Another Beet, Another Triolet

 

Beets and Pink Fingers

Photo by Amy LV

The Same Beets, Roasted

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Well....

It took over a year (see my post from February 22, 2022), but I like beets now! In that post, I promised that I would report back by that weekend's end on how it went with eating the beet in my photo. I never did report back and never did eat that beet. It ended up on the compost pile along with my good intentions.

But a few weeks ago, we visited our good friends Katie and Dave for dinner. Part of dinner was boiled beets with butter. And being a polite guest, I ate some. 

They were yummy! So yummy, in fact, that (never to do a thing moderation), I bought a 25 pound bag of beets and have been roasting them and making beet fries. I find myself wishing that I could eat last year's beet today,

25 Pounds of Beets

Photo by Amy LV

Since this is a follow-up poem to a triolet, I responded with a triolet. A triolet - you may remember - is an eight-line poem with a special rhyming pattern that goes like this: ABaAabAB. This means that lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same exact words so of course they rhyme with each other. Lines 2 and 8 are the same exact words, so of course they rhyme with each other, and line 6 rhymes with them. Lines 3 and 5 rhyme with lines 1, 4, and 7. Go ahead and check, and while you're at it, see what you notice about the syllable counts in each line. It's fun to do that.

I like the way that triolets circle around with repeating lines. Not only are they cool to write, I find them interesting to read, almost musical.

This week consider playing with repetition in your poems. If you don't want to tackle a triolet, perhaps choose a line or two to repeat a time or two. Or play with counting syllables. To me, this is a challenging and rewarding puzzle.

Claude, My Assistant

(Our son says he looks like a cat who would wear "little round glasses.")

Photo by Amy LV

Laura is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Small Reads for Brighter Days with wonderful book news (three books out this spring - congratulations, Laura!) and also an announcement about her 2023 National Poetry Month Project, "Digging for Poems." Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

Oh! Want to hear a crazy thing? Last February when I posted the first beet triolet...Laura was hosting that day too. Perhaps I will write a beet triolet each time she hosts - hee hee!

I hope for you that you will be happy to be wrong about something in the near future, just as I am happy to have been wrong about the goodness of beets.

xo,

Amy

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A New Place...A New Voice

Snow Freckles

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Here in Western New York, the weather is jumping back and forth between cold and warm, snowy and clear, dark and sunny. But I can hear Winter packing her bags, heading off to visit others. Daffodils are nudging up, and robins will all be back soon. If you do not live in a snowy place, know that we snowfolks consider the sighting of a robin as an important sign of spring. While not all robins migrate, this is still an important moment for me....first robin!

Today I offer you two ideas to consider with your own writing:

1. Write in a different place. I am not saying that we need to take vacations to write; we can simply walk a few steps in a direction away from where we usually write to find a new perspective. Try writing outside. Try writing under your desk. Try moving to a different room. New impressions, sights, sounds, and smells give us new ideas. The more we feed our senses, the more ideas we will have. Today I walked around outside and wrote a bit in the chilly air after taking the photo above and the one below.

Nudging Daffodils

Photo by Amy LV

2. Write in the voice of another. Today I share a poem in the voice of Winter. This means that I pretended to BE Winter as I wrote. I imagined which images Winter might wish to press into her suitcase, and I thought about my different senses when I did so...this is how I thought of the "cocoa breath" line, probably my favorite.

Heidi is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at my juicy little universe with a whole birthday party of fabulous poems. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

May you find a couple of interesting new places and voices this week. Your writing can take you anywhere.

xo,

Amy

ps - It really isn't spring here quite yet. Snow is coming back this weekend!

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Awe...and Line Breaks Too

Fingerpainting of an Eggshell

by Amy LV

Students - Today I have a definition for you, a definition of the word awe from GREATER GOOD MAGAZINE.

Awe is the feeling we get in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world, like looking up at millions of stars in the night sky or marveling at the birth of a child.When people feel awe, they may use other words to describe the experience, such as wonder, amazement, surprise, or transcendence.

