© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
August 30, 2011
August 28, 2011
August 26, 2011
Poetry Friday--Hurricanes
With Irene expected to visit us sometime this weekend, I thought I'd share one of the poems I wrote for an unfinished book on the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. (The working title was Wild Winds and Whopping Waves: Poems of the Hurricane of 1938.)
At that time, there hadn't been a New England hurricane in many, many generations. There was no advance warning like we have today with satellite tracking, so the east coast of the U.S. was totally unprepared. The resulting death and destruction was unlike anything before. It was horrific.
Needless to say, the poems were mostly grim, so I put the project away. That was back in 2003, and in rereading them, I believe it was a good decision. However, this one's not too depressing:
Casting CallToday's Poetry Round-Up is being hosted by Irene Latham. Check it out then go lock away your lawn furniture. Keep safe.
I had heard that MGM
was making a movie
of the Wizard of Oz,
starring Judy Garland.
I reread the book, but
I couldn’t see Judy
in the role of Dorothy.
Never in my wildest dreams
would I have imagined
myself in the role,
but today, when the wind
lifted my house
and threw its pieces
into the bay.
I had visions of me
learning to sing
and heading out
to Hollywood.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
August 23, 2011
Haiku Sticky #111
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
The haiku above was written in response to the news that the dog whose picture has been stuck to neighborhood telephone poles for the past month, was found! See last Friday's post. Yes, it is a little melodramatic, but it's the way I imagined the reunion.
This one goes along with the boy in Friday's haibun.
teacher bemused
by a change in the boy
...lost dog found
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
August 21, 2011
August 19, 2011
Poetry Friday--"Please Call"
Several weeks ago I looked at the website objets perdus and suggested several poetry prompts. This week I'm pondering animaux perdus.
There has been an abundance of "lost pet" signs around lately. I don't know if the pets have all had it and have walked out on a relationship that wasn't working for them, or, if they simply were out for a little joy run. I hope it is the latter and the pets have been reunited with their families.
There has been a lost dog sign on a telephone pole in front of my house for more than a month. When I pass it, I wonder about the dog named Licorice. It has inspired me to write a haibun, a combination of prose and haiku:
This week, the Poetry Friday Round-Up is hosted by Dori Reads. Be sure to visit!
There has been an abundance of "lost pet" signs around lately. I don't know if the pets have all had it and have walked out on a relationship that wasn't working for them, or, if they simply were out for a little joy run. I hope it is the latter and the pets have been reunited with their families.
There has been a lost dog sign on a telephone pole in front of my house for more than a month. When I pass it, I wonder about the dog named Licorice. It has inspired me to write a haibun, a combination of prose and haiku:
Please Call
The lost dog sign is fading. One, two, three weeks gone by. Is he still lost? Has he been reunited with his loving family? Why aren't these signs ever taken down?
September...
the boy at the bus stop
dares not speak
This week, the Poetry Friday Round-Up is hosted by Dori Reads. Be sure to visit!
August 18, 2011
15 Words or Less
Over at Laura Salas' blog today, I wrote my 15 Words or Less Challenge contribution and then started fiddling with it. The fiddled version didn't work in the comments, so I decided to post it here if anyone was interested.
NASA Photos
Can't compare to
the wondrous
starry lights
discovered by a
child rubbing
tightly shut eyes.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
August 16, 2011
August 14, 2011
August 12, 2011
Poetry Friday--Poetry Slam!
The 2011 National Poetry Slam is taking place just down the road a piece in Cambridge and Boston, MA. It began on Tuesday and ends tomorrow at the The Berklee Performance Center.
Slam poetry isn't going to appeal to everyone--it's performance poetry that is generally loud and angry, or it rends the heart and leaves the listener feeling drained. It's not your grandpa's idea of poetry.
If you wish to learn more about it, the best way to do that is through watching/listening.
Go to YouTube and type "poetry slam" or "slam poetry" into the search box and settle in for an hour or so of dynamic poetry (or even more since you'll end up with about 22,000 results).
If you're more of a book person, look for The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation edited by Mark Eleveld (Sourcebooks, 2005). It's a brief introduction to slam poetry and it comes with an audio disk.
Here's a completely different kind of slam poem:
Karen Edmisten is the host for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
Slam poetry isn't going to appeal to everyone--it's performance poetry that is generally loud and angry, or it rends the heart and leaves the listener feeling drained. It's not your grandpa's idea of poetry.
If you wish to learn more about it, the best way to do that is through watching/listening.
Go to YouTube and type "poetry slam" or "slam poetry" into the search box and settle in for an hour or so of dynamic poetry (or even more since you'll end up with about 22,000 results).
If you're more of a book person, look for The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation edited by Mark Eleveld (Sourcebooks, 2005). It's a brief introduction to slam poetry and it comes with an audio disk.
Here's a completely different kind of slam poem:
Slam Poem
The cats no longer try
to go in that room.
The door has been
slammed in their furry
little faces one too
many times. The thing
of it is--these felines
were smart enough to
learn their lesson.
Me? I'm still trying
to figure out why
I don't have whiskers.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Karen Edmisten is the host for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
August 9, 2011
August 7, 2011
August 5, 2011
Poetry Friday--Poetry Is
I recently read an article titled, "The Poetics of History from Below." In it, the author quoted Ann Lauterbach: "Poetry is the aversion to the assertion of power. Poetry is that which resists dominance."
Interesting quote. I read it as meaning poetry is a political statement--be it the politics of a two-person relationship, the politics of society, or everything in between. Did you read it differently?
Many have attempted to define poetry. Here's the Dictionary.com definition:
po·et·ry
[poh-i-tree]
–noun
1. the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
Here is a sampling of "Poetry is" quotes from poets themselves:
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Poetry: the best words in the best order.
Rita Dove
Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.
Paul Engle
Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words.
Robert Frost had several interesting definitions.
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.
Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.
J. Patrick Lewis
Poetry is the tunnel at the end of the light.
Marianne Moore
Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.
Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.
Sandburg, Carl
Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.
William Wordsworth
Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.
Here's my definition: poetry is a story told without the clutter.
Everyone must come up with his or her own definition of poetry. What's yours?
If you're not sure what poetry is, I'm sure you'll have a better idea after you visit the other Poetry Friday postings rounded up by Libby at A Year of Literacy Coaching!
Photo by pindec.
