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Friday, April 21, 2017

OOPS! IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO POST A POEM

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Howdy, Campers!

Happy Poetry Friday (link to today's host below)! I forgot about posting today. I forgot!

...until my wonderful fellow blogger (our blog's Captain and Queen Mother, Carmela Martino) gently texted, "Everything ok? It's your turn to post and you usually get it done early."

Uh-oh!

And so here we are. Now. And National Poetry Month! I wrote this poem on April 9, 2017, but Carmela helped me through the storm today, so it feels as if I could have written it just now...it's all about now, isn't it? 

TAXI WAITING
by April Halprin Wayland

Night. Storm.

Thunder roars.



I am perched on

our front porch.



Raindrops drum.

Cab has come.



Downpour now is nearly tidal.

Taxi-cab is parked. It idles.



Torrent pours. I droop, I drag.

A plastic bag is all I have.



And then from where?

Someone standing right here.



Umbrella open,

offers arm.



We're off the porch,

into the storm.


poem © 2017 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

from morguefile.com

I need a t-shirt which reads: it takes a village to post a poem...but this one is pretty cool, too:

My fabulous new t-shirt! The UCLA Extension Writers' Program
gave each instructor at our annual retreat
(my next class runs Oct 3-Dec 12)

Thank you, Tabatha, for hosting today's PF at The Opposite of Indifference ~


Yes, Virginia, it really does take a village...and a dog. And a stuffed monkey. Posted with love by April Halprin Wayland with help from Carmela Martino, Eli and Monkey ~

12 comments:

  1. Glad everything's okay, April! And LOVE the t-shirt. <3

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  2. If you're going into a storm, it's nice to have an arm and an umbrella, isn't it?
    Like Carmela, I love the shirt!

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  3. Happy that you made it, and happy that the umbrella appeared! Few words tell a great story.

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  4. I'm thankful everyday that I have a crew of wonderful people who offer me their arms and umbrellas to get me through life's storms. :)

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  5. Thank goodness for the timely umbrella - and for friends and community who help us stay on track. And I love the t-shirt!

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  6. A yellow umbrella moment. We all need them.

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  7. I love it when an umbrella shows up to save the day! xo

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  8. I love the t-shirt, too. The poem has great drama. It's the little things that help us face the storms. How lucky you are to buddy-blog.

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  9. What a lovely spring poem April–full of surprises, openings, and open arms! Nice t-shirt too!

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  10. May we all have a real or metaphorical umbrella just in the nick of time...in the midst of any storm that is darkening our skies.

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  11. Carmella, Tabatha, Linda B., Jane, Kay, Margaret, Linda, Brenda, Michelle, Mary Lee ~ thank you for your kind comments. Comments, too, are part of our village! I am embarrassed how infrequently I visit each of your blogs...

    And I completely forgot to include this in the post (although maybe it's self-explanatory?)...I heard the following metaphorical story from a man in a meeting, which inspired the poem:
    "I'm on a porch. It's dark. It's raining. There's a taxi waiting for me at the street. I don't want to go out there. But I square my shoulders, take a deep breath... Suddenly someone is standing by my side—with an umbrella. He/she is there to walk me through the rain to the taxi. I don't have to get wet. I don't go to the taxi on my own. But I do need to ride off in that taxi by myself."

    xox

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  12. I LOVE that T-shirt! And this post. Thank you for this inspiration, April!

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