I am continuing to explore the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The approaches this week led to some surprising discoveries. I found several of the awkward at first, but I was excited to see where the writing led me. This poem ended up being one of my favorites even though I found the approach–
Let Your Title Open the Door–to be awkward at first. I usually write titles last. I also don’t usually write rhyming poetry. But here it is:
When I Wear My Cloak
it’s magic seeps
right into me.
It laughs and leaps–
gives me the key.
I feel it surge.
I twist and twrl
until we urge
the world to whirl.
I also received a bonus in the mail this week–a poetry postcard from 4th grader Twanos. Thank you,
Jone, for spreading such poetry love with your students. Please tell Twanos how much I enjoy his poem!
Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Irene hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Live Your Poem. She is continuing to explore the art of the Harlem Renaissance through ekphrastic poetry, today in response to artwork by painter William Johnson. Drop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.
I am enjoying following Amy Ludwig VanDerwater over at The Poem Farm throughout National Poetry Month. She is exploring 1 Subject 30 Ways, using lessons from her book Poems are Teachers. Check out her poems exploring the constellation Orion.
I may have fallen a day or two behind, but I am learning much about the story of Little Red Riding Hood by approaching it with a different poem and technique each day. I’m also starting a list of ideas I want to continue writing different poems with some of them. The poem I share today comes from the lesson on April 9, Inspired By a Question.
Here are my notebook pages:
and the poem…
Secrets
Secrets once whispered
from the steps
of a tower strong
are now
welling up,
swelling up.
Secrets once buried
in the folds
of a crimson cloak
are now
shaken out,
blown about.
Secrets once hidden
in the creases
of my mother’s face
are now
set free
revealed to me.
Secrets now demand
their liberty.
Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Tabatha hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at The Opposite of Indifference. She is celebrating the release of Imperfect, an anthology of poetry about mistakes for middle schoolers. Drop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.
Do you know the Pied Piper of Poetry? That would be Lee Bennett Hopkins, and he has a birthday today! Happy birthday to a poet and editor extraordinaire! Head over to Life on the Deckle Edge, where Robyn Hood Black is rounding up a passel of birthday parties of the online sort, as well as lots of other delicious morsels for Poetry Friday!
What am I bringing to the party? One of my favorite poetry collections, of course! My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States (poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stephen Alcorn) will take you on a delightful journey around the country. When first reviewed it here, I was thinking about writing about my home state of North Carolina, but that hasn’t happened yet. Instead, I was inspired to write a poem to capture our family vacation to Missouri last summer. I wrote a stanza of A River Rest each day of vacation. It was a hit with the rest of the family and with the owners of the cabin we stayed in. I shared the poem in parts here and here. Here is the whole thing:
A River Rest
A wide porch beckons
me to sit in a rocking chair
and listen to quiet sounds—
Birds twitter and chatter
above the pulsing strum of cicadas
and occasional bass croak of a bullfrog
A gravel road invites
me to explore the river
that arches around a sandbar.
Water ripples and chortles
as kayaks drift past and we
skip rocks and chase minnows.
A rocky trail entices
me to wander up and down hills
through wooded glens and across dry stream beds.
Wind rustles and flutters
through layers of green leaves
to reveal the vistas below.
A dark, damp cave tempts
me to escape the heat above
and discover its hidden wonders.
Cave kisses plink and plunk and splatter
as stalactites drip ever closer to stalagmites
and an underground steam flows past nature’s artistry.
A Mississippi riverboat signals
me to board as it blows its horn
and chugs up and down the muddy river.
History echoes through the rotunda
of the Old Courthouse while the Arch
gleams over the city below.
A winding river calls
me to glide over clear water
between chalky bluffs under a blue sky.
My paddle dips, pulls, splashes
as my kayak slides with the current
and plays shadow tag with the fish below.
A quaint, bustling main street bids
me to step back in time as I wander
among the painted canoes.
I browse merchandise at Langeley’s General Store,
sip iced Vietnamese coffee with Whistler’s mother
and savor ice cream and Fitz’s cream soda at the Fountain.
Maramec Springs embraces me
with a breath of cool water bubbling
up from an underground cave.
Trout dart and jump for morsels tossed their way
while we wander paths that wind
through the lush green softening the edge of old ironworks.
Flickering firelight lures us
to gather around the campfire
despite the heat of the day.
Embers sizzle and pop as darkness settles.
We share favorite memories sweeter
than the toasted marshmallow s’mores we eat.
**in honor of the McGriff Family Vacation 2017 to Steelville, MO
The best part? Okay, maybe not the best, but really cool! I combined the poem with pictures from vacation to create a book. I kept one and gave one to my in-laws who host our vacation every summer.
I’ve still been following Amy Ludwig VanDerwater over at The Poem Farm. She is exploring one subject 30 different ways by using a different poetic technique each day. She is using her book POEMS ARE TEACHERS as a guide. You can read her introduction to the project here. She is exploring the constellation Orion. I haven’t been satisfied with most of my drafts this week, but it has been an accomplish just to write something every day!
Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Robyn hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Life on the Deckle Edge. She hosts a birthday extravaganza for Lee Bennett Hopkins. Drop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.
Welcome to National Poetry Month! This year I am dipping my toes (or maybe it’s my pen) into some of the exciting events going on all over. I can’t possibly keep up with all of them, but Jama over at Jama’s Alphabet Soup has a roundup of all things poetry across the KidLit world. Check it out!
For my own writing this month, I’ve been following Amy Ludwig VanDerwater over at The Poem Farm. She is exploring one subject 30 different ways by using a different poetic technique each day. She is using her book POEMS ARE TEACHERS as a guide. You can read her introduction to the project here. She is exploring the constellation Orion.
One summer several years ago, I started writing a novel exploring the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Once summer ran out and school started back up, I put it away and it remained stuck. I’ve been wanting to go back to it. I’m not sure yet how to get unstuck where I left off, so I thought exploring the story through different poetic techniques could be helpful. Whether it will remain a novel in prose or transform into a novel in verse, I don’t know, but I’m enjoying coming at it in different ways. I’m writing every day (usually a day behind Amy’s posts), but I’m not pressuring myself to publish a poem every day.
My favorite poem from this week was the first–a list poem.
WARNINGS
Don’t stick out–
blend right in.
Don’t speak up–
keep words in.
Don’t run too fast–
walk slow and steady.
Don’t share secrets–
be always ready.
Don’t wander away–
stay on the path.
Don’t talk to strangers–
avoid their wrath.
How I wish I could plug my ears
to drown out the noise of all these fears!
Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Amy hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at The Poem Farm. She shares another poem about Orion and another poetic (and any writing) technique from POEMS ARE TEACHERS. Drop by and see what poetry morsels are offered this week.
