I close my eyes
and count to ten
slowly – they need
time to hide
in bush and tree,
shed and outside lavatory,
behind the bed sheets
hanging on the line.
Seconds fall and pool
a shadow round my feet,
the counting is complete:
I open my eyes wide
to an empty garden
and a summer sky.
Kim M. Russell, 2018
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads NaPoWriMo: It’s All Fun and Games
Rommy says that we are just past the half-way point for NaPoWriMo and she figured that, after all the serious writing that’s been going on, it was only fair to include a little play. For today’s prompt, she’d like us to write poems that incorporate the idea of a child’s game – board game or a physical game.
well written, i liked it
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Thank you!
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Sweet. I used to play hide & seek with our family dog. Great memory.
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🙂
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This is so sweet!❤️ I love the image of the ’empty garden and a summer sky’.. a classic and unforgettable write.
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Thanks Sanaa!
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I love those closing lines especially.
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Thank you, Sherry!
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Just perfect. That’s how it is. A clever way to ‘get rid of the kids’ for 10 minutes 😉
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I still enjoy hide and seek with the cats 🙂
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Beautifully rendered piece
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Thank you, Jae!
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So refreshingly simple! Could this have been ‘Kim, the child poet…in the making?’
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🙂
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Very sweet little piece. The innocent tone is delightful and spot on.
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Thanks Rommy!
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How lovely and the picture is adorable. Your words bring back memories 🙂
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🙂
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Lovely poem as always Kim. I felt so at peace by the end.
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Thank you, Carol 🙂
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Nice game!!! my granddaughter and i play
much love…
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😊
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For some reason, the ending feels a tad ominous to me… Maybe is the pooling shadow… Or the vanished/hidden children…
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Yes, that was my thinking. Where have they gone?
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And the way the shadow behaves does not feel all that reassuring…
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I used to love playing hide and seek with our cats and dogs. This is such a refreshing take on innocence.
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Thanks Toni!
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I do love the thought of that empty sky after you have counted…. (though we did count to hundred I think)
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kaykuala
I open my eyes wide
to an empty garden
and a summer sky.
Hide and seek can come out with some surprises. Love the picture, Kim, very real depiction of the young in their games
Hank
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Thank you, Hank!
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Groovy. 😎🥀😎🥀😎🥀
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Thanks Dorna!
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I remember it well. That first moment of opening one’s eyes on their absence felt like abandonment!
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When I was very small, I didn’t like to count- I was so afraid they’d all leave me!
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