June 1. 2016

I watched the sun
try to rise today.
It worked really hard,
but the clouds got in his way.
First the sun
charged the clouds yellow
and then purple
like a bad bruise
and now the clouds
are gray.
I still haven't seen the sun.
I guess it'll be
a cloudy day. 

   I'm back from my trip to Norway and I have lots to share with you, but first I need to get some household chores done.  
   I think I must still be on Norway time because I woke really early today and have been sorting through my mail.
  I wrote this poem while I was eating my yogurt and watching the sunrise.  What has your day been like?  Can you write a poem about your day?  Have fun writing and I'll see you tomorrow with more about my trip. 

Happy First of June, so long May.

Happy First Day of Spring

High up in the sky
all day long the clouds danced
great first day of Spring

   I hope your first day of spring was wonderful. Did you do anything to celebrate?  It is also Palm Sunday and there certainly are a lot of palms around my neighborhood. Can you write a haiku about your day?
    I've been having a good day.  I got to play with my water colors again and that always makes for a great day.

 Hold the world gently in your hands.

Today

There's a hole 
in the clouds.
The sun is 
poking thru.
All day long
the sun has played
Peek-a-BOO!

It rained last night.  It was misty this morning.  A lovely day to stay home and empty packing boxes.  I started to put my drafting table together and discovered that it was missing an important screw, so I drove into town to the hardware store.  On the way I stopped at the recycling center and left all my cardboard--all those moving boxes I've already emptied.  So, I finally have new white blinds in all my studio windows and my table is up.  But, I also found another tightening clip is missing.  (This will take an internet search or another trip to the hardware store, but it isn't happening today.) Do you ever go to the hardware store?  What things do you see?  Can you write a "hardware" poem today?  Of course, if you don't like this idea, write something else.  Just write today, and have fun writing.

Creativity dives right in.

TODAY

Today,
I'll try to
unbutton myself
let my heart
fly free.

Today,
I will let
my imagination
soar like a hawk
searching the skies.

Today,
I will chase
clouds floating above
changing shapes
on a whim.

Today,
I will sing
to the birds
and find happiness
in every flower.

Today
I will have fun
being me.
I will write
this poem
for you.

   What will you do today?  What makes you happy?  What gives you joy? As long as you're living, you might as well live big.  Have fun today.  What can you do to help someone else along their journey today? Now, can you take your answers to these questions and shape them into a poem? Have a grand time writing.

NATURE'S CELEBRATION

All day long
I've watched the weather change.
The clouds came up
then they rearranged.

The sun is gone.
The wind is blowing.
The birds are out,
with feathers glowing.

An orange oriole
flashes across the sky.
In the citrus tree
flits a butterfly.

Soon it may rain,
I'll wait to see.
This wonderful show
has all been free.

   I hope you have lots of green to look at today.  And to wonder about.  Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Can you include something green in the poem you write today?  Have fun.

CLOUDS

The clouds are looking dark and gray.
I think it might rain today.
That's the reason the flowers say,
"Hip-hip-hooray.!"

If you were to have a conversation with a flower, what would the flower say?  What kind of flower would you chose to talk to to?  What would the flower tell you about its day?  Have fun talking to the flowers, for hours and hours.  (Sorry, I couldn't control myself.  Now I'm thinking about what my life would be like if I was a bee.)

If I were a bee
and you were the flowers
we'd get together
for hours and hours.

Have fun writing your own poems today.

  Laura Purdie Salas is hosting the Friday Poetry Roundup today.  You can find lots more children's poetry on her blog at http://www.laurasalas.com/blog/
Thanks Laura, for a great Friday Poetry Party.

MAKING MEMORIES

I've got two fists of stars
and bright moonlight, it's true,
a wispy cloud to float
across the sky, deep blue.

I've put them in this box.
I'm sending it to you
to help you with your dreams.
I hope you have a few.

Please, close your eyes to sleep
and fill your head with memories.
So then when you awake
you'll send your thoughts to me.


    WOW!  This poem is definitely a draft.  If you'd like to try re-writing the last stanza so the meter and rhyme are better, please do.  In the meantime, I'll file this one away to think on some more.  What are you thinking about today?  Did you learn something new?  Can you write a poem about that?  Have fun writing.

HAIKU

More clouds gathering

in the Sonora desert

no rain, one more day

   I thought our heat was going to break today, but it didn't.  And the weather forcast in the paper for this week lists the chance of rain at 0% for every day listed.  I'm waiting to see if the one day of 99 degrees (our first break in triple digit weather in three weeks,) really happens.

    Can you write a haiku about the weather around your place, or perhaps you'd like to try a limerick?  Have fun writing.

Friday

Morning rises
tries on a purple gown
adds an orange scarf.

It isn't right,
she changes 
for a pink gown.

Still not right,
she dons a pastel blue gown
adds white lace clouds
for a shash.

She's all dressed
to greet
a new day.


     I really wanted to rite a poem about the Chinese New Year which is today, but I didn't get it done.  Today starts the year of the horse.  So let me send you virtual oranges, money and a fortune cookie to wish you the very best year
where we can all throw our manes back into the wind and race off to bright poetry futures.  I can see a poem happening for you, even now.  Have a great Friday.

   Can you write your own horse poem today?

Tricia at Miss Rumpius Effect is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup.  Thanks Tricia.  She has poems about numbers.  You can go here to read more poems by children's poets this week.

http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2014/01/poetry-friday-is-in-house.html

GRAY DAY

Today it is dark
and gray.
It doesn't look
like fun.
Perhaps today 
it will rain.
The clouds have cloaked
the sun.


