Pencil sketch, © 2017 Michelle Kogan. Taken from a pic of my sister and I when we were packed into many, many, many layers! (p.s. I’m in the front.)
Happy Poetry Friday! I have to admit the poems I’m sharing are all influenced by the extreme cold weather we’ve been having here in Chicago. So if you are all cuddled up under a blanket you may want to kick them all off before reading the first poem that I’m sharing …
LAYERS
Layers and
layers and
layers of
layers
placed
upon
layers
of more
layers,
1-2-3
counting my
4-5-6
layers–
how many
how many
how many
more
layers,
stat-icky
electrically
charged
layers,
stifling
suffocating
squished
layers,
snugly
cuddly
comfy
layers,
stick-to-you
layers
packed-into
layers,
oh-I’m-cold
layers
ah-I’m hot
layers,
puff-ball-of
can’t-even-move
layers,
too many
too many
too many
layers,
waiting and
waiting and
waiting
for
warming
to finally be
LAYER
FREE!
© Michelle Kogan
SNOW
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once with my scarf knotted over my mouth
I lumbered into a storm of snow up the long hill
and did not know where I was going except to the top of it.
In those days we went out like that.
Even children went out like that.
Someone was crying hard at home again,
raging blizzard of sobs.
I dragged the sled by its rope,
which we normally did not do
Read the rest of the poem here-poets.org
ODE TO MY SOCKS
by Pablo Neruda
Maru Mori brought me
a pair
of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder’s hands,
two socks as soft
as rabbits.
I slipped my feet
into them
as though into
two
cases
knitted
with threads of
twilight
and goatskin.
Violent socks,
my feet were
two fish made
of wool,
two long sharks
sea-blue, shot
through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons:
my feet
were honored
in this way
by
these
heavenly
socks.
They were
so handsome
for the first time
my feet seemed to me
unacceptable
like two decrepit
firemen, firemen
unworthy
of that woven
fire,
of those glowing
socks.
Read the rest of the poem here
Catherine is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday Roundup at her blog Reading to the Core, stop by for more poetry. Thanks for hosting Catherine!
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Thank you for the layers in your poem. I feel those layers and couldn’t wait to get home and lose a few today. I think you inspired me to write about the feeling of a few less layers home.
Thanks Kathy, I look forward to reading your poem, and loose some of those layers too!
“when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool
in winter.”
Is that not the most perfect ending to an ode ever? I love it. And, I had not read that poem before. Thank you for sharing it.
I love the pencil sketch of you and your sister. I have such memories of pull-on boots, bread bag insulators and sledding down the “side hill” with my sister. Your work took me right there. Lovely. Thanks
What a nice memory to remember Linda, thanks for sharing it! And isn’t that Neruda poem so grand in getting down to what’s important, thanks.
So many layers needed here in Boston today. Brrrrrr! Here’s a layer I’m wondering if you had as a child — plastic bags over your socks before putting your boots on. Pure genius! Warmth, moisture protection, and boots sliding right on and off. Sweaty feet, though.
When my kids were small (north of Boston), they used to go out with feet in bread bags. Back then, bags were almost all paper!
That’s funny, Christie mentioned she went out as a child with her feet in plastic bags first and then they went into the boots. I guess many had their own takes on how to keep warm. This is starting to sound like a story is unfolding.
Can’t remember a layer like that. I hope you and your young students are staying warm. We’ve warmed up a bit but the temps are gong back down again tomorrow.
Oh wow I love how all those layers lead to being layer free. 🙂 And your bundled up snowkids… adorable! xo
Thanks Irene, I’m looking forward to being layer free, but I’ll have to wait a bit longer …
I bundled myself up to go to the library this afternoon and the librarian laughed out loud when I walked in! I do love Neruda’s ode to those glorious socks. It makes me want to knit a pair. Thank you for sharing these layers of goodness, poems and picture! Happy New Year, Michelle!
Thanks Catherine, I think folks around here are getting so used to people being bundled up, hardly any heads are turning at how wrapped up in layers we are.
What a great three poems. I felt those layers on me. Stay warm.
Thanks Jone, hope you keep warm too!
