SLEEP,

Sleep,
the gift of fairies,
let's us dream,
gives us melodies,
tells us stories,
writes our poems.
Even just a word
is a small hope
for our future.

   If you had a dream, what would it be?  Can you write a poem today about your dream?  Have fun dreaming.


Love is the spirit that motivates the artist's journey.  Eric Maisel 

ELEPHANT WALK

The elephant walks,
thunk, Thunk, THUNK!
With big, flapping ears
and a long gray trunk.

   This is an action rhyme.  Can you walk three steps with heavy feet making the thunk, Thunk, THUNK? Can you use your hands to flap big ears?  Can you make a long trunk using your arms?  Sometimes it is fun to walk like the animals.  For your poetry challenge for today, can you pick an animal and write your own poem about how that animal moves? For more elephant activities check here.
   How about a sloth?

Creep, Cr-e-e-p, cr-e-e-e-p,
a sloth moves through the trees.
He steps 
so slowly
he barely 
s-h-a-k-e-s 
the leaves.

Your poems can inspire others.

  

MY READING NOOK

Today I'm leaving home.
I may travel to Botany Bay
Africa or old Cathay.
I might go to Rome.
I can venture far
while in my favorite nook,
as I read the pages
of this story book.

   Setting is the location a story takes place in. You can travel any where in a book.  The place where you read is also a setting.  Where do you like to read?  At the beach? At your desk?  On your bed?  Under your covers?  Do you have a favorite tree you like to lean against, or a favorite rock you like to sit on while you read?  I have always wanted my very own window seat to sit in while I read (and write.) Your poetry challenge for today is to write a poem about the place you'd like to be in to read your books.  Use your imagination to describe your special place.  Have fun writing.

Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity.  Marie von Ebner-Eschenback, 1905

LOVE

All I know
is love is hidden
around us everywhere.

And if you take
the time to look
you'll see someone who cares.

DREAMING

My step-father
on his fourth wife
would grab my mom
and waltz her
around the kitchen.

He'd sing to Mom,
"I don't know why
I love you like I do,"

My sister and I
would join the singing,
"I don't know why,
 I just do."

All the while
we'd dream of stars
in their eyes
and the happy ending.

LOVE POEM

I don't know why
a caterpillar turns
into a butterfly.

Or why the black comma
of a polliwog
turns into a frog.

All I know
is beauty can come, unexpectedly,
from the most unusual places
like love.

Which is why
I'm writing
this poem
for you. 

   I don't know why, but love poems are hard for me to write.  If I set out to write one, I always feel like I'm blocked.  So many poems have been written about love, that it is hard for me to find something new to write about, or maybe it is just hard for me to expose my feelings.  I don't know.  All I know is when poetry contests have a category for "love poems," I always pass and skip to the next category.  Your poetry challenge for today is to write a poem about all the things you love.  I doesn't have to rhyme.  Try to use all of your senses in the list.  Do you like school, or summer vacation?  What is about vacation that you love?  Have fun making your list.  If you'd like to share, leave your list in the comments below.  Just remember this is a site intended for children and I will censor anything I deem inappropriate for children under 13 years of age.

Earth's the right place for love: I don't know where it's likely to go better.  Robert Frost, "Birches," 1916.

RAINBOWS

 All it takes is light
for rainbows to delight.
Bending light rays, so bright.
Prism refracted, it's a sight. 

Rainbows are in the air.
They are everywhere.
You may not see them.
But they are there.

And although there 
aren't rainbows at night.
You can make one
with a flash light.

   We had a rainbow appear the other morning. I was surprised because we hadn't had rain, just a lot of humidity.  And it got me to thinking about rainbows.  How we don't always see the rainbows, but as long as there are light waves, there is a rainbow.  Can you try writing your own rainbow poem today?  When was the last time you saw one?  Where were you?  What were you doing?  How did it make you feel?  What would you do if you had a rainbow in your pocket?  Have fun writing.

