Monthly Archives: April 2021
Poem (virelai): “A Ride in the Car”
April continues with National Poetry Month. I’m challenging myself to write one poem per day for the month. I’m partly using this as a chance to experiment with poetic forms. For the virelai, I challenged myself to write a poem whose form started with the letter of my first name. You can read more about the vieralai form here: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/virelai-poetic-forms
My poem from April 15th just happened to be about corgis (and I’m pretty sure at least one more poem this month will revolve around them as well).
“A Ride in the Car”
We wake up and bark
In the early dark,
Waiting
To hear singing lark
Or squirrel’s snark
Playing
With canine ears: mark
Out teeth like a shark’s
Staying
Our owner’s command.
A hush takes the land:
A plop
Of sustenance canned.
Our dish in her hand,
The slop—
Food! We understand!
Our barks, as she planned,
Then stop
As we eat. Then out,
Bark over her shout:
New mark:
The car is about!
We sniff, snort, and scout
Then bark
Excitement and clout
And follow the route:
The park!
Corgi Poetry
It’s National Poetry Month, and I’ve been challenging myself to write a poem each day. As you can imagine, some of those poems just happen to be about my corgis, Leia and Yoda. Here’s one I wrote a few days ago inspired by true events, of course.
“Grading is Better with a Corgi on Each Foot, a Ghazal”
Grading late work is better with my corgis.
Office: sitting warm, cool view, nearby: corgis.
Late work floods my screen: drowning. No end in sight.
Perhaps students were distracted by corgis
Or whatever intrigue captivates their soul:
Cat, hamster, book, song, or asking “Why?” Corgis
Don’t question why I sit at my screen all day.
My feet are their pillow. Sleep. Snore. Lie, corgis.
Life is better with a corgi on each foot.
And what helps me when work makes me cry? Corgis.
Corgi Capers 