My Poem

My poem sits
like a monkey in a tree.
It won't come down 
and play with me.

Instead he sits there
chattering all day.
I want him to here
so we can play.

   I'm sorry my post is so late today.  Every time I've been at my computer an interruption has happened.  It is nice to be needed by so many people, but when I was finally ready to write about the colors of spring, my poetry brain was turned off and all I could think of was monkeys playing in the trees.  When I visited Thailand and the rain forest in Peru there were wild monkeys outside my window.  I finally gave up struggling with what I wanted to write about today and just went with those ornery monkeys.  What do you do on days when you have so many interruptions that it is hard to get your work done?  What can you write about that?  Have fun playing with your own ornery monkeys today.

Some days, you just can't take yourself seriously.  Have fun.

FINDING POEMS

Birds on a Wire

There is a poem out there
floating in the air.
Quick, can you grab it
then sit in your chair,

With a pad of paper
and a pencil or pen,
writing words down
is how your poem begins.


   What words will you get down with today?  Writers like to call the time they spend writing as BIC time--butt-in-chair.  If you don't spend a little time each day, every day writing, you get out of the writing habit and all those lovely words you might write, and all those delicious poems out there floating in the Universe waiting to be discovered, will be lost or they might float on to some other writer.  I believe this.  Where do you think the inspiration for poetry comes from?  Can you write about that today?  Have fun writing.

  Why should I not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside, looking into the shining world?  Mary Oliver

SLEEP,

Sleep,
the gift of fairies,
let's us dream,
gives us melodies,
tells us stories,
writes our poems.
Even just a word
is a small hope
for our future.

   If you had a dream, what would it be?  Can you write a poem today about your dream?  Have fun dreaming.


Love is the spirit that motivates the artist's journey.  Eric Maisel 

MY POEM

A tisket, a tasket,
a poem fell 
from my basket.
The one I wanted
to post today
and now it's floated
far away.

  If you had an imaginary basket, what would you put in it, or what would you find in it?  Oh, I can see a story starting about a magic basket.  Can you write a poem about your basket today?  Have fun thinking about magic baskets.  Happy Saturday.

Children's poetry puts magic in our lives.

SKIPPING ALONG

Poem A

Skipping along
dropping lines
on my way.
It's the reason
I'm late
with my poem
today.


Poem B

Skipping along
tossing words
in the air.
I'm writing a poem
with my usual flair.

  Which do you like better, Poem A, or Poem B? Please leave your vote in the comments below. I got a card in the mail today from my friend Juanita Hoffman.  In the card she used the phrase "skipping along."  I knew it had to be in a poem.  Normally, I avoid using gerunds (those ing words) in poems, but I liked the sound of skipping, and then I had to follow that one with another gerund in the next line.  Do you ever hear phrases you just know must be in a poem?  Turn on the TV or radio, or just listen to someone talking.  Can you use the first words you hear in a poem?  Who knows what you'll come up with.  Have fun writing. 

Anyone can be rhapsodic over children's poetry. 

THE WAY A POEM BEGINS

I know
how a poem begins.
It starts in quiet,
my mind still,
my palms together,
fingers pointing upward
just under my chin.
It starts as a prayer
for the right words.


    How do poems begin for you?  Can you write a poem about that today?

Writing children's poetry is a labor of love.

Witch's FIB

I
am
the lump
on the witch,
on her square-cut chin
wondering where our poem starts.

This poem is a FIB, a modern western-style poem.

It follows Fibonacci's sequence of 1-1-2-3-5-8.  Can you write your own FIB today? Check out the  definition at whttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fib_

Can you imagine what the witch's wart might be able to tell you? I hope you enjoy test driving this form.  Have fun.

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

PLAYING CHEEKS

I can fill
my cheeks
with air
then I tap
my fingers
there.
Sound comes out
a burst of shout. 
Sounds like a trumpet,
sounds like a drum.
Funny cheek
playing,
here I come.

    Have you ever tried to play your cheeks like a musical instrument?  I had a lot of fun making funny noises while I tried to write this poem.  Good thing I was alone and no one could hear me.  
      Your challenge for today is to write your own poem about a sound.  Have fun writing.

GRIN

Your face
lights up
and the fun
comes in
that's what happens
when you
grin.

PECK

A quick
small kiss
touching lips
to forehead,
eyebrow,
earlobe,
nose,
chin,
or neck.
Smoochies.


      This is another in a group of small poems to share with the 0-2 year old group.  Poems to encourage parents and babies to play.  
      Your poetry challenge for today is to write your own poem that includes a kiss.  Have fun writing and thinking about all the kisses in your life.

THE POEM I WANT TO WRITE

chasing room to room
you are the good idea 
I want to set free.


      It is a busy Saturday.  I need to take a walk to clear my brain.  It is an exciting time for me.  I can actually feel myself growing as a poet, but unless I do the work and write the poems down, they will be lost in the ether.  So here is another little haiku.

collected pennies
gone from our Mason jar
a Happy Thanksgiving


     Go for your own walk today and see if it stirs some poetry for you.  It was by walking that Basho, the father of modern haiku, wrote his poems.  So try it and see what you come up with. Or, see what comes to you.   Have a great weekend writing.

