You may relate.–
In Suzanne U. Clark’s The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets, she instructs students to write two poems, one about a cacophonous (loud) place like a bowling alley and another about a euphonious (calm) place like a forest path. I opted to combine them into one poem about our house, a place that can be quite peaceful or very loud and can change in an instant.
–
Out the window fall silent snow clusters.
On the floor, crayons glide. The fire crackles.
Hot chocolate slurped, a candy cane crunched,
creaks and breaths and a crayon rolling.
Clink of ceramic on tile and subsequent cries.
The wet kicker screaming,
The mug owner screaming,
Papers rustled aside.
And parental commands for calm!
For towels! For towels! For calm!
The wet kicker screaming,
The mug owner screaming,
Papers rustled aside.
And parental commands for calm!
For towels! For towels! For calm!
–
In the corner glows a quiet fur tree.
On the table, three purple candles dip and leap.
Thin pages crinkle in the old leather book.
Father’s voice reading, children breathing,
Then all singing a short slow song.
A sudden leaping rushing lunging.
Crayons flung and journals falling.
The candles go out.
The blower grinning,
The loser yowling,
And parental commands for calm!
For kindness! For waiting! For calm!
Thin pages crinkle in the old leather book.
Father’s voice reading, children breathing,
Then all singing a short slow song.
A sudden leaping rushing lunging.
Crayons flung and journals falling.
The candles go out.
The blower grinning,
The loser yowling,
And parental commands for calm!
For kindness! For waiting! For calm!
–
Then in the morning the children still sleeping.
The deep chair cozy, the fire warms the house.
Small feet patter down; the snow calls them outside.
The window long muffles their loud laughs and shouts.
A door is flung open. The boots topple inward.
Pink fingers, pink faces,
Cold figures need rest.
Warm hands unwrap them, with kisses uncap them;
Then cuddle them calm in that deep cozy chair.
