Advent of Love
What are the loves of your life? From food to pets to places to people, we all have many loves that make our lives worth living. Love (and not just romantic love) really does make the world go ’round. The many dimensions of love we experience as we move through life offer rich inspiration for writing and that is why I decided to make love the theme of my fourth poetic Advent Calendar.
Advent Calendars are my love language. From Legos to puzzles to food, I purchased Advent Calendars for my loved ones, but my favorite Advent Calendar of all is this tradition of assembling a collection of 25 poems to enjoy, contemplate, and write to each Advent season.
I write in response to these poems each day and hope those journal entries will inspire some poetry, but my friends can choose to experience this calendar any way they wish – as a reader or a writer. If you wish to join a community of writers also enjoying this journey check out the Just Write Virtual Writing Group on Thursday evenings. We will be enjoying these poems over the next five weeks (one row at a time).
Please enjoy my Advent of Love poetic inspirations this season and just write!
Notes:
- Some of these poems I have used as writing invitations with my first year writing students. I love using poetry to inspire my students’ thinking and writing.
- Kevin Hodgson wrote 25 poems in response to the 25 poems!
Image by Ioachim Marcu from Pixabay
Dec. 1: In Praise of Okra, I was inspired by the lines…
we taught our children
how to survive,
adapt
Dec. 2: Ode to My Homegirls, I was inspired by the lines…
all i know of love i learned
at thirteen dialing basma’s home phone
Dec. 3: Knoxville, Tennessee, I was inspired by the lines…
I always like summer
best
you can eat fresh corn
Dec 4: Lady Jordan, I was inspired by the lines…
Though I’ve never been
ladylike
Dec. 5: Skins and Bones, I was inspired by the lines…
I am all the heartbreak
a body can hold
Dec. 6: A Portable Paradise, I was inspired by the lines…
And if your stresses are sustained
and daily
Dec. 7: All Bread, I was inspired by the lines…
All bread must be broken
so it can be shared. Together
we eat this earth
Dec. 8: Mountain Dew Commercial, I was inspired by the titular lines
Dec. 9: South Side (V), I was inspired by the lines…
It’s sensory;
the act of remembering, of making memory
Dec. 10: Bone of My Bone and Flesh of My Flesh, I was inspired by the lines…
Maybe these are exactly the times to drag out the whole galaxy of endearments
Dec. 11: If Being a Man Allowed for Emotion, I was inspired by the lines…
discuss this too as inheritance–annual X-rays to hunt what would prey upon us
Dec. 12: I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party, I was inspired by the lines…
she is not cardboard, she is already, exceedingly my mother
Dec. 13: I Would Do Anything for Love, But I Won’t, I was inspired by simply answering the question the title asks (after reading the entire poem)
Dec. 14: Those Winter Sundays, I was inspired by the lines…
What did I know, What did I know, of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Dec. 15: The Lightkeeper, I was inspired by the lines…
Nothing but happiness as unbearable as the dread from which it comes
Dec. 16: Make No Apologies For Yourself, I was inspired by the lines…
Because you trust the ride of journal and journey
Dec. 17: Eva Whose Shadow is a Swan, I was inspired by the lines…
like lightening without thunder
Dec. 18: The Language Issue, I was inspired by the lines…
not knowing where it might end up; in the lap, perhaps, of some Pharoah’s daughter.
Dec. 19: Cherry Blossoms, I was inspired by the lines…
Be patient, you have an ancient beauty
Dec. 20: Evening, I was inspired by the lines…
Surrendering with grace to the evening, with as much grace as I can muster
Dec. 21: Carrying Our Words, I was inspired by the line…
We travel carrying our words
Dec. 22: Don’t Say Love Just Signal, I was inspired by the line…
no one told me to write this down
Dec. 23: My Ornithology, I was inspired by these lines…
days on the wing can be tedious and dangerous, pursuing the central mystery of his life, and mine
Dec. 24: In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa, I was inspired by the simple word…mystery
Dec. 25: Dear New Blood, I was inspired by this line…
You don’t need me, I know.