Featuring cherita!


October 16, 2015

Poetry Friday--A Ku-do and More

Last week I posted a number of workplace haiku, this week I'm posting one more. This one is illustrated and is part of my Ku-dos to Emily project, in which I write haiku inspired by Dickinson's poems and then illustrate them. I haven't posted a ku-do since April, so maybe it's time to get going on the project again.


597.9 is the Dewey classification number for reptiles. The Garter snake in the picture is one that was in a patch of daylilies outside the library a few years back. It was about 2 feet long. But, as the haiku suggests, "more than one" snake has visited us--we've had several Eastern Hognose snakes INSIDE the library! I have no idea why or how they came to be inside, but we carefully moved them out. They were only pencil-sized, but some people don't seem to appreciate snakes in the library no matter how cute and tiny! It turns out, Eastern Hognose snakes are endangered.

I've written snake haiku before--everything is fair game for haiku--and other poems about snakes, too!

May 2009

street fair
...the snake's pattern
arresting


June 2010 (Snake isn't mentioned, but it is what inspired me to write the following, which I originally illustrated, but requires more work before being ready to post.)

out for a walk
the women's chatter
suddenly stops


November 2013 (Ekphrastic poem.)

Mr. Klimt's Garden

Hens like little soldiers patrol
its path always on the lookout
for a weevil to swallow whole.

Or a snake. Chuck, chuck,
chuck, chuck
. They strut plucking
at weeds between the daisies.

They look up at the towering
hollyhocks, ignorant to the fact
that spores of rust are in the wind.

One day soon the gardener
will tear out the infected plants
and the hens will be soup.


March 2014 (One of my "rant" poems!)


Poems and haiga © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Amy at The Poem Farm will be playing host to the Poetry Friday Round-Up. Please stop by!


19 comments:

  1. Oh, I think those snakes and their call numbers are grand in the library! You make me think about a few weeks ago, when I was teaching a class in a library, and a chipmunk darted by. The whole world became about that little guy for a moment, and we got him out. So funny! My husband, a science teacher, has a class snake, and when it gets out...they work to find him very quickly. :) This ku-dos project is so cool. Happy Poetry Friday! xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amy! The Ku-dos project is ongoing, so stop by again.

      Delete
  2. There is something so arresting about a snake. I enjoyed your smorgasbord of snake poems today. I'm glad you were able to get the wee endangered ones out of the library safely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who would have thought snakes could even make their way into a library?

      Delete
  3. Snakes in the library! I admit I would find even the tiny ones scary. Love your snake-y poems, and the Dickinson one is new to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They move really fast, so, I imagine they'd be out of sight before you even had time to get scared!

      Delete
  4. Love that you connected to the Dewey Decimal System-delightful, Diane. I've never had a snake in my house, but birds & squirrels more than once. I love your words about stopping the ladies' chatter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Linda! Dewey still lives in my library, although some libraries are moving to other systems like BISAC (in my opinion just substituting one complex system for another). Is NAT028000 really going to be better than 597.9?

      Delete
  5. I think Dewey would make a good name for that snake,no? I really liked Mr. Klimt's Garden, but such a sad ending. C'est la vie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's really sad is that Klimt's painting, "Garden Path with Chickens" was destroyed by the Nazis!

      Delete
    2. I believe it was burned. I found the picture online, then I read about it and nearly cried.

      Delete
  6. A library poem about snakes! Love it. Kids may just remember where to find there favorite animal group after reading this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kids are fascinated by snakes, but most of them don't like to get too close!

      Delete
  7. Your Ku-do made me snort!

    I'm remembering a school library aid with such a phobia of snakes that she couldn't handle books with snake pictures on the cover and would call me in to help her when she had to prep them for circulation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our nonfiction cataloger has a similiar response to incoming snake books!

      Delete
  8. I love this. Makes one wonder if there are snakes beyond 579.9.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love these, Diane! Grey found a baby Eastern Milk Snake the other day, but it was too tiny & quick for me to catch. I love snakes, but even I wouldn't want one in the library!

    ReplyDelete