Poetry Friday: Mask Poems (or How to Hide Behind Everyday Objects)

The challenge this month (courtesy of Laura Purdie Salas) was to compose a mask poem from the point of view of an everyday object. After briefly reading about mask poems, and discovering they have almost no rules (yay!) I chose to be inspired by an everyday book I keep on my desk.  

Thesaurus

I’m an open book,

an orderly muse;

I’m easy to dip into 

rifle  peruse

Need style? I’ve got

svelte   hip   rad

Lack range? Go ahead: 

roam  wander  gad 

Need an RSVP? Choose

overwhelmed  busy  engaged

Feeling mad? Upgrade to

furious  irate  enraged

Am I rich? Hardly.

Not a bit; in a word: no.

But if you're at a loss,

I’m overflowing with bon mot. 

I’m a depository, a nest egg,

A dragon’s lair of words;

A treasure house for all:

seekers writers nerds.

---Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

Afterword:

I was reminded of the richness of my thesaurus not only because it's on my desk in easy view, but because I recently discovered a delightful picture book biography of Dr. Peter Roget. From it, I learned that Thesaurus means "treasure house" in Greek.  Find it if you can.

The Right Word
 by Jen  Bryant,
 illustrated by Melissa Sweet

My poetry sisters have written an amazing array of mask poems.  You may find them here:

Rebecca (welcome!)
Liz
Laura
Tricia
Tanita


Poetry Friday is hosted today by TeacherDance.