Heidi Mordhorst - Smaller Than I Thought

Smaller Than I Thought
       for Mrs. Alexander’s Class
by
Heidi Mordhorst

Here at the Earth Day Party in the park
they’re cutting the Earth Day Cake:
rich chocolate to stand for the soil,
swirls of green and blue frosting
to represent land and water.
The white icing at the Poles
is melting under the
unseasonably hot April sun.

It’s smaller than I thought.
The pieces are small, too.

There’s no point in asking for seconds;
in fact, there isn’t enough to go around.
Some of us will have to share
one slice of Earth Day Cake between us.
I don’t know the kid who comes
to sit beside me on the lawn.
“Let’s take tiny nibbles to make it
last longer,” he suggests. I nod,

and we gingerly dig our two forks
into one small slice of the blue Pacific.

© Heidi Mordhorst. all rights reserved

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Heidi Mordhorst is a poet and teacher and a teacher of poetry. And who wouldn't to read the work of or be taught by someone who tweaks, tests, and twists a poem around until the words in it "sound good to your ears and feel good in your mouth"? Head over to the Poetry Makers profile of Heidi over at the Miss Rumphius Effect to see that quote in fuller context and to learn much more about Heidi and her poetry and process.

I'm a big fan of Pumpkin Butterfly (illustrated by Jenny Reynish), in part because I love the way she picks up on small details and uses imagery that often made me view an item or topic in a new way. I love her take on Earth Day here for those same reasons: I get a fresh view of the world. And really, what better day than Earth Day for a breath of fresh air? Whether she's writing about nature or anything else, I look forward to more poems soon. And for now, I'm just thrilled to have Heidi Mordhorst here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer gave us Cousins of Clouds. Tomorrow... I Speak by Charles R. Smith, Jr.! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.