Poetry Friday – Springtime Update

It has been too long since I’ve taken time to read and write on a Poetry Friday. Thank you to Buffy Silverman for hosting today. Do read her post to learn about the sly lady slipper wildflower. 

Today I came to leave a little springtime joy (as summer bears down, making a growling entrance here in the California desert).

In April, Linda Mitchell shared this poetry prompt at Ethical ELA. It is a poem where you use one or more parts of the scientific method to inspire poetry.  On April 25th, I wrote this because, after a sweltering day, we had gotten a dusting of snow overnight.

When
the weather
gods bewitch you
with heat and humidity
one day and freezing the next,
how do you always come up on top?
Or will you?
We’ll have to wait and see.

We spent five weeks of our spring in Orange City, Iowa. When we arrived, just about everything was brown, dead, cold and in winter despair. A month later, the Midwest was alive in springtime.

Update on the tulip poem: Orange City has a tulip festival every  third weekend in May. The question I asked in the poem was a common theme of conversation around town all month. Will the tulips be up? Or will they be gone already, forcing the dreaded stem festival?

As usual, the tulips knew best, so the Orange City Tulip Festival was a big success. These pictures were taken on a beautiful day just before the festival (and the crowds). It was hard to believe this was the same brown town we drove into less than a month ago.

These were taken after the Tulip Festival. The tulips were still hanging in there.

We froze this day of the Tulip Festival in the 50s!

 

 

23 thoughts on “Poetry Friday – Springtime Update

  1. Wow! A tulip festival. I have now officially added that to my bucket list. I may need to be retired to participate as spring is a busy time at school. And, yay you–for writing a poem based in science. Woot! Poetry for the win.

    1. Yes, a tulip festival would be worth your time. There are also ones in Holland, Michigan, and Pella, Iowa. Probably there are other Dutch heritage towns with tulip festivals too. Thanks for the sciency inspiration for my poem.

  2. Your poem is lovely, Denise. I enjoyed how it grew with each line getting a little bit longer. Thanks for the tulip pictures – my favorite flower!

  3. We had that strangest of weather, dropping 50 degrees in a few hours and then snow in May. But the flowers survived and were/are prettier than ever. I’m happy for your tulips that did “come up on top”, Denise. Sounds like a good trip!

  4. Oh those weather gods–bewitching for sure. Your Iowa photos remind me of the Tulip Festival not too far from me, in Holland, MI. Love the sparkling colors.

  5. Denise, it is good to see you here. Your poem is so representative of this year’s springtime. If you would like to add it to my Poetryliscious Gallery Padlet, please do so. I planned on unveiling it in May but my cataract surgery left me with daily meds to take and tiredness.

  6. “the dreaded stem festival” made me laugh out loud! Glad the flowers showed up!!

    1. Oops. This comment is from Mary Lee, who hit return before adding her details!

      1. Thanks, Mary Lee, for letting me know. Glad you got a laugh. The Tulip Festival always went on, even if the tulips were all finished!

  7. Thanks for sharing your poem and these beautiful photos with us today!

  8. Seems your brown arrival in Iowa was a ‘bud omen’ of the glorious tulips to come! 🙂

  9. Some years ago we visited St. Louis University on a college visit for our son. It was early April and the tulips danced! What a joy to remember that day in your poem and pictures! Thank you!

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