35

I posted this three years ago when I first began blogging. I have had many ups and downs as a writer. My goal three years ago was to read and write a poem everyday. It did make me appreciate poetry so much more.

This poem is pretty basic in its format. It is a classic couplet. Read through the poem several times and write down what you are thinking. Have a personal conversation with the poem. Say something to the poem. Ask the poet a question.

New Year's Day means a new beginning and a time to make some promises to myself. This year I promise to read at least one poem a day and to write at least one poem a day. Tall order? I'll probably have to get up at least an hour earlier if I'm going to meet that order.

Well, in that vein, here is a poem that I read today~

The Year

What can be said in New Year rhymes,

That's not been said a thousand times?

The new years come, the old years go,

We know the dream, we dream we know.

We rise up laughing with the light,

We lie down weeping with the night.

We hug the world until it stings,

We curse it then and sigh for wings.

We live, we love, we woo, we wed.

We wreath our brides, we sheet our dead.

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,

And that's the burden of the year.

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Now it's your turn to try your hand at writing a couplet. Use this poem as your mentor text. Write your own couplet on any subject of your choosing. Pay attention to your rhyme scheme.