Today I learned a new word, the catalyst for a new poem. The poem, “Citified Yawps,” was sparked by the word “awn.” I encountered this word for the first time this morning in the glossary of a venerable botanical reference book, Trees and Shrubs of the Upper Midwest by Carl O. Rosehdahl.
I don’t own this book, but my friend, Bob Bensen, retired plant scientist and poetry lover, kindly made a copy of its glossary for me. I knew immediately that I could use this list of terms as prompts–as seeds, in effect–for this year’s April poems. In addition, I could extend a little bit my patchy knowledge of the plant world.
For me, it is always helpful to have an impetus when faced with the blank page and the need to write a poem in the next hour. I don’t seem to do very well with prompts offered by other people, though–not sure why–and so this year I am planning to use botanical terms unfamiliar to me.
About today’s poem: “Citified Yawps,” was inspired by the word “awn” in the glossary form Rosendahl’s book. If you, too, are curious about this delightful syllable, the link above will take you to a precise definition and a photo. I hope that I have used the word correctly as well as metaphorically. The surprise to me was how this syllable offered me a luge ride right into the work of Walt Whitman, right to my favorite passage, 52, from his “Song of Myself” which contains the passage:
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
as well as that fabulous phrase, “barbaric yawps”.
Awns are described as the “beards” of grasses, and so the associations brought Whitman to mind immediately. (Is this a word that everyone else already knows? Probably! I am glad it is now a part of my own vocabulary.)
Whitman is not in my circle of all-time favorite poets, but his influence on modern poetry cannot be denied, clearly.
Wishing you joy and poems all April long!
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Thank you for your attentive reading, Beth!
Love this new word! Don’t know, can’t imagine using it but am so glad to know it. On to your poem!
Thank you, dear Jan–glad I am not the last to know!
I didn’t know the word awn. Thank you for the intro to my vocabulary. (Not that I’ll remember it.) Now I know what to call that part of the tall grasses–which I happen to like very much.