lonely cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud

as clouds are wont to do

across a wide and open sky

to bathe within the blue

and at the bidding of the wind

I traversed cross the earth

to see as much as I could see

before I must disburse

I’ve frolicked in green meadows

and wept with heavy rains

I’ve tumbled through the raging storms

of oceans never tame

I’ve nestled in the sunset

in shades of pink and gold

I’ve lingered over mountains

and tiptoed in the snow

I’ve waited in the shadows

to gaze upon the moon

I’ve looked upon the desert

of ever-changing dunes

I’ve seen so many wonderous things

yet still always I roam

for never in the sights I’ve seen

have I found one that’s home

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NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 24: Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! For example, you could begin, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” or “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” or “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster,” or “they persevere in swimming where they like.” Really, any poem will do to provide your starter line – just so long as it gives you the scope to explore.

I chose I wandered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth.