Featuring cherita!


April 15, 2011

Poetry Friday--Welcome to the Round-Up!

Photo by Jimmy Joe


Welcome poetry fans! Leave your links in the comments and I'll post them throughout the day. To start off, here's a short, original poem:
Theory of Evolution

Being female in America
means regular swipes
with a disposable razor
in an attempt to deny
any connection to
a lower form of primate.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Now let's get started with the Round-Up!

Kurious Kitty (a.k.a. me) is celebrating National Library Week with a library poem by William Stafford. KK's Kwotes has a library quote from Charles Simic.

My writing buddy, Sally, at The Write Sisters, is sharing a seasonal poem by New Hampshire's own Celia Thaxter.

Head "down under" where The Book Chook is chocky-block full of suggestions of book titles for National Poetry Month. (If you didn't know that chook is an Australian term for chicken, the page's banner makes it perfectly plain! Don't you love the way it sounds chickeny--book chook?)

At Write Time, Linda reviews Paul B. Janeczko's newest book for teachers, Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades. She says, "Paul teaches us how to engage our students and make personal connections. He also offers a broad selection of writing activities from a journal entry to imitating the poet by rewriting several lines of the poem to help readers internalize and make the poem their own."

Blythe Woolston has an original poem about "making" her daughter--quite stunning in its use of natural images! (By the way, Blythe, I work in a library and one of our users came into the library with a puffball he had found near his house. It was as big as a volleyball--dense, and full of delicious mushroomy scent. I had visions of slicing it and making it into grilled mushroom steaks.)

Mary Ann at Great Kid Books has a review of, and a sample from, Sharon Creech's novel-in-verse, Heartbeat. She also mentions a new book by Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again. (My children's librarian handed me that book the other day and told me I had to read it!)

April is busy today at Teaching Authors where she has a discussion of posting one's own work online. I like April's attitude, "to come to the world with open hands." We can see April put her thoughts into practice at her 2011 Poetry Month blog where we find "Hiking California," and we learn the story behind it. Who knew hiking could be so musical?

There's more dessert today at Jama Rattigan's 2011 Poetry Potluck! There we get to meet Toby Speed, her cat, Kashi, and learn about lighthouses, and kitefishing, through poetry. Toby shares a recipe for "mystery cake." The list of ingredients already has me drooling!

Tabatha takes us on a visit with the Beat poets, Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti. We're also told a story of Ginsberg as a gracious host... ;-)

Tanita shares her experiences with sixth graders and their collage poetry responses to her book, Mare's War. We have nothing to fear about the future of poetry! Great job sixth graders!

Poem #15 in Mary Lee's Poetry Month challenge is "I'm Your Mom." Mary Lee uses "mom" as a verb and gets away with it! Fun!

Heidi tells us she's more than ready for her upcoming vacation to Costa Rica, and, she shares Theodore Roethke's delightful poem, "The Sloth."

And speaking of Heidi Mordhurst, at Author Amok Laura is featuring Heidi as one of the Maryland poets she is celebrating this month! She also has a poem by writer and publisher, Mike Clark.

Another Laura, Laura Salas, sends us to GottaBook where her poem "How to Talk to a Girl," is being featured by Gregory K. This poem is a "found" poem. We all should be so lucky as to "find" a poem this good!

Madigan reviews a book that's right up my alley--Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw. I'll have to check it out!

At Hope is the Word we find a review of Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. The cover illustration is included in the review--the winged elephants on the cover, have me eager to get my hands on it! And the title--"Cousins of Clouds"--how very intriguing!

David, the dad of teen girls (you have my sympathy, LOL), has been tweeting haiku this month. He has his own mini-round-up of twit-ku here. You can follow him @delzey on Twitter.

Carol has been "planting the seeds of poetry" with first and second-graders. Ah, early elementary, still a cute and curious age... Head over to Carol's Corner and you'll find an imaginary dragon for sale for only $5.60!

