Heaven Poem (with Mule!)

 

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit radiant Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge for Roundup.

I don't know what's going on with me...last week I wrote a Funeral Poem...and this week I've written a poem about Heaven! 

I do believe we can continue to be in relationship with our loved ones, even after they are dead. And I often call up on my loved ones (my father in particular)...but why these poems, right now? 

Perhaps it's the ArtSpeak: FOLK ART theme? Folk art isn't afraid of things like death and funerals and heaven. I love that!

The art for today's poem is by Buddy Snipes. Buddy was born 1943 in Macon County, Alabama, and he was known for fixing things. It's no wonder he began creating art assemblage pieces out of spare parts! I love this little blurb about him here. The piece featured is available for purchase at Main Street Gallery in Clayton, GA.

Another thing about this week's poem: it's written in a new-to-me form, called an Abracadabra. Basically it uses the spelling of the word Abracadabra, but takes out the "r"s in order to create a rhyme scheme for a 9-line poem. So the rhyme scheme here is abacadaba. (Perhaps you know from my book NINE: A Book of Nonets, I kind of have a thing for 9-line poems!)

I struggled a bit with this one...but I often struggle with rhyme! I wrote about ten last lines, but couldn't decide! So I asked son Eric to pick, and this is where we landed. Now that it's done, I feel rather pleased with the experience. Maybe I'll write another one sometime...maybe you'd like to write one, too?? I hope so! Meanwhile, thanks so much for reading!

Mule Ringing the Doorbell in Heaven

Hello, Hello, Mule brays.
We're hungry. We're beat.
Are we in the right place?
Gate swings wide,
sets sky ablaze.
Welcome, the angels sing,
to a world full of sunny days!
So Mule and his friend rest, eat—
no worries now; nothing but praise.
- Irene Latham