Rainbow

There was a rainbow
above my school today.
I saw it when
I went out to play.
It was shining
as if to say,
I hope you have
a glorious day.

Lift your heart, see the rainbows.

Sunday, August 2, 2015 HAIR CUT

My hair is shorter.
It feels cool.
I got it cut.
to start school.

   Are you doing things to get ready to go back to school?  Did you buy new clothes?  New shoes?  School supplies or a new backpack?  Children in Arizona went back to school this week.  Can you write a poem about going back to school? Have fun writing.

Take time for good things.  Children's poetry is a good thing.

A Letter Poem

Dear C.P.A.,
I'm sending you these faxes.
I don't know what to say.
Please help me with my taxes.

Yours truly,
I. O. Plenty


   I wasn't happy with rhyming practice with taxes on Saturday's poem, as I played with the problem on my walk, this is what I came up with.

  The poem I worked on last night while I was sleeping had to do with fish swimming in the aquarium.

See my fish in the aquarium,
swimming like fish do?
Can you count them
one and two?

Oops, made a mistake,
there is Three
hiding in the shrubbery.

Oh no!  
There is more.
Can you see number Four?

Oh dear, there's Five and Six,
Seven and Eight.
They are swimming quickly.
They don't hesitate.

Oh my,
Nine and Ten,
here they go again,
a whole school of fish
swimming by
in my aquarium.

     Have you ever tried to count fish?  They move so quickly and if there are more than a few fish to count, you can easily loose your place and count some twice or not at all.  Now here is a tough question.  What was the last thing you counted?  Money into your bank, socks to be folded, silverware for the table?  Can you write a poem about something you might count today?  Have fun writing. 

FALL HAIKU

Again school begins.
I do not think I'm ready
for vacation's end.

For the cool weather,
apple cider and donuts--
my favorite treat.

The poplar leaves spin
yellow snowflakes in the wind--
leaves shaped like mittens.

My dad rakes the leaves
I help him make a big pile.
Then we run and jump.

Halloween costume
I will wear for trick-or-treat--
Cat, Princess, Rock Star.

Running very fast
I let out string while I fly
my kite in the air.

   Happy Sunday.  I hope you have a great day. 

Happy April Fools Day

The bus was late for school today
I wondered when it would come.
And then I was late getting off
my pants were stuck with gum.
I could not get up from my seat
I thought I was stuck there tight.
I guess I'll sit here through the day
then ride on home tonight.



    This has to be a draft. The rhyme is there but the rhythm is very, very rough, so I need to go back and work on this some more. 
    I'm so glad it is April.  Can you write your own April Fools poem today?  What tricks did you play, or were played on you?  Have fun writing.

THE GATHERING

Looking for a murder,
the weary crow
calls from atop a telephone pole
                     CAW!
CAW!                                CAW!

above circle hawks. 


     A murder is what a group of crows is called.  Do you know other group names like a school of fish?
What is the name for a group of paper clips?  A group of shoes?  A group of sandwiches? I'd give you the answer if I knew it, but I don't think there are answers.  This means you can make up your own word.  All you have to do is get other people to agree to your word and use it.  Or if just one other person uses the word, it can become your own secret code.
    I saw a crow this morning on my walk and it got me to thinking about this poem.  When I turned to walk home, I was hoping to see the crow again calling to me, but instead the hawk was there.  This got me to consider all the birds that have sat on the telephone pole.  I'm now thinking about writing a persona poem (your teacher might call it a mask poem) from the view point of a telephone pole.  Would you like to try a persona poem today too?
Perhaps you can make it a concrete poem (shape poem) or use interesting line breaks like I did in the poem above.
Have fun writing your poem. 

haiku

refinished table
turpentine and linseed oil
first day back at school

    Today's poem is another one that deals with the sense of smell.  Of all our senses, smell is the most important and is the first to develop, but it is the third most frequently written about right after sight and sound.  Can you guess which sense is the least written about?  It is taste.  Can you guess why this sense gets the least writing space?  
      Your poetry challenge for today is to write your own poem about the smells of Christmas for you.
Do you notice the scent of pine, apple cider, cinnamon, sugar cookies or fudge?  The holiday season is filled with wonderful aromas.  Pick one and shape your own poem.  Have fun writing.  


    

RIDING MY IMAGINATION

My bus
is a chariot,
a magical sleigh,
a big yellow banana,
to lift me away.

I'm a goldfinch flying.
It's really too cool.
My imagination soaring
as I land at school.