Tricia, at The Miss Rumphius Effect, shares an Amy Lowell poem with these lovely lines, But the dazzle of moonlight/In the ink/Blinded me,/And I could only write/What I remembered. Tricia has been doing a bang up job in April gathering books of poetry for teachers and others who are interested in adding a little children's poetry to their lives.

LitLass shares poems by her 8-year-old, Tintin, at LitLad. It's nice to see that yesterday's "Poem in Your Pocket Day" saw poems in lunch bags, too!

At The Stenhouse Blog you'll find a thought-provoking poem, "In Every Life," by Alicia Ostriker. How about these lines: at times we are filled with sky/or with birds--aren't they great on a sunny April day?

Doraine reminds us of the power of poetry to transport readers back to the people and places they've loved, and, lost. The poem that did it for her this week was "Let Me Have That Red Dirt Road" by Kay M. Sanders, which she shares.

Ruth shares this concept, "happiness can be written about," through a poem by Edward Hirsch. She adds an original poem, "Mangoes," and makes me wish for a bowl of orange chunks of my own!

At Brimful Curiosities, we're challenged to read Ogden Nash's The Tale of Custard the Dragon with our kids, and to have them do their own illustrations. Sample illustrations are included!

Jeannine reviews a new novel-in-verse by Kim Marcus, Exposed. I've known Kim for many years and I'm happy to read Jeannine's positive review!

At Check It Out we find an admirable poem about writing a poem, and, it's by a fifth-grader by the name of Myranda!

And, at love2teach2day there is math poetry! Back in the stone ages when I went to school, there was no such thing. I'm so glad times have changed.

Karen has a poet new to me, Jonathan Potter, and shares links to a variety of things--nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Toby has photos of some very out-of-the-ordinary kites. I guess I'm out of the loop in the world of kites! These are giant and formed and fun! The photos are paired with "Kite" by Valerie Worth.

For those who are fans of J. Patrick Lewis' children's poetry, Elaine at Wild Rose Reader, brings us news of a collection of his poetry for adults, Gulls Hold Up the Sky. She also includes a Q & A with Lewis so that we can learn a little more about this accomplished poet. There is also an short video where we get to see a bunch of J. Patrick Lewis titles. I'm impressed!

NOTE: I'm was also impressed by the suggestion, by YouTube, of another video to view: Patrick Lewis Bodybuilder. It might be a good idea for bloggers to make sure the box that says "Include related videos" isn't checked. You never know what's going to show up! If you have a blog that also appeals to kids, you may not want to have them see film of a bodybuilding contest. Kids might mistake Patrick Lewis the bodybuilder for J. Patrick Lewis the poet. Oooo, now there's a subject for a poem!

Anastasia is busy today! There is a EduHaiku about the Civil War; at Chapter Book of the Day she introduces Another Jar of Tiny Stars, which is an updated version of A Jar of Tiny Stars; and, at Picture Book of the Day she features Six Sheep Sip Thick Shakes: And Other Tricky Tongue Twisters by Brian P. Cleary (the cover illustration by Steve Mack is so cute).

Gregory K. checks in with at GottaBook with "A Bat Cave: An Abecedarian Bedtime Chronicle" by Carole Boston Weatherford. He also features Heidi Mordhurst (click here) with "The Playroom Floor Writes a Novel," which is a poem in five chapters! Let's congratulate Gregory on his 30 Poets 30 Days April 2011 series!

At Blue Rose Girls, Elaine has an original memoir poem titled "Crocheting." I love this part: From a single strand/she creates a lacy island/where we will float/on a sea of soft green grass. Elaine can also be found with a song parody, "Guess Where Our Money Goes" at Political Verses.

Another verse novel being reviewed today is Verses by Holly Thompson, reviewed by Jennie at Biblio File.

Martha has several short book spine poems today. I love them! Especially the last one. (And, they're not as easy as they look!)

Straight from a poetry inspiring nature walk session with fourth-graders, Robin Hood Black has brought us "Spring"!

Well, poetry lovers, I hate to admit this, but it is 2:08 PM and I have yet to change out of "lounging attire." I'm off to do that now and head out on a few errands. I'll be back soon!

