May 2019 archive

Poetry Friday: Poetry Hides

Mary Lee hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at A Year of Reading where she is celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye. (Thank you, Tabatha  at The Opposite of Indifference, for coming up with this brilliant idea!) If you are not familiar with the poetry of Nye, you are in luck because The Poetry Foundation just named Naomi Shihab Nye as this year’s Young People’s Poet Laureate! Mary Lee also highlights a fabulous-sounding book that I want to add to my collection, Colby Sharp’s The Creativity Project.

Back when I taught middle-schoolers, I loved sharing “A Valentine for Ernest Mann” with them. It starts like this…

A Valentine for Ernest Mann

You can’t order a poem like you order a taco
Walk up to the counter, say, “I’ll take two”
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.

Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, “Here’s my address,
write me a poem,” deserves something in reply.
So I’ll tell a secret instead:
poems hide…

Click here to read the rest of the poem or here to hear Nye read it and explain the story behind it. I have to confess, those skunks get me every time.

After we enjoyed the poem, I invited my students to imagine where poems might hide throughout their day. (Thank you to Nancie Atwell and Georgia Heard for sharing lessons around this poem.) Here is my response.
.

Where Will I Find a Poem Today?

Poems hide
in the unfinished
business of my life,
in the basket of books—
half-read and yet-to-be-read—
sitting beside the rocker
where once I nursed and now I write.
Poems hide
in the yellowed keys
of our old upright piano,
in the flutes from around the world
that call for me to
breathe life and music into them
again.
Poems hide
in the constant interruptions
that pull my pen away from paper.
Poems hide,
but they are waiting
to be found.

Where have you found poems lurking in unexpected places?

Poetry Friday: Bullfrog

This week we’ve been serenaded by the resident bullfrog in our pond.  I haven’t spied him yet, but he has filled the days and nights with his song.

a bulging bullfrog
crouches in the cattails, croons
a hopeful love song

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Liz hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at  Elizabeth Steinglass: Poetry for Children and Their Grownups.  She has lots to celebrate, including a brand new book–Soccerverse: Poems About Soccer. Hurry over and check out all the poetry morsels offered up today.

Poetry Friday: Playing with words

I am continuing my explorations in poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldrige  This week I’ve been playing with words. My notebook is filled with lists of words just to see where they might lead. Since I picked up my flute for the first time in several years to get ready to join the local community band, I started with musical and flutey words. Some of them are even made up words.

To help my words grow into poems, I played with a couple of forms  I found myself playing with sound much more than I usually do. I’m not sure what I think of these, but I had fun playing with them. First, another attempt at a skinny poem.

A Skinny Flute

a melody in silver moonlight
breathes
through
flashing
keys
breathes
as
fingers
flutter
breathes
silver in a moonlight melody

Next I turned to one of my favorite forms, the triolet.

Flute Song

As moonlit melodies swoop through the night,
a sliver of silver peals here below.
My fingers flutter and twinkle so bright
as moonlit melodies swoop through the night.
Staccato notes ever trill and will light
a breath of songs that crescendo and grow
as moonlit melodies swoop through the night.
A sliver of silver peals here below.

What are some favorite words you collect?

Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Jama hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at  Jama’s Alphabet Soup.  She serves up a delicious helping of art and poetry along with flowers and butterflies to celebrate May. Hurry over and check out all the poetry morsels offered up today.