Students - This week has been Banned Books Week, and so I decided to write a poem for the greatest champions of books...librarians. When librarians stand up for books, they stand up for you and for me and for all of the ideas we share and for all of the ideas we do not share. Librarians stand up for thought and for freedom. All of my gratitude to them. Librarians are the lifeguards of thought.
To whom are you grateful? This may be one person or it may a whole group of people who do a particular job or who share a characteristic. Thank you notes can be personal and given to one person or general and written for all to read such as mine today. If you write a thank you poem, you may choose to write your poem in your own voice...or you may choose to write it in the voice of another as I did today. Your voice need not even be human! Feel free to title it as I did..."A Thank You to..."
I look forward to Saturday when I will have the good fortune to learn the educators of The Literacy Connection, a professional organization in Ohio. We will be reading and writing poems together, discovering the many ways that poems can teach us about writing and life as we dig into my book POEMS ARE TEACHERS and the poems of so many.
Tomorrow, Irene will be hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Live Your Poem. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
Read, my friends...
xo,
Amy
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Hello Friends! First I would like to thank the community of Ripley Central School (Grades K-6), in New York State, for spending Wednesday with me. It was such a treat to begin these autumn days with thoughtful writers and teachers. I look forward to our future time together, and today's poem came from something I shared in our upper grade assemblies.
One of the most meaningful, interesting, and important parts of being a writer, whether we share our writing or not, is deciding what to write about...choosing an idea. And sometimes we can fall into the trap of believing that we need to have a GOOD idea, an IMPORTANT idea, a SPECIAL idea. But we do not need this at all. We just need to begin writing.
We can begin by starting down one of many possible paths, but one of these paths is simply the path of observation. We look around. We look at one object. We write about this object. Now, you may be wondering, Just what might we write about any object? Well, we can write in any genre, and we might:
Describe the object with our senses
Compare the object with something else in the world
Tell about a personal memory related to this object
Teach something about this object
Share beliefs connected to this object
List words this object brings to our minds and write from these
Invent the beginning of a story inspired by this object
Begin a poem about this object
For me, the best part of writing is the surprise part. I like beginning NOT KNOWING what I will write, NOT having a great idea to begin, but rather, allowing an idea to show up on the page like a surprise guest.
As for my poem today, I was trying to think of a writing idea when I realized that I should water the garden. As I did so, I admired the sprinkler and so...the sprinkler became my main character of today.
This poem is short and it does not rhyme. However, it does use a lot of sound repetition, namely of the short i sound. The poem, including title, has 20 words, and 10 of them include the short i sound, my favorite sound in the English language.
I would love to read and share any poems you write from just looking around, choosing an object, and allowing the object to bring you to new places, thoughts, and wordplay.
Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Teacher Dance. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
xo,
Amy
ps - For those of you who, like me, are fans of English Professor and Musician Gart Westerhout, he is back with another song version of one of my poems, "Summer Mystery," from two weeks ago. Hear him sing that poem about my generous neighbors here.
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Students - So many thank yous to embroidery artist and dear Instagram friend Silvia Saenz, a mender and sewist I admire. Silvia sews to repair garments and also to create joy...as you can see with this cuddly mouse. While the mouse was a gift for a different family member, Silvia often sews and mends for her granddaughter, so I chose to write today's poem in Silvia's granddaughter's voice. I am grateful to Silvia for allowing me to share this photo she took of her work.
When you hear a story or learn something about another person, you might choose to pretend that you are that person and write as if you ARE that person. In this way, the world of writing opens up beyond our own worlds. Of course, when doing this, it is important to consider when it might be necessary to research a particular life experience and when it might be wiser to respect that the experience is so wide and deep that it best be left in the voice of the true experiencer. Because people have given me homemade gifts, today I drew on my own, very similar, experience to write in this granddaughter's voice. If someone has ever made something for your or repaired something for you, perhaps you, too, might wish to explore this topic in your writing.