WHERE WILL YOUR POEM GO?

I wrote a draft of this poem
on a sheet of notebook paper.

I included all of my hopes,
my wishes and dreams.

Now I recycle, make a paper boat
to float upon the creek.

The paper talks to the water,
the ink moves with the flow.

The creek reads the words,
whispers my poem to the rocks
and willows lean in to hear.

    Who would you like to hear your poem?  If you needed to write a poem for the King or the Queen of Hearts, what would you write?  Where do your poems travel?  Have fun writing about this today.   Oh, and be sure to try reading my poem out loud to see how it makes your mouth feel.  Have fun with poetry.

   Jen over at Teach Mentor Text is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today.  Thanks, Jen.  There's more great poetry on her blog.  Happy Friday the 13th.

THE SAND

He discovered grains, definitely
an unlimited supply at the beach.

He brushed it from his feet
though it caught between toes
and around nails like a raspberry seed
between teeth, so he kept sanding.

Worried away Moro Bay, sunsets
birth, adolescence, graduation.

Kept trying to rid himself of the tiny
grains, an hourglass dropping time.
Unable to clear them all, he smoothed
the rough edges, like sandpaper.

     This is a free verse poem.  What images do you see in this poem?  today can you write your own poem that develops an image?  Have fun.

Tuesday Morning--Writing

This morning as I sit here
my paper and pen idle
on the table.
I watch out my window.
See two rabbits
leaping over one another,
jumping, darting
around the creosote bush
happily dashing into each other
and I pick up my pen to
dash and leap
writing a poem for today.

     What do you see when you look out your window?  Can you write a poem about that today?

HAPPY HOLIDAY

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Happy Holiday

On your sled

in the snow

you have a fun day.

I'm on my surfboard

on a wave,

all splash and spray.

Thought worlds apart

we both

have the same thing

to say,

We hope you have

a great

holiday.

      Your challenge for today is to write a poem about what the weather is like in your part of the world and what you are doing today. Have fun.

Happy Holidays

All day I work for Santa
checking all his lists
of the gifts for children,
so no one will be missed.

Maureen wants dolly,
and Billy wants a bike.
Santa even knows
the gifts that you would like.

 I hope you have been good
and work hard every day
so I can load your gifts
into Santa's sleigh.

     I hope you have a good Sunday.  I'm planning to go to a street fair today.  Today I made a list of holiday words to use in helping me write my poems this month.  For today's challenge can you make your own list?  Let me know how many holiday words you come up with.  Have fun.

The Elf

A happy elf
worked all year long
and as she worked
she sang this  song:

"Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas,
I make toys
for good
girls and for boys."

All year long
she sang happily
making toys 
for you and me.

Now she rests
on a shelf
glad to be
a hard working elf.

    Happy Poetry Friday.  What are you working on today?  Can you write a poem about Santa's elves today?

    Today's Poetry Roundup is hosted by Robyn Hood Black. Thanks for stopping by today.  For more fun read all the poems I've posted this week.  I have a video with Scarves, audio with two other poems this week.
    

I WROTE A POEM TODAY

Woot! Woot! 
Ya-hoo! Yay!
I want to say
I wrote a poem
for you today.

I feel so good.
I want to sing.
My little heart
beats ting-ting-ting.

Eeee-haw!  
What about you?
Wouldn't you like
to write one too?


     I've been too busy lately and when it came to writing a poem for today, my mind was all in a whirr.  Do you ever feel like that?  There were just too many directions I could go.  Too many ideas in my head.  Too many things I could write poems about, and I wasn't happy with any of them.  So I started to write a poem about how I couldn't write a poem; but when I'd gotten done, I had written a poem.  So I started over with a poem to celebrate the poem I'd written.  I like this poem a lot more.  I like celebrations.  How about you?
     Do you think you could call this poem an ODE?  An ode is a poem in praise of nature, public figures, or events.* I think this poem is in praise of writing a poem, so I can classify it as an ode.

  *Definition taken from A POET'S GUIDE TO POETRY, by Mary Kinzie, University of Chicago Press, copyright 1999, page 441.

    Today's challenge is to write a poem.  Do you want to write your own ode in praise of something?  Do have fun.

Decisions

Pine trees whisper
while I give thought
to which is the best
on the Christmas tree lot.

It might be a balsam
or a Douglas fir
trying to decide--
my mind is in a whirr.

Finally, I see  one
that stands out from the rest.
This is my Christmas tree.
It is the best.


     I knocked at the door of my neighbors' house yesterday.  From the window I could see the beautiful 7 ft. tree in their living room.  Seeing the tree made me feel so cheerful and full of Christmas spirit.  It did make me feel so happy.  What makes you feel happy?  Reading a book?  Getting your homework done?  Doing a good deed?  Can you write a poem today about something happy?

                          cut Douglas fir tree
                          stands in the Christmas tree lot
                          a cardinal sings