The prompt this month? To ask unanswerable questions (inspired by a prompt Georgia Heard suggested while speaking on an NCTE panel as well as the Shel Silverstein poem How Many, How Much). I drafted mine (over our group zoom) as a terza rima (that I broke at the end) and then I set it aside, meaning to come back and work and tweak and polish. Well, that didn’t happen because the week was *muppet hands*. So here, in all its rough hewn glory, is my poem.
The Quill, The Song, The Vine
By Liz Garton Scanlon
How many quills on a porcupine?
How many songs in the throat of a bird?
How many twists in the green of a vine?
Is that an answer that I heard?
How many nothings do we know?
What is nothing divided by thirds?
Where is fast and when is slow?
Who are you and are you sure?
How many x’s and how many o’s?
Are you mine and am I yours?
Ask the quill, the song, the vine
if I am yours, if you are mine.
Read the others here:
Laura
Tricia
Mary Lee
Tanita
Sara
And Ruth has the Round-Up this week!
Oh, AND!! Next month we’re writing “In the Style of…” Lucille Clifton! We’ll be writing odes to a body part (a la homage to my hips) but you can do with the prompt what you may.
Enjoy, be safe and well… xo
It’s not a totally broken terza rima; besides, the last two lines are lovely. I really like what you’ve done here.
Ooh – it’s a song, regardless of any broken “rules.” And it works. And I LOVE the illustration, and it all hangs together so beautifully.
Oh yes, “How many songs in the throat of a bird?” I just listened to Science Friday where they talk about birds singing while dreaming! I wrote my poem of the day for Poetry Month about that! So cool.
I say this is not so much rough hewn and plenty of glory. It DEFINITELY could be/is a song!
Huzzah for skidding in just under the wire. Worked for me!
Liz, this is haunting and gorgeous. The way you move from the natural world to questions of the heart is just lovely.
This is like a version of plucking daisy petals for S/he loves me, s/he loves me not…except far more nuanced and beautiful. The truth is, we often ask unanswerable questions, twisty as vines, sharp as quills, hoping to hear a song in reply. Your poem captures that, and more.
Well, that’s textbook LizGardenSalad. Give me rough-hewn any day and the way it suits all the whimsical and also deep wonderings of an undisciplined mind. I saw someone writing about “throwing the reigns” this week. Flinging one’s crown is an excellent practice.
If this is rough-hewn, take a bow, ma’am. 🙂 I love the title and the way it lives through the poem.
And “Who are you and are you sure?” sounds like another marvelous prompt.
After reading most of these by your Poetry sisters, I now know there are many questions that we cannot answer, and love that you brought some to us, Liz. I love that verse about the ‘nothings’! And your ending, up in the air to answer for each of us!
I love the wonder of the unanswerable. When I’m with small children and they ask these big questions, I usually respond: We’ll have to think more about that. Thank you for these!
Marvelous, the feel, rhythm, movement and return at the end, fascinating form too, and I too love the porcupine pic, thanks!!!☺️