MY STOMACH

My stomach is grumbling.
My stomach is rumbling.
Oh dear! What have I found?

My stomach is gurgling.
My stomach is burbling.
It's making a terrible sound. 

My stomach is
on a roll,
making noises
I can't control.

For these noises,
I am not proud.
Please forgive me
for being loud.

  I'm sitting at my computer wondering what I'll write a poem about today and my stomach starts making churning noises from the glass of water I just drank.   WOW!  I remember in fourth grade sitting at my desk and my stomach made noises I couldn't control.  It was so embarrassing. I was sure my classmates would tease me about my loud stomach until I heard someone else's stomach growling too.  That person with the loud stomach became my best friend, and my classmates and I would sit quietly just before lunch to see who had the loudest stomach.  It turned out our teacher had a loud grumbly stomach too. Has this sort of thing happened to you?  Take a moment to sit and quietly listen.  What do you hear?  Can you write a poem about that today?  Have fun writing.

Sometimes I hear blood rushing through my ears.  Sometimes it is only my stomach gurgling.

WHO IS LISTENING?

At the top
of the spires
of the ocotillo
where red flames grow
perches a phainopepla
emptying his throat.
His sweet song
drifts over the sage
brush for all to hear.
But if no one 
pauses to listen, 
is there a sound?

     I live a very quiet life at the end of a road on three acres.Sometimes when I go into town, to the mall to go shopping, it seems really noisy to me.  There are all sorts of buzzing, rings, voices, and sounds I don't normally hear.  I think about those birds and I wonder what voices the city folks hear.  What birds have you seen or heard today?  For your poetry challenge for today, can you try writing a poem about some sound you hear?  Have fun writing.

     Today I'll stop and listen to the sounds around me.

June 28, 2015

SUMMER STORM

Early afternoon
sun still bright.
Heard a noise
gave me a fright.

Thunder rumbled.
Thunder roared.
It made a clashing BOOM!

Thunder grumbled.
Thunder growled.
It loudly clapped KAH-BOOM!

   Yesterday we had an afternoon storm.  It was different to me because the sky was still bright.  At first all I could tell was the noise.  No rain, and I didn't see lightning in the bright day.  So, I sat and listened to the sound of thunder for some time before I saw rain and clouds overhead.  It was fun to think of all the sounds the thunder made and to try to find words to describe it.  For your challenge today, find something that makes a sound.  It could be your dog, a cat, the refrigerator.  I once read a great poem about the sounds a spray paint can made.  Anyway, sit with the sound for a while and consider all the different words you can use to describe the sound.  If you go swimming, what sounds do you hear around the pool?  Try writing a sound poem today.  Make it fun.
  
The world of  children's poet is filled with wonderful sounds.

THE FRIENDLIEST SOUND

The friendliest sound 
in the desert to me
is a phainopepla calling
from a Paloverde tree.
Too-weet, too-weet, too-weet.


    On my walk this morning, I saw and heard the phainopepla.  It reminded me that it is about time for the birds to start their migration.
    This poem can work fairly well as a template for lots of bird sounds.  Next I want to try calling from a cactus.  Let's see:

The eeriest sound
in the desert to us
is an elf owl calling
from a Saguaro cactus.
Chewk, chewk, chewk.

 Now, let's see with a different bird:

The strangest sound
in the desert to us
is a Gila woodpecker calling
from a Saguaro cactus.
Churr-kip, churr-kip, churr-kip.

 Now, let's see with a different location, bird, and tree:

The prettiest sound
in the mountains to me
is a cardinal calling
from a pine tree.
Cheer-cheer-cheer-chireep.

  So, here is your challenge for today--can you use this template to write a poem about a sound you hear in your locale?  Have fun trying this in lots of different ways.
  
The nosiest sound
I've ever heard
is my dog barking
at a bird.
Woolf, woolf, woolf.
Do have fun writing today.
, 

THE CONVERSATION

Walking past my neighbor's house

two black pit bulls

send up a raucous greeting.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

Then a cactus wren

chatters a reply.  

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

They keep at it.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

The highs and lows of it.

WOOF,   WOOF,

   Bark, bark, bark.

TWEET,   TWEET,

  Cheep, cheep, cheep.

Each trying for the last word.

This is a poem that could be done in three voices as a group poem.   Have you ever had a conversation, or an argument where one person tries to have the last word?  By the time you've reached that point, you have information you want the other person to have, but they aren't listening.  Let me repeat that--They aren't listening.  So if you reach the point where one person is trying to have the last word, you aren't really having a conversation and both parties are wasting their time.  It is like the dogs and the bird, they are only making noise to hear themselves.  

If you reach the point where people won't listen to you, it is time to take yourself off to figure out what that person will listen to.  What is important to that person?  What do they want to talk about?   There just aren't enough good listeners in this world. 

    Can you write a poem about listening, or about sound today?  Have fun writing.

"Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different."  Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel prize winning physician

MY DOG SINGS

My dog sings

bow-wow-wow

arf, arf,

wolf, wolf,

yelp!

I 

toss him

a cookie,

his singing

needs help!

     Today is a great day for writing a sound poem.  Sit quietly for a few minutes and just listen to the sounds where you are.  Can you hear the refrigerator hum?  Does your clock tick loudly?  Is there a cricket chirping?  Water dripping or running?  is the TV or radio on?  If you go out today listen to the sounds as you go.  A passenger in my car once said, "I can tell when you change gears by the noise your engine makes."  Can you write a list poem of all the sounds you hear?  Or pick just one sound and tell us all about what is making it.  Have a great Saturday. 

Drummer

Mom and Dad

May I have a drum?

For Christmas

can Santa bring me some?

Drums are the toy that I pick

to play with my own drumming sticks.

I want to drum

Rat-a-tat,

to march to the corner

and then march back.

Marching here,

Rat-a-tat.

Marching there,

Rat-a-tat.

Marching to the corner

and back.

Rat-a-tat,

Rat-a-tat!

     Oh, I can see a list of Christmas toys developing.  What fun. In the back of my mind is another poem from Mom and Dad saying, "No, you can't have a drum." By the end of this poem I can really hear that drumming beat.  It wouldn't take long before I'd be asking for aspirin.  When I get the second poem written, I can then try to write a poem in two voices--or maybe three if you count the voice of the drum.  Have fun writing your own poem today.  Can you try writing a poem that sounds like a musical instrument?

I'm Awake

A train is whistling

down the track.

Its wheels chug

clackety-clack.

Don't know 

where it's going

or when it'll

come back.

Why does it

waken me

when it's only 

3:03.

    What are some of the noises you hear in the night?  What do you do to get back to sleep?  Can you write a poem about those sounds?

Crazy Day

Hey, it is Wednesday--middle of the week day.  I hope it is a good day, just right for you.


The Roadrunner

TAP
     TAP
          TAP

at my door.

It is a roadrunner.
He's hungry for more.

"Give me a cockroach,
give me a lizard,
Give me a small snake
or a turkey gizzard.

"Give me something
I'm hunry to eat
then I'll race off--
in the desert heat."

     It is a bright sunny day in Tucson.  I hope it is sunny where you are.  Enjoy your day no matter what the weather is like and have fun writing a poem today.

My Dog

*MUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

*SLURP*

*MOAN*

My dog is chewing

 his rawhide bone.

     It has been a busy day.  I've been working on my homework for the drawing class I'm taking and so this poem is written on the spur of the moment.  But it is another sound poem.

Happy Christopher Columbus Day.  Did you know that Christopher Columbus named America after his teacher Amerigo Vespucci?  He is the one who taught Christopher and his brother Bartelomew how to draw and label maps.  If you'd like to read my Columbus acrostic poem, check out the archives for Tuesday, April 26, 2011.   So when you become famous, remember your teacher.  Now try writing a poem that tells what you are famous for.  Go ahead and use your imagination for this one.  Push your ideas over the top until they are silly.  Maybe you are the first person to turn into a dog, or a giraffe, or a tortoise.
     Make today special for yourself and others.  Celebrate.

New Shoes

I have new shoes

they're shiny and neat

They're a size larger

to fit my feet.

With each step I take

I hear them sing

*SQUEAK*    * SQUEAK*

How do I silence

these noisy things?

     Here I am, playing with noises and sounds again.  I really like onomatopoeia a lot.  that is when the word sounds like what it is, like drip, bang, boom.  I'm actually working toward a sound story I can use as a picture book.  So maybe I'll see if I can do some sound poems for the next few days, but since it is Sunday, I may just change my mind by tomorrow.  Monday is Columbus Day and I think I should have a Columbus poem for you but I think I've already posted one.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.  Who knows what the muse will bring me.

      In the meantime, I'll ask what are your favorite sounds?  Do you like the sound of a carousel? Will you ride a horse, a swan or a pig?  What will the music be like?  What colors will you see?  Don't forget the smells.  Hot dogs?  Popcorn?  Cotton candy?  OK, write your own poem.  What ever you do, have fun.

Sound Poem

CRUNCH     CRUNCH

I eat carrots for lunch.

MUNCH     MUNCH

Rabbit eats them by the bunch.

TICK     TOCK

I hear the clock.

SCRAPE     SCRAPE

A key is in the lock.

The dog barks

BOW     WOW

and  MOO     MOO

calls the cow.

MEW     MEW

begs the cat at her bowl.

EEK     EEK

squeaks the mouse from his hole.

All these noises

calling to me.

I'll turn them in

to poetry.

     Sit still for a moment and listen to all the noises you hear.  It is impossible to hear silence.  Once it was so quiet, I even heard my own heart beat.  That was a good day.  Can you write a poem about the sounds you like to hear?  Or write a poem about the annoying sounds that bother you.