Poetry of April

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.

~Rainer Maria Rilke

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.

~William Shakespeare

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.

~Reginald Heber

In honor of National Poetry Month, I hereby submit my entry in SmallWorld's In Just-spring Mudluscious Poetry Contest.

At first I was worried that she was going to require participants to write a poem. I think I failed that portion of my creative writing class. Happily, she only asks that we post any poem evoking images or feelings of spring.

Because I live in the Willamette Valley, this poem by Langston Hughes seemed most appropriate, although I'm not sure of the last line...




April Rain Song
Langston Hughes


Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain.


I'm sure SmallWorld won't mind if I post more than one. I wanted to share again the poetry of my niece, Ilex:

Haikus
by Ilex

Yellow harvest moon
Early morning field song is
Calling autumn in

Blue cloud snow falling
Winter is ice cold dropping
Melted icicles

Spring birch trees shiver
The evening breath whispers through
Listen to the wind

Summer cicada
Purple dawn rises above
The garden blossom


And I'll end with this selection:

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven-
All's right with the world!
~Robert Browning

Contest Details from SmallWorld:

In celebration of "the white cloud's intricate maze, And the blue sky's beautiful sheen," I am hereby announcing SmallWorld's In Just-spring Mudluscious Poetry Contest. It's really quite simple. Just copy and paste this orange-lettered section onto your own blog along with a poem that in some way celebrates spring. (Copy the contest photo above if you want, as well!) Leave me a comment with a link to your contest entry. The poem doesn't have to overtly use the word "spring," but it should in some way evoke the feeling of spring. If you don't have a blog, just leave a poem in the comments.

I'll be running this particular contest until April 10, so you've got plenty of time to find just the perfect poem. I will randomly choose a winner, who will receive a box in the mail filled with some of my favorite spring things (think gardens, good smells, and prettiness, unless the winner is male, in which case, scratch the good smells and pretty things).