Spring Again
Spring again
Spring again
Spring again
Isn't it?
Buds on the branches
A breeze in the blue
And me without mittens
My sweater unbuttoned
A spring full of things
All before me to do.
Karla Kuskin, The Rose on my Cake, Harper & Row, 1964.
My poetry choices so far have tended towards the serious; but on this glorious Saturday, warm enough for eying the emerging daylilies and irises in our shirtsleeves, I'll share this cheerful spring poem. Ah, but you noticed it, didn't you? The question in the middle? Because Spring is a fickle gal, and the snow and cold predicted for Easter Sunday can make us question Spring's fidelity. Even so, warmth and growth and rebirth will not be denied in the end.
I've been collecting children's poetry since my days in college preparing for a career in elementary education. I bought a bunch of 4 x 6 index cards and a tan file box and began gathering poems I liked. That file box has stayed with me ever since and I am employing it again right now as I direct my granddaughter's distance learning. We've performed an enthusiastic choral reading of at least one poem from that box and Lexi is eager to learn more.
It could be said about Karla Kuskin, according to Jack Prelutsky, serving as Children's Poet Laureate for the Poetry Foundation, that "Her poems, deceptively simple, are largely based on personal experiences, especially those of her childhood. She writes about things as diverse as hugging bugs, dragons pulling wagons, and a radish rising in the nighttime sky. Karla makes every word stand out in sharp relief. Some of her poems have fewer than ten words, and the way she compresses her thought makes you look carefully at each word, as if it’s as valuable as a diamond."
The rest of his remarks can be found by following the link attached to her name above.
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| A preview of coming attractions! A Siberian Iris from my garden last May |
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