    What would the sky look like if the sun wore an overcoat? That is what I see when I look out my window.  Everything looks gray.  Even the jack rabbit I saw this morning had a dark gray hue as he rushed away.  What does your day look like?  Is it tidy and organized today, or is it like mine going in lots of directions all at the same time.  Can you write a poem about how you feel today?  Have fun writing.

     Happy 12th Night.  We are having friends in for dinner this evening to celebrate the end of the Advent.  Do you do anything to celebrate the end of Christmas?  

     If you'd like to learn more about the special days in January, my friend Linda Andersen lists many fun days on her blog at A Writer's Playground. 

 www.lindamartinandersen.wordpress.com/2014/01/01

haiku

round November moon

darts in and out of rain clouds

hot, fresh pumpkin pie

     Can you believe it?  We are having rain!  All last night I was gently lulled by the rare sound of rain drops.  I had to get up and write.  I was busy last night working on some haiku.  I re-read Rebecca Rust's classic book, THE OUTSIDE OF A HAIKU, (copyright 1984.)  It reminded me of the Zen, the oneness of the images in haiku.  Your challenge for today is to try writing your own haiku for the holiday.  

      I would have included a picture of the pumpkin pie, but we had some for breakfast and it is no longer round, so it didn't look right.

     Poetry Friday is hosted today at Write, Sketch, Repeat.  Follow the link for more poetry and Thanksgiving fun.  Thanks to Katya Czaja for hosting us all today.

THE COLOR PINK

"Pink," she said.
With the softness of clouds
the fragrance of sweet peas,
the taste of warm watermelon.

Pink, the kindest of colors,
a flamingo dunking
to grasp a shrimp,
or the almost white
of galahs.

Pink is forgiveness
in soothing tones,
the soft nap of baby's blanket.

Pink wipes tears
from the cheeks
of the mean reds.


   Can you write your own color poem today?  What does the color make you thin of?  what music goes with your color?  Have fun writing your poem.

ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS

clouds
kiss
tries to
smoke
and the
the sky
reaches
upwards
spirals
twirls
twines
fire
camp-
from the
smoke

   Which way does smoke travel, up or down?  So read this spine poem from the bottom up.  I'm still working on this one, trying to make it into a reverso, a poem that reads from either direction.   Can you try writing your own poem about a campfire today, or roasting marshmallows?  Have fun writing.

TODAY, LIVE

Four doves sleep on the fence.
A lizard walks over the desert floor.
The wind blows in light rushes
bending the creosote bushes.

The sky is blue,
the clouds, fluffy and white.
It is a day where I feel
everything is right.

     How is your day going?  I met with a group of seniors today, so I could hear the wonderful  poems they are writing.  This is always lots of fun for me. Can you write a poem about what the sky looks like in your part of the world?  Enjoy.

MORNING

Like a child on Christmas morning,
clouds creep over the mountains,
slow, and then they run.
Light shines on the hillside,
it gleams with morning sun,
a new day has begun.

     Can you tell I was up early today?  Can you write your own poem about your morning?  Have fun writing.

Build My House

I'll build my house
at the the top of the mountain.
I'll build it where
the song birds sing.
I'll build my house
at the top of the mountain
where the white clouds settle
into a ring.


     Some say that the white clouds that settle into a ring around the top of a mountain is the breath of Puff the magic dragon creating a magical lei to circle the peak.  I love the thought of that.  What magical thing can you write a poem about today?  Have fun. 

Sunday

Today the sky is talking to me.
Here are some of the things I see:
Thin white feather clouds,
Contrail from an airplane,
A hawk swooping and soaring,
A humming bird zipping by,
And blue, blue, blue of sky
illuminated by the sun.


     Does your sky talk to you?  What is it saying today?  I hope you Sunday is as sunny as mine.  Can you find time to write your own poem today?  (I almost didn't have time!)  Have a great day.

GALAXY

Travel in a space ship

off in the galaxy

you'd be surprised

at the things you will see.

A river of stars

thick like milk,

soft air, and clouds,

and a breeze like silk,

Planets of all sizes

far off in outer space

our galaxy is

and incredible place.

    I couldn't think of what to write for today, so I opened the dictionary to a random page.  I closed my eyes and put my finger down on the page.  The word under my finger was galaxy.  So, here is your challenge for today, take any book, open to a random page and put your finger down.  What is the word your finger lands on?  Can you write a poem about that?  You are welcome to share your poem in the comments below, or just share your word.  If you have trouble writing your poem, remember acrostics, haiku and cinquains.

SHADOW

In the morning

I feel fine

I see my shadow

it's a friend of mine.

In the morning when 

my shadow 

is seen,

to me 

it looks

long

and 

lean.

I think

my shadow

is pretty sweet,

because

it is attached

to my feet.

When clouds come

my shadow runs away

then we can

no longer play.
     
     Have you ever played with shadow puppets?  Can you write  a poem today about shadows?  Do have fun.

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

The lightning

     and the thunder

          came to visit me.

They were quick

     and flashing

          and noisy

                as can be.

"Come along,"

     said the stars.

          "They don't frighten me."

"Cover us in clouds,

      we'll still be here

           twinkling bright."

"They don't scare us.

      We'll bravely shine

           through the night."


      My dog is frightened by thunder.  He crawls under the bed to hide.  Do thunder and lightning frighten you, or do you think of the stars instead?  Try writing a poem today about a thunder storm.  Have fun and keep cool.