Julie has an original poem, "Parsimony" at The Drift Record. It was written, as an exercise, in the style of poet Todd Boss. ("Parsimony" is one of those words that in my mind conjure up a combination of matrimony and parsley. Make of that what you will.)

At The Poem Farm, Amy has food poems and a report from fourth-grade teacher, Melinda Harvey, who has been immersing her students in poetry. On a daily basis she shares poems with her students after which they have "a spirited conversation about anything from the topic of the poem to the poet's word choice." Melinda included some student poems in her report!

Carol Rasco from RIF reviews All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Katherine Tillotson.

Joyce at Musings includes a haibun (prose and haiku) and links Thoreau and Japanese haiku master Basho. Very nice.

The last of the Round-Up for today:

Judy at Learning To Let Go has a poem on a more serious note, "Belongings" by Michael Longley.

At Books, Dogs and Frogs, Sarah had some poetry fun with second-graders and shares a library acrostic they wrote together.

Andromeda has written a haibun about her son, Puck. In it, she asks, "Do you wonder why I call him Puck?" There's no doubt in my mind after seeing the sly smile on the boy in the photo. Oh, so, cute and puckish!

Marjorie takes us along on a haiku journey she and her son took together. "Little Brother" definitely has a poetic sensibility!

That's it for tonight, it's nearly 11:30 here and I'm exhausted! Thanks everyone for participating.

Good morning! I woke to a few more links. Better late than never!

dt. haase has a poignant haibun to share here. Take a look at some of the "lines" on the rest of the site. Nice.

Library Chicken reviews Scarum Fair by Jessica Swaim, illustrated by Carol Ashley.

46 comments:

  1. Hello Diane! Thanks so much for hosting Poetry Friday on this lovely day in the middle of April! I'd love to share a link to my review of Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech - it's a lovely novel in verse, perfect for the tween in your life.

    http://greatkidbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/heartbeat-by-sharon-creech-novel-in.html

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  2. Howdy, Diane--thanks for hosting! Your poem cracked me up--an interesting view of evolution!

    Over at TeachingAuthors.com today I'm discussing whether or not to post original poetry online, with comments by Greg Pincus,Janet Wong, and Liz Scanlon Garton...and posting an original poem in tribute to all the poets who are generously share their words with us.

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  3. Hi again, Diane...on my Poem-A-Day blog for Poetry Month, I've posted a poem about how I feel when I'm hiking, along with a poetry prompt:

    http://www.aprilwayland.com/poetry/blog/

    Thanks again for hosting!

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  4. Funny poem, Diane :D. I love bananas -- do you think that means anything?

    Today's Potluck special is Toby Speed's "The Kitefisher" plus some Mystery Cake:

    http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/530667.html

    Thanks for hosting today!

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  5. Thanks for the laugh, Diane!

    My offering today: http://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2011/04/high-wire-of-our-own-making.html

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  6. Hahahah! Oh, dear. I am now well reminded that April Showers Bring Shorts Season. Time to get out the weed-whacker...

    Ahem. Anyway, The Oakwood School sixth graders have written poetic responses to MARE'S WAR, and I'm sharing two from Emily and Claire S here.

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  7. You made me laugh two days in a row (I love Pearls Before Swine! "It's a Moray"...GROAN!!!) and now the theory of evolution comes to life in the SHOWER of all places! I'm with Tanita -- bring on the weed-whacker!!

    My poem today is the 15th poem-a-day I've written for National Poetry Month, and it goes out to all the teachers -- the substitute moms -- the daytime school year moms:

    http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2011/04/poem-15-and-poetry-friday-im-your-mom.html

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  8. Hi, Diane--

    I love Poetry Friday, but this does confirm an unspoken need for more comic relief of a Friday! My kids are fans--I'll be bringing them along today.

    I'm in with some Slothing around.

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  9. Good morning, Diane!

    I'm continuing my month of Maryland poets with (drum roll please)PF blogger Heidi Mordhorst!

