Haiku Sticky #199

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

The forsythia are a little late this year, but they sure make up for it with their brilliance! I'd prefer "an abundance," but those extra two letters make the phrase not fit on one line--one of the limitations of the Superstickies program is you can't fiddle with font size.

NPM Ekphrastic Poem #5

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "Take One" by Gilbert Gaul courtesy The Athenaeum. Click on image to enlarge.

Although the painting "Take One," by American artist, [William] Gilbert Gaul, painted circa 1881, is full of flowers, the feeling I get from the painting is more dark. I thought perhaps there was a storm coming. I wrote the poem as it appears here, using the title as my launching pad. After I had finished it, I decided to research a little (I know--a backwards way of doing things). I was off from one thing to the next and spent several hours (sort of like I did with last week's ekphrastic poem) skipping around cyberspace.

First I tried to figure out where, and what time of year, the scene took place. Gaul lived in the New York/New Jersey area for a good part of his life, so, that seemed like a good fit. I looked at the flowers pictured. Purple iris blooms in the spring (I have photos of irises that I took in late spring here in NH, so you have to figure they would bloom a few weeks earlier in the NY area). At first I thought the white flowers might be lilacs, since they also bloom around that time. But, I dismissed them, since the white flowerheads shown are more ball-like than lilac flowerheads, and the branches seem to be long and supple. The larger lilacs I've seen have tough, woody branches without much bend to them. So I googled around looking for other round flowers that grow on bushes. Hydrangeas were dismissed--the leaves and branches were all wrong. Then I found the Chinese Snowball, which is a type of Viburnum. A description I found online seemed to fit the bill--blooms in April-May, has round flowers, grows to be a large bush. The most amazing thing I found was this, "The flowers are sterile on the shrub so it won't produce fruit." That made it fit perfectly with what I had written nor are the seeds food.

So, my setting is New Jersey in early May. Then I went looking for weather-related things. I used as a search term, "weather in 1881," and damn if I didn't find a New York Times article from December 31, 1881, titled "The Weather of a Decade: The Temperature of 1881 as Compared With Other Years." And here's the first sentence, "The weather of 1881 has been peculiar..." Peculiar in that there were massive thunderstorms in May? Perhaps...

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--Tanka

For today, a tanka. I had been working on another poem that sort of went bust--it just didn't make sense. Sometimes those things happen. Rather than pursue it further, I used the thorns that were supposed to be meaningful in the first poem (and weren't), and put them into this tanka. If nothing else, it's very green!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Laura Purdie Salas is the host for the last Round-Up of National Poetry Month. Hurry over!

Progressing...

The Progressive Poem was conceived of by Irene Latham, instituted during last year's National Poetry Month, and now can be officially called "an annual event." This year's poem began on April 1 at The Poem Farm.

Today, I'm contributing my line to the 2013 Progressive Poem, and the pressure is on! My job is to write the first line of the concluding stanza. What direction should it go? Perhaps it's time to bring in the other member of the poetry team--the reader?

When you listen to your footsteps
the words become music and
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.
Your pen starts dancing across the page
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until
smiling, you’re beguiling as your love comes shining through.

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers
of the words, one dancer to another, saying
Listen, that’s our cue! Mind your meter. Find your rhyme.
Ignore the trepidation while you jitterbug and jive.
Arm in arm, toe to toe, words begin to wiggle and flow
as your heart starts singing let your mind keep swinging

from life’s trapeze, like a clown on the breeze.
Swinging upside down, throw and catch new sounds–
Take a risk, try a trick; break a sweat: safety net?
Don’t check! You’re soaring and exploring,
dangle high, blood rush; spiral down, crowd hush–
limb-by-line-by-limb envision, pyramidic penned precision.

And if you should topple, if you should flop
if your meter takes a beating; your rhyme runs out of steam—
know this tumbling and fumbling is all part of the act,
so get up with a flourish. Your pencil’s still intact.
Snap those synapses! Feel the pulsing through your pen
Commit, measure by measure, to the coda’s cadence.

You've got them now--in the palm of your hand!

I hope I've left it ambiguous enough for our next poet, Robyn Hood Black. Take it away, Robyn!

