A Golden Shovel? It’s a poetry form I’ve heard about, but have never tried until today. Margaret at #verselove today suggested picking a line from a Billy Collins poem as inspiration for a golden shovel or any other kind of poem. But I couldn’t get Ada Limon’s new book, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World out of my head. You can get a peek reading this article: Pick Your Poem: 6 Poems to Transport You into the Natural World. So I decided to pick a line from one of the 6 that has been speaking to me–it’s called Twenty Minutes in the Backyard by Alberto Rios.
After reading the poem a few times, I decided to use this line: While the whole world simply moves forward.
Nature’s Medicine
Backyarding with the crows and bees while
framing photos in my mind’s eye seeking the
sunlight’s warmth, trying to remain whole
as time stretches and contracts, I’m spinning in space atop the world
in this outdoor space, I stop the spinning to smell lavender blossoms, feel the ridged aloe simply
spreading, spreading, filling space along the path as it moves
greening and growing wholing my mind, calming frantic synapses, inching me forward
Thinking Through My Lens 
Look at that aloe plant! I have one but it’s not that big. A friend suggested using the aloe as ointment and moisturizer. Have you done this? I like the calming visit to your space.
I haven’t used it in any regular way, but lots of folks around here use aloe for sunburn. (I try not to get sunburned!)