On my "Write your Life!" blog, I've extended a challenge to write one short poem (4-12 lines) each day during March. The poetic form is up to you. My choice is the rictameter (nine lines with the syllable pattern 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 and identical first and last lines). It's supposed to be in a diamond-shaped pattern, but I haven't figured out how to do that here. Anyway, here is my first poem for the month:

The Month Begins

March first.
Spring starts this month.
No flowers, no birds yet,
At least not in Chicago where
Winter lingers long past dreams of new joys.
Still, rays of hope peek through dark clouds.
Through snow or rain or gloom
We write, we dream
March first.

Go to http://www.seniormemoirs.blogspot.com to read more.

Copyright 2008 by Marlys Marshall Styne