Well, here we are. Day 30/30 of NaPoWriMo month. I’m proud to say this National Poetry Month I spent way more time reading and writing poetry than I have since my last creative writing class in college over a decade ago.

It was a study in discipline, play, and creativity. I learned to let go of perfectionism and just get the words out. I learned sometimes, any words are better than no words, the purpose is in the expression of them. Committing to writing one poem a day was a task I took on for no other reason than to explore who I could be as a poet if I dedicated time and energy to my craft. Each line I wrote brought me closer to myself, brought me closer to home.

So it’s fitting that I chose the topic @beausia named for the last day: HOME.

And here is my ode to the city where I was born and raised.

xo, adrienne

home: an ode to the Cuse

where the rolling green hills

turn to fire in the fall and

we burn the lake to say goodbye

to seasons

 

where the sky looms gray

for most of the year but makes

that bright blue sky of summer

even more special

 

where glaciers carved a landscape

both beautiful and unique

and every lake and forest

is a treasure

 

ancestral & current land

 of the Haudenosaunee,

a people whose legacy

is still too invisible

 

full of memories

and people and flavors

that peak in a wave of nostalgia

every time i come around 

the curve on 81

and see that city skyline

 

the dome

Mony towers

Onondaga lake

Community General 

the reservoir

Loretto

 

i can feel it now

as i write this

a longing, a belonging

to the city i’ll always

call home

 

Green Lakes State Park The Welcome Center on 81 Gannon’s Ice Cream