Choose Good Work, Write About It

Planting Snow Glories in November

Photo by Amy LV

Soon-To-Be-Tulips!

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about an action I recently took - planting - and my feelings about it. I have been thinking about the actions that make me most happy, actions including stacking firewood and planting flowers, baking, knitting, and printmaking. Such jobs have nothing to do with screens or noise, and I like it that way. This past month I planted around 600 bulbs in our yard, 400 of them glories-of-the-snow. Each winter I say I will do this...and I never have done so until now. It will be so exciting to see them peep up come spring! I still do have a couple cords of firewood to move to the front porch, but I will wait for a bit of a warmer day.

In this poem, I consider what spring bulbs remind me of (onions, promises) and too, I marvel at their ability to sleep underground and then bloom when spring returns. I wish for my humble poem to celebrate them and too, to celebrate this fulfilling labor. (You would have laughed to see me walk back into our home again and again last weekend, each time calling, "I just planted another 50!")

Grassy Front Yard Last Week

Photo by Amy LV

Snowy Front Yard This Week

Photo by Amy LV

This action of planting - and this poem - have me thinking about what new actions I will take, actions that will make me feel fulfilled and enriched. Drawing is one such action. So is brushing our dogs. I will do more of these things. And what about you? Which actions make you most joyful? Think away from video games and TV shows or movies...which actions bring you delight or make you feel proud of you? You might try writing about one of these actions as a poem - just begin the first line with an action of what your body is doing or with a description of the material you are working with.

Tanita is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at [fiction, instead of lies] with a Carl Dennis poem about earthworms, a beautiful sonnet about gratitude, and information about the New Year's Poetry Challenge (starting December 15) through the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Sharing Drafts: Thinking All Day

Lake’s Reflections

I am a still lake.

I have a still face.

I am still water.

But I still have memories.

I can still remember

every dear reflection.Sometimes I see them in my mind.

I have watched a family

fishing from a rowboat.

I have scattered moonlight.

I la-la-la-la

A lake is quiet.

But we all have secrets.

I am a lake. I once held you.

Long ago you swam here

with your old dog Samuel

You splashed in my waters

playing fetch for hours.

When I’m feeling lonely

I bring back your picture

One child

One dog

One summer day.

If a person walked by

They would see you splashing

but for just a moment

here upon my face

They would see a stick fly.

They would hear a dog bark.

Then you would disappear

Once more.

© Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Students - I am learning and presenting at a conference this weekend and it is very joyful and very busy too. I squeezed in time this morning to begin a draft about a lake and its memories. You can sing it to the tune of This Land is Your Land...but it is not finished yet. Did you giggle at the la-la-la-la? I really do sing poems sometimes, and those will help me hold my place.

Today I will be thinking about this poem in the back of my mind, trying out new phrases and ideas. I will be back to share again.

December 5, 2019 Update - I still have not come back to work on this one...but maybe someday. Maybe someday...

And you? You might try singing a poem too. Find a tune you like, and fit your words to its rhythm. It's a good stretch.

Rebecca is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Sloth Reads with a poem about hot salad and a question for us all. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

milkweed...and monarchs

Milkweed
Photo by Amy LV

I will add an audio recording this evening.

Students - I find milkweed to be one of the most beautiful plants in our yard's fall landscape. When I see a full pod of wishes, I sometimes blow them into air, making wishes for strangers. And I know that these seeds will plant themselves, growing food for monarch caterpillars come spring.

In the above photograph and below video, taken a couple of weeks ago, you can see a milkweed pod in our pasture. Notice how the seeds are holding on. But in just a few more gusts of wind...off they'll go, planting themselves in new dirt homes.

You probably noticed that I had some fun playing with the spacing of the words in this poem. I wanted to mirror the feeling of milkweed wish movement.

And why no capitals? Well, I'm not sure about that. Somehow this poem felt softer to me without capitals and punctuation, I suppose.

If you are interested in learning more about milkweed and how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service harvests milkweed seeds to plant for monarch butterflies, visit HERE. Among other things, you will see a wonderful photograph of milkweed seeds all tight in the pod...that is the milkweed-stage I always think looks fish-like.

If you'd like to see summer milkweed plants in our front garden and read a poem about monarchs and how we love to see them passing through, HERE you go.

Michelle is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Today's Little Ditty with a hearty welcome to the 2017-2018 edition of THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY! We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Playing with Form and Story

Waves
Stamp by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem came from the strangeness of the connections of life. Yes, I like shipwrecks. Yes, I am fascinated by cemeteries. And yes, I consulted this book edited by Ron Padgett book today, searching for a form to try.

