haiku

a grasshopper leaps
on the gravel road again
lost in the distance


     It has been a good week for finding money on my walks.  On four of my morning walks I've found coins.  This morning I found a bright copper penny.  Only four more pennies and I will have a quarter.  Can you figure out what coins I found on the other three mornings?
     I always feel like it is a lucky day when I find money.  Can you write a poem today about what makes a lucky day for you?

THE DAY AFTER

I ate turkey,
I ate yams,
I ate cranberries,
biscuits and jams.

I ate stuffing,
pumpkin and apple pies
I'm stuffed all the way
up to my eyes.

I ate so much
on Thanksgiving Day.
I'm starting a diet
as of today.


    Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  There is a lot to be thankful for, isn't there?  I hope you have a great weekend writing.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today I'll eat turkey
for Thanksgiving Day.
I'll see my cousins
and we'll get to play.

And if I'm good
after I've eaten my fill,
Uncle says he'll take us
to sled down his hill.


    I hope you have a happy holiday, and for my friends outside the us, thank you for being a part of my holiday.  I'm so gateful to have so many readers and encouraging friends who like poetry.  I appreciate you.  Blessings.  Have fun writing your own poems.

MY CASTLE

A pen is a castle
where I want to be
writing so wild
so daring
and free.

Yes, give me a pen
that I may write
happy all day
and into
the night.

    Now it is your turn, pick up your pen, your pencil or use a keyboard, and write.  Where would you like your writing to take you?  What adventure would you like to have?  Dream!  And then write your poem.  Have fun.

Dream Poem

I woke up this morning
from a fanciful dream.
Where I directed a musical
beside a forest stream.

Everyone was singing
a light, happy song,
even the cats and dogs
and the birds sang along.

Everyone was smiling
the skies were full of cheer
the music was so pleasant,
we all paused to hear.


    What do you think the folks in my dream were singing about?  What do you think they were wearing?  It did make for a delightful dream.  You should have heard the frogs.  Your challenge for today is to write your own dream poem.  Have fun.

GOOD MORNING

Wouldn't it be wonderful
to wake each morning from dreams
of an enchanted forest
and gossamer faerie queens.

To rise from a candyland playground
filled with peppermint slides,
where animals speak your language
and hummingbirds give you rides.

I'm certain this would be delightful
to wake up, what would you say?
It's sure to put a smile on your face
at the start of each new day.


    Wow!  I had a crazy dream last night and I'm thinking about writing some dream poems.  Did you have a dream last night?  Can you write a poem today about a dream?  Have fun writing and thinking about dreams.

SUN

after two days of rain
shines in dew drops
crystals
reflecting
blue mountains
white clouds
purple finch
and gold finch
at the bird feeder.

     It is a beautiful sunny day today.  Everything feels green and growing.  I'm going to take a walk this morning and go out to greet some poetry.  Can you take a walk today to find your own poem?

    My friend Linda Andersen has a fun Mother Goose contest and book give away on her blog at A Writer's Playground.  Since today is Mother Goose Day, you might enjoy this.  Who is your favorite Mother Goose character?  Can you write a poem about one character?

haiku

splashes on the roof

rain gushes out the downspout

radio plays jazz

  It has been strange for me to see so much rain.  I'm sure all the dry river beds are filling with water.  It is a perfect day for staying inside and watching basketball or football games on TV.  Can you try writing your own haiku today?  Have fun what ever you do.

haiku

round November moon

darts in and out of rain clouds

hot, fresh pumpkin pie

     Can you believe it?  We are having rain!  All last night I was gently lulled by the rare sound of rain drops.  I had to get up and write.  I was busy last night working on some haiku.  I re-read Rebecca Rust's classic book, THE OUTSIDE OF A HAIKU, (copyright 1984.)  It reminded me of the Zen, the oneness of the images in haiku.  Your challenge for today is to try writing your own haiku for the holiday.  

      I would have included a picture of the pumpkin pie, but we had some for breakfast and it is no longer round, so it didn't look right.

