Two Sheep

Two wooly sheep
sat under a tree
listening to the buzz
of a bumble bee.

One sheep said,
"That song's full of honey."
"Yes," said the other,
"But I think it's funny."

Both sheep laughed
and had a good day
listening to the bees
buzzing away.

   Happy Poetry Friday.  I hope you are having a great day.  This poem is definitely a draft.  I wrote it to go with the picture I drew which was a lot of fun.
For your poetry challenge for today, can you draw your own picture and write a poem to go with it? Otherwise find a picture you like from a magazine to write about.  Have fun writing.



   To find more poetry, buzz over to the Round Up, hosted this week by Irene Latham on her blog Live Your Poem.  Thank you, Irene ,for hosting the party.

If you believe, you will achieve.

Happy Birthday Clive

March holds the birthday for poet Clive Matson.  Happy 75th Birthday.  So today I'm featuring an excerpt from one of his poems.

YOU'RE A BABY (34)

You’re a baby! I’m a baby too!

Your giantness clouds the sky,

you breathe in Valley Fires

 

and exhale smoke and roses.

Has the sun ever looked so orange?

The moon so grapefruit?

 

Love the one-eyed mushroom

 

on its thick stalk. Love the warm

 

conch with its slick pearl.

Look up! Look up!

    Thank you Clive for giving me permission to include part of your poem here.  

I know Clive from reading his book LET THE CRAZY CHILD WRITE and from attending one of his workshops.  He publishes the poetry journal Scribbler.  You can read more about his life and poetry here. You can see and listen to Clive Matson reading his poem here.

So here is my occasional poem for Clive.

When you were a baby

you liked to sing

and to listen

to keys        on the ring

         ting-a-ling.

When you were a baby

we loved all you do

we'd exclaim and delight

over every

chortle and coo.

And now you've grown,

you're an amazing man.

We try to learn

from you     whenever

          we can.

  For you poetry challenge for today, can you write a poem about what it is like to be a baby?  What do you feel about babies?  Do you have a baby brother or sister?  Can you write a poem for or about them?

 

  Today is also the Poetry Friday Round UP.  Our hostess with the mostess is Irene Latham.  You can find more great poetry on her blog.here

   March is also the birthday month for children's poets David L. Harrison and Heidi Mordhorst.  Happy birthday to all those born in March.


A poem starts as an itch. Scratch it. Write it.

13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A SNOWFLAKE

Since I'm going to be moving over the holidays and who knows what will happen with my internet connection, I thought I'd start early with sending good holiday wishes.

  Since I wasn't sure how things would go with the move, I didn't participate in Tabatha Yeatts' Holiday Poetry Exchange this year.  With all the stress of moving, I didn't know how creative I'd be feeling.  And being able to "artistically" present my poem would be impossible since all my art supplies are sitting in packed boxes. But there was a moment when I was packing and I came across a poem that  Irene Latham wrote for me during our summer poetry exchange titled 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE MOON.  Yes, I wanted to try this.  Of course her poem and mine are both based on Wallace Stevens' poem 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD.

And, I'm discovering that when my world is crazy the best way I know to calm myself and feel settled is to write a poem.

Here is my poem:

13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A SNOWFLAKE

six-sided symmetry
crystal chiller
mitten sparkler
tongue tingler
snowball starter
snow angel swish
eyelash wish
dream of no school
Inuit house
skiers delight
one frozen tear
individual as a fingerprint
start of an avalanche

   So here is your challenge for today.  Take a holiday icon (a wreath, a candle, a jingle bell, snowglobe, menorah, hot chocolate, etc.) and try writing your own 13 WAYS...poem.  Have fun writing.

   It is the happiest time of year for those who hold the joys of the season in their heart.


Happy Poetry Friday Roundup.  The party this week is over at  A Teaching Life blog.  You'll be able to find more poetry fun here.  Thank you,  Tara Smith for hosting us this week.

WILD!

Wind roars
water rains
desert dances
a wild refrain.


