The Lai

     Some days/nights you just feel brain dead.  I think part of the problem is that there are too many things I could write about today.  This often happens when I come to Poetry Friday, or I have a deadline.  I want to write something significant, something important to share and nothing seems good enough.  I know you've been there. 
     So today I'll just share a poem I wrote as part of the Monday Poetry Stretch over at Miss Rumpus Effect. 
     This week I learned about the Lai, a form poem. This is a French form with 9 lines--aab,aab,aab.  The a lines have 5 syllables.  The b lines have only 2.  So, since 6 of the lines need to rhyme, it means that base word family has to be big.  I'm thinking words like "an" --ran, fan, can, man, Dan, Nan, pan, tan.  Or maybe "ight"--light, bright, bite, might, plight, etc.  Anyway, for my poem I cheated a little and used feminine rhyme by using gerunds--"ing" words. (follow the links above for more information on The Lai Verse Form.)

This poem is in honor of the blue moon shining tonight. 

NIGHT DREAMS

While I am sleeping

a lizard leaping

AWAKES!

My eyes start blinking

what was I thinking

MISTAKES!

Then I am screaming

I wasn't dreaming

LAND SAKES!

     So, how did I do?  Did I meet the requirements of the form?
 
    If you try performing this poem with a class, the children can join in by saying the AWAKES, MISTAKES, LAND SAKES!

     Have a Happy Poetry Friday.  Thanks to Sylvia Vardell at Poetry for Children for hosting the round up this week.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY.

Go Here for Ordering Information

Robyn Hood Black, Children's Poet

     All my friends know how much I love, love, love THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=poetry+friday+anthology&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=13302063981&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=345380227259911175&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_zcgwbusok_b

     So many of the poems in the book make me laugh and give me ideas for writing my own poems.  One of my favorite poems in the book is by Robyn Hood Black. 

      With Robyn's permission, I'm sharing  her poem, Snack Rules with you.

SNACK RULES

Don't talk with your mouth full--

full of peanut butter.

Anything you try to say

will cmmm out as a mmmttrr.

Copyright © 22012 by Robyn Hood Black. Used with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

     When I first read her poem SNACK RULES, my eyes played a trick on me and I read the title as SNAKE RULES and I thought it was the funniest thing to think of a snake with his mouth stuck shut with peanut butter.  When I wrote to Robyn and told her of my mis-sight, she suggested that I write the poem I thought I saw.  Or rather she said something like I always did have a thing for snakes.  (She is right, I've written about them often.)

    So I did.  But when I got done I changed the title to:

SNAKE SNACKS

My pet snake,

I call him Drake,

likes to eat my snacks.

He eats the cheese,

he eats the nuts,

he eats all my

peanut butter crackers.

My snacks,

He says

are delicious

lip-smackers.

The only problem,

it happened quick,

the peanut butter

made him sick.

They made his lips

like glue stick.

Now instead of h-i-s-s-s-s-s

my pet snake hics.

A snake with hiccups

could cause fright.

His hic-ing keeps me up

all through the night.

     I'll admit that the rhythm is off in a couple of places, and if you come back tomorrow, I'll show you a nifty way I found for working with that. (I hope.)
     Your poetry prompt for today is to think of an animal and write a poem about something that happens to it.  What happens when the birds eat lemons, or the bear uses honey on his coat, or the dog rolls in the mud, or the hamster eats all your jellybeans?  Can you find an animal that sets your imagination running?  Happy Saturday.  Have fun playing with your poem.

     Thank you, Robyn for sharing your poem with us and for stimulating my creativity.

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY

      Oh it has been an exciting week. I got my ARC (Advance Readers Copy) of a new poetry book.

THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core, compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. (If you click on the title it will take you to the publisher where you can learn more about the book.)

There are 181 poems in this book – 35 for each grade level K-5, and then some extras, written by 75 poets including Jack Prelutsky, J. Patrick Lewis, Jane Yolen, X. J. Kennedy, Arnold Adoff, Linda Sue Park, Georgia Heard, Gail Carson Levine, Eileen Spinelli, David L. Harrison. For a complete listing of the poets included in the book go here. (If you would like to purchase this book, or read reviews, this link will take you to Amazon.( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937057682 ) There are a lot of the Poetry Friday crew in the book!

Can imagine the fun I'm having reading the poems by so many of my friends.

One of the poems that spoke to me from the kindergarten section was a poem by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Rebecca (  http://rebeccakaidotlich.com/  ) has kindly given me permission to share the poem with you.

MRS. BETTY

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

It's Mrs. Betty!

She brought us a pot

of homemade

spaghetti!

copyright ©2012 by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Used with permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. All rights reserved.

I admire Rebecca's poem and the rhyming of Betty with spaghetti. This got me to thinking about rhyming people's names with foods.

Earlier this week (Wednesday, August 15, 2012), I wrote my own poem that rhymed names with foods, titled MY SIX UNCLES.

Several of my friends have tried this too. Thanks to Linda Andersen  and her grandsons Travis and Jonathan and to Jeanne Poland who has posted her poem at The Vibrant Channel Creator.

Yesterday I started thinking about using the names with other things, but keeping it all in the family with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, Brothers, Sisters, Moms, Dads—any relative or friend you can think of.   Some how I tumbled to a family reunion, and there was the group photo.

FAMILY REUNION PHOTO

See Uncle Matt?

He's wearing a hat.

That's cousin Lance

in the short pants.

Auntie Grace

has a smile on her face.

Her twin sister Aunt Trace

wears diamonds and lace.

My Uncle Kurt

is without a shirt.

My Cousin Piers

is making rabbit ears.

My Sister Pearl

has all the curls.

Cousin Jed

is the red head.

And Baby Claire

with the golden hair,

slipped out of her diaper

and is running bare
footed.

      Does Baby Claire make this an X-rated poem? Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea of how much fun it is to rhyme names with some trait or activity of the person. Who else can we put into the family photo? Who have we forgotten? 
      Here is your poetry challenge for today-- write a couplet to add to our family photo. You may leave your contribution in the comments below. 
   
     Oh, I forgot the dog and the cat.  You're welcome to try that. 

      Thanks again to Rebecca Kai Dotlich for sharing her delightful poem Mrs. Betty. Thanks for the inspiration. Happy Poetry Friday and I hope that you too will read and enjoy THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core.