Fall Writing Frenzy 2020

This is a different type of post for me, but I’ve been getting involved in the world of children’s literature, otherwise known as KidLit. I’m a member of several different Facebook groups focused on children’s publishing and writing, and the other day I saw a post about an event/contest called Fall Writing Frenzy. Several different fall-themed photos were posted, and each contestant needed to pick a photo that inspired them, and write something about it.

One of the photos was a sunflower. I love sunflowers, and this past summer my daughter and I planted some. Two of them ended up being absolutely enormous, and it was fun to watch them grow. I wrote a little poem from the perspective of a young child, using our own experience as inspiration. The top picture is the sunflower image from the contest; the bottom picture is one of the sunflowers that we grew this year.

Sunflowers

Put some seeds in the ground
Sprinkle water all around. 

Wait a week, what do I see? 
A tiny plant with tiny leaves. 

Sun and rain, rain and sun
Look, there is another one! 

Little plants up to my knee
Soon they’ll be as high as me.

Summer fading into fall
Now they’re almost 10 feet tall! 

Yellow petals peeking through
First on one plant, then on two. 

Flowers looking at the sky 
Friends of bees and butterflies. 

Flowers looking at the ground
Now it’s time to take them down. 

No more flowers standing here
But I’ll plant some more next year.