A Poem

Hello Gentle Readers. Although April is National Poetry Month in the U.S., any month is a good month for a poetry. Back in 2002, I learned poets, especially women poets, wrote at all ages about anything and everything. Since then, I have discovered poems about feisty old women, lilacs, the ravages of war, dust, planting peas in a garden, tending to a loved one in a nursing home, iris flowers, a begging bowl, assisting a cow birth a calf, a sock, and more. It is not an exaggeration to say a whole new world opened to me.   

The way a poem works is fascinating. Language, punctuation, words, sounds, rhythm, meaning, metaphor, title, and arrangement on a page all come together in a short amount of space. One can read a poem and consider all, some, or none of these elements. Sometimes one element is more prominent than another and I wonder why. 

Lately, I've been thinking about the negative space surrounding a poem. How did the poet decide on line breaks, space between stanzas, or the placement on a page? Or did this space occur as a result of the words and phrases in the poem? I suspect either or both can be true in a poem. Negative space can make a powerful statement or it can be very subtle. 

Negative space is at work in all kinds of making as well as the natural world. In knitting, the beauty of lace depends in part on negative space. Colorwork is affected by space around patterns. Embroidery, patchwork and applique´ as well as the quilted design stitched through three layers of a quilt all make use of negative space. 

I began this poem thinking about negative spaces. Although it marks the month of March, I share it in April. Happy Poetry Month.

In March*

In this month between seasons,

trees marry shadow and shade.

Birdsong swells, 

green hesitates before rain.

Grape vine trails from frame,

sketches without a plan.

Thread the needle with words.

Stitch the space between lines.

Touch the letters.

Ponder the stars.

Beyond the edge of a poem, 

Open your heart. 

*Copyright, Jane A. Wolfe, 2026. 

Making Progress

Hello Gentle Readers. After a beautiful weather weekend of sunshine and temps in the high sixties, cool rainy weather is in the forecast.  After the rain and if my hand cooperates (see below), I plan to begin weeding the garden beds and stirring the compost. This Tuesday morning is gray and chilly. I watched a blue jay at the neighbor's feeder practically hang upside down to extract a seed or two. The grackles are out in full force, cackling around the entire neighborhood. A robin builds a nest between an overhang and the downspout on the southwest corner of the house. I'm thankful she chose a spot that isn't going to cause any difficulty for us. I haven't seen her there since Saturday so she may also be building elsewhere. Sometimes robins build multiple nests. 

On Wednesday, I'll link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Thankfully I haven't done any unraveling this week but I have also not done as much knitting. My right hand aches, mostly from hand sewing and quilting through multiple layers. My age is showing. Also when my husband had cataract surgery on his second eye, I knit on the Nirmilintu Shawl for almost four hours. Although it didn't hurt that morning, it was too much handwork. Since then I've knit only a couple of rows on the baby blanket in the evening. When the blanket edge is the width of my table or when I am halfway through the second skein, I'll begin the decreases. Progress! If my hand hurts, I stop, stretch it, and pick up a book. Anyway, the photo above shows this week's progress on the shortie socks, the shawl, and the blanket. For the record, I knit on the socks before my hand hurt.  

I listened to The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2 by Beth Brower. As one would surmise, this is a series written in the format of a young woman's journal. Volume One begins in 1883 in London. Ms. Lion, a young woman orphaned as a girl is full of spunk, wit, and determination as she navigates London society, family, and neighborhood characters that include her dishonest cousin Archibald and strong willed Aunt Eugenia. I'm late to this party but Volume 2 is as charming and full of hijinks as Volume 1 and great as a "light" listen.

I'm reading Starry and Restless: Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and The World by Julia Cooke. This nonfiction work is the account of Martha Gelhorn, Emily "Mickey" Hahn, and Rebecca West during the years 1930 to 1954. These three intrepid women traveled the world and then worked their way into international journalism during World War II. They were adventurous and rejected society's stereotypes for women and women journalists. They wrote magazine articles, plays, novels, short stories, and nonfiction while living unconventional lives. They were both praised and criticized for their work as well as the way they lived and loved. The narrative is fascinating and full of detail, maybe a few too many details, but I am very much enjoying this book. The chapters alternate between the women. For me, reading a hard copy, with the option to refer back to previous events, is preferable to the audio version. 

As the little finches come to the feeder and the lilac buds appear, I wish you a Happy Spring.  

Hello April

Hello Gentle Readers. I am composing on Tuesday. Once again, the wind is blowing and stirring up dust and pollen. April showers forecast for Wednesday and Thursday this week will be very welcome. The view out my window is quite green this morning. Trees begin to leaf out and bright yellow dandelions bloom in the neighborhood. This morning I noticed a lilac bush with buds. The juncos have departed for the season. Next week I will begin to clean up the flower beds. Signs of early Spring are everywhere. 

On Wednesday, I'll link this post to Kat and the Unravelers. Knitting on the baby blanket continues but doesn't look much different than last week. For fun, I'm adding a mini skein or three to frame the lace sections of the Nurmilintu Shawl. Nurmilintu, a Finnish word meaning "little bird," is a sweet footnote to this shawl. Google also told me there is a Finnish lullaby incorporating the word.  

I completed the first sock of a pair of scrappy helical shortie socks. For me, a section of 1x1 ribbing on the soles makes shortie socks fit better. Helical knitting made the sock foot knit up quickly. I kept knitting to see how long the small balls of yarn would last as I knit the foot. The knitting games we play! 

This past week, I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox from the backlist of Maggie O'Farrell. Iris, a woman living in Scotland, receives a call about her Great Aunt Esme. The caller tells Iris, that her aunt, a woman she never knew existed, is being released from a mental hospital after sixty one years. The story toggles between past and present as it reveals deep secrets of the family. The narrators shift with no cues or ties to the timeline which can be a bit disorienting. However, this literary device suits the writing, the plot, and the characters. I soon got used to the shifts and was able to follow the story. This novel was published in 2007 but stands the test of time. I thought it was excellent. O'Farrell created the personal story of a young woman confined in a mental institution because she differed from traditional expectations for girls and young women.  

I hope you have a good first week of April filled sunshine and/or showers, as your heart desires.