Poetry Friday: In the Style of Valerie Worth

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The Poetry Sisters’ challenge for November was to write in the style of Valerie Worth. Attempting to narrow my focus, I went from garden, to fennel, to the ladybug larva I found in the fennel last week. Liz commented that this could be an on-going practice — choosing small and/or ordinary things and writing without the restrictions of form or rhyme. I agree. It’s quite satisfying to find the extraordinary in the ordinary that surrounds us.

I have stumbled recently both in posting regularly and in commenting generously. Please know that I am thankful for each of you and for your words! This community is one of the bright spots in my world.

Ruth has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. Since it will be December next week, we need to start thinking about January-June roundups. Watch for signups.

Here’s how the other Poetry Sisters met our challenge:

Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Kelly @ Kelly Ramsdell

18 thoughts on “Poetry Friday: In the Style of Valerie Worth”

  4. Oooh, they really do look like alligators, don’t they? And like butterflies, I learned that they COMPLETELY turn themselves inside out during their pupa stage, and leave that whole exoskeleton behind. It’s delightful how many animals turn into primordial goo and then hit a hard reboot! Here’s hoping your little predator finds all the aphid larvae it needs.

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  5. I am pleasantly shocked to learn that THIS is what a ladybug larva looks like! I am also shocked, as a gargantuan fan of Valerie Worth, whose poems show up literally in every workshop I do with kids, that I missed this festival of small poems. Her minute observation, her matter-of-fact delivery of towering metaphors, I find to be the perfect early approach to poetry. Your first stanza is perfection, and the rest of the poem follows suit.

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    1. Thanks for the virtual visit. That’s as good as it gets right now. There’s a neighborhood close to us that is filled with homes that are in the FLW style. It was featured last night in a local PBS show. That also felt like a condolence gift from the universe.

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  8. Mary Lee, first of all, thank you for always being ready to comment on PF posts. It is assuring so thank you for being the first one to comment on my blog today. I agree that finding the extraordinary in the ordinary is a wondrous way to look at life. Your poem brings light to this phenomenon. Love the line: dreaming of wings! may we all search for wings to fly into the universe of words.

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  9. Finding the extraordinary, at least to me, brightens every day, Mary Lee. I like that you wrote about it, too! We have ladybugs everywhere, but I’ve never noticed (my mistake?) & will look for a ‘tiny black alligator’.

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  11. Mary Lee. I found myself instantly curious at the mnetion of Valerie Worth and her ability to make the ordinary, extraordinary. You have been most faithful to this concept with the focus on fennel and the small creature that hitchhike. You have spyglassed your garden.

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  12. Huh, I had no idea that ladybug larva looks like that – “a tiny black alligator”. Your poem makes me appreciate those ‘ordinary’ garden visitors in an extraordinary way. Thank you, Mary Lee. 🙂

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  15. Ahh, Mary Lee, I am thankful for you too. I never knew such a thing existed–this little larva dreaming about earning its wings and becoming a full-fledged ladybug. Glorious!

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