Poetry Challenge #27-Here Comes the Sun!
Yesterday, today or tomorrow—depending on where you live—is the March (vernal) equinox. So?
So, the day will be divided into two equal parts: 12 hours night and, for the first time since last year at 12:15 pm EST, *12 hours of sunshine! (Equinox literally means “equal night.”)
So, It’s Springtime!
What’s more, the amount of sunlight each way will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer!
Technically speaking, the vernal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. For more about the vernal equinox, including photos & diagrams, here’s a link to a great article on VOX.
Poetically Speaking, this takes us to:
Poetry Challenge #27
Here Comes the Sun!
Move to a brighter spot, somewhere you are either in the sun, or where you can witness the effects of sunshine. Don your sunglasses and shade hat to get you in a springy mood. There, now your ready!
First: Brainstorm a list of words that rhyme with either the word “Spring” or “Sun”--your choice.
Now: Using the words from your list, write a springy-sunny poem entitled "Here Comes the Sun!"
Here Comes the Sun Playlist:
- Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
- Feeling Groovy by Simon & Garfunkle
- Sunshine on My Shoulder by John Denver
- And one for Max: Springtime in Alaska by Johnny Horton
- One that is anything but springy, but I couldn't resist: Three Days sung by KD Lang:
For more on the Vernal Equinox, click here.
*12 hours of sunshine is not exactly correct. The time the sun crosses the equator marking the Vernal Equinox is different for each time zone. For those in the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones, this
Occurred yesterday, March 19th. For those in the Eastern time zone, spring begins on March 20th at 12:30 a.m. What’s more, “Not every place will experience the exact same amount of daylight. For instance, on Tuesday, Fairbanks, Alaska, will see 12 hours, 17 minutes of daylight. Key West, Florida, will see 12 hours and seven minutes. The differences are due to how the sunlight gets refracted (bent) as it enters Earth’s atmosphere at different latitudes.”