Friday, April 9, 2010

NaPoWriMo #9 - Montana Spring

NaPoWriMo Prompt #9 (From ReadWritePoem - Your Mission

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to:

1.  Use at least twelve words from this list: flap, winter, torch, pail, jug, strum, lever, massage, octopus, marionette, stow, pumice, rug, jam, limp, campfire, startle, wattle, bruise, chimney, tome, talon, fringe, walker; (used all the words)

2.  Include something that tastes terrible; (survival bars)

3.  Include some part (from a few words to several lines) of a previous poem that didn’t quite pan out; (Be careful what you wish for)

4.  Include a sound that makes you happy. (Mima)

5.  Write a poem!


"Found" by Walter Hunt

Montana Spring

With makeshift wattle built - lever for survival - deerskin flap on open door -
exact replica from Papa’s guide, an antique tome
found stowed alongside Mima’s marionette long ago -
we gather ‘round the campfire, startled
by winter’s late attempt to lay a rug of white
from wilderness fringe to fringe.
Had we known, we could have brought survival bars –
ground pumice masquerading
as peanut butter and chocolate.
We warm our hands and bodies by the fire,
Thankful for our pail of twigs and jug of water…
Thankful we’re not in a total jam.

Townspeople, however, fear the storm -
one final massage for early blades of green; octopus ice talons
bruise daffodils and daisies;
trees hang their heavy heads beneath snowy ice shawls –
will they survive?
Walkers limp carefully home to light
Blazing fires – their chimney smoke a torch to travelers
needing shelter from the storm.
Some dream of one last blanket of snow
before the heat.
Be careful what you wish for…

©Bridget Nutting, 2010


When I was very young, I lived with my great grandparents in a small town in Montana.    The painting above hung on the wall in our tiny livingroom - a gentle reminder of snow in the spring. 

1 comment:

jdmackenzie.blogspot.com said...

Like how you've landed the feeling of this place in a way others from elsewhere can understand. And that there's a personal connection. Beautiful!