WHEN I GROW UP

Sometimes I wonder
who will I be
when I grow up
and I'm still me.

I like to play piano
do math and to read.
But each of these things
is only a seed.

Will I be a banker,
play in a band,
be a librarian?
Who knows what I'll be
when I am a woman.

This I know,
I can be 
whatever I 
want to be.
My future is anything.
It's up to me.


     Quick, make a list of ten things you like to do.  Now, make a second list of professions that need those skills.  When I was growing up, I never even considered that someone needed to design the roller coaster rides I liked to ride on.  I didn't even know there were people who designed video games--and I certainly didn't know any poets.  What do you want to do when you grow up?  I hope you've got a long list.  Can you shape your list into a poem?  Have fun writing.  Hey, and if you don't have dog trainer on your list, throw that in and see what happens, unless of course, if you have allergies to pet dander.  Maybe you can work to find a cure for that.

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. 

TREE

Today I learned
something new
for me.
I learned that a tree
isn't always a tree.

Some trees
don't have leaves,
you see.

A wooden form
to fit inside
a leather shoe
is a shoe tree.

A wooden post 
to hold
lots of hats
is a hat tree.

And a tree
to hold 
my genealogy
is a family tree.

So you see
not all trees 
have leaves.


     My citrus tree has been blooming and the smell is delightful.  But  this morning when I looked out at the tree, I noticed someone had been eating all the leaves.  I felt like Baby Bear, "Someone has been eating at my citrus tree and they ate it all up."
    So when I started to write today's poem, I guess the word tree was stuck in my brain.  Your challenge for today is to pick a word and write a poem about the different meanings of the word.  I'm thinking spoon, or run,  might work well.  Let me know what word you chose and have fun writing your poem.

Interview

I was interviewed this morning on Joan Edward's blog,

you can find it here:

http://joanyedwards.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/delightful-interview-with-joy-acey-the-princess-of-poetry/

THE WIND

All night long
the wind blew and blew.
It huffed and puffed
and rattled too.

It made the wind chime
clatter and clang.
All night long
rattle-ting-bang.

I'm tired this morning.
I don't know why.
Good thing the wind
        finally,
              decided to die.


    We've been having lots of wind in the desert.  It has me thinking about scientists who study wind currents.  Meteorologists?  Wind is very important to the earth.  Wind makes haboobs, hurricanes, dust devils and tornadoes.  Winds are important to sailors and to pilots.  You'll see a windsock at every airport.
    According to Wikipedia, the first wind tunnel was invented by Francis Herbert Wenham in 1871.   Airplane and automotive manufacturers use wind tunnels to perfect their designs.  Biologists have used wind tunnels to explain how dragonflies and bees fly.  I think I'm going to go find out more about the importance of wind.  Can you try writing your own wind poem today?  Since wind is a part of nature, this is an excellent subject for writing haiku.  Have fun writing.

Saturday

Saturday is 
my big day.
It is when I
get to play.

I change my sheets,
clean my room.
Then it's off 
with my friends
I'm gone.
Zoom.

Today I think
I'll fly a kite,
ride my bike,
or take a hike.

Don't really care
what I do today,
whatever I do
I'll have fun--It's Saturday.


     Hope you are having a grand day.  Aren't Saturdays wonderful?  Did you get to sleep in this morning?  Are you doing anything special tonight?  What is one thing you heard today?  One thing you saw?  One thing you did?  Can you write a poem about your Saturday?  Have fun writing poetry.  Be happy.

Poetry for Children: Science Poetry: Student Editions

    Poetry for Children: Science Poetry: Student Editions



Check out this on the new Poetry Friday Anthology for Science compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong from P omelet Books.