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| Zentangle Heart Coloring Page, available on Etsy.com |
Okay class, take out your pencils and paper...
or your banana...
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| Monkeys on a banana, by Matt Reinbold |
and
LET'S DOODLE!
Today, my friends, is National Doodle Day. Haven't heard of it? Not surprising if you're from this side of the pond. But if you're reading this in England, you probably already know that National Doodle Day is a fundraising event which is owned by, and raises money for, Epilepsy Action.
According to Ruth Rostron, a professional handwriting analyst, "doodles are like fragments of a map that show how someone's mind works." On the National Doodle Day website, you can discover the meaning of your own doodles. After analyzing mine, however, I've concluded that I am a hodge podge doodler, a little bit of everything.
This comes as no surprise. I doodle a LOT. Apparently, it's in my blood since my mother is a doodler and my daughter, as well. Today's little ditty is a gift to my mother and a tribute to that doodlicious lineage.
MOTHER’S HEART
At the kitchen
table, the color
of
sunshine and the centerpiece of my
childhood,
Mother sat doodling our names in
a steno book,
over and over, a puffy cloud of
squiggles
on the page, tossed this way and
that. You could read her
possession of
us in every direction, and we were
safe on that page, cast in ink,
belonging to her forever.
In an idle moment, I
think about my
mother and
draw.
© 2014 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.
Please join Margaret, another fine mother (and inspired poet as well), for the Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche.
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| Heart Zentangle NO. 7, by smileyface001 |
Touching poem, Michelle!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt. :)
DeleteI remember well my doodle days/daze -- you're there, and John's there, and eventually Tig as well. Sometimes she lounged right on my paper. Thanks for reminding me, Mich <3
ReplyDeleteLoving you and Dad (your #1 doodle name, as I recall), and John, and Tiggy Angel too.
DeleteAw! Love your poem AND the fact that it is Doodle Day AND that banana!
ReplyDeleteDoodles, poetry, and bananas... what more do we need?
DeleteBeautiful poem, Michelle, and I love the connection between doodling and shape poems. Good job! (I doodle, too.)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tamera, my friend and fellow doodler!
DeleteHi, Michelle. I haven't tried zentangles, but I am a doodler. Your poem reminds me of early memories -- sitting with my mother, coloring with crayons when I was in kindergarten or first grade. So much love expressed in your mother's doodles and in your poem.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised we have doodling in common, Laura, but it's nice to know we share similar childhood memories too. :)
DeleteVery cool poem! Love the sentiment -- "safe on that page, cast in ink, belonging to her forever." Doodlicious is right. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jama-- I trust you to know your "icious"s!
DeleteLove the memories you evoke in this poem, and the choice of making it heart-shape! You've taken me back to my doodle days--I was a constant doodler in my teens. Not as much now, but give me some crayons and a paper-covered restaurant table and it's a happy wait.
ReplyDeleteOne day, Buffy, when our paths cross, I hope to test that "happy wait" theory out!
DeleteWouldn't it be wonderful to give each student in a class a pen and a banana! They would adore it, Michelle. No, I didn't know that it was National Doodle Day. I need to look more because I don't know if I'm a doodler or a small sketcher, what I do when I take notes, or to annotate a book. I love your poem's visual, and the line "You could read her possession of
ReplyDeleteus in every direction" - feels so safe there. Thanks for all.
BANANAS FOR ALL! :D
DeletePS- According to the article I read, sketching counts as doodling when your doing it while your attention is also somewhere else (like taking notes, etc.). Just in case you were losing sleep over this....
DeleteI was introduced to Zentangle at a gifted conference a few years ago and really wanted to take it up, but I guess I'm not a natural doodler. I love your poem for your mother and marvel how you made it into a shape poem. Thanks for your inspiration today and every day.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret. As I recall you're an expert collage artist, though!
DeleteIs there anyone that doesn't doodle? Now that I think of it, my husband doesn't. Phone conversations, lecture halls, teachers' meetings... so many doodlie-doos done. Love the poem, shape or no shape, it shows the heart of a mother.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna. :) Why am I not surprised you're a bigtime doodler?
DeleteMichelle, I always love how your poetry fits into such beautiful imagery - amazing! Such a well thought out layout and design. I particularly love how your post began with doodles as random scribblings for a cause then ending with memories of your mother. I love to doodle though but they're mostly nonsensical squiggles that I call artwork. Hehe. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sweet words, Myra. I hold a special fondness for nonsensical squiggles as well!
DeleteI'm like Buffy -- I was a constant doodler in my teens, but not so much now. I need to get back to my doodling roots so I can be more doodlicious (because I love that word)!
ReplyDeleteYour poem is all kinds of perfect!
And you're all kinds of very kind to say so. :)
Delete"You could read her possession of
ReplyDeleteus in every direction, and we were
safe on that page, cast in ink"
Michelle, this is so poignant, so full of -- you surprised me, moving from the whimsy of the word and act of doodling to this loving capture. Wow.
I confess, I was agonizing over this post for a good long time precisely because the intro seemed so different from the doodling poem I ended up writing. I guess it worked out anyway, though. Thanks so much, Heidi.
Delete