You have likely used - or heard someone use - the word awesome, and this word comes from having a feeling of awe. (The word awful was once clearly connected to the word awe as well, but it took a dark turn.)

Many people experience a feeling of wonder, surprise, amazement...awe...when they spend time in nature. Earlier this week, I listened to an episode of the podcast Hidden Brain, all about the science of awe. If you have never listened to a podcast, the ones I enjoy are like educational television programs (I have never had a TV as an adult) without the pictures - I listen on my phone. I listen while cooking or driving, cleaning or walking on my dad's old treadmill. Anyway, this one about awe got me thinking about times when I have experienced such a sense of wonder. And yes, I too am often in nature when I have awe fills me from toe to nose.

This week, I also shared the below photo of our chickens' eggs on social media, and my friend Linda asked if I would save blue and green shells for her so that she can turn them into watercolor paints. Of course I said, "Yes."

Splendor from the Hen House

Photo by Amy LV

The combination of these two experiences - a podcast and a friend's request - mixed in with my interest in birds and finding natural treasures, brought today's poem into the world.

Only at first, it had shorter lines. 

Experimenting with Line Breaks

Photo by Amy LV

The other week, my friend Heidi of my juicy little universe complimented the longer lines of one of my poems. As I admire her writing, this has me thinking about how I might play around more with the lengths of poem lines. And so, while the first draft of this poem had shorter lines...it shifted to longer lines. Thank you, Heidi!

Here are a couple of things you might try out this week:

1. Go outside. Let something fill you with wonder or surprise. Feel awe. Write. 

2. Experiment with your own line breaks, drafting the same words in a different way by simply changing where you go to a new line. Read your poem out loud each way and see which works best for you. I think that the longer lines work best in today's poem because fewer breaks make the poem feel more like a whispered conversation with a friend, somehow more casual and real.

Tanita is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at {fiction, instead of lies} with a mighty cactus poem and painting along with some inspiring (and much needed by me) words about writing and goals. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

Look around, my friends. It is a beautiful world out there.

xo,

Amy

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Slip Into a Frame

Painting by Alixandra Martin

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem grew from my writing assemblies with the third, fourth, and fifth graders of Coolidge, Washington, Lincoln, and Sicomac Schools in Wyckoff, New Jersey. I so enjoyed my time visiting them this week, and one thing we talked about was how art is an endless well and source of writing ideas. 

Sometimes when I'm not sure what to write about, I simply look at a piece of art and allow it to bring me to a new place. Today's poem also explores the joy of art as a way to escape. I began writing the first few lines of this poem during a school assembly this week as we all wrote about a piece of art together. Thank you to the young writer who shared how she sketched a sunflower as I am certain that her sharing brought sunflowers into this poem today. I also thank my friend Kateri Ewing, my wise artist friend who posted this week about the importance of making art during difficult times.

The painting you see above was made by my friend Alixandra Martin. I love to stare at it and imagine what it would be like to slip right into those golden colors, to chat with the angel.

When you wonder what to write, look for art. You can find it in books, calendars, on walls, websites, and in museums. And always, art can bring us somewhere new. Art is, indeed, a place to go. And poems about art have a special name - ekphrastic poetry.

Teachers - A lot has happened over the past few years, but not so long before the pandemic, I wrote a book about how studying poetry can strengthen all of our writing. This book is full of poems by comtemporary poets, student writers, and full of lessons and resources put together by me. One of the lessons is about this very topic, writing from art. 

Available through Heinemann

Molly is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Nix the Comfort Zone with a hauntingly lovely poem and photographs celebrating winter trees. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

May you live joyfully in your life...and inside of art too!

xo,

Amy

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A Magical Power...Meow!

Claude in His Tunnel

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Our newest cat Claude is a chatty and loving little soul. Every once in a while he will just walk around the house calling for his pal Winnie. For today's poem, I just imagined that I had the magical power I've always wished for: the ability to understand animals. (But just for one day...)

Today's poem is a story poem which quickly jumps into the realm of fiction yet was inspired by my meow-y young fuzzface. 