    Heidi and poet Mike Clark both sent in pet poems. Heidi's "Griffin's Stomach Rumbles" is for cat lovers and Mike's "Rainbow Dog" looks at a so-ugly-he's-cute Pug. I have a related writing prompt for elementary schoolers.

    http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2011/04/national-poetry-month-issue-1415.html

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  10. Oh, Diane -- I have a soon-to-be teen daughter who is beginning to ask "to shave or not to shave." Loved your poem.

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  11. Hi Diane--Oh! I just showered and debated whether I needed to shave or not. It might rain/sleet/snow today, so I took the lazy--oops, I mean historically accurate--approach and said, Let it grow!

    I'm in with an original found poem of sorts, "How to Talk to a Girl," which is up at GottaBook:

    http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2011/04/laura-purdie-salas-how-to-talk-to-girl.html

    Thanks for hosting!

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  12. Hello!
    I have a review of Won Ton: A Cat Tale in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw. Don't let the title fool you, though... they are actually senryu poems - similar to haiku, but just a little sassier.

    http://www.madiganreads.com/2011/04/won-ton-review.html

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  13. I reviewed Tracie Vaughn Zimmer's Cousins of Clouds, a beautiful collection of elephant poems. Oh, and my post also includes a bit of elephant artwork done by my daughters and me. :-)

    http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2011/04/15/cousins-of-clouds-elephant-poems-by-tracie-vaughn-zimmer/

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  14. in this house my newly teen girls have announced that the act of shaving cannot be discussed aloud, not even if it's about my own face!

    it's a week two roundup of the thrice-daily twitter haiku over at my place today.

    http://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/poetryfriday-twitku-weektu-roundup-fu/

    and thanks for hosting!

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  15. I've spent the last two weeks writing poems with first and second graders. I'm sharing a little of their work today.
    http://carolwscorner.blogspot.com/2011/04/planting-seeds-of-poetry.html

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  16. Hi Diane,
    I'm in today with a poem by Amy Lowell called The Messenger. I've also rounded up the last week of Poetry in the Classroom posts.
    http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-friday-messenger.html

    Thanks for hosting!
    Tricia

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  17. Some poems by my 8-year-old: http://litlad.blogspot.com/2011/04/poem-in-your-pocket-day-2011.html

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  18. On The Stenhouse Blog we have In Every Life by Alicia Ostriker. Enjoy!

    http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2011/04/15/poetry-friday-in-every-life/

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  19. I remember the battle I had with my mom to get permission to start shaving my legs. I finally did it without her blessing. Oh, the rites of passage we endure.

    My poem for the week is here. http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-on-red-dirt-road.html

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  20. Thank you for hosting! Here's my post for today: here.

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  21. Thanks for hosting! This week for our poetry challenge my kids chose to read Odgen Nash's "The Tale of Custard the Dragon." Stop by to see their pictures of Custard drawn with a "mouth like a fireplace."

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  22. Hi, Diane, I laughed between your poem and its title!

    I wrote about Exposed, a new novel in verse by Kimberly Marcus at:
    http://jeannineatkins.livejournal.com/159368.html

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  23. Thank you for hosting. Here's mine: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/30days-30-students/

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  24. We're celebrating with some MATH poetry. Join us! ;)

    http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-month-celebrating-math-in-poetry.html

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  25. Thanks for hosting -- I'm in this week with a poem called "You and I" and it's here.

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  26. Hi, I have a review of Paul Janeczko's new book at Write Time. Thanks!

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  27. Diane,

    Thanks so much for doing the roundup this week!

    At Wild Rose Reader, I have a review of J. Patrick Lewis's first poetry collection for adults. It's titled "Gulls Hold Up the Sky." It includes poems that Pat wrote from 1983-2010. My post includes some poems from the collection--as well as a short Q&A with Pat.

