THE WHY OF IT

Haibun Monday, and we’re asked the
Who, When and Why of our poetic effort…
who inspired us, what’s our style, and
why we write.   Surely that sends us all
into the throes of self examination!
Submitted to dVerse 
March 19, 2018

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seasons come and go
our life pages turn onward
as autumn turns to winter
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When I look the long way back to my childhood, I recall 
my mother reciting poetry to me.  Her favorite was James
Whitcomb Riley’s “Li’l Orphant Annie”.   Something about
the rhythm and rhyme was soothing to me.  There were
other poems she’d been required to memorize in her brief
years of schooling, but the others fade from my memory. 
Surely, though, it was my mother’s love of poetry that was
my inspiration.  My first poem, probably at the age of
about 10,  is lost in the pages of time, but I remember the
first couple of lines, no doubt written after a rousing Bible
study class …
“Is there dust on your Bible
Dust on your holy book
Then there’s dust on your heart, brother
Are you afraid to look?”
For the next 70 plus years (and to this day) I took solace in
the rhythm of rhyming poetry, so my style remains that
somewhat outdated style, which seems to have given way
to open verse.   Why do I write?  Simply because I feel the
need to commit to paper thoughts and events in my life,
sometimes in rhyme and often in prose form.   I like to
think one day some descendant will be interested
in the life and times of a remote ancestor!

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Photo is my own digital art.