Dear Friend,

Send me the song
of a cactus wren
trilling and hauntingly sweet.
By the tune
I will know
you are there, still
in the desert,
where wide skies unfurl
pink, purple, red;
where Saguaros rise
in benediction
and living is
a devotion.

    I've been busy today making Prickly Pear jelly.  I covered my arms with leather gauntlets and wore leather gloves, but still the spines went through my gloves and clothing.  That is the hardest part of making the jelly.  What is something hard or difficult for you to do?  Can you write a hard poem today?  (That was a little pun.)  Do have fun writing your own poem.

CACTUS WREN CINQUAIN

Poking 
from a dark hole
in the old saguaro
a new-born cactus wren calling
for food.

    Today's poem is a cinquain-- a five line poem with two, four, six, eight and two syllables in the respective lines.  Can you try writing your own cinquain today?  Have fun.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE

Whoever said,
The best things
in life are free,
stopped to listen
to birds singing
in a tree.

 I hoped that worked for you.  I was trying up loading a video of the bird singing.

And now, I noticed the moon was still out on my morning walk.

The moon is caught
in the saguaro spines.
The needles are strong,
holding like twine.

What will happen
if it can't get away?
Will we be stuck,
day after day?

Will we never
have another night?
Somehow that doesn't
seem quite right.

    

     Ok. That one will take patience.  There are a lot of long pauses.  I was trying to make a poem up on the spot, something I like to challenge myself to do and the pauses between lines are a little long while I was thinking about where the poem was going to go.  Have you ever tried to make up a rhyme while standing on your feet?  Sometimes the movement of my feet helps the rhythm of the poem.  But, in this case I just wanted something to go with the cool moon in the saguaro.  I tried a haiku too.  Perhaps you'd like to try a haiku to go with one of the pictures you've seen today, or better yet, use something from your landscape.  Have fun.

If the videos don't work, I'll come back and edit them out.  Have a great weekend.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Karen Edmisten this week on her blog at http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/  Thanks for a great party, Karen.  You can find lots of other great poetry for children on her blog.

THE CONVERSATION

Walking past my neighbor's house

two black pit bulls

send up a raucous greeting.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

Then a cactus wren

chatters a reply.  

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

They keep at it.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

The highs and lows of it.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

Each trying for the last word.

This is a poem that could be done in three voices as a group poem.   Have you ever had a conversation, or an argument where one person tries to have the last word?  By the time you've reached that point, you have information you want the other person to have, but they aren't listening.  Let me repeat that--They aren't listening.  So if you reach the point where one person is trying to have the last word, you aren't really having a conversation and both parties are wasting their time.  It is like the dogs and the bird, they are only making noise to hear themselves.  

If you reach the point where people won't listen to you, it is time to take yourself off to figure out what that person will listen to.  What is important to that person?  What do they want to talk about?   There just aren't enough good listeners in this world. 

    Can you write a poem about listening, or about sound today?  Have fun writing.

"Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different."  Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel prize winning physician

WEDNESDAY WALK

High in the ocotillo
sits a small hummingbird,
cheery, singing, tiny fellow,
he calls out this happy word--
              CHEEP


      The birds are definitely becoming more active.  Besides all our desert doves, I saw several phainopepla this morning and a hawk swooped to sit on top of the telephone pole.  All the small birds scattered.  While I was eating my lunch yesterday, I heard a roadrunner.  My cactus wren is being quite noisy, too.   What is your favorite bird?  Can you write a poem about birds? 

Monday Morning--Seeking

Watching the dark nest holes
in the Saguaro cactus
a small white head bobs
perhaps a cactus wren chick,
head raised, mouth open,
seeking someone to feed it,
like the arms of the cactus
arms raised,seeking 
heavenly blessings.

     Oh, did we have a beautiful sunrise today.  The sky in the east was an Indian blanket of roses.  What do you see outside your window?  Can you write a poem about that?  Here is wishing you a great Monday.

Cinquain

Monsoon

Cholla blooming

Creosote scents the air

Cactus wren nests in saguaro

Warm rain

Today's poem is a cinquain.   It is a five line syllabic poem.  The first line has 2 syllables, the second line has 4, the third 6 and the fourth 8, then in the fifth line there are 2 syllables again.

line 1 = 2 syllables

line 2 = 4 syllables

line 3 = 6 syllables

line 4 = 8 syllables

line 5 = 2 syllables

Can you write your own cinquain today?  Mine tells about the desert where I live.  Can you write your cinquain about where you live?  I'd love to read your poem.  You are welcome to leave your creation in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying this last day of the holiday weekend.   

Who Lives Here?

See these holes

in the Saguaro?

Who lives here

do you know?

Elf Owl?

Woodpecker?

Cactus Wren?

Do not knock

upon their door.

Cactus spines

make knuckles sore.

     Yesterday morning I saw a cactus wren sitting at the edge of an opening in the Saguaro cactus.  The bird sat there singing, but just as soon as I got my camera out the wren ducked inside the hole.  I waited and waited. but the bird did not want her picture taken. 
     Can you write a poem about picture day at your school? Do you like having pictures taken, or would you rather be like the wren and have a hole to duck into?Have fun writing

What did you see?

What did you see on your walk today?

Oh, what did you see, my dear?

I saw a dead snake in the road

so dead it was nothing to fear.

A Phainopepla sitting in a tree

and a cardinal singing to me.

I saw a hummingbird fine

sitting on a telephone line.

And there, too close, were two coyotes

who stood and just stared at me.

I mustn't forget the cotton tails

and the bobbing heads of desert quails.

Of course there was a cactus wren

who sat and called again and again.

This and that and so much more

were all out walking with me.

This is what I saw on my walk today, dear.

This is what I saw on my walk.

   It was a lovely day today and yes I had a great walk.  It is definitely getting close to Spring, there was a scorpion in the bathroom this morning that I had to get rid of before my shower.  Today's poem is a list poem.  It lists the things I saw on my morning walk.  Can you take a walk today and write your own list poem?  Don't worry about making it rhyme.  Add some details that tell what the thing on your list is doing. 
Please share your poem in the comments.  Have a great day.

Cactus Wren Song

On top of a Saguaro

all covered in spines

sang a brown cactus wren

in a song that was fine.

This little brown bird

flew to the Palo Verde tree,

his loud trilling song

was quite pleasing to me.

     Do bird songs cheer you?  I heard this one at the end of my morning walk.  I was just coming back up the hill to my house when I saw the bird sitting on top of the tallest Saguaro singing his heart out.  It gave me a real lift and I felt like if that little bird can be happy that it is a sunny day, I too, should be happy for today.  I hope you are happy today.  Can you write a list poem today about all the things that make you happy?