SCISSORS
S harp, metal, pivotal tool–
heron’s bill, chopsticks, knitting needles, pincers –
C utting ribbon, thread, paper Valentines, the outline of a dress
I n seconds one piece becomes two, as
S napping blades chomp alligator mouth serrations by children and
S hooshing silky smooth stone skimming lines by grandmother –
O val holes house fingers together,
thumb alone as they open and close, open and close,
R umbling through heavy cloth on a wooden table or
S nipping fingernails and hair into the air.
© 2015 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.
Nikki Grimes has challenged us to try a wordplay exercise this month and create our own free verse poems. Click HERE for all the details.
Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, May 29th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of Nikki's brand new picture book:
Wonderful acrostic, Donna. I like the "smoothing stone skimming lines by grandmother".
ReplyDeleteI can still hear the sound of my grandmother's scissors as she cut fabric on the old wooden table - it was such a smooth cut, yet it also resonated through the wood when she had to cut heavier fabric, as opposed to the choppy, jagged cutting of a young child as they learn to wield the scissors.
DeleteOne of the things I like most about this poem, Donna, is that you managed to incorporate the acrostic form without making it feel like an acrostic poem. The free verse quality flows beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. That is one of the things I don't like about some acrostics - the choppiness - so I try to avoid that when I write them and tend toward a longer free verse or even rhyming in an acrostic. I suppose in a scissors poem I could have done something a bit more choppy, but the smoothness of the cut is what I prefer!
DeleteThanks for posting it today!
I agree with Michelle about your expertise with the form. I loved the sounds in your poem. I could hear the scissors chopping, snipping, swooshing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret. I love that you can hear the scissors, too!
DeleteShooshing silky smooth stone skimming
ReplyDeleteExcellent choice of words, Donna!
Thanks, Diane! Even the stone skimming was connected to my grandmother, as she lived by the sea and we skimmed stones there all the time. Nice straight lines with a drop to touch the water - like scissor blades to me.
DeleteGreat job, Donna! I love the way you described the holes for fingers and thumb.
ReplyDelete