Poetry Friday--What Was In Your Mailbox?

Was your mailbox full of Valentines yesterday? I hope so!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I posted another Valentine's Day haiga on Sunday. If you missed it, click here.

Yesterday, the Cybils Awards were announced. I was part of the judging team for the Poetry Award. I'm happy to say that the winner is BookSpeak! by Laura Purdie Salas (illustrations by Josée Bisaillon)! What a nice gift in her virtual mailbox!

For me, the whimsy in BookSpeak! really stood out. Who would have thought someone would write a poem from the point of view of an index? Certainly not me, but, it worked! And, it just might get a kid to pick up a book, and for once, notice an index!

Coupled with the book's illustration and design, the poems are just plain fun! Here's an example:

Cliffhanger

I'm on a cliff--
far down I see
sharp rocks jut out,
waves wait for me.

I feel the edge
beneath my toe.
It's crumbling from
the harsh wind's blow.

Is this the end?

This breath my last?

Please, author, write
a sequel fast!

Congratulations, Laura!

For the Round-Up this week, head over to TeacherDance.

Haiku Sticky #188

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

This is definitely a senryu, since it deals primarily with human nature, although a natural event, a nor'easter, is the impetus for the pre-storm irrationality--"Gotta make sure we have bread and milk."

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--"Horizon"

I love the possibilities presented by this poem by Billy Collins:

Horizon

You can use the brush of a Japanese monk
or a pencil stub from a race track.

As long as you draw the line a third
the way up from the bottom of the page,

the effect is the same: the world suddenly
divided into its elemental realms.

A moment ago there was only a piece of paper.
Now there is earth and sky, sky and sea.

You were sitting alone in a small room.
Now you are walking in the heat of a vast desert

or standing on the ledge of a winter beach
watching the light on the water, light in the air.

From The Art of Drowning.

Do me a favor--get a blank piece of paper and draw a line a third the way up from the bottom of the page. Imagine it's a horizon and write a poem!

Here's mine:

It's Raining Worms! Hallelujah!

After a spring shower
leaves earthworms
on the horizon, the
ant looks up and wonders,
for just a moment,
about the sky above.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I'd love to see your poem or a link shared in the comments!

The Poetry Friday Round-Up is happening at A Teaching Life.

Photo by WhatiMom.

Haiku Sticky #187

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--Evolving

Since I live in the southern part of New Hampshire, my NPR station of choice is WBUR in Boston. Last week, novelist Anita Diamant wrote a great opinion piece for WBUR's online feature, "Cognoscenti: Thinking that Matters." One of the memorable quotes from the piece is this, "I found a different voice but will always turn to poetry in order to slow down, drink deep and word up."

In "Poetry in Motion: The Classic Form Isn't Dead, It's Evolving," Diamant talks about how the inaugural poet is a fairly recent, and inconsistently included, feature of presidential inaugurations. Diamant also speaks of Richard Blanco, the young poet who read his poem, "One Today," last week.

Here's an interview with Blanco from PBS:



"In a word, unity." Great word, Mr. Blanco!

"I was doing it for me." Great reason to write, too!

The extension of the interview in which Blanco reads a poem about the Miss America pageant is here:



I smiled through the whole poem! I think Richard Blanco is a poet I'll need to read more of!

Diamant mentioned that she subscribes to "Poem-A-Day," a daily email service from the Academy of American Poets. It's a great way to be introduced to poets old and new, you may want to subscribe, too.

Teaching Authors is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up this week.