The Progressive Poem tradition was started by author Irene Latham. It is not under the inspired helm of Margaret Simon who has organized the event during the last few years. A poem is passed from blog to blog each day in April. Each line is contributed by a different author. The only stipulation is that it is written for children. By the end of the month, a poem completed by thirty individuals awaits us all. Thank you, Irene and Margaret, for your inspiration to create the Progressive Poem and continue its tradition during National Poetry Month. It is the second year I’ve participated and I do so with honor.
Here is the poem, thus far:
The Poem
Suddenly everything fell into place
like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in.
When morning first poked me, I’d wished it away
my mind in the mist, muddled, confused.
Was this a dream or reality, rousing my response?
The sun surged, urging me to join in its rising,
Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew.
I jumped out of bed, ready to explore the day.
My feet pull me outside and into the garden
Where lilies and bees weave…but wait! What’s that?
A bevy of bunnies jart and dart and play in the clover.
A dog barks and flash, the bunderstorm is over.
I breathe-brave, quiet. Like a seed,
as the day, foretold in my dream, ventured upon me.
Sunbeams guided me to the gate overgrown with wisteria
where I spotted the note tied to the gate.
As I reached the gnarled gate, pollen floated like fairy dust into my face. Aaah Choo!
Enter, if you must. We’ve been waiting for you.
Not giving the curious note a thought, I pushed the gate open and ran through. (my line added)
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The contributors for each line are:
April 1 Mary Lee Hahn, A(nother) Year of Reading
April 2 Heidi Mordhorst, My Juicy Little Universe
April 3 Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 4 Buffy Silverman
April 5 Rose Cappelli, Imagine the Possibilities
April 6 Donna Smith, Mainely Write
April 7 Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche
April 8 Leigh Anne, A Day in the Life
April 9 Linda Mitchell, A Word Edgewise
April 10 Denise Krebs, Dare to Care
April 11 Emma Roller, Penguins and Poems
April 12 Dave Roller, Leap Of Dave
April 13 Irene Latham Live Your Poem
April 14 Janice Scully, Salt City Verse
April 15 Jone Rush MacCulloch
April 16 Linda Baie TeacherDance
April 17 Carol Varsalona, Beyond Literacy Link
April 18 Marcie Atkins
April 19 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in My Orchard
April 20 Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes
April 21 Sarah Grace Tuttle at Sarah Grace Tuttle’s Blog,
April 22 Marilyn Garcia
April 23 Catherine at Reading to the Core
April 24 Janet Fagal, hosted by Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 25 Ruth, There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town
April 26 Patricia J. Franz, Reverie
April 27 Theresa Gaughan, Theresa’s Teaching Tidbits
April 28 Karin Fisher-Golton, Still in Awe Blog
April 29 Karen Eastlund, Karen’s Got a Blog
April 30 Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, and Writing
Marice Atkins chose to reveal the words on the note attached to the gate as previously written in the poem. It was a brave move that gave me many avenues to pursue in writing my line. I went through several iterations and discarded one line after another for reasons that made sense to me. Even after writing my line on the post, I was coming up with other options.
But I stuck with what I wrote. We’ll see where the rest of the poem goes as there are unanswered questions now about what lies beyond the gate and who invited our character in with a note of caution.
The Apples in My Orchard 
Carol, I love your thinking about the line. Thanks for sharing the process. I love the “enter, if you must” and the character’s bold entrance! The suspense is building.
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Thanks, Denise! I toyed with “how” I wanted the character to act once the note was found.
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Carol, and so the mysterious tale continues. While the character started her day muddled and confused, she appears to be bold, brave, and adventurous.
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Yes, I thought it was time for decisive action – run ahead through the gate – despite a kind of cryptic note about entering. Curiosity rules the day!
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Bold is our character, so now I’m really waiting to see what’s next! Nice movement, Carol!
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Thank you! Run ahead…into….? We shall see!
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Hooray! Some bold action!
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Thank you! I didn’t want our character to hesitate! I wanted her curious and bold! (Like she had finally awakened fully!)
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You have moved the story along speedily! I’m ready now for some figurative turn towards the curious, mysterious, the pieces that will fall into place…
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I tried, Heidi! I wanted courageousness and decisiveness. We’ll see what gets revealed and whether the note was a warning or not. I appreciate your comments, as always!
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