  Today's poem is a tribute to Irene Latham who is celebrating a 10 year blogaversary.  She's having a party and invited us all to write poems about wild.  Can you try writing a WILD poem today?  Have fun,
  You can visit her party to find other wild tribute poems at Irene's blog here

Celebrate, even the rain.

HAIKU

Sun rise radiates
through a dew drop on the limb
a prism rainbow

Can you try writing your own haiku today about light?  Would you like to participate in the world's largest collaborative poem on the internet?  Simply write your haiku on light and go here to EarthRolling Haiku Collaborative.  The theme of Year of Light was designated by the United Nations.  You can leave your haiku in the comments and find out more about this project at the link above.

Today's Poetry Roundup is hosted by Robyn Hood Black at her blog Live on the Deckle Edge.  Thanks, Robyn, for hosting us.  You'll find other great poems and poetry are her blog site.

And, you can check up on the latest lines added to the progressive poem at Irene Latham's blog, Live Your Poem. 

2015 Progressive Poem

It is that time of the year again.  Time for the progressive poem.  

 

                     Yesterday the poem started at Jone Mac's blog Check It Out with the first line.  Today I get to add the second line.  Then tomorrow the poem moves to Heidi Mordhorst's blog  My Juicy Little Universe.

Here is the poem so far:

She lives without a net, walking along the alluvium deposits of the delta,

shoes swing over her shoulder, on her bare feet stick jeweled flecks of dark mica.

What a way to start us out!  Thanks Jone for a great opening line.  With a long line there are lots of possibilities.  What is with the long lines?  Last year Charles Waters started us out with an incredibly long first line too.  This one has 22 syllables, ten feet (if I counted right!)  I wanted to try to rhyme again this year, but with a line that long I gave up on it.  Heidi, the next line is yours, do your magic.  Have fun.

Thanks to Irene Latham for another great adventure during National Poetry Month.  Here are all the places the Progressive Poem will travel.

1 Jone at Check it Out
2 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy
3 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
4 Laura at Writing the World for Kids
5 Charles at Poetry Time Blog
6 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
7 Catherine at Catherine Johnson
8 Irene at Live Your Poem
9 Mary Lee at Poetrepository
10 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
11 Kim at Flukeprints
12 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
13 Doraine at DoriReads
14 Renee at No Water River
15 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
16 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
17 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
18 Sheila at Sheila Renfro
19 Linda at Teacher Dance
20 Penny at A Penny and her Jots
21 Tara at A Teaching Life
22 Pat at Writer on a Horse
23 Tamera at The Writer’s Whimsy
24 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
25 Tabatha at The Opposite of indifference
26 Brian at Walk the Walk
27 Jan at Bookseedstudio
28 Amy at The Poem Farm
29 Donna at Mainely Write
30 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

THE CROCODILE

Knocking at my door
was a crocodile.
He opened his mouth
to a toothy smile.

I was scared.
Thought I'd be dead.

Tick-or-treat,
was what
the crocodile said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.


     I had so much fun making the illustration for the poem today.  One nice thing about the quiet time of drawing is that it lets my mind work on the poem some more.  Can you see how this poem could be done in two voices?  Or the children could say the "Trick-or-treat" while the adult recites the rest of the poem.
      Now using this pattern with the same opening line "Knocking at my door" you could use other animals.  I tried a bear next.

Knocking at my door
was a grizzly bear.
He had big teeth 
and smelly hair.

And the rest of the poem stays the same.  
Or, a flamingo.

Knocking at my door
was a flamingo.
She had long legs
to go, go, go.

She was so pink,
almost red.

Trick-or-treat,
was what 
the flamingo said.

     I think I could go on with many more animals.  I'm going to try.  So, your challenge for today is to write your own poem about what is knocking at your door.  Have fun thinking of the possibilities.  Happy Poetry Friday.
    The Poetry Roundup is over at Live Your Poem.  Thank you Irene Latham for hosting us today.