Hi friends,
Poetry Month continues, and so I thought I’d do something a little different today and share some of the poetry I’ve written over the years. I’ve been writing poetry for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, most of the poetry of my young childhood is lost. But that’s okay. All of my childhood scribblings, remembered or not, contributed to the poet I am today, the poet I am still growing into. So I thought I would share some of the childhood writings that I’ve managed to hold on to, and some that I’ve written since. Enjoy!
Elementary
A little rhyme about one of my favorite things: trees. I don’t remember how old I was when I wrote this, only that I was in elementary school. Possibly fourth grade?
Trees
Trees, trees
beautiful trees
on which I climb them
and then scrape my knees.
Yes, I was a tree climber. I remember a tree in the backyard of one of my family’s many residences that was perfect for sitting in. I would climb up with a notebook and spend time drawing or writing. Also, apparently I tried to sound really smart by using the phrase “on which.”
Side note: I have always had a special fondness for trees, and it’s funny to me how often trees and forests sneak their way into so many of my stories.
Middle School (which we called Jr. High back then)
I think this is the only poem I still have from my middle school days, and only because my mother was so proud of it (and me) that she kept it tucked away in a file for YEARS. This poem was written when I was in 8th grade, and it won first place in a poetry contest at my school, and an honorable mention for the Dr. Martin Luther King Essay and Poetry Contest for my school district.
High School
This is where things really start to get cringey. I wrote a lot of emotional poems about faith in those days. I also had my first heartbreak, and poetry was a big part of how I processed those emotions! I’ll spare you the lovesick poetry. I can barely handle it myself! Instead, here’s one in which I really tried to lean into metaphor:
Snowless Winters
Snowless winters,
Harsh and dry
Freezing winds and
A snowless sky.
Summer’s blue
Turns to gray
Sadness follows you
Every day.
Your soul is cold
Your heart is numb
Dream of how it was when
You had just begun.
The snowless winters
Will soon be gone
But until then
You must press on.
What can I say? I was an angsty, heartbroken teenager. Life was hard! Also, I hated dry winters, and I still do.
My twenties
My twenties were a transformative decade for me as a writer, probably because it’s often a transformative decade for most humans. So much was happening in my life in my twenties. Marriage and parenthood, mostly. But it was also in my twenties that I filled an entire journal with writing for the first time in my life. In my twenties I went from a person who wrote journal entries and poems as a way to process life, to a person who saw herself as a writer.
Here’s a poem I wrote in my mid-twenties about a dream I had following a miscarriage:
I dreamed of you the other day. A beautiful message from God, sent my way. In my dream I saw your face, round, sweet, and innocent, the picture of grace. A more perfect child there never could be. I feel so blessed that God showed you to me. But when I woke, I couldn’t help but to mourn, to know in this life you would never be born. Still, I thank God in the midst of my loss. He showed me the face of the child I lost.
And here is a poem I wrote in my late twenties, one of the first that was accepted for publication (the publication that accepted this closed before it was published):
Drip, Drip, Rain
Drip
Drip
Drip
It starts out slow
Drip-drip, drip-drip
Begins to flow
Drip-drop, drip-drop
It’s pouring so
Drip-drop, drizzle-drop
Puddles splash
Drizzle-drip, drip-drip
Lightning flash
Drizzle-drip-drop-drop
Thunder crash
Drizzle-drop, drip-drop
Splish-splash fun
Drip, drop
Drip, drop
Out comes the sun
Drizzle, drip…
Drip…
Drip…
Done.
See the difference? It’s almost like these poems were written by two different people!
Thirties
I had a lot of poems to choose from for this period of my life. My thirties were spent furiously writing stories and poems and pursuing publication like my life depended on it. It’s the decade my first book was published (two months before I turned forty). It’s also the decade during which I started writing Mari in the Margins.
This poem was originally published in devozine, a devotional magazine published by The Upper Room.
Downpour
Storm clouds
black with fury
explode with fat drops of rain
The Son’s rays
break through the tumult
caressing me with hope
My forties
I’m still in this decade. (Yes, I know I have five grandchildren, but it’s true.) Here is one of my recent favorites, a poem I wrote to go with a drawing I did for Inktober in 2023.
In Lieu of Flowers
It is with regret that I inform you
of the passing of the great spider,
Shelob,
who once graced the borders of Mordor,
haunting its darkest tunnels,
lurking in its deepest shadows,
lying in wait
ever so patiently
for her next prey.
It is unknown what wretched force of good
got the best of her,
only that she,
at an age impossible to reckon,
has breathed her last.
In lieu of flowers,
her family requests
bones
to adorn her final resting place,
a lasting gift
to honor a fallen
terror.
I hope you enjoyed this peek at my poetic past (and present). If you did, you’ll probably enjoy my middle grade novel in verse, Mari in the Margins, coming next month from Bandersnatch Books! See what early readers have had to say in the post below:
One more thing
If you’re looking for more poetry fun for National Poetry Month, here are some good places to find poems and poetry prompts:
Read this hilarious “scammer text” poem by
who writes .Poet
is spending Poetry Month sharing videos of himself reciting his own poetry. Here’s a fun one titled Kerry Kinetic.At
they have a selection of Tortured Poetry Prompts inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album. It’s a hoot!If you buy only one new poetry collection this month, it should be Poetry Comics by
. It’s a visual and lyrical delight!Over at
we are celebrating National Poetry Month all month long and are hosting a weekly poetry challenge. We began with list poems, and this week will be persona poems.
This was a fun read to walk down the memory lane of poetry! Honestly your poetry from childhood and adolescence felt so cozy to me, like reading a Shel Silverstein book. Some being cute and fun and others make you think. And as someone who also had a miscarriage last year and had a dream I believe God gave me of my lost baby, that poem really really touched me. Thank you so much for sharing Rebecca!
Love the walk through the decades! It made me think back to my high school poetry--I think I avoided angsty love poems because something in me disdained them. That said, I kept a regular journal that I pray my children never read 😆.