Miriam Ott Munson - 2 Short Poems (1926-1932)

Forgotten Poems #121

   
              —: A Recipe For Rhymes :—

       Try to write a little rhyme
       You can do it any time;
       Take some words, dispose them neatly
       Right across the page discreetly;
       Make the shimmer shine and sing,
       Make them love and laughter bring,
       And perhaps some happy day
       When your verse has flown away
       And nestled in a little book
       Into which all folk may look
       It will joy and sweetness start
       In some other person's heart.
    

    
              —: Grandmother’s Garden :—

       Grandmother’s garden had old-fashioned flowers,
            Hollyhocks, roses and rue.
       And Grandmother dear, in her quaint little gown.
            Was an old-fashioned, sweet flower too.
     

Miriam Ott Munson published a single poem in Kindergarten-Primary Magazine (1926), alongside a few poems in anthologies in the 1930s and 1940s. Was also an artist and designer, and presumably worked in education; “On Sept. 25 was one of the speakers at a tea given in Rochester (NY) by the ‘League of American Pen Women’ for Zona Gale. Miriam is trying, through lectures and magazine articles, to develop the spirit of fancy in children [i.e. in the field of child development]. She has had articles and verse in Child Life, American Motherhood, Junior Home Magazine, and The Publishers Weekly. She has written and designed four Christmas cards for this year's trade, a portion of the income going to the Anniversary Gift.” (Smith Alumnae Quarterly, 1924)

    
              —: After Miriam Munson :—
                          by Dick Whyte

       the sound of a child eating yoghurt
       like the first few moments of the universe,
       both happens and doesn't—

       like rocks loosening the river
       or a line of ants
       letting go is a geological lesson
    

POETRY PROMPT

       “Try to write a little rhyme…
       Take some words, dispose them neatly,
       Right across the page discreetly;
       Make the shimmer shine and sing,
       Make them love and laughter bring…”
   

Write a “little” (2-8 line) rhymed verse about the process of writing and/or reading poetry, and post it in the comments.

Happy writing!

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