Tuesday, May 22, 2012

~Gathering Words~
Shanyn's Personal Challenge Poem


Hi there real toads!! It's me Hannah, I was here two weeks ago with my Personal Challenge and I have chosen someone very near and dear to us to play in the poetical pond next. I've really been drawn to her style and the strong elements of faith and nature in her writing, it is our fellow toad, Shanyn of Sunflower Poetry!

My Challenge to Shayn is this:

There's so MANY words in our worlds today and sometimes finding the right ones to amuse the muse can be tricky. Here's an idea I thought of while I was at the grocery store the other day: We all have our daily routines and our day often will bring us into the public realm of people-hood and our lives are touched by strangers in passing. My challenge to you, Shanyn, is to go out into your world today with your wooden-lidded picnic basket and gather words from strangers in passing for fodder for this poem you'll write.


Her response is so authentic and such a beautiful glimpse into a day with Shanyn!! This is what she said of the challenge, "It was a day of a million questions with my little guy and all our farm work. There were lots of words in the air!"  I love that, I can just hear his little voice asking away!! 


Here it is! 

J





Gathering Words



My basket is lined with sticky tape.

My hands grip a handle slick with sweat.

Gathering words is dangerous, you know.
Some are poisonous, some are full of thorns.
Some are disguised as one and mean another.
Some are sweetly singing, lingering in my ears.
I’ve gathered as many Mama’s and Love You’s
As I have welcomed gifts from little boy hands.
I’ve gathered Smokin’ Hot Wife and Love You Dear’s.
Gathered in the instructions for the pump and tools.
Gathered words for recipes and for making do for now.
Gathered the words for praising and praying in the Word.

My basket caught words of worry and of fear today.
They found themselves empty in searching for the name
Of a lost dog who is making our yard and family his own.
My basket overflowed with leaf colors and shades of sunset.
We gathered words for Wii games and names for new kittens.
Gathered words for herbs and crops, hopes for the harvest.
Gathered and left silent the ‘grown up words’ by spelling them.
Words, to a poet, are fruit from wild and crazy trees!

It is getting onto night.  The basket is still full.
I need to empty it now.
Prayers to be said.
Hearts to be filled.
Good night.
Good night.

All rights reserved by Shanyn  Silinski Copy Right © 2012



Isn't this just a wonderful gathering of words!? This poem is so full of life and a day well lived! Thank you, for rising to the challenge, Shanyn!


Shanyn offers us these other two poems also that are word-gathering pieces!


The first is a game of gathering words while with friends:


Red Poem with Friends

This one is a virtual scrabble game, you create from the board pictured plus other fun:


Scrabble Poem

Be sure to hop around while you're there, toads, you'll find lots of  treasures!!


Thank you everyone and smiles to you all!!


22 comments:

Scarlet said...

Lovely challenge Hannah ~

Shanyns: This is a beautiful response. Gathering words in a basket is such a lovely metaphor. I specially like those empty searching for the name, and hopes for the harvest ~

Daydreamertoo said...

What a wonderful basket of words that came from dees. A wonderful day full of love and life.
Fabulous!

Kerry O'Connor said...

Words, to a poet, are fruit from wild and crazy trees!

Isn't this so true of our art?

Thank you, Shanyn, for this wonderful gathering in of words and ideas to share on Real Toads, and to Hannah for a wonderful prompt and being such a supportive partner in the project.

Mystic_Mom said...

This was a lot of fun, and Hannah is great to work with! Thank you all for the comments above for the new poem, and I hope you enjoy the linked poems.

Herotomost said...

Haaaa!!!!! You had me at Smokin' Hot Wife!...lol. This was a really cool challenge and your respose was truly amazing. Great job to both of you. Loved it alot.

Marian said...

oh, i just love this. wow. this line, in particular, is giving me pause. i mean, pause of the good kind: "Gathered words for recipes and for making do for now."
excellent, shanyns! and hannah, too.
thank you for sharing.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

What an intriguing challenge, Hannah, and such an inspired, loving, open-hearted, lovely response. Shanyns, in my next life I want to be you. Love those gifts from little boy hands....love the lost dog and hope he keeps his new home, he'd be a lucky dog! Love the basket overflowing with shades of sunset. Sigh. I love your LIFE, kiddo. You have made such a beautiful one. Enjoy every precious and wonderful moment!

Anonymous said...

A lovely basketful of words you gathered, Shanyns - but more than that, it's what you did with them. Well done! And Hannah, a great challenge! {writes note to self to try this...}

Lolamouse said...

Great challenge and a terrific response! I enjoyed taking a walk through Shanyns's day with her words. Good work, ladies!

Mary said...

What an enjoyable read!

Mystic_Mom said...

Herotomost - my hubby laughed when I told him your comment! :-)

Marian - thank you!

Sherry - I do! I do! I do! :-)

Turtle - I hope it becomes a Toads challenge so I can read about all your baskets! Or we could do a word with friends challenge!

Lola Mouse - thank you!

Anonymous said...

wonderful challenge, Hannah!

truly beautiful response, Shanyns!

i enjoyed this very much!

Anonymous said...

wonderful challenge, Hannah!

truly beautiful response, Shanyns!

i enjoyed this very much!

Anonymous said...

wonderful challenge, Hannah!

truly beautiful response, Shanyns!

i enjoyed this very much!

Maude Lynn said...

This is lovely! What a great challenge and great response!

Laurie Kolp said...

What a delightful challenge, Hannah... and Shanyns! What wonders you have woven here. I love this... love, love, love it.

Hannah said...

I just knew that you ALL would love Shanyns poem!!! I was getting is scheduled to post with a perma-smile in my face!!! SUCH a great job crafting this, Shanyns!!

I'm thankful for all the shot-outs about the challenge itself! It seemed like a fun one, I'm glad that some of you might try it someday, I know I will too!!

Thank you and smiles to all!

Ella said...

I love what you two have done! It is lush and rich and so beautiful!
I do think of all poets gathering words, such a great challenge!

Great idea that gathered a beautiful poem! :D

Margaret said...

A basket for collecting words... absolutely lovely!

Kay L. Davies said...

Love the challenge, and the response! Way to go, Hannah, and Shanyn.
K

Mystic_Mom said...

You toads are so sweet! Thank you for reading and sharing your encouraging comments, I hope we can all do a word gather one day. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment...you all rock!

hedgewitch said...

Late to the party, but enjoyed the festival of words. Lovely and very lively, too. Great response to the challenge, Shanyns.