    I had a great day yesterday, I got to play with my art supplies to draw this silly bus.  It was fun.  This poem uses several metaphors.  Can you find them?  I had a simile in this poem when I began--the second stanza I started "Like a goldfinch flying,"  but in my editing process I changed the line and put another metaphor in the poem.
      How do you get to school?  What do you think about on your way to school?  Can you write a poem about that today?  I hope you don't have to go to school on Saturday and can have time to write.  Have a great weekend.  

MONDAY MORNING

I'm rushing around
fast as I can
Mom calls
one more time
I don't want 
to be
late.

I grab my backpack
zipper it shut
out the door,
didn't have time 
to make my bed.

I pick up the toast
glup three swigs
of orange juice
and rush out the door
to Dad's angry face
waiting in the running car.

I rush
dash to school
slide into my desk
just as the tardy bell rings.

"Get out your homework,"
and I unzip
my backpack before 
I put it down.

"Oh,no."
It's not there.
Knew I should have
packed my backpack
last night.

It's Monday,
and already
I've started off
on the wrong foot.

I hope this 
doesn't last all week.

     It really is hard and difficult being a kid.  Can you write a poem about one of the difficult things a kid faces?  What is your hardest problem?  I think mine is when I misspell words.  Have fun writing today.

Today was the first day of school,
and now I'm tired.
But the new teacher they've hired
is nobody's fool.
She's assigned us homework
for this very first night--
that hardly seems right--
as my fried brain goes berserk.


     Goodness!  I must be too tired to think straight.  This poem really needs lots of help with the meter.  Hey, I thought I was doing OK just to get the rhyming pattern I wanted.  I bet your ear didn't hear the rhymes.  Look carefully and you'll see the weaving pattern of oblique rhymes that I used.  Can you write your own poem aobut the first day of school?

Riding to School

Meet me on our yellow school bus.
We can take a ride.
We will look for seats together
sitting side by side.


     If you rode a school bus today, who would you want to be sitting in the seat next to you?  Can you write a poem about that?  Have fun.

First Day of School

I have paper and pencils
and new crayons too.
I have a new backpack.
It's color is blue.

I have a new notebook
that I think is cool.
I think I am ready
for the first day of school.

MY NEW RED SWEATSHIRT

Dad bought me 
a sweatshirt
when we went 
to the game.
It's warm 
and it's red
and has 
the team's name.

I wore it to school.
I wore it to play.
For a week I wore it
everyday.

Mom said, "This 
needs washing,
it's started to stink."
Now my socks
and my undies
are all colored
PINK!


     There is still time to enter your name in the drawing for a copy of GUESS WHO'S IN THE DESERT, Chaline Profiri's new rhyming riddle book about the desert.

Epigraph

     Last Thursday I presented a poem with an epigraph by Wistawa Szymborska.  I discussed the term "epigraph" and suggested that you try writing your own poem with an epigraph.
     In talking with Jessie Artes about epigraphs, he mentioned one from his mom.
"A hard time will make a monkey eat pepper," by Arnell Artes. I did a goggle search on this phrase and found it was an old Southern saying.Have you heard it before.

HARD TIMES

Hard time will make a monkey eat pepper-- Arnell Artes

You know the hard times,
we've all had them
I walked to school
in the snow
once had only peanut butter
and crackers to eat for a week
shoe holes stuffed with newspaper
collars turned inside out
to get twice the wear
I wore skirts made from
Daddy's trousers.
Nothing was wasted
but any time I didn't
clean my plate
mom would mention
that monkey.

Grasshopper

A grasshopper in the lantana

all yellow and black and green

was a big hopper in the lantana

the biggest that I've ever seen.

The grasshopper in the lantana

was looking hungry and mean.

That grasshopper in my lantana

was eating my leafy greens.

     Can you guess what I saw this morning when I was watering the plants?  Can you write your own poem about something you saw this morning?


Let's see if I can do this

Forty pairs of school shoes
sat on the school bus floor
trying to be quiet
'til we opened up the door.

Then forty pairs of school shoes
marched out the school bus door
then the bus is quiet 'til 
they're back to ride some more.

FLEA SCHOOL

When young fleas
go to school
they have to learn
all the rules--

like how to leap
and how to dive
doing gymnastics
to stay alive.


     Today's poem came from reading the funny pages this morning.  There was a picture of bugs in school and I thought how funny it was for a flea to go to school.  We all know lice often go to school.  So pick your insect or any animal at all and write a poem about what they would learn at school.  Or just read the comics and write a poem inspired by your reading.  Have fun.