     Poetry Friday is hosted today at Write, Sketch, Repeat.  Follow the link for more poetry and Thanksgiving fun.  Thanks to Katya Czaja for hosting us all today.

Turkey Writes a Good Bye Note

Good bye, Mama

I'm flying away

I hope to hide

till after

Thanksgiving Day.

 
     This is the first verse to a longer poem with many verses.  It is a persona poem written in the voice of a turkey.  Now, why would a turkey want to leave home for the holiday?  Your poetry challenge for today is to write the next verse.  Who would the turkey send a shout out to next?  Where would he go?

   I took this picture of the turkeys in Franconia, NH when I attended a poetry workshop at The Frost Place.  It is a lovely place to learn more about poetry.

November

Now is the time 
Our family 
Visits my Uncle 
Eddie and Aunt 
Mary and 
Both of my cousins. We all
Eat turkey and
Remember to be thankful. 


     I had fun playing with this acrostic.  At first I had trouble with the vowels and the crazy V, but then I reminded myself this is a poem and it doesn't have to be truthful.  I have tons of uncles, but not an Uncle Eddie.  I guess I could have had an Aunt Edna and an Uncle Marty.  So now it is your turn, can you write an acrostic for some Thanksgiving item, or something from this month?  Have fun writing poetry.

LATCH KEY

Around my neck
on a greying shoelace
rides my house key.

You call me Latch Key
and your lip curls
like I'm a wet dog
you don't want in your living room.

I must go straight home.
Can't make after-school plans.
Can't have friends over.
Can't go out.

I surely can't go over to your house
because I'd never be able
to return the invitation.

So I do my homework,
read a book,
color and wait
for someone
to come home.


     What do you do after school?  Do you have sports--tennis, soccer, swimming?  Do you have meetings like boy scouts or brownies, or girl scouts?  Do you have music lessons or some other activity?  For today's poetry challenge can you write a poem about what you do after school.  This is a free verse poem.  It doesn't rhyme.  You can make your poem in a form or free verse.  It's your choice.  I've also used a simile in this poem.  Can you find it?  Just have fun writing.

BEING CAT

If I were a cat
I know what I'd do
I curl in your lap
and purr for you.


    Today's poem came because I was reading a poem posted today by US children's poet laureate Kenn Nesbitt.
    His poem starts: If I had a dollar/ I know what I'd do...  and as I reread the lines, I thought, hey, I've written a poem with those same words.  And the more I thought about the lines, the more I knew these lines would make a good outline for lots of poems.  My previous poem was about a dog, so I tried again with a cat.  The poem above is what came out.  But what would happen if you used a bird?

If I were a goldfinch,
I know what I'd do,
I'd sit at the feeder
and sing songs to you.

     Or what happens if I try another animal?

If I were an elephant
living in the zoo
I'd share half my peanuts
and give them to you.

        I could also try a holiday, this is what I ended with for the Fourth of July.
If I were an American flag
I know what I'd do
I'd wave for freedom
in red, white and blue.


    Would the basic pattern work for professions?

If I were my teacher
I know what I'd do.
I'd make recess last all day.
How about you? 

 So now it is your turn.  Think of an animal, an object, or an event, and write your own poem.

If I were (fill in the blank.)
I know what I'd do.
I'd ______________________
____________________ with you.

    Give it a try and see if you have fun.  You are welcome to leave your poems in the comments below.  Have fun playing with this.

Aliens Are Coming

The aliens have landed.
they're full of laughter and mirth.
They're changing up the colors
for a more colorful earth.

I can't tell my mother.
I won't tell my dad
for to mention these aliens
they'll both say I am bad

To be telling these lies
and making these stories up.
But the aliens are in my backyard
because tall pink grass is growing up.


     See, I'm still working on poems about colors.  Crazy.  But I put my pen to paper and this is what comes out.  Put your pen to paper today and see what comes out.  Let your imagination run where ever it wants to skip.  Nothing has to be real or factual.  See where your penning takes you.  Have a happy Sunday writing your own poem.