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2011/04/gulls-hold-up-sky-collection-of-adult.html

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  28. Hi! My EduHaiku for today is about the Civil War http://wp.me/p1sZLR-1P and I have Another Jar of Tiny Stars at Chapter Book of the Day http://wp.me/pWySC-c4 and Six Sheep Sip Thick Shakes: And Other Tricky Tongue Twisters at Picture Book of the Day http://wp.me/pWySC-c4

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  29. Today, I've got Carole Boston Weatherford's A BAT CAVE: An Abecedarian Bedtime Chronicle AND Heidi Mordhorst's The Playroom Floor Writes a Novel up for 30 Poets/30 Days. The whole week's been poetry rich, so I hope y'all check it out. And thanks for hosting, Diane!

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  30. At Blue Rose Girls, I have an original memoir poem titled "Crocheting."

    http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2011/04/still-having-blogger-problems-its-so.html

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  31. Thank you so much for hosting! I'm in today with a review of the verse novel Orchards:

    http://www.jenrothschild.com/2011/04/national-poetry-month-orchards.html

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  32. At Political Verses, I have a song parody about the Fed bailout of the wealthy titled "Guess Where Our Money Goes?"

    http://politicalverses.blogspot.com/2011/04/guess-where-our-money-goes-song-parody.html

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  33. Hi Diane,

    Your poem is great! I'm in with some book spine poems, having been inspired by others in the blogosphere -- and by the books themselves, calling to me from the shelves. Thanks for hosting!
    http://marthacalderaro.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/show-some-spine/

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  34. Thank you for hosting, Diane! Great poem. Today I've got a classic from Gerard Manley Hopkins, plus a picture of this morning's nature walk/poem safari with fourth-graders.

    http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm?post=785568

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  35. Late in the day as usual with my Poetry Friday post! (How is it possible that Fridays come now at the rate of two or three times a week? Could it be old age?) Over at The Drift Record I have an original poem titled "Parsimony," worked in the style of an interesting poet named Todd Boss.

    Thanks for hosting, Diane.

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  36. I will now think about you and this poem when I'm in the shower, Diane! Thank you! Hee hee...

    Over at The Poem Farm, I revisit a few food poems and welcome a fourth grade class's take on "Poetry Immersion."

    http://poemfarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-friday-peek-food-poems.html

    Thank you for hosting...Happy PF!

    A.

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  37. I'm not sharing anything but my gratitude for a hosting job well-done. Thanks for giving Poetry Friday a Tax-Day home, and for your spot-on "Theory of Evolution."

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  38. Thank you for hosting on this spring day and a beautiful one in DC! I have featured ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD at http://bit.ly/ep0aIo.

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  39. Diane, thanks for hosting and carefully commenting on each post. It will take a while to read through all the offerings! My haibun and a bit about my recent Thoreau Meets Basho workshop is up on Musings http//:joyceray.blogspot.com

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  40. My offering is a rather serious one today:
    http://happycatholic.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/poetry-friday-belongings-by-michael-longley/

    Thanks for hosting!

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  41. I tried to post this morning and I think it got eaten. I posted on a fun poetry day at the library.
    http://booksdogsandfrogs.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/poetry-day/
    hopefully this works,
    Sarah

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  42. Thanks for hosting Diane! I am coming in late to share my daily haibun. I'm writing one a day all month. It's quite a challenge!

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  43. :-) I love it - your poem has made me laugh! Thanks for hosting. I've just made it - "today" is already over in the UK - phew!

    I'm in with a haiku journey I made with my just-10-year-old son - http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/poetry-friday-a-haiku-journey/

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  44. Love that you love chickeny-bookchook! Playing with words is probably the main reason poetry gives me so much pleasure.

    Thanks for including my post - great line-up!

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  45. not yet midnight in my neck of the woods - here's another:

    http://dthaase-lines.blogspot.com/2011/04/haibun-x-haiga-iii.html

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  46. I read another Cybils Poetry Finalist books -- http://libraryfrog.blogspot.com/2011/04/dangerous-ear-worm-scarum-fair.html.

    I always miss poetry Friday since I post at night, before bed. The perils of being an amateur.

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