Here's the complete list of participants:

April
1 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
2 Joy Acey
3 Matt Forrest Esenwine
4 Jone MacCulloch
5 Doraine Bennett
6 Gayle Krause
7 Janet Fagal
8 Julie Larios
9 Carrie Finison
10 Linda Baie
11 Margaret Simon
12 Linda Kulp
13 Catherine Johnson
14 Heidi Mordhorst
15 Mary Lee Hahn
16 Liz Steinglass
17 Renee LaTulippe
18 Penny Klostermann
19 Irene Latham
20 Buffy Silverman
21 Tabatha Yeatts
22 Laura Shovan
23 Joanna Marple
24 Katya Czaja
25 Diane Mayr--you are HERE!
26 Robyn Hood Black
27 Ruth Hersey
28 Laura Purdie Salas
29 Denise Mortensen
30 April Halprin Wayland

If you'd like to read last year's Progressive Poem, click here.

1875 circus poster courtesy Library of Congress.

Haiku Sticky #198

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

NPM Ekphrastic Poem #4

Click on the image to make it larger. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Painting by Maurice Prendergast (1895) courtesy The Athenaeum.

The artist, Maurice Prendergast was raised near Boston, and many of his works depict Boston area locales. I'm not sure what circus this painting represents, but a quick search showed me that the McCart's Circus was in Boston in December, 1894, and the Ringling Bros. Circus was in Boston in June, 1895. A little more research showed me that a man who had been born in Lowell, MA, George W. Hall, moved to Wisconsin and became a circus owner, his wife and children also were circus people. With George's help, his son Charles, started his own circus, and his sister Jessie's husband, performer Frank McCart, traveled with Charles' circus. Charles' circus also was known as a "Grand Railroad Show." I didn't spend a lot of time looking for an answer to my question, "was the circus that came to Boston in 1894, the Grand Railroad Show?" Anyway, I think it's possible that the circus performers painted by Prendergast were those in the Hall/McCart troupe who had come east to dad's old stomping grounds. Who knows? I didn't use any of this found information in my poem, however, I simply imagined the girl in the tutu had run away with the circus!

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 1892 lithograph courtesy Library of Congress.

Happy Haiga Day on a Saturday!

There's no need to explain this!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

With warm thoughts for people in the Boston area who've come through a harrowing week.

Poetry Friday--"The Wish to Be Generous"

It's been a sad week, especially for those of us who live in the Boston area. Boston has always been a city full of life, but how quickly that changed on Monday. I don't wish to dwell on the subject, I just want to offer, and to take, comfort from this poem by Wendell Berry:

The Wish to Be Generous

All that I serve will die, all my delights,
the flesh kindled from my flesh, garden and field,
the silent lilies standing in the woods,
the woods, the hill, the whole earth, all
will burn in man's evil, or dwindle
in its own age. Let the world bring on me
the sleep of darkness without stars, so I may know
my little light taken from me into the seed
of the beginning and the end, so I may bow
to mystery, and take my stand on the earth
like a tree in a field, passing without haste
or regret toward what will be, my life
a patient willing descent into the grass.

Irene Latham is this week's host of the Round-Up. Visit her at Live Your Poem...

Photo by Edward S. Curtis courtesy Library of Congress.

Haiku Sticky #197

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

At the end of the race, goodness and justice will be victorious. My thoughts are with the victims of yesterday's savage act, and for us all.

NPM Ekphrastic Poem #3

Please click on the image to view it larger.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "The Flower Arranger" by Mary Bradish Titcomb, courtesy The Athenaeum.

Like Ricky Ricardo, I've got a little 'splainin' to do with this one! First, about the artist: Mary Bradish Titcomb was born 1858 in Windham, NH, the town in which I work. I wrote a profile of Titcomb for Women of the Granite State from Apprentice Shop Books, so I have some information about her. She is a relatively unknown American impressionist, who once sold a painting to President Woodrow Wilson. "Portrait of Geraldine J." still hangs in the Woodrow Wilson House in Washington, D. C.

At age 17, Mary started teaching school in Windham. After her mother died in 1885, Mary moved to the Boston area and taught art and took classes. One of her teachers was the famous painter, Edmund C. Tarbell.

