Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet, artist

Sep 02, 2016 5:21 AM EDT

There is a sort of frenetic calm in the lead-up to a storm. That juxtaposition of two very different moods. Stay safe, Robyn.

- katswhiskers (KatApel)

Sep 02, 2016 5:37 AM EDT

I hope the hurricane brings excitement but no real danger. That is a wonderful prose poem, with the half-moon shoulders and the light cast by the mother watching.

- Brenda at friendlyfairytales

Sep 02, 2016 6:17 AM EDT

"...keeping watch for the next bad thing."
What lovely imagery of vigilance.

Hope your hatches are all battened down! Good luck.

- tanita

Sep 02, 2016 6:42 AM EDT

Thanks for sharing this. I love this-" suspended in that eerie half-light like bats"
Stay dry and safe, Royn.

- Penny Parker Klostermann

Sep 02, 2016 7:35 AM EDT

Keeping oneself safe is one thing, but when in charge of the family, a bigger thing. The voice in the poem seems to be making a bit of fun at her mother, but also feeling safe enough to do it. I've spent plenty of time in basements because of tornadoes. Love reading another's perspective. Thanks, Robyn, hope you all are okay!

- Linda Baie

Sep 02, 2016 8:53 AM EDT

Hi, Kat - thanks! "Frenetic calm" - great description.

Brenda, thanks - isn't that half-moon image just wonderful? Glad you came by.

Hello, Tanita - thanks so much for visiting! That line struck me, too - authentic and wry.

Penny, thanks so much for hosting this week! So many great images packed into this poem. I love that one, too.

So far so good here, Linda - thanks! Though lights have flickered. I think we're in for some more & stronger bands throughout the afternoon, so we'll just stay put. Nice insights on the poem - thanks for sharing (& lots of memories in basements from our years in North Georgia, especially in the spring).

- Robyn Black

Sep 02, 2016 9:19 AM EDT

Love the voice of her poem....and hears a line I found in your post that belongs in a poem:
We circled aisles in a grocery-cart ballet.
(the author of that line must be a poet!)

- Buffy Silverman

Sep 02, 2016 9:20 AM EDT

here's I mean... geez louise!

- Buffy Silverman

Sep 02, 2016 10:55 AM EDT

What a striking poem! Stay safe, Robyn. Lots of power outages in our area, but fortunately not in our house. We did have some property damage, though, and we lost internet for several hours, as well. At last check, we still don't have cellular phone service, but I'm enjoying the quiet. ;)

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Sep 02, 2016 1:37 PM EDT

Aw, thanks, Buffy! And here's to automatic Spell-
check corrections that veer off in circles, too... ;0)

Michelle, I've been thinking of you (& my Florida fam, scattered across the state's middle). Sounds like you all have had it worse than we have. Some local friends have lost power, but we've been - shhh! - lucky here in our little house. Sorry about the property damage, and I hope the phones are back on soon... (or not?)! ;0)

- Robyn Black

Sep 02, 2016 2:04 PM EDT

Braverman's poem captures the anticipation and dread that accompanies these huge weather events. Hope you continue to be safe and not catastrophically wet, Robyn. Love the idea of 'grocery cart ballet'. =)

- Bridget Magee

Sep 02, 2016 2:48 PM EDT

Wow, that's a powerful poem. I always like watching a storm pass by, but then I"ve never actually been in a hurricane. Stay safe, my friend.

- Doraine Bennett

Sep 02, 2016 3:05 PM EDT

Thanks, Bridget - we've fared pretty well; did not venture out except a couple of quick yard excursions with the little dog, but on one or two of those scurried right back in!

Hi, Doraine - Thanks for dropping by. Those are killer last lines, aren't they?
I do have respect for hurricanes, having grown up in Florida. We've been very fortunate that Hermine downgraded herself back to a Tropical Storm before passing through our way. I hope she will mind her manners going on up the Eastern Seaboard... :0!

- Robyn Black

Sep 02, 2016 7:50 PM EDT

Oh, Robyn.
I'm glad you dodged the bullet and only have the wind and rain. The Braverman poem was so true. Thank you for sharing it. We only got rain from Madeline and Lester is supposed to drop a ton of rain on us tonight. Pacific Hurricanes are up to M's and you Atlantic guys are only up to H. I swear island children learn the alphabet by the hurricane names, even though these last two got the order flipped. The front part of our phone book (who keeps those anymore?) has a section on Hurricane preparedness. It says the season lasts until December. Today I ordered a solar charger for my phone in case the electricity goes out. All of this to live in paradise, next to the ocean.
See you at Poetry Camp at the end of the month.

- Joy Acey

Sep 03, 2016 3:38 AM EDT

We never had long run-ups to severe storms on the High Plains of Eastern Colorado, so my memories of watching are of standing at the screen door and watching winds lash trees, hail pound dents in my car, and rainbows appear gloriously after the storm had passed.

Glad you are safe!

- Mary Lee Hahn

Sep 03, 2016 11:52 AM EDT

This is very evocative. It's so easy to get stuck in that mode of "looking for the next bad thing" once you've been through a few storms (or whatever the natural disaster, real or metaphoric). I love that this ends with a more hopeful stance.

- Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com

Sep 03, 2016 2:01 PM EDT

My mother lives near Tallahassee and just got power back! First thing I asked her when she was waiting for the storm was to describe to me what it was like at the store... we've had some hurricanes blow through here, but it's been a while! She reassured me it's the same every time: empty bread shelves and no bottled water! Stay safe, my friend! And thanks for the poem. xo

- Irene Latham

Sep 03, 2016 5:37 PM EDT

Joy! So glad you could chime in. Goodness, you all have been in the weather news lately - I hope you won't have to use that new charger, but glad you ordered one. Can't wait to see you soon! (I trust we won't be dodging hurricanes in Bellingham?!)

Hi, Mary Lee - glad you could remember the rainbows after all those other elements! :0!

Ruth, thanks for stopping in. I just love that ending as well - kind of took my breath away. Stay safe in your corner of the world this season!

Hi Irene - those folks in the panhandle really took the brunt of the storm. Glad your mom finally got her power back on. And I trust she had enough bread and bottled water! Thanks for the good vibes. XO

- Robyn Black

Sep 04, 2016 9:59 AM EDT

You can read by it....you can see.
Wow.
My mother is gone...but the memories this brought to me of the water rising in the basement and her saving things from the muck. What a great prose poem. I keep trying prose poetry....no luck with a "atta-girl" yet. I only get "hmmmm. different". Oh, well. Maybe the more I read, the closer I will get. Thanks for sharing this gem.

- Linda Mitchell

Sep 04, 2016 1:16 PM EDT

Thank you for coming by, Linda - I'm glad this poem resonated with you, even in a bittersweet kind of way. I am lucky to still have my mother, and I found Braverman's words so powerful and intimate.

- Robyn Black

Sep 04, 2016 3:13 PM EDT

Hope you stayed safe. These weather events across the continent seem a lot more significant as I picture my PF friends that might be affected. (Love this: "shopping cart ballet." That's one dance I've done too!)

- Violet N.

Sep 04, 2016 6:57 PM EDT

Violet, that is SO true - picturing where PF friends live when weather or other events make the news. Thanks for coming by! All good here now; thanks.

- Robyn Black