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

THE BOSS

You are the boss.
Make your words
spin, whirl,
do-see-doh,
down the page.

Lift them up.
Let your words
soar, fly
send blessings
into the sky.

Because you are
the boss of your words.

Happy Saturday.  The fun thing about writing is you are the boss.  You get to pick which words you use and what you make them do.  Have fun writing today.  So if you were to talk to your words, what would you say?  Can you write a poem about that today?  

POETRY

Poetry and I
play idea tug-of-war
strong lines are shaping.

I lasso a word
then I set it free once more
I will try again.

The right word tickles
my hand tingles and itches
I must write words down.

I take up my pen 
dash words across my paper
to write this poem.

    Since this poem is about writing poetry, it can be called ars poetica--a Latin word meaning the art of poetry.  Each stanza is written in the linked haiku form using renga popularized by the Japanese master Matsua Basho.  Can you try writing your own haiku or ars poetica today?  Have fun.

DREAMS

Each thirsty night

I am sprinkled

with a soft rain

of words I try

to arrange

in to poems.

    What dreams do you have at night?  Can you write a list poem about your dreams today?  Have fun writing your poem.

     Today is the Poetry Friday Round-Up.  You can find more poetry on Paul Hankins' blog These 4 Corners.  Thanks, Paul, for hosting us today.

POEMS LIKE A RIVER

Write like the river.
Let your words flow.
Where it will take you
you may not know.

It might be to fantasy
or could be sci-fi.
Words create reality, 
so give it a try.

Let poems drift
out of you pen,
and then when you're done
start over again.

   Happy Poetry Friday!  You poetry challenge for today is to try free writing a poem.  If you get stuck try sitting quietly and making a list of all the things you hear.  Then can you shape that list into a poem? Have fun writing.

     I'm travelling and having some problems posting from my iPad.  I'll post this poem for now and will fix it later.  Boy, is this frustrating.

CREATIVITY

Turtle woman watches
space upon space
providing room
for her stories.
Like the garden she tends
her words grow.
A profusion of peonies blooms.


   Who is Turtle Woman?  What does she look like?  What story does she have to tell you?  Is there a Wolf Man?  Can you write a poem about his story?  Have fun writing.  

Happy New Year

Happy 2-0-1-4
may this be the year
you have time
to write more.

May your poems
be delightful
and full of fun.
May the words
seem to roll
right off of your tongue.

May you fill
the world with happiness
in all that you do.
May this be 
a prosperous year
for me and for you.


     I hope you are having a great beginning to the new year.  Are you writing resolutions?  I've been thinking about a few but I haven't gotten around to writing them down.  Your challenge for today is to write one resolution of something you'd like to do this year.  Have a thinking day.  Enjoy.

CREATION

Words
flow
dance
twirl
jumpleapfly
like learning 
bird talk
or the steps
of a Latvian folk dance
like a volcano
erupting
on fire 
it feels wonderful
powerful
like being
a Greek Goddess
one of the muses
from my brain
hopefully
to live
in your heart

     Today's poem is a great stretch for me.  I don't usually write free verse poems for children, but this is what wanted to come from my pen and I'm going to respect that.  I'm doing some experimenting with this poem.  My own form of CREATION.   Does the "jumpleapfly" work all together like an airplane taking off from a runway?  I know this poem is a little hard to read because of the lack of punctuation, but I did that intentionally because I wanted to take advantage of the enjambment and I wanted to slow the reader down to enjoy each word created and perhaps to create their own meaning in the spaces between the words.
     Your challenge today is to create your own poem.  Take any word you like and have fun playing with it.  Do you feel like an acrostic or a haiku?  Perhaps rhymed couplets or the common verse of quatrains.  What ever you try have fun with your own creation.

    The Friday Poetry Roundup is being hosted today by Tabatha Yeatts on her blog The Opposite of Indifference.  Thanks, Tabatha for hosting the party.
Click on the link to find many other great children's poetry posts today.

Writing a Poem

There are words
floating in the air.
You can't see them,
but they are there.

I grab them,
one, two, a few.
Rub them together
see what they do.

Do they fit together?
Make a fun pair?
Do sparks fly off?
Do the embers flare?

Then I write a poem,
it's what I do.
The words are waiting,
there's plenty for you,
too.

