Open The Writing Circle

[Susie Lagowski]

"Yay! OK, shoot," said Susie. She looked down at the grass as Cyrus recited his poem. This one was a bit more structured, and it rhymed, which was right up Susie's alley. She could appreciate a free-verse poem for its metaphors and the way it flowed, but any deeper meaning often flew straight over her head. Subtlety wasn't her strong point, either as a writer or a reader; she was of the belief that if a poet wanted to convey a message, they should just get straight to the point.

When Cyrus finished, Susie joined in the round of applause. "So awesome," she agreed. "It's like the first time my mom and dad took me to the beach. I'd never seen the ocean before, and I was like - whoa. I sure felt small. Guess we all feel that way sometimes, huh?" That was the first and last time they'd ever gone to the beach as a family. Susie wondered what the beach looked like now. Had it changed at all? Or was everything still the same? She forced herself to sit up a little straighter and smile. "So who wants to go next?"

 

[Rosalind Montgomery]

"Well, I've got something. It's kind of short, um. There's this Japanese kind of poetry called tanka. It's sort of like haiku but with extra lines. Anyway, it's one of my first poems so I don't know if it even really works but here it goes." Rosalind cleared her throat, picking up a small notebook that anyone looking over her shoulder could see was full of crossed out lines and words - a mess. Yet she found some order in it as she read aloud:
"Garden in the morn
Sun kissing the dahlias
Opening, waiting
Blooms reminding me of home
Scented wings taking me there."
Rosalind looked up, a faint blush on her cheeks. "And that's it. Told you it was short," she said with a nervous smile.