CLMOOC Postcard Project: Breaking Up A Poem

A few months ago (it was August, I realize as I write this), I was thinking that I had not mailed out postcards to my CLMOOC network friends for some time, and after further procrastinating, I gathered together a collection of Poetry Postcards that had been gathering dust (I knew at some point I’d be sending them out to some friends in the CLMOOC network).

I pondered what kind of message to send with the postcards, which all had poetry-themed writing on them, and decided I would write a poem, and break up the lines, so that each postcard would have a section of the larger poem. I let folks know they were getting only part of the larger poem.

The postcard to my friend Wendy, in Australia, took the longest to arrive (longer than usual, I think) but now that it has, I told them all that I would share the larger poem with them. The end of each stanza for one person is a handoff to the next, which was given to another person.

Above is the poem, in the form of a video.

Here is the poem, as text.

A stamp is but a sign
of a poem in flight

a poem is but a kite
fluttering through the sky

the sky is but an idea
we seed from imagination

imagination is but an inkling
in which a world becomes built

a world is but a fraction
of what a writer is able see

a writer is but a poet
wrangling rhyme into prose

prose is but verse
flattened ink on postcards

postcards are but reminders
that someone is remembering

remembering is but a gift
we send to friends

CLMOOC is a loose network of educators and others who collaborate, make, share, and learn together. The Postcard Project is a way to get beyond “online” through mailed notes and cards, and a reminder that slow communication is just a powerful a digital networks.

Peace (and postcards),
Kevin

CLMOOC Calendar: October Soundtrack

CLMOOC friends gathered and created artwork for a collective calendar for the 2022 year nearly a year ago now. Download it for free, if interested.  I composed a short piece of music for each month as my contribution, and I am sharing out each month’s track at the start of each month.

Here is October: Brisk Winds Blowing

Peace (listening in),
Kevin