say hi!

People who don’t have any
One to turn to could be
Right next to you, say hi

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

train buddy says

Like a Gloucester fisherman
Yellow slicker beaded wet
It’s a bad hair day

What is a sherku?

indulgence

The brownie tasted good
With her coffee Friday
Morning at Dodge festival

What is a sherku?

delight

The mm’s and ah’s of the teens
Responding to Hirsch
Reading Friday night at Dodge

What is a sherku?

mud balls

Hikaru dorodango
Created from pure, simple
Common dirt and sand

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

Billy Collins - Dodge Poetry Festival 2006

I have made my biannual pilgrimage to the Dodge Poetry Festival for the past 8 years to swim in a world of words and ideas. As much as I try to recapture that experience and report back to share it, I have been lacking. I can now turn to a new source. Dodge has been recording each Festival and has now begun to open that archive to us via YouTube.

Hallelujah!





Enjoy!

redefine normal

Dolls for girls, swords for boys
They, them, the others
Who gets to say what normal is?

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

daughter's car

Turn on your daughter's car
Absorb the music beat
Rock with the loud new rhythms

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

Once he knew

Leeuwenhoek couldn’t not know
Once he knew; He couldn’t
not see once he saw

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

Note: I am assuming the pronunciation of Leeuwenhoek is with 4 syllables. If it is less than 4, or more than 4, then this doesn't really qualify as a sherku with 19 syllables.

What is a sherku?

grace #3

amazing stories in their
words leave me struggling
to define grace in my words

What is a sherku?

grace #2

Grace, amazing story of
Took us to another place
To be in their shoes

What is a sherku?

warmth of her body

I saw you were dying
I knew the warmth of her body
Would restore your life

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

generosity

Generosity comes from
Opening up to those
We see as unlike us

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

let me down easy

Anna just used words, their words
Took us to another place
To be in their shoes

In honor of Anna Deavere Smith's performance at A.R.T. in "Let me down easy"

What is a sherku?

he does IT

Dotting I’s, crossing T’s
He does great detailed I T
Project management

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

for JM

plenty of advice

Wow! A derailed train!
Thirty safety vests clustered
Telling Joe what to do

What is a sherku?

red convertible

I rented a red sedan
Not a Cadillac, not
Convertible, but red!

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

derailed

How do trains derail?
Wheels go slip slide away
Or switch thrown incorrectly?

What is a sherku?

train reading

Bright September sun
Hinders my train reading,
Should have sat across the aisle

What is a sherku?

pink glasses

With pink glasses she looked
Beautiful like a light was
Shining from inside her

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

small grape

Carry your small grape
Keep it safe. Remind yourself
to find wonder in the world

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

The "Life is a Verb" collection

Click here to find the sherku inspired by Patti Digh's Life is a Verb.


Note: The listing is short this week. It will grow as I continue to work this 37 Days challenge of my own to find a sherku in each of Patti's essays in her book Life is a Verb.

If you would like to participate and provide your own versions or rewrite what I have crafted, feel free to do so. You can add it in a comment, or send it to me via email. Or post it on your own page and tag it with "LIAV".


What is a sherku?

stop judging

If I stop judging other
people, I free myself from
being judged and dance

A "found" poem, that is the words were written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I formatted them to make the sherku.

What is a sherku?

we give up

we give up our power
to the very people
who took it away from us

This is a "found" poem, that is the words were written by Patti Digh in her book Life is a Verb. I formatted them for the sherku.

What is a sherku?

being lost

Being lost only has meaning
When contrasted with
Knowing where you are now

a "found" poem, that is the words are mostly David Hollies as quoted in Patti Digh's Life is a Verb

What is a sherku?

good answer

Will they get lost without
The book? No, they will recall
Your full life is a verb!

For Patti Digh and her new book, Life is a Verb

What is a sherku?

journey

your journey will come to an end
because there's nowhere
to go beyond silence

a "found" poem, that is the words were found in Ode's Jul/Aug issue in an article by Tijn Touber.

What is a sherku?

problems

problems are nothing but
thought structures that you can
step out of at any time

a "found" poem, that is the words are mostly Eckard Tolle's who was quoted in Ode's Jul/Aug issue in an article by Tijn Touber. I added one syllable (that) to make it a sherku.

What is a sherku?