THE POEM I WANT TO WRITE

chasing room to room
you are the good idea 
I want to set free.


      It is a busy Saturday.  I need to take a walk to clear my brain.  It is an exciting time for me.  I can actually feel myself growing as a poet, but unless I do the work and write the poems down, they will be lost in the ether.  So here is another little haiku.

collected pennies
gone from our Mason jar
a Happy Thanksgiving


     Go for your own walk today and see if it stirs some poetry for you.  It was by walking that Basho, the father of modern haiku, wrote his poems.  So try it and see what you come up with. Or, see what comes to you.   Have a great weekend writing.

THANKSGIVING COLORS

After Bill Martin, Jr.

                  The seasons are changing

It's November, you see.

And I'm wondering,

Where will you be?

Olives, Black Olives.

Where will you be?

I'll be in the relish dish

beside your turkey.

Cranberry, Red Cranberry.

Where will you be?

I'll be the sauce

beside your turkey.

Corn, Yellow Corn.

Where will you be?

I'll be the side dish

for your turkey.

Potato, White Potato.

Where will you be?

I'll be mashed potatoes

for your turkey.

Lettuce, Green Lettuce.

Where will you be?

I'll be a salad

for your turkey.

Beets, Purple Beets.

Where will you be?

I'll be the vegetable

for your turkey.

Berry, Blueberry

Where will you be?

I'll be the biscuit jam

for your turkey.

Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin.

Where will you be?

I'll be the pumpkin pie

for your turkey.

Turkey, Brown Turkey.

Where will you be?

I'll be Thanksgiving dinner

for the whole family.

     Since it is getting close to Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to write a color poem for all the foods of the Thanksgiving dinner.  This poem could be done in two voices. (There are several ways you could divide up the parts.)  With very young children they could draw the pictures and make a classroom book. Children could pick a color and write their own verses.  There are lots of foods I didn't use celery, yams, gravy, stuffing, carrots, and onions to name a few.  So, your challenge for today is to write your own food poem.  Have fun writing.

    Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Jama Rattigan on her blog Alphabet Soup.  You can find more poetry here.  Thanks Jama for hosting us.  My foodie poem is for you.

THE DESERT IS CALLING

Saguaros reach with arms in the air.
Paddles turn purple on the Prickly Pear.

Golden Barrels grow more golden spines 
and red flames on the Ocotillos look fine.

Morings are rosy, get out of bed.
Evenings come in a purple red.

In between the skies are a brilliant blue.
The desert is calling,
                           calling,
                                 calling 
                                       to you.


 What is it like where you live?  What changes do you see as the seasons change and the weather gets colder?  Can you write a poem about that today?

  As it starts to get colder here, we have more birds at the birdfeeder.  More snakes trying to keep warm in the road--bad idea, they get run over by cars.  And more creatures (scorpions and tarantulas) who think my warm house is the best place to be--wrong!  Snakes, and scorpions and tarantulas, oh my!
I hope you have a fun time reading and writing poetry today.

A grasshopper sat on my window
staring with his big eye.
I watched, and watched.
I waited and waited,
thinking he would fly.

But the grasshopper sat with patience
while the wind went rushing by,
and he turned his head to stare at me
him with the great big eye.

I looked at him,
he looked at me
as I wondered how long
he would be 
sitting there on my still.

Then with a nod
and what looked like a smile
he opened closed wings
and flew off, all the while
I watched him float
over a distant hill.

And I wondered if he felt
like he'd wasted his time.
I was certain he hadn't
wasted mine.

     Grasshoppers are interesting creatures to watch even when they are flying.  Can you write a list poem today about all the things that fly?  Let your imagination soar and I'm sure you will have a fun list.  Enjoy writing.

A spider wove
an elegant web
then dangled down
by a single thread.

The wind blew,
he started to sway
and then the spider
drifted away.

I'd like to be that spider
dangling by a thread
but I think that if I tried it
I'd surely bump my head.