Did you notice that while this poem rhymes, the ending does not rhyme? This is one way of ending a poem...breaking a pattern. Today's pattern is broken by breaking the rhyme. In a way, this slows the poem down and brings a reader's attention to the warm meaning of those last few words.
Heidi is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at my juicy little universe with a celebration of looking closely at our world. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
xo,
Amy
ps - Claude has become quite cuddly in the mornings. He raises his paw into the air as if he is in school, and I must pick him up for a snuggle. This morning, he thought he'd keep my notebook warm as I typed.
Claude: Writing Partner
Photo by Amy LV
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If you are just back to school, welcome back to school! I wish you and your new teacher and new friends a joyful and meaningful year ahead, and I look forward to writing together and perhaps meeting some of you and reading your work.
You will notice that The Poem Farm has a new search feature. Thank you so much to Marisa Saelzler who helped me so perfectly with this. You may search by topic, poetic technique, or type of poem. To learn more about this, click the FIND A POEM tab above.
A Visit from the Tomato Fairy Photo by Amy LV
Students - Today's poem is about a small, surprise event that happened just this week at The Poem Farm. I went to get my mail from the big blue mailbox, and the small newspaper box next to it held one big tomato, two small cherry tomatoes, and a few flowers. It seemed they may have been left the day before, and the whole scene in my newspaper box made me so happy. Right away I knew that I would write about the generosity of this mystery-giver.
As you write this week, you might wish to look out for kindnesses - surprise or not - or to remember past kindnesses you have given or received. Somehow just thinking and writing about such memories makes our todays better.
One thing you may notice about this poem is that I repeat a lot of words. This repetetion just seemed to happen on its own at first, but then, I so enjoyed the feeling of the poem's words rolling over on themselves that I just kept at it, repeating words on purpose. Which repeated words do you find?
If you want to try this with your own writing, just begin writing with an ear for repetition. You might begin a line with the last word of the line before. You might repeat a whole line or thread up words from earlier in your poem. There are many ways to repeat, and repetition adds a song-like quality to your poem.
September 19, 2024 Update - My talented friend, English Professor and Musican Gart Westerhout is once again back with a song version of a poem. Please enjoy "Summer Mystery," sung by Gart. Thank you, friend!
Buffy is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Buffy Silverman with an early book celebration for her forthcoming beautiful STARLIGHT SYMPHONY and a poem about a walking stick. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
Happy Septembering!
xo,
Amy
ps - Yes...I did find out who the mystery tomato-giver was. It was two wonderful girls who live on our road...so many thank yous to them. The tomatoes were deee-licious!
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Students - Today's small free verse poem grew from a real experience that I had this week, one that I keep thinking about. I simply wished to hold onto this bittersweet memory (so sad, but so many people stepped in to help) by shaping the minutes and hours of that day into a poem to keep. I realize now that it is a bit of an advice poem, offering advice to myself and possibly to readers.
Consider paying close attention to your own life this week, to the small lessons you learn when you listen to your heart. Where have you been? What have you seen and heard? How have you grown? How might you shape this all into a memory or memory-and-advice poem for yourself or others?
Feel free to use the words You might....
Our lives and stories matter. When we write about them, we learn. And once in a while, we may even teach without even knowing it.
As you may remember, a few weeks ago I had the good fortune to write color poems with the third graders of Greenacres Elementary School Greenacres Elementary School in Scarsdale, NY. We are lucky that Teacher Amy Correnti and her students are generously sharing their crayon color poems with us today. Enjoy these poems, noticing how one hue can bring a person to a character, to a moment, to life!
Thank you, Poets, for sharing with us today. I know that many of us will look for colors and see them in new ways this week thanks to you.
Denise is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Dare to Care with a sacred seven poem and information about some upcoming poetry happenings. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
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This week I have been fortunate to serve as Artist in Residence at Greenacres Elementary School in Scarsdale, NY. I had planned to write about crayon colors with the second grade students on Tuesday, and the evening before, I walked into my hotel only to find his broken crayon on the sidewalk in front of the door.
