Spring Fling Kidlit entry- “Let’s watch a world crack open.”
Lately, our family has been building our backyard garden. When my husband gets excited, he does everything 200%— I asked for soil to plant carrots, and he came home with an apple tree, pear tree, and enough bell pepper plants to feed our neighbors! My four-year-old son brought his toy dinosaurs into the planter and it became Jurassic World. Meanwhile, I carried his baby brother around, his wide-eyes absorbing these spring sights for the first time.
So seeds were on my mind when I came across the Spring Fling Kidlit contest. We have 150 words (eek) to write a kids’ story or poem, based on a spring gif. Here is the one I chose below, frozen at its best moment:
Thank you, Kaitlyn, Ciara, guest-judge Cindy Lurie, and the generous donors, for this fun opportunity! (To learn more about the Spring Fling Kidlit contest, click here: https://sites.google.com/view/springflingwritingcontest/main) I can’t wait to check out the other entries. Best wishes to all of you!
And without further ado, here is my poem…
Let’s watch a world crack open
Cup your hands in mine, little one.
This seed, like a popcorn kernel
between your fingers,
has a secret.
Inside is a world, churning sunshine-bright.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s watch.
Drop it into the soil like a submarine
into the dark ocean.
A brave explorer.
Cover it gently.
It needs light and water, like you,
to grow.
When?
Not tomorrow.
Or the next day.
The seed waits, listening.
Maybe it hears a mole shuffling,
an ant colony tapping.
Maybe it longs for the light
the way you and I need each other.
Soon–soon, the seed will swell,
its shell will crack!
green shoot spring up–
roots reach down.
I know, little one,
You are waiting, waiting
while everything inside of you
churns sunshine-bright.
Soon–soon you will run from my arms
without looking back.
But for now,
Sit here with me.
I love you, in this waiting season,
my little one.
