I have been intrigued by poets sharing their examples writing tetractys poems–a new form for me. First Kat Apel started the fun by sharing various drafts of her tetratys about Antartica. (If this form is new to you, too, you can read Kat’s great explanation and more examples here.) Then Linda gave a spooky edge to this form by writing several in response to the monthly challenge at Today’s Little Ditty.

A few weeks ago, Michelle H Barnes of Today’s Little Ditty introduced Carrie Clickard. Her book Magic for Sale looks to be the perfect Halloween read. While spooky, it might not be too scary for me. In keeping with the spooky theme, Carrie offered this for this month’s ditty challenge: Write a poem about a person, place or thing that spooked you as a child. Check out the offerings on the DMC Padlet. Just a few more days to add yours to it!

I knew what experience I wanted to write about, but I was stumped for how to approach it. Like Linda, I thought the tetractys form would help me wrap my brain around this month’s challenge. It did–even though it was still quite a challenge. I have several versions that I am still playing around with before deciding which one to add to the padlet. Here are two of them:

Lone
scarecrow
sits headless
beside pumpkins,
waiting for children to knock on the door.
Fingers twitch, arms jerk, it rises once more.
Children scatter,
hearts pounding
treats long
gone.

Creep
up the
narrow stoop.
Edge away from
headless scarecrow perched by pumpkins, waiting.
Whisper trick-or-treat. Watch its fingers twitch.
Leap down steps. Scream.
It rises,
looming–
SCRAM!

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Brenda has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Friendly Fairy Tales. Today she has a poem about a mystery guest. Can you identify him? Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

Last week I shared a couple of poems by Lewis Carroll. After memorizing the very short batty version of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” I was inspired to write my very own Halloween poems from familiar nursery rhymes. I don’t think any of these will give me nightmares! Can you recognize the nursery rhymes?

I always thought a broom would be a fun way to fly:

Sprinkle, sprinkle, little witch.
How your powders make me itch.
Up above the clouds you fly
On your broom across the sky.

What is Halloween without a greedy jack o’lantern?

Jack be greedy,
Jack be slick.
Jack gobble up
the candlestick.

And, of course, there must be zombies:

Zombies had some little brains
That were too few to muse.
Everywhere that zombies went
their brains were sure to ooze.

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Linda has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at A Day in the Life. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

A few months ago I came across this article from the New York Times–“Memorize That Poem” by Molly Worthen–that advocates for memorizing poetry. It both got me to thinking about my past experiences with memorizing poetry and renewed my interest in taking up the practice.

I grew up hearing all the ways I was just like my grandmother. We both loved to read and to write and to experiment with creative substitutions when cooking, among other things. We also were both known to get distracted from cooking or cleaning (and possibly burning a few things) because we just had to read one more page of whatever book captivated us at the time. We both taught English and loved middle school/junior high students the best. Since I knew my grandmother had memorized many poems, I tried to do so, too, without much success as a kid. Probably starting with “The Highwayman” was a little too ambitious.

I had more success with memorizing poetry in college, where memorization and recitation were an expected part of studying poetry. In fact, almost every graduate of Meredith College can recite the opening lines of Geoffrey Chaucer’s General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales–in Middle English no less. I went on to memorize poetry from the American and British literature in later courses, as well, but not much at all since graduation.

Now I’m inspired again. In addition to my lists of poetry ideas to explore and poetry books to read, I have a lists of great poems to memorize. I started with refreshing my memory of Chaucer, and added poems by Langston Hughes, Charles Bukowski, St. Francis of Assisi, and William Wordsworth. I’m attempting to learn one poem a week, and I love that I learn and read a poem much more deeply as I memorize and recite it.

As much as I love American poetry (and already have  quite a few poems on my list), I will spend the next few months with British poets as I prepare for a trip to England. Yes, my trip will be a literary trek, with visits to Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theater, Dove Cottage in the Lake District, and Oxford University. And yes, I will be that tourist who recites poetry at every site. I’ve tackled “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud” by Wordsworth. (Well, I thought I had. Never trust a travel guide to include all the stanzas. I’ll add two more verses next week.)

Since it is Friday the 13th in October, here are a couple of poems from Lewis Carroll (from Oxford University) that I am considering. They seem appropriately spooky for this month of Halloween.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder where you’re at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.

Horrors

Methought I walked a dismal place
Dim horrors all around;
The air was thick with many a face,
And black as night the ground.

I saw a monster come with speed,
Its face of grimmliest green,
On human beings used to feed,
Most dreadful to be seen.

I could not speak, I could not fly,
I fell down in that place,
I saw the monster’s horrid eye
Come leering in my face!

Amidst my scarely-stifled groans,
Amidst my moanings deep,
I heard a voice, “Wake! Mr. Jones,
You’re screaming in your sleep!”

What do you think of memorizing poetry? Have you memorized poetry? Which ones?

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Irene has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Live Your Poem. This week she  is brought by the number 13. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week. 

This has been a tough week with heartbreak all around on both the national news and close to home. I was glad to wander over to Laura Purdie Salas’s blog on Writing the World for Kids where she hosts a weekly writing prompt called 15 Words or Less. It’s quite simple. She shares an image, a few ideas, and a quick draft of a poem. Then we are invited to join in.

It was just the prompt I needed to get a few words moving. This week’s post, Making Art, included a close up image of a sculpture she saw at the Anderson Center at Tower View. The inclusion of scissors and feathers matched my mixed up feelings from this week. From the news, the scissors pointed to the danger and horror of the shooting in Las Vegas. The feathers, thanks to Emily Dickinson, spoke to hope. And even amidst the carnage, there are stories of hope as we learn how people helped and protected others. Even in the midst of personal heartbreak, there is also the promise of hope.

Heartbreak

While scissors shred
the threads
once woven tight,
Feathers promise
hope will
once more take flight.

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Violet has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Violet Nesdoly/Poems. This week she  is all about pumpkins. Yummy. Stop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.