Poem of the Day: “Regeneration” by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Regeneration” by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month.  Ms. Hamilton will also be serving as the guest judge for the Songs of Eretz Poetry Award Contest, which will run from September 1 to October 15, 2015.  A detailed biography of Ms. Hamilton may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/08/songs-of-eretz-poetry-review-poet-of.html.  The contest guidelines may be previewed here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/p/songs-of-eretz.html.

Regeneration

Carol Hamilton

A frog chirruping at the pond

before dawn. One year the pond liner

was surrounded by thousands

of tiny tadpoles. I feared invasion,

but the goldfish ate them all …

perhaps not all. One sings now

in pre-dawn chill. There has been

little of spring this year,

just hard winds battering us

with cold or dry heat, pollen,

but once there was a green, leafy

room, a frail and narrow afterthought

to the 1910 Sears pre-fab house

in the woods. We loved in the treetops,

and all did fall down, fall down.

But this tiny frog sings love songs still,

and I remember. There must

be a season of hope.

Poet’s Notes:  It is strange how a sound can come to us and slowly imagination follows that sound into memory. The past and the natural world continually recreate themselves, and I love letting one thing lead to another. The reader, of course, may find the words send dreams off to a completely different destination. I do hope so!

Editor’s Note:  My grandfather lived in one of those Sears pre-fab houses (one style is pictured) in a suburban setting, so it is interesting for me to picture one of them as a woodsy retreat. “Regeneration” was originally published in Ibbetson Street.