaceful when I’ve heard from my daughters and know they are safe. Now there are more heads to count when you add spouses and grandchildren.
Karen, your haiku sonnet is a beautiful poem by a Mom for others to ponder. Your last lines are tender and loving enough for me to reread again and again especially the last line.. "Counting their heads never ends.
I count each head in my heart."
Such a sweet poem! "Reorient" is such a good word. Love the ending. xo
I counted heads as a lifeguard and as a teacher. My equations always ended, but clearly, those of a mother never do!
Counting heads...It's my morning prayer. :)
Wow, Karen! “Counting Heads”
went straight to my heart! Every word and line is perfect, as if the haiku sonnet was invented so this poem could come to life!! Gorgeous!
Karen, this is gorgeous. I love how you describe just starting it yesterday, and how you wake up every day thinking of your daughters. Counting daughters in our hearts will never end. Amen. Beautiful reminder.
Yes, one has flown the next, one about to, this one resonates.
OK, first -- I think we ALL felt the same about this form! It's not REALLY a sonnet -- more like linked haiku with an extra couplet. But OH WHAT YOU DID WITH IT. I only have two and I still count heads (and check my tests from them) soooo often. My eldest turns 28 on Monday and still, here I am...
Karen, I loved your poem and how you took one little task of motherhood and made it say so much. I find that as a grandmother, I now have added the 7 of them to my count! I am intrigued by these Haiku Sonnets. Must try one. :)
Post a Comment