By the time Mary left Windham, she was already considered a spinster, and, she never married. I don't know if she was single by choice or by lack of a suitable soulmate, but, I know she would never have been able to teach, or later paint full-time, if she had married. (Rather surprisingly, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that women in some parts of the country could teach after they married!) I think you can see why I chose the voice I did for "The Arrangement."

Photo courtesy Wildflower Center Slide Library.
Another bit of explanation: Apocynum androsaemifolium is commonly known as Spreading dogbane (and is also known as Bitterroot). It grows in most of the U.S. and is found around here. The reason I chose it is because it has delicate, pale pink flowers and attracts butterflies, but, it's toxic and its fibrous stems can be used to make rope. You could consider it a plant that would harm or tie one down! (Have I ever mentioned HOW MUCH I LOVE THE INTERNET?)

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--The Round-Up Is Here!

Last Friday I shared a few baseball haiku. The following poem I originally wrote in June 2008. Like my baseball haiku, it has less to do with the game of baseball than with the ballpark experience.

Minor League Ballpark

With insulated bag
across his shoulder
he leans against
the boards
twirling
tossing
frozen lemonade cups
his slightly abrasive
patter targets only
those who know
a sense
of thirst
or guilt.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

This photo, taken at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL, in 2009, is good advice for spectators and poets alike!

Photo © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Okay! Are we ready for the Poetry Friday Round-Up? Let's (metaphorically) play ball!

Leave links to your posts in the comments and I will gather them here.

I'll start with my two other blogs, Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet, and KK's Kwotes. At Kurious Kitty we look at the delightful new book by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Forest Has a Song. KK has a quote by Elana Aguilar.

The first to post a comment was Charles Ghigna who has an original poem called "Rain." We've had a bit of rain around here lately--cold, cold, cold and unpleasant, but Charles poem recalls summer rain, and I, too, "like sleeping when it rains."

At Author Amok, Laura has April Halprin Wayland to show us the website, RhymeWeaver, for today's TechnoVerse post. We also meet RhymeWeaver's creator. I'm hoping to learn how to write better rhyme and meter!

Mrs. Merrill has an brief conversation with a first-grader who foolishly expects Mrs. Merrill to grow up one day!

My friend Laura Salas has been showing us video poem prompts for NPM. Today's video incorporated "Sing a Song of Cities," by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Make sure you catch all of Laura's Video Poem Starters! They're amazing!

Tara shares a poem by Mary Oliver, "Spring in the Classroom." I've got a bad case of spring fever myself, so I can really relate!

"An Unexpected Visitor" is the subject and title of an original poem by Bridget Magee. Visitors are one of the "perks" of living in the desert!

Over at Reflections on the Teche, Margaret has information about the ghazel, and an original called "...writing bad poetry." I don't know about you, but Margaret's skin tone doesn't seem blue to me!

Liz Steinglass asks "Why Haiku?" today. To which I say, "why not?" I am so pleased to see that Liz has found out that haiku are not defined by lines and syllables!

Matt Forrest Esenwine is more than ready for spring with an original poem called "Lost Spring." Hope you feel better, Matt!

There's a book give-a-way going on 1000 Poems where Vikram has two signed copies of The Bubble Collector. Check out the book trailer--it's more enjoyable than a poke in the eye!

Robyn Hood Black has a poem by Eileen Spinelli, "Today." Robyn also reports that last week's Poetry Friday Round-Up is lost in cyberspace! What's up with that?

Linda at Teacher Dance has two original poems in the style of French Lais. If, like me, you don't know what a French Lai is, be sure to stop by!

Wow, here's something new--a poem about a lobster boat name! At Mainely Write, that's what you'll find as part of Donna's A to Z challenge.

I want to take a moment to apologize for the delay in getting this post up this morning. Every little thing that could go wrong did! But, things are moving along now! I have to stop for breakfast, be back in a few...

Myra at Gathering Books shares a "Flying Crooked" by Robert Graves. It's a poem about butterflies! It's not quite butterfly time here, yet, but one can hope.

Violet Nesdoly has an original for us today, "adolescent spring." It has introduced me to a hornbeam. I don't believe I've ever come across that name before. It sounds more like a dual device on the front of a car!

