When my nephew was small, he made a now-family-famous declaration: “no is a hurting word.”
I share this with you, first, as solid evidence that children are the purest of poets.
And second, to say, hello, guess what?
The Poetry Sisters are doing “______ is a word” poems this month!
This prompt finds its origins with the brilliant Nikki Grimes, and is explained and modeled beautifully here, by our own Laura Purdie Salas. Our twist upon it is that we all agreed to start with words relating to conversation, which is our overarching theme for the year.
Ironically (considering said theme) we weren’t able to get our zoom together this month so we all worked on our own and, in my case at least, in a bit of a hurry. As a result, these are still at the very drafty stage, but nonetheless… here goes:
Listen
By Liz Garton Scanlon
Listen is a word
clapping
(tongue to teeth)
a teacher
insisting upon
your attention
then drawing
in close,
whispering
in confidence
this very human hum
of nearly silent letters
this very human hum
gifted and received,
unwrapped, understood
Gossip
By Liz Garton Scanlon
Gossip is a mouthy word
loose and gapey,
spilling sticky secrets
that are sipped
straight up
Find my pals’ poems here:
Laura
Tanita
Tricia
Sara
Mary Lee
And the whole Poetry Friday party is over at Denise Kreb’s blog today!
As for next month, we’re writing poems inspired by Lucille Clifton’s notes to Clark Kent! Join us if you’d like! Until then, may poetry be both balm and ballast. xo
These words say so much: “this very human hum/gifted and received”
We really do need the gift of listening right now.
The gossip poem is spot on.
Ha! Your gossip poem captures the poisonous nature of gossip perfectly! And your listen one steps so quietly through its verses, making us draw nearer and pay attention as you lead us to that hum of an ending. I could listen to you make poetry all day long.
Liz, what a success even in the drafty stage. You made me stop and listen to how listen sounds on my tongue and against my teeth. And the beauty of the gift of humans listening to each other is profound. Then there is the mouthy gossip, with a whole other story. Lovely!
A loose-lipped, gappy-mouthed word – boy that one works as well as klaxon to get us hearing the tumble and spill of words – even as we, in contrast, lean close to hear the hum of humanity in the received and unwrapped gift of hearing. I love that – there’s a verse in the Christian tradition that says belief, or faith comes by hearing. That leaning in…
I enjoyed both of these poems. In the first I heard a hum of a whisper and in the second the sticky secrets spilling. I felt them both.
I love both of these, Liz! Gossip has such delicious alliteration that makes me think of a snake. Perfect for the word.
Listen is beautifully intimate, Liz, but I must confess, I love the sticky secrets, sipped straight up in Gossip! : )
Ooh–gapey gossip –makes me giggle!
Ooh, I loved reading your Listen poem, since my other draft was on that word! And your Gossip poem–brilliant!
I love “gossip is a mouthy word.” It sure is! I enjoyed both of your poems, Liz. Thank you for sharing them.
Love reading “‘no’ is a hurting word’, Liz, special to remember! And I love your idea about gossip, “sipped/straight up”, wish I could share with my mother, long passed now. She fought against gossipers in the little town where she lived, hated what they did!
Oops! I either forgot or missed the part about choosing words that had to do with conversation. Sigh. I guess I needed to LISTEN better!! You got both listen and gossip perfectly right! All the alliteration in Gossip is super effective!
Oh yes to “human hum.” Really loving these responses to the prompt.
I like how you gave “listen” some very admirable qualities, “unwrapped, understood” makes the word that much richer!
And how marvelously delicious your “Gossip” poem is, and visual too, thanks!
Oh, Liz, the gossip poem captures the messy ick factor, and those final two lines of “Listen” — love!
I wish I wasn’t so drawn to the sticky secrets – I do try to limit myself to in-person celebrity gossip, in which the potential for causing hurt are infinitesimal.