Golden Shovel April Round-Up

About a month ago, I posted three Golden Shovel prompts for April as a collaborative project for our writing community. In this round-up, I share my golden shovel poem as well as those that were contributed by the community.

What is the Golden Shovel form, you ask? The Golden Shovel form was created by the poet Terrance Hayes, whose poem “Golden Shovel” (from his 2010 collection Lighthead) is based on Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” which references the phrase “Golden Shovel”. Check out the “rules” here.

I want to give a big thanks to each of you that were willing to give this months challenge a try:

No Love for Fatties

A Different Perspective

Serendippity

Golden Shovel April Prompts

April Prompt No. 1

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep”

from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

April Prompt No. 2

“…feel the wet maples leaves flicker in the rain”

from “The Leaves of a Dream are the Leaves of an Onion” by Arthur Sze

April Prompt No. 3

“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore – and then run?”

from “Dream Deferred” (Harlem) by Langston Hughes

Golden Shovel Poems for

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep”:

Dear Brother

Dear brother, the

Days we spent trekking through the woods

Are

My brightest childhood memories, lovely

Moments of joy and laughter interrupting the dark

And

Instilling a love, to this day, so deep.

by Monty Vern

Starlight reflecting against the

Leaves lush and green in the woods

Dancing shadows among the branches are

Creating moving pictures so lovely

Tapestry of… [read more]

No Love for Fatties (gigglingfattie)

You tricked me into the

Moon lit night and led me into woods

Asking me what my intentions are

Not waiting for an answer saying lovely

Words and… [read more]

by A Different Perspective (murisopsis)

Hunting the Stag

In the

hart’s woods

there are

long lovely

passages, dark-

leaved and

shadow-deep.

In the

leafy woods

hunters are

biding [read more]

by serendippity

Golden Shovel Poems for

“…feel the wet maples leaves flicker in the rain”:

Amber Rain

Feel

The

Sticky wet

syrup harvested from the local maples.

It leaves

A flicker

Of joy on the lips; Tastebuds dance in

Delight with the

Sweet taste of amber rain.

by Monty Vern

The Tables Complaint

No one considers how I feel,

covered with bits of breakfast: the scrambled egg scraps, the

itch Pop-Tart crumbs, the wet

orange juice spill (bad for my complexion), the maple

syrup smear. Everyone… [read more]

by serendippity

Golden Shovel Poems for

“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore – and then run?”

Plump Plumb or Puckered Raisin?

Does

It

Feel like this to you? Not wet or dry.

Neither right nor down, Nor left or up.

Not like

A

Plump plumb or puckered raisin?

Neither out nor in,

No warmth of a shining sun

Or

Coolness of a full moon? Do you feel whole? Or, as me, like a hole?

Do you feel dead inside or

Do you feel joy or perhaps pain and fester

Like

A

Sore?

Or, like me, just empty and numb? And,

Deaf and dumb? If not, then

Please teach me how to feel. To love. To dance. To run.

by Monty Vern

Talking to Myself

Yes, it’s a long line and includes the word fester, but does

that mean it’s impossible? I can do it. I want to do it.

I did the other two. My creative juices haven’t run dry

yet; in fact, with all I’ve been posting, I’d say my cup

is overflowing. I just need a sip to start. And it’s not like

I need to write another “Iliad” or “Odyssey,” just a

simple 18-liner. You know, if my brain were a raisin,

I could put it in a bowl and let it soak up the waters of in-

spiration till it was nice and plump. And then squeeze the

poem out drop by drop. Better yet, what if I made the sun

my muse? [read more]

by serendippity

If you missed the original Golden Shovels created by the community in the February challenge, check out all the contributions in the Week 1 Round-Up, Week 2 Round-Up, Week 3 Round-Up, and Week 4 Round-Up. Feel free to give these prompts a try as well. They were great poem line prompts with lots of creative potential.

Thanks again to all of your poetic efforts. Stay tuned for more opportunities to get creative together in the future.

Be well,

Monty

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