PROGRESSIVE POEM Each day during the month of April I will add a line to this poem.
WHAT IS POETRY?
Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind. --Thomas Babington Macaulay
Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind. --Thomas Babington Macaulay
It is finding the truth, no need to lie.
It's munching on watermelon and letting seeds fly.
It's a letter that comes with a card in the mail.
It's the lacy silver threads left by a garden snail.
It's daffodil trumpets covering the hill.
It's a deer at the creek, drinking her fill.
It's giggling and laughing and being absurd.
It's reading a haiku and feeling each word.
It's a dragon who blows flames, loud and hardy.
It's fairies in the garden having a tea party.
It's the sound of a truck shifting its gears.
It's the feel of two soft puppy dog ears.
It's a bright sun rise and glowing moon shine.
It's a Carolina wren singing in a Lob-lolly pine.
It's a snowman rolled on a cold winter morn.
It's crows calling from tall tasseled corn.
It's the whisper of hummingbird wings in the air.
It's plaits and curls tied with bows in my hair.
It's fairies in the garden having a tea party.
It's the sound of a truck shifting its gears.
It's the feel of two soft puppy dog ears.
It's a bright sun rise and glowing moon shine.
It's a Carolina wren singing in a Lob-lolly pine.
It's a snowman rolled on a cold winter morn.
It's crows calling from tall tasseled corn.
It's the whisper of hummingbird wings in the air.
It's plaits and curls tied with bows in my hair.
It's spying a bird feeding her young.
It's pink cotton candy that melts on your tongue.
It's watching black ants as they march by.
It's watching black ants as they march by.
On April 20, Poetry for Kids Joy celebrates the two year anniversary of posting a poem every day. Happy Birthday Blog. To help with the party, I'm going to give away an orange, size large, POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL t-shirt. If you'd like the opportunity to win this t-shirt, just leave your name in the comments below with a line about what poetry is to you. Be sure to leave your name so I can contact you if you are the winner. I will take entries from now until midnight between Friday and Saturday (Pacific Standard Time, April 20, 2013.) If you don't want this t-shirt, I bet it would be easy for you to turn it into a couch pillow. Please tell all your friends.
Hi, Joy, happy blog anniversary! Thanks for all your PFA/PFAMS promotion-- love the T-shirt!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Thanks Sylvia,
DeleteI love my copy of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL, and I love my t-shirt because it provides a nonverbal way for me to tell folks about the book. And it lets people ask me questions about the anthology without my having to bring the topic up. Plus, it is really comfy.
Love Macaulay's quote! (While it shouldn't have to be true - it probably is, ha!) Wow, two years of a poem a day...that's some kind of output. Congratulations on being a part of it, btw; it's an honor to know and to be able to correspond with so many of the contributors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matt,
DeleteMany of those poems still need polishing, but some of them are keepers. And if they help give others ideas, that is a wonderful blessing.
Yes, Happy Blog-iversary, Joy!
ReplyDeleteYour T-shirt design is great. (Couch pillow - ha! ;0) )
What Robyn, you don't want an orange pillow on your couch? Hope you have a great Poem in Your Pocket Day. I'm working with kids at my local library to help them make poetry pockets. And thanks to Janet Wong, I have a lovely sheet of four pocket poems from THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY that I can give to the kids.
DeleteThank you for spreading the word about poetry...and about Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell's terrific POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY. Happy blog anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI'm just as pleased as a puppy dog getting her ears scratched to be included in both anthologies with some of the greatest children's poets in the world.
DeleteWhat is poetry to me? Sometimes work, sometimes play...
ReplyDeleteexercise for the brain, nourishment for the soul...both a need and a want...one of the building blocks of life.
Cynthia,
DeleteThis reminds me of Bee Cullinan telling me, if poetry is what comes out of your pen, then that is what you must write. Often, I don't think I have a choice--nothing else seems as much fun.
Yes, poetry is one of the building blocks of life.
Joy, thanks for keeping poetry alive for kids (and adults as well) for two years on this blog site. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteWay to go Joy! Proud I am to know you. Thanks for all you do for poetry. What a joyful voice. Congratulations on your anniversary. That's quite an achievement!
ReplyDeleteDavid
David,
DeleteThank you for all your help in keeping me going and growing.
You are a true champion of poetry, Joy--we are all so lucky that you're blogging and sharing our work far and wide!!
ReplyDeleteJanet,
DeleteYou and Sylvia Vardell are the ones who have truly made a great addition to the realm of children's poetry.
Oh, I love those lacy silver snail threads and the crows on the corn! Wow! Off to share this on FB. Oh, and poetry means to me:
ReplyDeleteIt's the tongue of a kitten, sanding my arm.
It's a word-y amulet, a literary charm.
Thanks, Joy, and congratulations!
Thanks Laura,
DeleteI love that kitten. I can feel it and am thinking about her coat color. Isn't it wonderful how poetry can do that? It makes me want to purr.
Congratulations on your fabulous milestone! You've done an amazing job.
ReplyDeleteWhat poetry means to me? An opportunity to slow down to look and SEE.
Thank you, Diane,
DeleteYes, doesn't poetry help us to slow down so we can really see? I wish you were here so we could have a cup of tea and I could show you the view from my windows.
Congratulations on your blog birthday, and thank you for this poem! For me, poetry is a good friend who knows when I'm thinking...even when I don't. xo, a.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I've loved your art and the notes you've been sharing this month.
DeleteWhat a wonderful anniversary to celebrate! Congratulations! To me poetry means listening hard, looking closely, and trying to find a beautiful pattern in what sometimes seems chaotic. It is an oasis that makes everything else more meaningful. Thank you for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteJoy, Congrats!! When I write poetry, it's a time to take the language and play a happy game with it as I scramble and dance and squish and finagle the words around.
ReplyDeleteJoy,
ReplyDeletePoetry is emotions on paper.
Dear Joy - poetry to me is a way of living. It's about looking very closely at the world, listening, paying attention -- and sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this giveaway!