Our host today for the fourth day of the July Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com is Shelby from Michigan, who inspires us to write poems about special places in our lives. You can read her full prompt here, along with the poems of others. I have written a nonet, which has nine lines in ascending or descending order, and has the line order number of syllables on its lines. I attended elementary school on St. Simons Island, Georgia, where recess was almost always before lunch – – when it was cool enough to be outdoors.
Recess Nonet
my elementary school playground
its blacktop hot as a griddle
sizzling in the island sun
where we rolled each other
in castoff car tires
spinning childhoods
dappled in
live oak
shade
Common Threads 
I love “dappled in live oak shade”. As you know I have lots of dappled live oak shade here and it’s so welcomed in the summer heat. I walk from tree shade to tree shade. I haven’t made it to Ethical ELA yet this morning. On my way.
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So much to love in your nine lines! Your word choice of griddle, sizzling gives us the heat to contrast with the short, refreshing lines at the end. And those old car tires- I had a tire swing growing up, and you reminded me of that smell it had in the summer as I swung until I was almost sick. “Spinning childhoods” is such a beautiful line, with many meanings.
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I agree. So much to love here. A complete little package.
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A kim,
I’d love to have a beach as a playground, but your description of heat reminds me even paradise can have an unpleasant side. I love the spinning imagery and the way you changed up the prompt.
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“where we rolled each other
in castoff tires” –
what a fabulous memory! Love that you slipped this detail into your nonet. I feel as if I have walked into your recess play – thank goodness for shade of large trees!
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Kim, again let me say how beautifully your nonet flows from line to line. As do your haiku. This is a gift. It’s like being able to play music by ear (something I cannot do, but my youngest can). I felt my own childhood rising before me when I read your poem and I adore this image of “live oak shade”. Am in fact craving it presently, in this humid southern summer! That photo of the sand castle is just breathtaking – yet another connection to the enchantments of childhood. I treasure this in your writings.
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