Lorie Ann Grover at On Point shares the news of Zondervan's new imprint, Blink, and, Lorie is playing a role! How exciting! Lorie also has a poem about stories between blinks of an eye!

Dia Calhoun knows how to win me over--she has a poem about a cat--"Little Comfort."

I must say, though, I'm not too pleased with my little cat, Smudgie, right now. She has herself planted on my left wrist on my keyboard!

Joy Acey is busy, busy today at Poetry for Kids Joy. She adds a line to her progressive poem, and shows how one of her poems, "Keys," is part of the Poetry Friday Anthology offering for "Poem in Your Pocket" Day (April 18). (You'll also recognize the poets' names on the other poem pockets!) And there's more...

At readertotz, Lorie and Joan have a smile-inducing video with Elmo and Melissa McCarthy. Yeah, Baby!

A Jon Agee poem, "High Jump," is featured at GottaBook. Gregory K. has a NPM that's chocky-block full! Look for The 14 Fibs of Gregory K., due to be released in October!

I'm sitting here at the keyboard and my fingers are getting stiff with cold. What? It's April 12! Then I checked my email:

Winter weather advisory now in effect from 8 am this morning to 2 am edt Saturday,
Locations, southern New Hampshire.
Hazard types, snow and sleet mixing with rain, with some pockets of freezing rain possible.
Accumulations, snow accumulation of up to 1 inch, along with around a trace of ice.

It's a good thing I'm staying home today to host the Round-Up! Now, where are those fingerless gloves...

My friend Tabatha Yeatts has a slew of poetry-related tees that is sure to make everyone want to go out and buy one (or create one).

"One Week to Freedom" at The Drawer! Sounds like a full sail ahead!

David Elzey explains his participation in "Pulitzer Remix," a month-long project where poets use a Pulitzer Prize-winning work of fiction as the basis for creating found poetry. He, along with 85 other poets are writing a poem a day. A prize for all the participants should be in order!

At Reading to the Core Catherine shares Y. B. Yeats' "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," which puts her in mind of a Maine cabin in which she made many happy memories. I hope Catherine, and all teachers, find their upcoming spring break to be just that--a break!

Heidi Mordhurst's 2013 NPM project is the 30days30words collaborative, a crowd-sourced poem, which is constructed on a word-a-day basis. Each day is a surprise!

I always find Mary Lee to be an inspiration, but today, she is inspiring us with a sound "like a rainbow in the clear sky." Go see what it's all about!

Tamera has triple-header for us today. I'll let her describe it all:

First, at The Writer’s Whimsy, I’m featuring parody poems, including a short prompt and an original poem called Parrot! Parrot! Parody: Mockingbird of poetry.

Second: Who knew that Rumpelstiltskin was a poet? To see for yourself, check out my interview featuring Liesl Shurtliff , author of newly-released RUMP: THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN. Liesl shares one of the poems from RUMP, and is giving away a copy this wonderful book!

Third: I discovered another poet character among a recent debut MG release. Her name is Ratchet and she writes poetry in THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET by Nancy J. Cavanaugh. To see a poem from Ratchet’s journal, visit Smack Dab Blog to read my interview with Nancy.

Julie Larios shares James Merrill's poem, "Cloud Country." A whole lot of whirling going on! And, if you check out her post from the 8th, Julie goes into a little detail about the inner workings of the 2013 Progressive Poem.

Maria's thoughtful student suggested using Wonderopolis for Poetry Friday. Since I'd never heard of it, I thought I'd check it out quickly. Whoa! I can see there's going to be no quickly about it! Find out how Maria uses Wonderopolis at Teaching in the 21st Century!

Linda at Write Time has added the 12th line to the 2013 Progressive Poem. The poem has been dancing, but, now, it's singing! (I have to wait until the 25th to add my line!)

Here it is, nearly 11:30 AM, and I've only just made it through the links posted overnight! Now on to the ones that were posted this morning! (I see another cup of coffee coming my way...)

Head over to The Poem Farm where Amy has been sketching madly (I love all the little notes that surround her drawings). She also has been gifted (is gifted a legitimate word?) by a group of second grade poets (look for the caterpillar's contribution).