I opened up to the ballad page, and suddenly I was writing. Is this exactly a ballad? I am not sure. But I followed the trail. For there is, young writer, always a trail. Keep seeking. Keep seeking. Listen to everything. Jot things down. Our minds are full of hills and valleys, and if we hike them regularly, there are always new surprises.

From THE HANDBOOK OF POETIC FORMS

Edited by Ron Padgett

I was thrilled this afternoon to receive the folded and gathered pages of our forthcoming book, WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!, a friend to READ! READ! READ! Once again, Ryan O'Rourke's illustrations glow from the page. I am so grateful to him, to my brilliant editor Rebecca Davis, and to the whole amazing team at Boyds Mills and Kane. It will be tricky to wait until March 17, but it will be fun to have a book released next St. Patrick's Day!

Book Friends

Photo by Amy LV

Irene is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Live Your Poem with some exquisitely wise words for all of us. We welcome everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

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Someday...

Sunlight, Cornstalks, Barn

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I fell in love with sun shining through cornstalks the other day. And so I wrote about it. Thinking about this led me to think about the many ways and places I am enchanted by sunlight. So why not throw a party? A party in a poem.

Today's poem is a free verse poem, no rhyme at all. But do know that I read it aloud as I wrote, to listen for the music. I invite you to write a "Someday..." poem of your own if you wish!

Tabatha is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at The Opposite of Indifference with ideas for holding your own writing retreat, the Winter Poetry Swap, and a wise poem by Samantha Reynolds. We welcome everybody to join us each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry fellowship roundup every week.

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Playing with Rhyme

Imagined Ghost and Pie
by Amy LV

Students - I am having a fine time carving and stamping erasers again, making Halloween cards for family. Last week's poem about Little Vampire Girl is still on my mind, and as Halloween is next Thursday, it's pumpkin carving time around here. So yesterday, a poem about a ghost began to float through my mind.

Our Kitchen Table Right Now

Photo by Amy LV

As I jotted Halloween-y things, found myself wondering if any words rhyme with invisible...and I found one on RhymeZone: divisible. I was so happy that I started to play with these two words until this poem emerged.

Sometimes a poem can spring from wordplay. If you want to try this out yourself, make some lists of rhyming words in your notebook. Choose a couple and just play around with them until you find something surprising. Follow the thread...see where it leads you.

Karen is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Karen Edmisten with a beautiful poem for October by Helen Hunt Jackson. We welcome everybody to join us each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry fellowship roundup every week.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Find Inspiration in Illustration

Little Vampire Girl

by MacKenzie Haley

Students - Life is a joyous journey! This Monday I drove a few hours to Clayton, NY to work with the good and generous teachers of the Thousand Islands School District. In my hotel room on Monday evening, I came across MacKenzie Haley's illustration of Little Vampire Girl. I commented on MacKenzie's Twitter post, she wrote back, I wrote back, she wrote back, I wrote back, she wrote back, I wrote a poem, and here we are.

Twitter Comment Thread

When I saw this MacKenzie's illustration, I wanted to talk with Little Vampire Girl, her rainbow-y unicorn, and Moon too.

And you know what?  In writing...I can. I loved imagining Little Vampire Girl talking with Wise Moon.  Had I eaten something different for dinner or slept a different number of hours last night, perhaps I might have written a different poem. One never knows. 

This poem tells a story. Even though a poem often has short lines and may rhyme and use a meter, a poem can tell a story. We can find or create a character or two and make something happen. We can invent conversations and settings and plots. We can build worlds in lines and stanzas, even very pretend ones involving conversations between imaginary and celestial beings.

We need never be stuck for ideas for our world is full of images: in museums, in magazines, on walls of our dentists' offices, in books, on the fabrics we wear and sleep under. We can draw our own images or from our friends' images or from art hanging in the kindergarten hallway at school. The art of others can awaken art inside of us. Each time we open our eyes, we can choose to be inspired.

Thank you, MacKenzie Haley, for your kindness in allowing me to share your Little Vampire Girl here today. I want to hug her! And yes, I AM willing to take a risk with my neck.

Congratulations to Linda Mitchell!  You have won a copy of Marilyn Singer's WILD IN THE STREETS: 20 POEMS OF CITY ANIMALS, illustrated by Gordy Wright and published by Words Pictures/Quarto. Please send me your snail mail address, Linda, and I will get this book right off to you!

Jama is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup. We welcome everybody to join us each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find the roundup each Friday.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.