I have a passion for growing my own food, but I also have a passion for writing. This summer, I had an opportunity to bring my two worlds together. I love to write Haiku. Haiku is a Japanese poetic form of three lines and 17 syllables. The first and third line each has five syllables and the second line has seven syllables. I challenge myself to write a haiku a day. To be honest, some days that happens and some days it doesn't. What I like most about this poetic form is it forces you to narrow your idea down to the most critical element.
One day while walking around in my garden, I saw a familiar occurrence, a bee inside of one of my zucchini flowers. On this particular day, I wrote this haiku.
busy busy bee
feed feed feed - pollinate food
for my family
I wrote the poem and did not think much about it until I came across a writing opportunity in Indy Arts Guide seeking original poetry submissions for a project sponsored by Brick Street Poetry, Inc. This project would result in a published book and the book would be given to children in Indianapolis hospitals. The opportunity also included this line, "Preference will be given to poems that contain one or more of the following characters: a frog, a moose, bees and bears." I immediately thought back to the haiku I wrote and decided I would use it as a springboard to write a longer poem entitled, "Busy Busy Bee" to submit the contest by the August 31st deadline.
On November 1st, I was informed my poem was selected and would be included in the book Words and Other Wild Things. Poets included in this children's poetry anthology were invited to read their poem on December 1st at the SullivanMunce Cultural Center in Zionsville, Indiana. I accepted the invitation and I look forward to reading my poem next month. I'm proud to be included in a book used to bring joy to children in local hospitals and I'm glad to be included in a book with other talented writers including a few poet laureates.
Although it has been quite warm for November in Indiana, (if this cool weather this weekend is any indication) it is quickly coming to an end. While I will miss gardening, as many fellow gardeners do during the colder months, I will have a bit more time to work on my writing and who knows, I might be able to have a few more pieces published before 2016 comes to a close.
Note: Once the book officially debuts on December 1st, I will share the poem in its entirely on Gardener Shicole, since I retain rights to the poem. If you cannot wait that long, you can purchase the book Words and Other Wild Things now on Amazon to read my poem and the other wonderful children's poetry. As someone who is half way through the book, I strongly suggest you buy it for yourself or a child.