      Where are your favorite places to look for words for your poems?  Can you write a poem about that today?  Have fun.

PROGRESSIVE POEM 

Each day during the month of April I will add a line to this poem.

WHAT IS POETRY? 

 
Poetry is truth in it's Sunday clothes.--Arthur Unknown

  It is finding the truth, no need to lie.

  It's munching on watermelon and letting seeds fly.

 
  It's a letter that comes with a card in the mail.

  It's the lacy silver threads left by a garden snail.

 
  It's daffodil trumpets covering the hill.

  It's a deer at the creek, drinking her fill.

   It's giggling and laughing and being absurd.

   It's reading a haiku and feeling each word. 
   

  It's a dragon who blows flames, loud and hardy. 

  It's fairies in the garden having a tea party.

  
  It's the sound of a truck shifting its gears.

  It's the feel of two soft puppy dog ears.

 
  It's a bright sun rise and glowing moon shine.

  It's a Carolina wren singing in a Lob-lolly pine.

 
  It's a snowman rolled on a cold winter morn.

  It's crows calling from tall tasseled corn.

 
  It's the whisper of hummingbird wings in the air.

  It's plaits and curls tied with bows in my hair.

  It's spying a bird feeding her young.

 It's pink cotton candy that melts on your tongue.

 It's watching black ants as they march by.

 It's corn on the cob for the Fourth of July.

It's a bumble bee tumbling inside a rose.

It's dandelion puffs tickling my nose.

It's a penny tossed in a wishing well. 

It's the cackle of a witch casting a spell. 

It's roasting marshmallows over a campfire flame.

It's squirrels in the poplar trees playing a game.

It's mermaids on a rock, combing their hair.
It's hearing a hot air balloon in the air.

It's you and me having a good time

finding words and making them rhyme.

    Can you write your own list poem today about things that make you happy?  Have fun writing.

Words

"Do not hold it against me, O speech, that I borrow weighty words,
and then labor to make them light."  Wislawa Szymborska

fly overhead, stuffed
like cartoon bubbles
balloons I rope in
they burst,
so much
hot air


    The quote at the beginning of the poem is called an epigraph.  Can you write your own poem today that uses an epigraph at the beginning, a quote that adds meaning to your poem?  The quote or phrase doesn't have to be from a famous person, it could be something your dad, mom or teacher says.  Like "History is my favorite subject."  Then your poem could be about something historical, or other things your teacher says. "Look at that." my dad.  The poem could be about things you notice, or something you've seen.  You can also look in the newspaper or magazines for epigraphs.  be sure to remember to let the reader know where you got the information, or who said your epigraph.  The title of this poem leads into the first line.
    Do you know who Wislawa Szymborska was?  Can you find her poetry on the web? 


 

Word Play

When I go to bed
at the end of my day
that is when
the words
come out
to play.

They come running
from under my bed
they sing,
they dance
they stand
on their head.

They fill all the corners,
they swing from the lights,
they shout and cavort
all through the night.

They fill up my notebooks
cause my pens to leak;
they cackle, they howl,
they even squeak.

I awake 
in the morning,
it's just as I feared
the words have run off.
They've all disappeared.

So how can I write
with words gone away?
All my words want to do
is sleep through the day.


     If your words could talk to you, what would they say?  Can you write a poem today that is a letter to yourself?  Have fun writing.

I Love Words

I love words.

the feel of them, 

the taste of them 

in my mouth.

I am in a swimming pool

filled with words.

They bump against my body,

my kick sends words

fluttering into the air.

My stroke sends droplets of words

flicking over the water.

I am taking a trip

and my suitcase is stuffed with words

I fold them neatly,

 stacking words into the corners

I hope they don't wrinkle.

I am camping

the tent is filled with words

they are hot and sweaty,

and like moths

the words are attracted to the light.

I walk the city sidewalks

and see words

lining the walkways

stretched over the high rise,

pooling in glass surfaces.

And the exciting thing to me

is that there are always 

new words to taste,

new words to hear

in my ears

new words to sniff

like a French perfume.

I will never know them all.

Never read them all.

And never feel them

all on my tongue.

And even if I could

read all the words 

in the English language,

there are still

so many other

languages to conquer.

      What is your favorite word?  Can you use it to write a poem?
Where do your words like to hang out? Enjoy!