Incremental Poetry ~ 61 Lines

The Greatest Way to Learn

So many hours each passing day,
I sit to read, play, paint, or write.
Of books I cannot have enough,
and writing verse provokes the mind to soar;
the easel beckons me to lasso a moment in time,
holding it still;
and while the paint dries,
my soul flies high from my piano perch.
All this is commendable—and yet, it’s
too much time spent on my seat.

These grand pursuits all exercise the mind,
and well they should.
How pitiful a brawn who lifts
a hundred pounds and more above his head,
but cannot pick one little book up off the shelf.
And such a shame is one who runs
a marathon in record time, but flees faster still
when asked to write her story.
Yet this gives no excuse to sit all day,
whether to read or write.

I used to think I did okay,
pacing myself with bathroom breaks,
lunch, and daily household chores,
to break the monotony of the day,
but a short walk to the kitchen
is a lame excuse for being on my feet.

My phone became an instrument
to measure my success
(or lack thereof).
I began to stand up more and stay up longer.
And then, aha! I realized
that painting and music stir the mind,
and moving gives much-needed exercise.

I find my mind
works twice as well
when I take twice the steps,
so rising every hour, I walk.

Sometimes I don my shoes and go outside
to breathe the air that God provided.
And while I breathe, I briskly walk the neighborhood.
On rainy days I’m not so brave,
but still inside the house, each hour, I take
a thousand steps and more.

And when, for the hour, I employ my feet,
my mind is not at rest.
I best enjoy a good podcast,
but whether a lecture or a bird, I remain engaged—
often in listening, seldom in talk.

Each man and woman is unique,
but some things stay the same—
we all have two ears and one mouth
to listen twice more than talk,
for that’s the greatest way to learn.

Too much time spent on my seat,
whether to read or write,
is a lame excuse, for being on my feet
and moving gives much-needed exercise;
so rising every hour, I walk
a thousand steps and more,
often in listening, seldom in talk,
for that’s the greatest way to learn.

Copyright © 2020 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I share the week before. I have no idea how long I’ll keep this up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Thank you for stopping by.

Scansion:
Line Messaging
Created by Angel Favazza
Major characteristic: The last line of each stanza, when read separately from the remainder of the poem, creates a message of its own.
Meter and rhythm at the discretion of the poet
No set stanza length
Note: I grouped the last line of each stanza together at the end to form a final stanza to the poem because unless people know you’re writing a Line Messaging poem, they aren’t going to know to look for an underlying message.