I do love the way Neruda’s opinion of his feet goes on such a journey, shapeshifting and traveling to the stars in those soft socks. I love those layers, puffy and thin, heavy and light. Like the snow itself, keeping the earth warmer, giving the roots and bulbs a blanket through the winter.
Actually, this cold snap is probably very good for all the plants. I like all the layers too, but the snow can have them, thanks Brenda!
I love “puff-ball-of/can’t-even-move/layers”, Michelle and the other two poems are wonderful too, both new to me. I have an abiding love of “smart-wool socks”, think they are so wonderful, and a clear memory of sledding down a steep hill, wanting only to get back to the top. Nye knows what she writes, at least it always seems to connect with me. Thank you, hoping your ‘warmth” will return!
I’ll have to check out the “smart-wool socks.” I enjoy Nye’s poetry–often lots of layers there, thanks Linda!
I hear you, Michelle. I am inclined to wear layers these days and socks to bed. Your poem was befitting the weather patterns and of the other poems these lines stood out: Now I think of it
when I stare at paper or into silences
between human beings.
Your sketch will make a wonderful entry point into the Children’s Corner of my upcoming winter gallery. Will you sign it and then send it to me for Winter Wonderland as one of your offerings? Thanks.
Hi Carol, thanks! Hope it warms up soon for all of us.
I’d be happy to send the sketch your way, there’s a little bit more to it and my signature is there too, it just got eclipsed a bit in my post.
I look forward to receiving your sketch, Michelle. I’m still shoveling out and the cold is here to stay for a few more days.
I have you on the top of my list, standing out in beautiful cerulean, mediterannean blue!
So many layers in your choices of poems. I think I liked yours the best though, because the poem was cleverly lots of layers of short lines. Hope things are warmer for you soon, without the need for layers.
Hi Sally, thanks! Well we warmed up a bit but the temps are gong to plummet again tomorrow, guess that’s one of the reasons the call Chicago the windy city.
Your layers made me laugh! I want to share your poem with my students as an example of how form fits function!!
Hi Mary Lee, fee, free to share my poem. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, I just started a new set of classes I’m teaching and have been prepping for them since Saturday. If your weather is similar to ours, we warmed up quite a bit, but the temps are going to plummet again tomorrow, so those layers aren’e going anywhere–keep warm!
Shiver. And here I am sending my tropical daughter back your direction! Back to layers… Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Ah well, it makes you tough. But your daughters fortunate to return to a tropical environ every so often.
My son has trouble staying warm — he has pretty severe Raynaud’s and his hands turn really bizarre colors easily. He probably ought to dress like the narrator of your poem! Nye’s poem is very poignant.
Sorry about your son, hope he doesn’t shy away from the layers, they sure can help!
Isn’t that fun and so true that analogy Nye makes between the father and son and the weather.
When I saw your art sketch on Facebook, that adorable snowman’s expression caught my eye. This is a laugh out loud poem. So many layers! So much waiting! (I’m glad for the layers today, as cold as it is.) This Neruda poem is a favorite among knitters — I can see those sea-blue sharks.
Thanks Laura, well I wear the layers because I don’t like being cold, but I’ll be happy to be layer free–And heck I’d much rather laugh about it. I think this Neruda poem is luscious, and in color too!
When it’s quitting time at work, it is such an ordeal to bundle up before going home! It’s been a steady stream of complaints with temperatures sub-freezing for so long. I believe this coming week we will find relief, and then, I’ll be able to really enjoy the poem you shared since I’ll no longer be in the middle of it.
These are wonderful poems to snuggle up with through these cold days. I am loving layers down in Indiana, but I must confess, I’m often taking off layers while my husband piles them on higher. And I love Neruda’s Ode to Socks. I will have to send that one to my daughter as well as she has quite a sock fetish.
Thanks Kay, yes, I really like the Neruda poem, takes away some of the winter sting; and I like all the imagery he creates in it too.
Some perfect poems for this time of year, Michelle. With -30 wind chills, we’ve had layers upon our layers! Finally got up to the freezing mark today, and it feels balmy…how sad is that??
Yes, Matt, that’s sad, about reaching freezing and feeling tropical, but good we can laugh about it. And it hasn’t even hit mid January. Mother Nature still has a good hand in what weather may come our way, keep warm.