Hello dVerse patrons!

Welcome to the most loved, in-house crafted prompt, the quadrille!

Spring is the season of renewal, of rebirth and of regrowth. Undoubtedly, it is the prettiest season with pinterest-y blooms popping everywhere. After a few years of success in growing tomatoes and chillies in pots in my balcony, this year I was all geared up to grow a few more vegetables and flowers.

But all my plans of digging and getting some dirt under my nails were derailed because spring sprung a surprise, starting on a very warm note then suddenly turning chilly, then hot again.

So here I am, in a very hot April, digging and planting, and it suddenly struck me that we have never used “dig” as a prompt for quadrille writing. I cross-checked with Melissa (our quadrille-words-list-keeper) first and then dug out some poems about digging. I am sharing the excerpts below. Please visit the sites and read the complete poems, if you are interested.

Digging by Donald Hall

One midnight, after a day when lilies

lift themselves out of the ground while you watch them,

and you come into the house at dark

your fingers grubby with digging, your eyes

vague with the pleasure of digging,

Digging by Seamus Heaney

Between my finger and my thumb  

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound  

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:  

My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds  

Bends low, comes up twenty years away  

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills  

Where he was digging

Grave-Digging by Rodney Jones

As I dug deeper the clay got harder, more compacted,

And as I flung it out, some of it came back on me

And got into my eyes, so one of them would lower a hand,

I would clamber out, wash my eyes and start again.

Sometimes I would think of deep ideas as I worked,

Heaven and hell—were they real or only metaphors?

It was sad about Cousin Steve, but he was very old.

Sometimes I would imagine myself Keith Richards

Digging “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” with the shovel,

Dig by Placebo Recovery

You made it to the bottom of a deep dark hole,

and now that your here all you do is dig dig dig.

You know there is no destination at least not one you want to find,

and every time you hit something that halts your progress you try harder and harder to dig dig dig

You keep passing road blocks and stop signs, monsters and madmen screaming at you to turn back but you keep digging.

To Dig, Fertilize, Plow and Water by Gershon Wolf

And so it goes down through the ages

        The bigger and taller devour the littler and smaller

    Monkeys, bears, fish, tigers, turtles, ants

       All species find their food at hand

    Only man has to dig, fertilize, plow and water the land

    Why, for Heaven’s sake?

Now flex your fingers, rotate your wrists and dig out a poem from your creative mind. Though ‘dig’ is just a three letter word, it appears in so many words giving us some great choices! Once you get digging, you can dig some secrets, invite us to your digs, take a dig at someone or hide in a dug-out. Those of you who are more adventurous, you can use your digits to type digits, write about digital detox, your digestive issues or your dignity, digress if you want, write about indigenous peoples, a gold-digger you know, knit a cardigan of words…the choices are endless, if you don’t dig in your heels but allow your muse to lead you. Just remember your poem should not exceed 44 words, excluding the title. Most importantly, have fun!

Those who are new to dVerse:

• Please write a poem of only 44 words on your blog.
• Share the link of your post (not your blog) at Mr. Linky below.
• Do tag us and link back your post to this post.
• Whenever you have time, please read other poems shared. After all we all love a wee bit of appreciation.
• Mr. Linky will remain open till 3.00 p.m. EST, Saturday (25th April)