If you're looking for a writing idea, you might allow yourself to muse about a magical power you would love to have. You might write it as a story of living with this power, as I have. Or you might write a list of all of the things you would do with this power. I think I might be able to write a lot of these poems.

If you don't feel like having a magical power, perhaps you would like to simply write about a wish that you have had, you have now, or that someone else has or once had. Real...or imagined. You, my friend, are the writer.

And remember. If you ever aren't sure of how to title a poem, you can always name it after the spot where it takes place.

Right now I am happily in Denver, Colorado, teaching two sessions about poetry at the CCIRA 2023 conference. I feel so fortunate to be here, back amongst thoughtful educators and old friends.

Carol is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond Literacy Link with a postcard swap share. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship

Meow! I love you!

xo,

Amy

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For You - Giving a Box

Snow in the Country

February 1, 2023

Video by Amy LV

Students - The other day, I walked outside to the scene you see above. It was such a magical snow - fat flakes falling in the stillness. I captured the short video above, and as I walked back inside, I thought to myself, "I would like to give this scene, this snow, to someone who would love it." Later, I wrote that thought into my notebook.

The origins of a poem are somewhat mysterious. This one grew from that snowy day scene, and also from a line from a "The Uses of Sorrow" - a poem by Mary Oliver:

Someone I loved once gave me

a box full of darkness.

Then I remembered the time, many years ago, when I had a video chat with author/teacher Margaret Simon and a few of her students from Louisiana. We had lots of snow here, and as they do not know snow, I brought some inside, and in front of my screen gave them a tiny snowman.

So there it is: Outside Scene + Someone Else's Poem + A Memory = A New Poem.

This is why paying attention matters. Sometimes the littlest thing comes back to haunt you in the very best way.

If you were to fill a box with something and give it to another, inviting them to enjoy the contents...what might you fill it with? Of course the thing you choose wouldn't have to really fit into the box, and of course it doesn't have to be something you could even ever put into a box at all. But still...what might you select, from all of the everythings you can imagine?

It is possible that this thought will walk you right into the arms of a poem.

Laura is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Laura's Blog with a joyful celebration of FINDING FAMILY, the newest book by Laura Purdie Salas. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

For you, I offer a box full of ideas and a box full of hope.

xo,

Amy

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It Is True. (What Is True?)

Dance

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Students - This week I read a new-to-me poem written by a poet who died many years ago. Right away I felt like we were friends, as if its words had lived in my heart forever, that we had known each other for our whole lives. I felt so grateful. And while a person and a poem can not exaaaaactly hold hands and dance, it felt just like we did.

Today's poem once again takes an actual memory and brings it into the world of of make-believe. You may have noticed before that I do this often - begin with a moment that really happened and then allow it to bring me to a new and imaginary place. This is one of my favorite truths of writing: we do not always need to direct our writing, rather, we can sometimes take its hand and follow.

As I wrote this poem, I kept scribbling and scribbling, crossing out lines and reading the words aloud until they sounded just right. I could not find the ending for quite a while, but I kept writing and kept listening....and at last the lesson found me. Today's poem is a bit of a lesson poem, sharing in its final lines something I have learned: it is true/that you can find/and recognize/the thing/you never knew/you missed.

Know this: you need not know the ending of your poem before you write it. Follow the trail of wordcrumbs, and follow where they lead you. Keep your mind open for possible lessons and learnings. And remember too that your poem need not rhyme. To know if it will sound good to you, just keep reading it aloud as you go. Each time you write a line, read your poem again - up to that line - and listen for what comes next. Often, the line will be right there...waiting for you.

You may be wondering about the title of this new-to-me-best-friend-poem. I will share it soon, but for now, we are still getting to know each other. Have you ever had a little secret or treasure that you were not quite ready to share quite yet?

Jan is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Bookseed Studio with a celebration of the inspiring author illustrator Sharon Lovejoy, writer of one of my favorites, ROOTS, SHOOTS, BUCKETS, AND BOOTS: GARDENING TOGETHER WITH CHILDREN. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

May you find a surprising truth (or poem or treasure or teeny secret) this week. What is true for you?

xo,

Amy

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