Sunday, April 21, 2013

Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem 2013



This is a stop in Irene Latham's 2013 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. Each day, someone new adds a line. Our narrator has gotten into trouble! We were flying high with perfect precision -- but then we flopped. It happens.

At first I had the urge to add an unusual rhyme ("and you find yourself collapsing, your brain stops synapsing"), but then I went with something a little less "What??"

*********

When you listen to your footsteps
the words become music and
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.
Your pen starts dancing across the page
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until
smiling, you’re beguiling as your love comes shining through.

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers
of the words, one dancer to another, saying
Listen, that’s our cue! Mind your meter. Find your rhyme.
Ignore the trepidation while you jitterbug and jive.
Arm in arm, toe to toe, words begin to wiggle and flow
as your heart starts singing let your mind keep swinging

from life’s trapeze, like a clown on the breeze.
Swinging upside down, throw and catch new sounds–
Take a risk, try a trick; break a sweat: safety net?
Don’t check! You’re soaring and exploring,
dangle high, blood rush; spiral down, crowd hush–
limb-by-line-by-limb envision, pyramidic penned precision.

And if you should topple, if you should flop
if your meter takes a beating; your rhyme runs out of steam—
know this tumbling and fumbling is all part of the act,

*********

My buddy Laura Shovan has the next line for us tomorrow. Take it away, Laura!

Here's the full calendar of where this poem has been and where it's going:

April
1  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
2  Joy Acey
3  Matt Forrest Esenwine
4  Jone MacCulloch
5  Doraine Bennett
6  Gayle Krause
7  Janet Fagal
8  Julie Larios
9  Carrie Finison
10  Linda Baie
11  Margaret Simon
12  Linda Kulp
13  Catherine Johnson
14  Heidi Mordhorst
15  Mary Lee Hahn
16  Liz Steinglass
17  Renee LaTulippe
18  Penny Klostermann
19  Irene Latham
20  Buffy Silverman
21  Tabatha Yeatts
22  Laura Shovan
23  Joanna Marple
24  Katya Czaja
25  Diane Mayr
26  Robyn Hood Black
27  Ruth Hersey
28  Laura Purdie Salas
29  Denise Mortensen
30  April Halprin Wayland

11 comments:

Ruth said...

Perfect line!

Linda B said...

Ah-that 'tumbling and fumbling' is just right, Tabatha. It's what gets in my head sometimes.

Irene Latham said...

Perfect perfect perfect! Thank you, Tabatha. xo

Anonymous said...

Great! Love the tumbling and fumbling!

Buffy Silverman said...

Glad that you've added some reassurance about the tumbling and fumbling--terrific line. (And someday you must write a poem with collapsing/synapsing!)

Author Amok said...

I also love how the poem has naturally organized itself into six-line stanzas, and a fairly standard line-length. Great cooperation by all of the poets. Now I'm biting my nails!

skanny17 said...

I am enjoying where the poem has tumbled its way to!

Amy LV said...

Yes. The sound and the truth in this line are right perfect. And so true: we must believe that even in the face of the tumbles and fumbles, we learn and grow stronger. Thank you for this, Tabatha.

Carrie F said...

This is a great line, Tabatha, and so true. I really love that you kept up with all the internal rhyming this poem is doing, too.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I think it's interesting to consider whether the "act" is the performance, the final product, as it were, or the active act of writing. Or is it both? The very best follow-up to Buffy's line!

Renee LaTulippe said...

I'm just catching up on the poem today, Tabatha, and had to backtrack to say HOORAY for your line. :) The tumbling and fumbling hits home, eh? :)