Carol is writing aruns today. (I hate to get off track, but I once had an Arun in preschool storyhour and one day he had a bout of projectile vomiting--all over me! I'll never see arun without thinking of Arun, who is now probably in his late 20s!) Back to poetic aruns--Carol's Corner has two originals to share today.

Ruth has a lovely (no exaggeration) original poem, "Purple Flowers in a Field, July 19th, 2012," here. She also has a mini-round-up of her daily NPM posts.

At Orange Marmalade we're told of a book that will give us "that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y feeling." Curious? Hurry over to see! (And, Jill wrote to say that yesterday Minneapolis got 5" of snow--say it ain't so! It's probably heading straight this way!)

Third grade cinquains have figuratively flown in from around the world. See what I'm talking about at Check It Out, where Jone is sharing student poetry all month long.

Andi, another haiku aficionado, shares another in her series of daily haiga (illustrated haiku) at A Wrung Sponge. Today's is an April rain piece.

Bildungsroman is the place to visit for an introduction to Sarah Kay's B. There's a link to a Ted video where you can see/listen to Kay's poetry.

I guess you can say Keri is in with an ripple effect poem today, "Bees are a Few of My Favorite Things." She was inspired by Laura Salas's poem "Bs are a Few of My Favorite Things," which was inspired by the song from Sound of Music!

MotherReader has a video of John Green and Hank Green's "Evening of Awesome" performance at Carnegie Hall. What a treat!

I never said this was a G-rated site, so here goes--Michelle H. Barnes, a former blog virgin, has now been "P-flowered," (P for poetry) with the launch of her new poetry blog, Today's Little Ditty. WELCOME MICHELLE!


By starlite, via Wikimedia Commons.

Dori Reads celebrates a "sudden line of poetry" by sharing "The Secret" by Denise Levertov.

Remember that old breath mint commercial, "two, two, two mints in one"? Elaine, at Wild Rose Reader has "two, two, two poems in one." I kid you not!

And for those of you who are too young to remember the commercial, here it is--through the wonders of YouTube:



For today, Anastasia Suen, has an original poem, "Spring Swing" about the scizophrenic nature of spring. Anastasia also notes: "At STEM Friday Roberta is looking for STEM Poetry books today." [Note for Anastasia: I couldn't leave a comment because I kept getting this message: "ERROR: That reCAPTCHA response was incorrect." There was no reCAPTCHA box to fill in!]

At Books4Learning, you'll find a review of Douglas Florian's Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings.

Kerry Aradhya has a poem by Justine Rowden, "Curtsy," a delightful combination of dance and cherry blossoms. Kerry also promises a review of Rowden's Paint Me a Poem: Poems Inspired by Masterpieces of Art, to be coming soon.

Cathy at Merely Day By Day is day 12 into her NPM 30 Day Challenge. Today she writes about balance.

(A little editorial comment here: balance is hard when you're sitting on life's seesaw with an elephant on the other end! Some days that's just the way the playground goes. Try your best, but don't sweat it too much!)

Here's our last link for the Round-Up: Janet Squires looks at Rhyme & Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay written by Brian P. Cleary and illustrated by J.P. Sandy. Sounds like a book with lots of appeal!

I am officially off-duty. Since I didn't work today, I'll be working a Saturday shift at the library, so, if any additional links come in, I hope they come in before 8:30 when I leave for work. Have a great weekend everyone!

Okay, technically it was 11:29 pm when he commented, so Ed DeCaria did make it in time for Poetry Friday. Here's what he has going on at his blog: "I comment on the growing pains associated with the 2013 March Madness Poetry tournament, and share some ideas for the future. All are invited to comment." So, if you participated as a poet, or as a voter, or, if you have no idea what it was all about and would like to know, click here.

It's Almost Poetry Friday!

The Round-Up will be here. You're invited to post your links tonight. I know there are some of you who need to hurry off to work in the morning, so posting your link tonight will give you a little more time for coffee! I'm taking the day off from work to devote myself to poetry-loving bloggers and readers--I'm also planning on having several cups of coffee!