     Is Autumn a time for spiders in your part of the world?  I've been watching a spider weave a web today.  I know the web won't last, or for that matter the spider won't last long either.  But, it is something magical to watch.  Can you write your own poem about something you've watched today?  Hmmm, this gets me thinking about the loose thread on a sweater button worn by my friend.  I've been wondering for some time now how long the thread will dangle there before someone grabs it and off comes the button.  Oh, I can feel a poem brewing.  Do you ever get that feeling?  Hope you have fun writing.

WHILE EATING CUSTARD PIE

Little cat swung
on a crescent moon
singing a jolly,
happy tune.
She sang low,
she sang high
to the stars
in the moonlit sky.

     I went to sleep last night thinking about this poem.  Originally the poem was an excuse to use the line while eating custard pie. But as the night wore on, I rewrote the poem to a Halloween poem with pumpkin pie, and this morning in a brilliant job of editing, I got rid of the pie. (How can you sing and eat pie at the same time?  It is like eating crackers and trying to whistle.) So then I rearranged the lines and ended up with an a-a, b-b rhyming pattern.  I did try a,b, a, b, but I didn't like that as well.  I could have used longer (fewer) lines, but I like these shorter lines for early readers.  You could make the argument that my rhyme scheme now is a, b, c, b for two stanzas, but I'll hold with the idea that what I really have here is rhyming couplets.  I have this theory that most rhyming children's poetry is written in couplets and the a,b,a,b pattern is really a couplet with internal rhyme.  Any comments?
       Your poetry challenge is to write a poem about an animal in the sky. (A Rhino in the sky with diamonds, maybe.)  Have fun writing. 

YELLOW SQUASH

Yellow Squash, 
Yellow Squash,
What can you be?
I am a vegetable 
to go with your turkey.

    I've been working on some poems with color words lately.  This is one of the seasonal poems. Can you try writing a poem about your favorite color today?  Have fun writing and exploring colors.  For a fun twist what happens if you mix up the colors, so you have a green sun, a blue elephant, a red banana?  What is the craziest mix-up you can think of?

haiku

tarantula hawk
circles the Palo Verde
fiery red sunset


     This haiku probably needs some translation.  The picture shows  a tarantula hawk wasp.  Lately, in the evening they have been gathering around my Palo Verde tree.  This is a tree with green bark and very tiny little leaves.  The leaves are small so the tree doesn't lose a lot of water.  The trunk and stems of the tree are green so the tree can use them for photosynthesis.  I think this is the only tree that uses it stems to photosynthesize.  So the wasps sit in the trees and the red sun sets in the sky. Can you imagine that picture?
    Can you write your own haiku today?  I used the traditional American 5-7-5 for my haiku, but you don't have to do that.  Experiment.  Have fun.

MY SIPPY CUP

I sit up here
in my high chair
and watch the dog
sleeping there.

I drink my milk
from my sippy cup.
I drink it down
                                UP.
                           UP
then toss the cup


And it falls
          DOWN
                   DOWN
and wakes the dog.

My sippy cup
does not spill, 
does not break.

But then my mom
knows to make
me more milk
in my blue sippy cup.


     Today's poem is for a very young audience.  I want to credit Tom Pearson for the inspiration.  Can you try writing your own poem today for a very young person?.  You might want to try observing a baby before you write.  Watch what the baby does.  I had a physical education teacher tell me once she brought her baby to school and had the football players duplicate the baby's movements for five minutes.  At the end of that time the football players (in prime physical condition) were exhausted.  Having been a mom to a young baby, I know they are constantly on the move and can be quite tiring.  Maybe we should write a poem thanking moms instead.  Have a great weekend.

      Today is the Poetry Friday Roundup.     Diane Mayr at RANDOM NOODLING   is hosting the party.  Thank you.
You can find more poetry at the party.

MY DENTIST

I like my dentist.
He's really cool.
He shows me how
to use his dental tools.