 

I want to be free; rainbow round my shoulder, wings on my feet.  Old folk song quoted in Wings on My Feet, Howard W. Odum, 1929

HOT TIME

Rinky-dinky doo
the animals at the zoo
are eating popsicles 
and a snow cone.
Trying to stay cool
and they're not alone.

KISSING FROGS

copyright 2015, Joy Acey

I am one happy frog.
I like sitting in my bog,
eating bugs and flies
as I watch the days go by.

However, I confess
my life would be a mess
if I were made to kiss
the lips of a princess.

 Do you know the fairy tale about the Princess and the Frog?  What would happen if all the frogs were getting kissed by little girls who wanted to find a prince? What is your favorite fairy tale?  Can you take a fairy tale, turn it on it's ear and then write a poem about it?  Have fun being wild and crazy.  Happy writing.

I cannot get out of my head a fairy-tale of olden times.--Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)



The Poetry Friday Round Up is hosted this week by Heidi Mordhorst on her blog My Juicy Little Universe.  Thanks, Heidi.  She has a delicious poem about going back to school titled, No Not Yet, with lots of fun word play.  Check out her poem and lots of other fun poetry on her blog.

BEACH DANCE

You may say I'm waltzing
to the music of the band.
I say I'm dashing to the shore
over hot beach sand.
OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!

   It is time for a beach poem.  Can you write about what you like about going to the beach, the shore, the lake, where ever you enjoy water sports? Have fun writing today.

Summer is a great time for children's poetry. 

THE DANCER

Play the music,
   her toes tap
her heels click.
She bends her knees
for a gentle kick,
   first left
   then right.
Her hips sway.
She does a twist
   at her waist.
Her arms reach
   out then up.
Her shoulders drop
   and she moves
   to find her groove.
She's dancing
   free and wild,
making the music her own
   and the best
is her smile
   I want to embrace
as she dances
   to her music.

   Have you ever listened to music that made you want to get up and dance?  Have you been to a concert where everyone sat in their assigned seats and then someone got up to dance in the aisle?  Have you watched a toddler dance to music?  What happens to keep us from enjoying music like a baby?  Your poetry challenge for today is to write a poem about how music makes you feel.  Pick whose voice you want to write your poem in and have fun dancing words on your paper.

Dance with me, dance with me under the moonlight.

MY FRIEND

I have a friend
who plays with me.
He comes on sunny days.

But if the skies
are gray or dark
my friend will stay away.

I think he is
attached to me.
He's stuck on to my feet.

He doesn't venture
far away. He hides
beneath my seat.

Sometimes I see him
on the wall, and when
I move my arms.

He turns into animals
the kinds you find
on farms.  

Can you guess 
who my friend is,
he doesn't wear a halo?

He's dark and black, 
and looks like me
because he is my shadow.

  When was the last time you looked at your shadow?  Did you play games with your shadow?  Can you try writing your own riddle poem or one about your shadow?  Have fun writing.

Children's poets nab the best words.

MY POEM

A tisket, a tasket,
a poem fell 
from my basket.
The one I wanted
to post today
and now it's floated
far away.

  If you had an imaginary basket, what would you put in it, or what would you find in it?  Oh, I can see a story starting about a magic basket.  Can you write a poem about your basket today?  Have fun thinking about magic baskets.  Happy Saturday.

Children's poetry puts magic in our lives.

SKIPPING ALONG

Poem A

Skipping along
dropping lines
on my way.
It's the reason
I'm late
with my poem
today.


Poem B

Skipping along
tossing words
in the air.
I'm writing a poem
with my usual flair.

  Which do you like better, Poem A, or Poem B? Please leave your vote in the comments below. I got a card in the mail today from my friend Juanita Hoffman.  In the card she used the phrase "skipping along."  I knew it had to be in a poem.  Normally, I avoid using gerunds (those ing words) in poems, but I liked the sound of skipping, and then I had to follow that one with another gerund in the next line.  Do you ever hear phrases you just know must be in a poem?  Turn on the TV or radio, or just listen to someone talking.  Can you use the first words you hear in a poem?  Who knows what you'll come up with.  Have fun writing. 

