PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

~The Poets of Muse Holler~
D. B. Tompsett

Chapter 1

Wordsworth was a rabbit who lived in the green and easy Muse Holler along with various other countryside creatures and the few humans who owned some of them such as the cows, horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, most of the dogs and some of the cats.

Wild animals such as deer, birds, rodents, raccoons, frogs, and rabbits lived on their own.

Humans and animals dream, now and then, and one day as Wordsworth napped within a tangle of blackberrie vines he dreamt the beginning of a poem, and when he awoke it still lived in his imagination, and because he enjoyed the thought of composing a poem he decided to complete it while he was awake.

He toyed with various lines and rhymes for an hour or so until he felt that his poem was finished. He then recited it silently to himself and it went like this:

"The fields are planted.
The flowers are slanted
away from the breeze.

The birds have nested.
Clouds are rested
a tad above the trees.

Oh, summer is fine!
My life has a shine!
I'll hoppily do as I please!"

Now that Wordsworth had completed his poem he yearned to recite it to others, so he left the blackberries and hopped along one of the trails that led to where he knew there would be a good chance he'd find listeners.

Soon Wordsworth came upon a cow, stopped in front of her, and recited his poem. When he was through he noticed that the cow seemed interested only in chewing her cud, and had paid little, if any attention to him and his poem.

Wordsworth then met a rooster beside a road and recited his poem to him, even though the rooster showed no interest, and continued to peck away at the ground.

A bit further up the road Wordsworth found a horse grazing on tall grass. As Wordsworth cleared his throat and began to recite, the horse looked up and whinnied, "Oh, please. I do not want to hear your silly poem," then trotted away to a nearby pasture.

Wordsworth was not discouraged, and decided to hop over to a nearby pond where he discovered an old turtle basking in the sun. When the turtle first saw Wordsworth he thought this young rabbit might be bothersome, so he began to draw his head inside his shell, but as Wordsworth began to recite, the turtle gradually stuck his head back out and listened with interest. When Wordsworth had finished the poem the turtle asked, "What is your name?"

"Wordsworth."

"Well, Wordsworth, said the turtle, my name is Dylan Turtle, and I think that is a wonderful poem. Thank you for sharing it with me."

"You're welcome! Thank you for listening!" Said Wordsworth, delighted that his poem had finally been enjoyed by someone.

"Have you more poems to share, Wordsworth?" Dylan Turtle asked.

"No. That is the only poem I ever made."

"I think you really must make more poems, Wordsworth. You have a gift, in my opinion, and it would be grand if you shared your gift with others. Would you like to recite your poem to some friends of mine? I know they would enjoy it."

"Of course." Replied Wordsworth. "I would love to!"

"Fine." Said Dylan Turtle. "Shall we meet here tomorrow at noon?"

"Yes. Thank you!" Replied Wordsworth.

"OK. See you then, Wordsworth."

Chapter 2

After Wordsworth left to hop homeward, Dylan Turtle made his slow way to where he would likely find his friend Marge, a black and white cat, who liked to layze and preen by a crooked fence gate that opened to the front yard of an old house that was no longer lived in by humans, but was now home to several mice. Dylan Turtle found Marge just where he thought he would, and was glad he hadn't made his slow way there for nothing.

"Hello, Marge." Dylan Turtle said, in greeting.

"Hi, there, Dylan Turtle. How are you this fine day?" Marge asked, in reply.

"I'm doing quite well, thank you." Said Dylan Turtle. "I met a new poet today. He is a rabbit named Wordsworth."

"Oh, wonderful! Where is he?"

"He went home, but has agreed to meet with us tomorrow. I wonder if you would like to find our other poetry friends and ask them to join us by the pond at noon tomorrow? You know how slowly I get about. You can locate our friends much more quickly than I can."

"I would be more than happy to, dear Dylan. I will go look for them right away."

"Great. I will see you tomorrow, then."

And with that, Marge took off to find the other poetry lovers, and Dylan Turtle made his slow way back to his place by the pond.

Chapter 3

As Wordsworth hopped along towards home he felt very encouraged about composing more poems, and was excited about his new interest and the prospect of making friends who might enjoy listening to him recite them.

"Afterall," he thought; "what's the use of making poems if there's no one to share them with?"

Wordsworth paid close attention to his surroundings along the way hoping for inspiration, and later, as he settled down to sleep in his burrow, streams of a creative and poetic nature flowed playfully through his head. Wordsworth slept very well that night.

Chapter 4

When Wordsworth awoke the next morning the poetry gathering was foremost on his mind and he was very excited about it. As he nibbled new grass shoots, which were moist with morning dew, he silently recited his poem to himself just to be sure he still remembered it:

"The fields are planted.
The flowers are slanted
away from the breeze.

The birds have nested.
Clouds are rested
a tad above the trees.

Oh, summer is fine!
My life has a shine!
I'll hoppily do as I please!"

"Yes, I do think it is a fine poem." He thought to himself, and then he realized that the poem didn't have a title.

"I know," Wordsworth thought.; "I'll title it "Summer."" And that's what he did. Then, having nibbled his fill of breakfast, he hopped towards the pond to meet Dylan Turtle and his soon-to-be new friends.