Monday, August 9, 2010

Owl and Cat - My Poem Writing Year #131


The Late Monster
Photo by Amy LV

Poem Notes
by Amy LV


This poem began as we drove our car to the shop yesterday evening.  Mark was driving one car, and I was driving the other one wondering, "What on earth will I write?"  My mind went through a few possibilities when this line appeared:  "An owl is a cat with wings."  The rest grew on these sticky notes which I wrote (very carefully) at red lights. 

When I got home and played with the lines a bit more, I revised by removing some of those pesky words: 'and' & 'the'.  This is just one of the many lessons I have learned from wise and generous Lee Bennett Hopkins - get rid of those little words whenever possible!

If you like owls and cats, you will love "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear.  Read this poem and more of his work at The Edward Lear Home Page .  Or you can listen to the poem at StoryNory.

Where did the idea for today's poem come from?  I think it grew because two of our cats look very similar to owls.  Don't you think that Monster looked like a great horned owl?

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

2 comments:

  1. Ah empty calories of but, and, the, just courtesy of LBH! I wrote a poem about that and e-mailed it to Lee when he received the NCTE Award. If you're going to learn then learn from the best eh?

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  2. Charles,
    You are making me laugh! You, too, have learned this, I see...
    I'd love read the poem you sent to Lee if you're willing to share it. I did that same thing after the party. Oh, I'm getting excited for NCTE this year!
    A.

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