Poetry Friday--Egg Challenge

I took the Miss Rumphius Effect Monday Poetry Stretch challenge this week which was to write a poem about eggs.

My entry was a tanka:

from the window
the jay's yolk-covered beak
all too visible
I've picked up shells before
...without knowing
                        © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

A tanka, like a haiku, is untitled, but, if I were to title it, it would be, "Pleading Innocent."



My favorite egg poem is from Russell Hoban's Bread and Jam for Frances (it's also found in Egg Thoughts and Other Frances Songs):

I do not like the way you slide,
I do not like your soft inside,
I do not like you lots of ways,
And I could do for many days
Without eggs.

If you're unfamiliar with Bread and Jam for Frances and the other Frances the badger books, then rush right down to the library and look for them. Do it now! They are delightful.

Another egg poem I'm fond of is "Boy and Egg" by Naomi Shihab Nye, which you can read here.

I'll close with the entry for "E" in Hilaire Belloc's "A Moral Alphabet":

E stands for Egg.

MORAL
The Moral of this verse
Is applicable to the Young. Be terse.

Great advice Mr. Belloc--it is my goal in life, at least as far as poetry is concerned, to be terse!

Have a great weekend, but before you do, indulge in more poetry at the Poetry Friday Round-Up hosted by Great Kid Books.

Haiku Sticky #42

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Poetry Friday--Robert Frost, Rapper(?)

After hearing about it for days, my kids finally made me sit down to watch the parody of Jay-Z/Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind." What a hoot! And so much better than the original! (So there, you Yankees supporters!)

I suppose you really have to be from New Hampshire to get half of it, but, non-New Hampsters can still appreciate the Robert Frost rap found at 2:34.



"Granite State of Mind" is by the Super Secret Project, a very irreverent group that produces videos and music.

Jay-Z's song has given rise to many states' parodies. Check out YouTube and type in "[your state name or nickname] State of Mind."

What do you think Robert Frost would have thought of his poem presented rap style? Or of this interpretation?



Enough speculation for today! Take the time to visit Anastasia at Picture Book of the Day for the Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Haiku Sticky #41

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image by Lewis Hines courtesy Library of Congress.

Poetry Friday--Amazing!

The "Writers in the Schools" website has "A Poem a Day" email service during April, National Poetry Month. I signed up to receive poems written by school children but I didn't expect to be completely blown away by the writing of a 4th grader named Philip. Here's Philip's poem that, appropriately, was posted this past Monday:

Ode to Monday Morning

You’re ready for
school but you still
have 30 more minutes
left so you lie down
on the couch or sit.
It is the longest
30 minutes of your life.

Monday morning
is like homemade
play dough – you don’t
really know what
to do with it and
it takes forever
to wash off.

Holy cows! How I wish I could have written that second stanza! I'm not good with simile and metaphor, and this example is superlative! Good job, Philip! You've given me hope for the future of poetry in this country!

You can check out the WITS blog to catch up on the poems you've missed thus far this month. (By the way, thanks to the people at WITS who gave me permission to reprint Philip's poem.)

Photo by Eggybird

Here's a little Monday morning haiku that I wrote a while back:

monday morning...
three crows comment
on the traffic

Now that I'm studying the form, I've rewritten it as a tanka:

three crows comment
on the traffic
this monday morning
I wait at the light
and sip my coffee
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

If you have a Monday morning poem, please share, then head on over to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for the Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Haiku Sticky #40

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Poetry Friday--Dorothea Grossman

At the end of last year I decided that I should at least try to become familiar with the names of some contemporary poets. I sent in my money to the Poetry Foundation and started receiving their monthly publication, Poetry Magazine, in January. I had a little problem with the first two months. Reading some of the poems was like reading something written in Martian. I had no idea what was going on. Then came the March issue and one of the poets whose work was featured was Dorothea Grossman. She had me at the first poem, "I have to tell you."

I have to tell you,
there are times when
the sun strikes me
like a gong,
and I remember everything,
even your ears.

Don't you just love it? I like it when poets can say what they have to say simply and precisely. For me, less is more.

There are nine of Grossman's poems in the March issue. I liked them all.

I wanted to find out more about the poet, so I went to the Poetry Foundation's website looking. A visit early in the month revealed that the March issue's poems and poets had not yet been put up. I did a search on Barnes & Noble for books by Grossman and found nothing. A simple Google search brought up a few of her poems, but nothing much in the way of biographical information other than she goes by the name, Dottie, and she combines her poetry with jazz. You can see pictures of her here that are accompanied by four poems--the photos and poems together reveal much. Fortunately I checked the Poetry Foundation site later in the month and found a complete interview with Grossman from Travis Nichols. Check it out to learn more about this poet and how her relationship with jazz came about. All nine of her poems are there, too, for you to enjoy!

Head on over to Paper Tigers for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Haiku Sticky #39

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

I've been rather focused on haiga and have been using my Poetry Friday postings to share my work. I've decided to go back to regular Poetry Friday postings and to post a haiga occasionally as the spirit moves me. (As opposed to my "Haiku Stickies," which I post every Tuesday.) I'm starting today with a stereograph from the Library of Congress website, to which I added an original haiku. I hope you enjoy it!










© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Please E.B., Bring Me Some Peeps!

Photo by Ben Golub

Tomorrow is the second biggest sugar-high holiday of the year! I'm not a big candy person, but I do love the occasional Peep.

Peeps® have been around nearly forever, but their fame has grown over the past dozen years, as has the number of different colored chicks, and other marshmallow holiday symbols, which are now available. For everything you could ever want to know about Peeps®, visit their official website. (There is some really annoying music on the opening page, but, you can click on the speaker icon to make it stop.)

I was pleased to see that I can now purchase a dark chocolate covered Peep--is that a dream come true or what?

Besides satisfying a sweet tooth, Peeps® inspire some creative thinking as can been seen from the entries in the 2010 Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest. There were more than 1,100 participants in the contest!

Other Peeps® inspired people have written "Peep Haiku," which can be viewed here. The site is the epitome of bad haiku. If you are a loyal reader of Random Noodling, you know I hate, hate, hate, the way the term "haiku" is slapped on any piece of "humorous" crap written in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. For the average internet user, haiku is one big joke. But, that aside, I admit to getting a chuckle or two out of some of the more cleverly done "Peep Haiku." I will not stoop to writing a 5-7-5 joke, but I did write a haiku that features a Peep.

Easter morning
...yellow sugar tickles
her upper lip

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

I wish a Happy Easter to those who celebrate it and a happy Spring day to all!

Poetry Friday--Easter Greetings!

I've been playing with illustrated haiku known as haiga, and a photo editing site, Picnik for several months now, but I'm making no claims of improvement! This week I found a cute photo (c. 1901) on the Library of Congress website and wrote a Easter poem to go with it. I had fun adding flowers and butterflies. Looking at the result, though, it appears to be more of a greeting card than an illustrated poem, so, consider this my Easter greeting to you!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Hop on over to Book Aunt for the Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Remember: moderation in everything--including chocolate bunnies and Peeps ®! Speaking of Peeps ®, come back tomorrow when I'll be celebrating the little marshmallow delights!