Broken Cerise Colored Crayon
Photo by Amy LV
Of course I picked it up. It was meant to be! I must write about this red color. My memory took me back to French class in high school where we learned that cerise means cherry in French.
Close-Up of Cerise
Photo by Amy LV
On Tuesday morning, I wrote. But I was sleepy, unsure that anything interesting would show up on the page. But something did. Someone did. A happy old lady showed up and greeted me line after line. She appeared out of nowhere, out of a broken crayon, and surprised me with her own poem.
Students - If you were to ask me what I love most about writing, it is this element of surprise. We may think we have no ideas, but when we sit and work...the ideas will appear. We may think we are too tired to write, but when we sit and work...writing wil show up. We may think that all of the good ideas have already been taken, but when we sit and work...again and again...our brains will give us gifts. Our brains will surprise us. Where did this old lady come from? I am not sure. Perhaps from here:
Someone's Broken Crayon + High School French Class + My Tree Planting Husband = A Poem
As we think about finding ideas in new ways, today I am so happy to welcome Adela, a thoughtful poet from Karen Caine's sixth grade ELA class at Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont, NY. As her poem creates an enchanted sense of place, you may wish to close your eyes and have someone read it aloud to you.
Adela was able to find the idea for her magical moment-in-the-forest-poem by writing outside. She allowed an idea find her by placing her body in a new location. This week, consider trying what she has done, and write in a new place. In this new place, new ideas will find their way to you. Much gratitude to Adela for her generosity in sharing her poem with us today.
Michelle Kogan is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Michelle Kogan along with a celebration of poems by poets with May birthdays...including herself. Happy birthday, Michelle! Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
Thank you, Adela! Thank you, Greenacres! Thank you, Greenacres second grader who suggested a wonderful idea for a future poem! Thank you, Michelle! Friends, may you be found by ideas!
xo,
Amy
ps - Guess what I found on Thursday morning on the hotel sidewalk? Cerulean.
The Broken Cerulean Crayon Wants to be Next
Photo by Amy LV
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Students - When I was younger, I liked flowers just fine. But now that I am older, I LOVE flowers. I have been planting hundreds and hundreds of bulbs and learning about different flowers, and with each new week of spring, I am thrilled with the new colorful friends who appear. This week is the week of lilac bushes. We have a whole line of them along the road in front of our house, and when people walk by, I offer them a bunch to take along the way.
Today's poem celebrates a bit of daily beauty. Writing poetry can help us notice things that we otherwise walk right by because the simple act of writing in a every day helps us to see more, notice more. I have been away from my own notebook due to the fact I have been helping someone who recently died. Now I am taking care of their house and belongings. Seeing this lilac and writing about it reminds me how much I have missed writing as I have been not-writing-busy over the past couple of weeks. Thank you, Lilac, for reminding me to return to daily noticings.
In this small poem of address (I write TO the lilac), I compare the branches of a lilac to human arms and its flowers to human hands. When we compare things to other things in poetry, we call this metaphor or simile, depending on whether we use the word "like" or "as." This poem uses metaphor, which is a bit stronger in a way. If I had said, "Your branches as long as arms" or "Your flowers wave like hands wave," I would still be comparing one thing to another, and those comparisons would be called similes. Since I do not use "like" or "as," this poem uses metaphor. You might want to try comparing something to something else in a poem or story you are writing. This is one way to give a reader a mind picture.
Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Word Edgewise with her generous clunker exchange. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.
I encourage you to write in your own notebook for 5-10 minutes a day, perhaps at the same time every day. You do not need to know what you will write about before you begin. Simply begin, and as the days go by, you will find that you notice more and more in this inspiring world.
Next week I look forward to a week-long writing residency at Greenacres School in Scarsdale, NY. I have not been there since before COVID, and it will be wonderful to see everyone again!
xo,
Amy
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