Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Let the Celebrations Begin!

Happy National Poetry Month! 
Happy Edible Books!
Happy April Fool's Day!

Not only is tomorrow a day for jokes, it is also the International Edible Book Festival, and the first day of National Poetry Month.  This year, the WNY Book Arts Collaborative will host its edible book show yet again.  Food...books...what could be better?  Last year's entries included bacon and phyllo dough; I cannot wait to see (and taste) the 2010 books.  

Working with teachers and middle grade writers in West Seneca today, I had the chance to read poems about wearing a tutu, praying for a sick mom, playing with a Brittney Spaniel in a lawn sprinkler, and singing The National Anthem at a Yankees game.  Poetry oozes through all of our lives, and I hope that National Poetry Month will help each of us slow down enough to feel it with our hands.  

Teachers:  I will be linking to great sites with poetry ideas throughout the month of April.  For starters, you can find some useful poetry teaching tips at www.poets.org.  Please join us and share anything you discover, try, or wish to celebrate.

This evening found the VanDerchildren scheming away with April Fool's Day pranks.  Our dining room table is littered with tattered and sullied fake homework assignments to momentarily disappoint a certain teacher.
 

It's ok to Write a List Poem


It Really Is
by Amy LV




Students - Today's poem speaks to something I have been thinking a lot about. Sometimes we people can worry about things that really will be ok in a day or a week, and when this happens, our worry can get in the way of our living.  We people don't need to know everything, don't need to be perfect, don't need to constantly achieve and produce. It is good to just be, good to appreciate, good to look out a window. I am thinking about this for my life and for the lives of all I care about, including yours.

When I write a poem, sometimes I wonder where it came from, and sometimes it seems that a new poem has an old poem relative. Could it be that this poem is a great grandchild of Kaylin Haught's God Says Yes to Me? It is possible that this poem is in my blood, I like it so much, and it is likely that it has influenced my thinking. See, the more poems you know, the more connections you can find, and discovering poem relatives and connections is fun indeed.

Today's poem is also a list poem with the repeating words It's ok to, and I welcome you to try repeating a few words at the start of each line of one of your own poems. Experimenting with this technique often yields more ideas than you may expect, and even if you do not use them all in your final draft...you will have created pile of lines and thinking to work with. And oh, did you notice how the last stanza breaks this repeated-words pattern? (That's how you know the poem is finished!)

Something else you may wish to try is framing a poem through advice. Can you think of a piece of advice you'd like to give yourself, either now or at another time in your life? Is there a piece of advice you would like to share with someone you know or with a book character? If you don't name the person in your poem, all readers might see themselves reflected in your words.

Sylvia and Janet are hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Poetry for Children with a gratitude poem by Traci Sorell and a taste of the upcoming IBBY regional conference in October.   Please know that we gather each Friday, sharing poems and poemlove, and all are always welcome.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

On the Eve of National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month is upon us, and this year I will take part in NaPoWriMo - National Poem Writing Month. To participate, write a poem each day of April, and post it to your website or blog. With thirty poems at the end of the month, I hope to discover a few good surprises.

Be sure to check out Gregory K at GottaBook as he brings us Thirty Poets in Thirty Days once more. Teachers and children's poetry lovers can find previously unpublished poems every day.

At The Miss Rumphius Effect, Tricia will bring us her new Poetry Makers series, with a different children's poet or two interviewed daily.

And at Poetry for Children, Sylvia Vardell will host a neat new game called Poetry Tag. 

Lucky us!

This month I also feel fortunate to be part of Lee Bennett Hopkins' beautiful new book Sharing the Seasons, illustrated by David Diaz.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Spring Visits Western New York

When I was a little girl, I believed that everything could think, talk, and dream of past and future. As a teenager, I ran in forests and along creeks, wondering what went through the minds of rocks and water. Now grown-up, I still give personalities to non-living things because the whole world feels alive to me. Today at The Miss Rumphius Effect, Tricia encourages us to personify inanimate objects. Welcome, Spring!

Spring

Peeking out
from her crystal cocoon
Nature feels
the time is soon

to pop cold buttons
from coats of snow
warm Earth for birth
watch babies grow

crowns of crocus
squeezing leaves
chickadee chicks
bursting bees
hidden kittens
mare and foal

life
more life
her only goal.

© Amy LV