Anyone can be rhapsodic over children's poetry. 

PIZZA DINNER

Tonight we're eating pizza.
It's not a bit deal.
But pizza is
my favorite meal.

I like it hot and juicy
and a little bit spicy.
I'll share pizza with you
if you ask me nicely.

     What is your favorite food to eat?  Can you write a poem about it?  Have fun writing.

Writing children's poetry is a thrill.

SIX QUAIL

Six little quail
running round the yard,
pumping their feet,
working so hard.

Six little quail
flew over the fence.
Where did they go?
Haven't seen them since.


     It is the time of year when we have lots of little quail scurrying around.  This morning as I watched them dashing around, the two adults with them led the little ones to the gate which was all closed in a corner.  First one adult, then another flew to the top of the fence and watched the little ones for a moment before flying over to the other side.  I wondered what was going to happen to the little quail.  My fence is six feet high.  But sure enough, one after the other each of the little ones flew over the fence.  They didn't pause at the top.  I was surprised and pleased.  I had under-estimated the little quail.  Has anyone ever under-estimated you and your abilities?  Can you write a poem about your mighty abilities?  Have fun telling the world how awesome you are.  You can leave your poem in the comments below.  Have a super day.

A children's poet is more than you see.

NEW SPIDERS

  A Sparklemuffin in her web
 said to the Skeletorus,
 "Oh, I wish you were dead.
  Then I could eat you
  on a cracker with brie
  I'm sure you'd be
  so very tasty."

   This poem took a long journey to get to you. It started with a spider blog post by my friend David L. Harrison.  Then Jane Yolen wrote a spider poem in response to David's post.  When I read Jane's poem, I wanted to tell her about the two new species of peacock spiders that were identified by a Berkeley graduate student doing field research in Queensland, Australia.  The student Madeline Girard got to give the spiders their common names.  She chose Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus.  In playing with my email message to Jane, I included this poem.  I do like playing.  If you discovered a new species of worm, dragonfly or beetle, what who you name it?  Can you write a poem about your creature and draw a picture to go with it? So get your crayons, colored pencils or paints and have fun today. Celebrate the two new words you've learned.

Don't be afraid, writing poetry for children can be fun. 

Monday, August 3, 2015 KEEP TRYING

Folks told me I couldn't
and I shouldn't even try.
Well, I proved them all wrong.
I can reach the sky.

    Have you ever tried to do something people told you couldn't be done?  Maybe it was perfect attendance, winning a spelling bee or getting 100 on a test.  Even if you don't reach your goal, you're still further along than if you hadn't tried.  If Edison had believed that first NO, we wouldn't have electricity.  It authors and poets took the first , second, or third NO, we wouldn't have a lot of great books to read. Can you write a poem about something you struggled to do?  How did you feel when you achieved your goal or are you still working on it? Write a poem today and have fun working on your goals.

    If you don't believe in yourself, who will?

Sunday, August 2, 2015 HAIR CUT

My hair is shorter.
It feels cool.
I got it cut.
to start school.

   Are you doing things to get ready to go back to school?  Did you buy new clothes?  New shoes?  School supplies or a new backpack?  Children in Arizona went back to school this week.  Can you write a poem about going back to school? Have fun writing.

Take time for good things.  Children's poetry is a good thing.

SNAKE SKIN

Walking outside my house
I spied a snake skin.
I saw a rocky hole
and hoped the snake wasn't in.

If I take
this dried skin find
do you think 
the snake will mind?

     Life in the desert can be so much fun discovering all the flora and fauna.  Can you write your own poem today about a plant or animal that lives near you? Have fun writing.  

 
   Poetry and science can make a complete learning experience.