This month, we had the pleasure of writing “In the style of…” Valerie Worth. A spare, careful, tender observer of things, Valerie Worth may have been best known for her Small Poems (and all the subsequent collections of small poems that followed!)
I find this kind of work hugely satisfying to read and to write (and, I know, the hugely reads a bit ironic since we’re talking about very, very spare work.) I so love zooming in and attending to something — anything — with a focus so particular it pretty much is the same as love.
As always, our larger thematic focus for the year is transformation, and I have been looking through a slightly more scientific lens, too, using a scientific term or process to further describe or define what’s happening in each of my poems. (Although I’ve admittedly been a little more loosey goosey around that than I intended to be.)
Anyway, here are two of the handful of poems I tried this week.

Flour Scoop
(solder/a verb)
Tin can cut
on the bias
becomes
a scoop
at once edgy
and old
fashioned
Book Mark
(cleave/a verb)
A dog-eared page
creased like a collar,
like a paper crane,
waits for the end
of the day to come
undone, to fly open
and let loose
all the stories
For other Worth-inspired poems, go here:
Mary Lee
Tanita
Tricia
Sara
Kelly
Laura
And enjoy Poetry Friday hosted by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.
In December, we’re closing out the year with a funny little thing called an Elfchen! Give it a go with us! And in the meantime, stay safe and well…