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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