TRAVELING

You can travel by car
or travel by plane.
You can go by boat,
or go by train.
But wherever you travel,
and what ever you do
take me along so I
can stay close to you.


     Here is the question for today--what is your favorite way to travel?  Can you write a poem about that today?  Personally, I really like going on the back of a flying frog.

WHEELS ON THE ROAD

The wheels on the car,
squish, squish
thump, thump
over the hot tar road.

The wheels on the pick up truck
squish, squish
bump,bump
over the macadam road.

The wheels on the dump truck
squish, squish
rattle, rattle
over the gravel road.

The wheels on the semi truck
squish, squish
swish, swish
over the highway road.

The wheels on the bus
squish, squish
jump, jump
over the wet, black road.

All the vehicles
come and go, come and go
splashing, bouncing
rolling over all our roads.


  There were a lot of cars out on my morning walk, and this is what I came up with.  If you're a fan of THE WHEELS ON THE BUS, you might see some similarities, except I'm going with different vehicles; and all of the tires go squish, squish.  Do you have an idea why?

   Now stick with me here.  I jumped from this idea to how I could take the same cadence of WHEELS, to my pet turtle.

MY PET TURTLE

The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
ducks right in,
ducks right in.
The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
hiding in his shell.

Can you see how the verses for the feet and tail might follow?  Now, jump back to a child going to bed.

GOING TO BED

The toes on my feet
tuck right in,
tuck right in,
tuck right in.
The toes on my feet
tuck right in
to my snugly bed.

  Then you could move to:
the feet on my legs, the knees on my legs, the shins on my legs, the thighs on my legs-- you name a body part and it can be tucked into bed.  And if a child doesn't want to go to sleep he could keep you going all night thinking of body parts to tuck into bed.

  So, here is your challenge--think of an object--animal, mineral, or vegetable, and write your own short verse using this repetitive cadence.  Have fun with this, you can be as weird and bizarre as you choose.  Just WRITE, and have fun with poetry.

haiku

a hawk, hear its cry

as a car whizzes by

a snake on the road

     Do you ever have days when you get stuck and can't think of anything to write about?  Look out your window.  What is the first thing you see?  Now look for something to move or listen for a noise.  So now you have two things to try writing a haiku about.  Try this and let me know what happens for you.  You are welcome to leave your poem in the comments below.  I'd like to read your poem.  Have a great day listening and observing.

Car Trip

My car honks beep, beep.

My car honks toot, toot.

You and I can travel 

along a magic route.

We'll drive through cities

and along the countryside

over hills and rivers

and up a mountainside. 

We'll stop for hamburgers

and to fill up with gas.

the trip that we're taking

will quickly pass.

But we'll take photos--

memories of our fun

and then we can see

our riding in the sun.

     On August 22, 1903 Theodore Roosevelt became the first American president to ride in an automobile, in Hartford, Connecticut.  Can you write a poem today about a ride?  Was it in a car, or some other vehicle? Where did you go?  What did you see?

How Tall Are You?

I'm taller than

the azalea bush

or the kitchen table

higher than my car

or my dress label.

I'm shorter than the refrigerator

or a pine tree

but I'm taller than the bird feeder

or a bumble bee.

I'm taller than chocolate cake

or a little flea

I wonder how tall you are

won't you please tell me?

     How tall are you?  What are you taller than?  What are you shorter than?  can you write your poem about it?