Words to Nudge and Inspire

From Beth Kempton's Soul Circle Sparks and Tiny Poem prompts

My 8-year-old granddaughter’s conceptual art from one of her journals.

This is a collection of “rhymie little things” inspired by

Beth Kempton

’s sparks and tiny poems. I grew up hearing the classics before I could read or even really understand much of them. My mother read to me Wordsworth, Poe, Byron, Coleridge, Frost, Cooper, Sandburg, Longfellow…I could go on. With such talent rolling around in my head for more than half a century, it is no wonder I am unwilling to say I write “poetry”. Yet, I quite enjoy making my rhymie little things, and hope that you will enjoy reading them!

READY

Remember when as a kid you played
The game of Hide and Seek?
Only one could be the "It"
Who closed their eyes - don't peek!

Ready or not, here I come
You yelled at all your friends
And had to seek and find each one
Before the game could end.

RISE

Such a positive word
With its utterance I heard:
An exclamation,
Birth screams of a nation,

Lazarus and Jesus
Refusing death's blow,
The sun, the moon,
And Mr. Mojo.

All these things
Now comprise
What I think and feel
When I hear the word 'rise'.

CORNER

I used to take my corners fast.
No dilly dally,
Slowpoke Sally
Coming around the bend.
I approached each turn, 
Let tires burn -
With no thought the road might end.
I didn't care if brakes would squeal -
Centrifugal force was fun to feel.
But then one day, I missed the curve,
Crashed my car and lost my nerve.

LAYER

Dig a little deeper
My grammy said to me.
I asked if she would tell me why 
And sat upon her knee.
She said the answers lurk in layers -
Hidden to the eye
You can lift each one
Till the job is done
But the truth can make you cry.

BAREFOOT

I like to feel the dewy grass
Slick beneath my toes
And cross the hot sand running fast
And pull off all my clothes.
Barefoot's how my day will pass
By the lake nobody knows.