serene seed angels
spread wings and ride wind’s whirls, while
winter tucks them tight.
© 2022 Michelle Kogan
draft
Happy Poetry Friday
I’ve been busy trying out the 4 x 4 poem form, ever since I saw Tanita Davis’ post for this months Poetry Sisters’s prompt to write a “BOX” influenced poem… Haven’t gotten around to the Box poem yet, but hey there’s still a few weeks…
UNDERNEATH SNOOZE
Muscari bulbs
planted late in
November not
quite December.
Eighteen, small, plump
Muscari bulbs,
sweet dream over
winter and wait
patiently in
leaf-covered earth.
Muscari bulbs
wake when temps start
to rise, and sun
starts to shine, then
soft earth wakes up
Muscari bulbs…
© Michelle Kogan
draft
This little Robin has been keeping me busy and decided to make another appearance on the cover of a Pocket Watercolor Sketchbook, stop by my Etsy Shop and take a peek…
Karen Edmisten from her blog, The Blog With the Shockingly Clever Title, is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday Roundup, thanks Karen! Karen’s sharing a lovely poem about kindness, be sure to stop by.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Michelle, I love your unique metaphor to describe milkweed seeds “serene seed angels,” your personification “spread wings and ride wind’s whirls,” and your surprise ending of this wonderful haiku “winter tucks them tight.” I love your imagery, alliteration, consonance, and assonance sounds, also. You pack so much into this beautiful haiku!
I love how your 4 x 4 poem stanzas flow from fall to winter to spring and how your words bring forth the images so clearly. I also love your personification:
“sweet dream over
winter and wait
patiently in
leaf-covered earth.
Muscari bulbs
wake when temps start
soft earth wakes up
Muscari bulbs…”
Another beautiful poem! I have to check your link to Tanita’s blog because I haven’t heard of a 4 x 4 poem before, and I enjoyed the form of your poem so much. I suspect the repetition of your subject, Muscari bulbs from the first stanza’s first line through the last stanza’s last line, Muscari bulbs is part of the form. If it isn’t part of the form, then your repetition in each stanza makes the form even better. Your robin and hydrangea artwork on the sketchbook is lovely. Thank you for sharing, for your inspiration, and the link to Tanita’s blog.
Oh! seed angels…of course! How beautiful. And, a 4×4 poem. Hmmmm. I love a good challenge. I’ll use your wonderful poem of muscari bulbs as a mentor text. The image of bulbs waiting for spring…always a favorite of mine.
Like others, I am loving the seed angel metaphor for the lovely wings of milkweed seeds. Your 4X4 has a rhythm to it that paces through the seasons. Happy Holidays!
I love bulbs dreaming over winter and waiting… What are the beautiful seeds whirling on the wind in your opening poem/photo?
Hi Patricia, thanks! Those are milkweed seeds inside the milkweed pod. I grows great many milkweed plants to attract monarch butterflies.
Chiming in with the love of “serene seed angels.” And nice job with the 4×4!!
Look at you getting ahead of the Poetry Sisters’ challenge when I haven’t even started! I’m officially inspired! Your 4×4 is fantastic!!
I’ve been thinking about all the buds and leaves that are getting ready for spring even as our first skiff of snow appeared over night. Your poem makes me think of Barbara Crooker’s “Azaleas in Winter” which you may not be able to find online but which is in my “favorite poems” collection on my IG profile page.
Adding my admiration for “serene seed angels.” 🙂 Such a lovely photo, too. The 4×4 is such a fun challenge!
I like this poem so much, and will have to try the 4 x 4 form, a new one to me. My favorite lines here are the “November not/quite December” because of that enjambment. It works on (at least) two levels. The “quite” can for sure go with the “not” on the previous line; then again, it’s cold here this morning and “quite December” is a great description for it!
Both of your poems are lovely! LOVE: “serene seed angels”
Your watercolors are always so gorgeous!
I love your 4×4 poem and how, with your thoughtful use of repetition, each verse threads into the next, like the seasons. Your photo, with all its wonderful textures, is also gorgeous! Such a lovely post!
Those “serene seed angels”! Milkweed is what we’ve been sowing in our yard, along with some tulip bulbs. I can’t wait for the soft earth to wake them.
Ooh, lovely seed pods! I haven’t managed a box poem yet either but there’s still time! Glorious season of lights to you!