His irrigator sprays water
like my squirt gun.
It tickles my teeth
and massages my gums.

To suck up water
he uses an evacuator.
It's a little loud
like an old elevator.

It dries my teeth,
so he can see
if there is calculus
growing on me.

The fun part is
when he lets me play.
I use the irrigator
making it spray,
and at the same time
the evacuator
sucks water away.

Watching the water
dancing in air,
at my dentist's office,
I giggle being there.


     Do you like your dentist?  Or are you afraid to go to the doctor?  Does your doctor or dentist give you stickers or prizes for being a good patient?  Have you ever gotten to play with the tools?  Have you asked?  Some of the tools have fun names.  You might enjoy learning some of the names.  Can you write a poem for your health care provider today?

WEDNESDAY

It's the middle of my week,
neither up or down.
I think I'll sing,
Happy Hump Day
all over town.

I'll sing and be happy
as I go on my way.
Welcoming strangers
on this Camel Day.

    Hey, it is Wednesday.  Have you ever heard it called camel day, or hump day?  What are some other names for the days of the week?  Have you heard of TGIF? Or wash day?  How about movie night?  Or church day?  Pay day is another.  Do you have a math day or poetry day at your school?  Can you try writing a poem about one of the special days at your school?  Have fun writing.

AIRPLANES

I like to ride in airplanes
high up in clouded skies
to watch the farm lands
far below like stripes
on Grandpa's ties.

   Sorry I'm running so late today.  Can you guess what I've been doing?  What did you do today?  Can you write a poem to tell me about it?  Have fun writing.

THE ROOSTER'S CROW

I woke up 
this morning
to a
COCK-a-DOODLE-doo,
and I'm wondering
what wakes
YOU?

   This morning I awoke to the cock's crow.  For a moment, I didn't know where I was, or what I was doing.  Then I remembered, I'm on the island of Kauai.  There are lots of wild chickens here and so this is how the people here wake up --to a rooster crow.
   Do you know there is a name for a poem that is about greeting the morning?    It is called an aubade.
    When I'm in Tucson, I often wake up to the sound of coyotes singing.  When I was in Vermont, I'd wake up to the sound of snow plows running in the streets.
     So, here is my question for you today.  What wakes you up?  Do you have an alarm clock that goes beep-beep-beep?  Or does Mom or Dad come to wake you from your sleep?  Do you hear the shower in the bathroom, or the pots and pans in the kitchen?
Do you hear the trash trucks rumbling down your street?  What are the sounds you hear when you first wake from your sleep?  Can you write your own aubade today?

haiku

a cattle egret
flies across purple skylight
a journal page turns

    Happy Sunday.  Did your clock fall back for day-light savings time last night?  Did you get an extra hour of sleep?  It is something we all need. 
    I'm in a State that doesn't observe day-ling savings.  This morning when I woke up the skies were just becoming light and I was treated to the sight of a white long-legged bird flying past.  Today starts a new day, what will you write in your journal?  Can you try writing your own haiku today?  I used the traditional American 5-7-5 pattern for mine, what will you use? 

MY TELEPHONE

My telephone
is really scared,
afraid he'll make
a mistake.
He hates to text
or make a sound,
all he does is
S H A K E.
 

     Happy Saturday.  I started to work on a second verse for this poem, but after I got it written, I felt like it was a bad joke that carries on when the teller doesn't trust that you've gotten the punch line the first time.  So, I got rid of that verse and will save it for a second poem.  Have you found that you sometimes do that too?  You push a poem too hard and carry it on past the point when the poem is done?  What do you do when that happens.  Lot's of poems I read would be better as two poems. 
So here is your task today--write a little poem.  Start close.  Is there something in your pocket you can write about?  Is there something you are wearing?  I have a tiny band-aid on my arm from where I got my flu shot.  Maybe you can write about a freckle a scar or a mole.  Do you have a blister?  There are lots of possibilities if you start close.  Have a great day writing your poem and if you'd like to share it in the comments, I'd love to read it.