Haiku Sticky #196

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

NPM Ekphrastic Poem #2

I don't usually write rhyming poems, and for good reason, I don't do it well, and I don't, except in a children's book, like reading it. That's because of all the bad rhyme that gets published--sing-songy and boring--the direction this poem is heading. Come back next week for a rhyme-free #3. ;-)

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "Zoological Garden I" by August Macke, courtesy The Athenaeum. Click here to see the painting enlarged and to see the parrot's top hat, which probably isn't a top hat.

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--Baseball Season Haiku

The Red Sox will be back at Fenway on Monday! And, due to the horrible past few seasons, this year, we may be able to get tickets for a game (we can hope).

I'm not a rabid fan, but I am convinced that baseball is THE American game. I know for a fact that I have written more baseball haiku than on any other sport! The only other one that comes close is fishing (and I don't fish). I did write one about the World Cup a few years ago, but it didn't come from inspiration, it was an assigned topic. I digress...

To celebrate the opening of the 2013 MLB season, I'm going to share a few of my baseball haiku (some have been posted before).

This first one was written back in 2009 on a visit to Florida. Back then it was easier to get tickets at an away game than it was to get tickets for a home game in Boston. In Florida, it seemed that more than half the spectators wore Red Sox jerseys! This photo was from before the game, still, the Red Sox red clearly beats out the Tampa Bay Rays blue!

Tropicana Field
...Red Sox Nation
old, but loud

In 2009 I also went to a number of New Hampshire Fisher Cats games, resulting in these:

national anthem
sung out of tune
--minor league game






home team
wears pink jerseys
--mother's day

minor league game
between batters
Pachelbel's Canon

seventh inning stretch
all around me not one
voice in tune





Who would have guessed there was so much music at minor league ballparks?

This photo was taken before a game in Fenway Park back in 2010:

Another Fenway poem from the bleachers. It's like a giant party up there, and since it's so high up, it's easy to lose track of what's going on on the field!

here comes the wave
--bleachers miss
the double play

And from a Fisher Cats game in 2010:

rain delay
only the cheapskates
stick around

2011 and 2012 Red Sox tickets were still difficult to obtain, but they were playing lousy ball, so we didn't think it was worth pursuing them. As I said, maybe this year we can head down to Boston. I've got "Sweet Caroline" running through my head right now. This is just what it feels like up in the bleachers:



I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of my favorite haiku anthologies: Baseball Haiku: American and Japanese Haiku and Senryu on Baseball, edited by Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura (W. W. Norton, 2007). I urge you to look for it if you're at all interested in haiku.

Visit my haiku-loving friend, Robyn Hood Black, for the Round-Up today. Next week, I'll be hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up right here! I think I'll post a short baseball poem that's not a haiku, and is not really about baseball, so come back!

All haiku and photos © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

New York Times Haikus

Yes, the New York Times refers to more than one haiku as haikus. Plus, they use a computer to write them. Ah well. Times Haiku: Serendipitous Poetry from The New York Times.

Not every haiku our computer finds is a good one.

You can say that again!

Happy National Poetry Month from the NY Times--it's too bad they can't present us with some real poetry.

Haiku Sticky #195

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

April Is National Poetry Month!

NPM poster courtesy Poets.org.


April can be the cruelest month with its variations in weather and temperature, but, it is also National Poetry Month--a cause for celebration! There are many mini-celebrations taking place this month in the blogosphere. Laura Salas is posting a short video "poem starter" each day. Heidi Mordhorst is hosting the writing of a group poem, word by word. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong are promoting their marvelous Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School with videos of some of the poems. On the 23rd, I'll be doing a guest post for Laura Shovan's exploration of technology and poetry, TechnoVerse, and, on the 25th, I'll be adding to the progressive poem that Irene Latham will have going. This is the second year she's run this cooperative venture.

Jama Rattigan has collected and posted links to these and more. There's certainly, as Sylvia Vardell has referred to it, a "poetry-palooza" happening this April!

I wasn't planning on doing anything special for NPM, but I've been shamed into it by all the ambitious and creative projects that have been proposed. So, I've decided to post an ekphrastic poem each week (five in all). Look for them on Mondays. The first one is today, and it's definitely meant to be taken as a comment on teenage drama queens.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "Young Girl Holding a Loose Bouquet" by Mary Cassett, courtesy The Athenaeum. Click on the image to enlarge.