reasons - My Poem Writing Year #153

Bisons Game, Buffalo, NY

Photo by Amy LV 

Last night we scored cheap tickets for one of the last Buffalo Bisons games of the season.  Watching and feeling all of the verbs of the game got me in a baseball-writing mood again.  This year has brought on lots of baseball poems, including: When I'm Up, Dirty Secret, and I Am the Batter.  It's funny how the end of one season (baseball) signals the beginning of another (school).  May this year be a home run for all of you!

Students - this is another list poem.  You can see that the whole first stanza is simply a list of different exciting parts of baseball.  The second stanza explains that this is a list of reasons.  List poems usually do that, have a "twist" at the end.

If you have considered "following" The Poem Farm, I would be so grateful if you would do so.  I hope to have 100 little squares over there on the right-hand side by my 200th poem.  Such a show of support is a good way to demonstrate to publishers (and I have a few projects out there) that people may actually purchase books with my poems in them!

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My Job - MyPoWriYe #152

Woolly Bear

by Amy LV

 

I love woolly bears!  My children love woolly bears!  Who DOESN'T love wooly bears???  Last night I learned one more reason to love them:  woolly bears predict the weather.  In the land of folklore, anyway.  It is said that a large brown band in the middle means we can expect an easy winter.  A narrow brown band indicates an especially cold and snowy winter.  Now that I know this, I want to go out and check out a bunch of woolly bears to see what to expect this year.

Students - this poem came from something that my children actually do.  They rescue woolly bears.  When we ride our bikes down the road, they will stop  and shuttle a woolly bear (or any other critter) across to safety.  We laugh, all stopping, and yell, "Woolly Bear Crossing!"

For more information about woolly bears, check out this article from Green Futures.  Learn about Ohio's Woollybear Festival, or purchase some woolly bear cards and stickers here at Zazzle.

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My Poem Writing Year #151 - solitaire

Grandma Florence Conolley Dreyer

1920s

Photo by ??

My maternal grandmother, Florence Conolley Dreyer (married to Norman Dreyer of the banjo), used to play cards with me when I was a little girl.  We'd sit at her shiny dining room table and play hours of Go Fish, Rummy, and Old Maid.  Grandma had a yellow Tupperware sugar bowl full of pennies, and somehow I always left that table with handfuls of change.  She has been gone for twelve years now, and I still wonder how many times she let me win.

I learned to play Solitaire from my grandmother, and I whiled away many an afternoon dealing those Bicycle cards into seven stacks and hoping that I would win.  Sometimes I did, but usually not.

This week, I keep finding my daughter Georgia playing Solitaire.  I taught her how to play, and when she lines up those rows of red and black, I think of Grandma and smile.

Here's a good book with lots of Solitaire games if you're interested in learning to play.

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Students - Sometimes writing ideas come from where the past and present meet.  That's how I found this one.

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My Poem Writing Year #150 - How To

Tie Dye Pile

Photo by Amy LV

At summer camp, we make tie dye shirts every year.  As a result, we have quite a wardrobe of them.  Some come out a bit muddy, some like a rainbow.  Some are swirly, some star bursts.  Tie dye is a craft with an element of surprise, and that is part of the fun.

If you'd like to eke out some tie dye craft in these last days of summer, check out Dharma Trading for all kinds of textile supplies.  And for some good tips, check out Paula Burch's website, All About Hand Dyeing.

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Poetry Friday & #149 - Love Me Real

This is #14 in my Poetry Friday series of poems about poems.  

Students - today's poem is a mask poem, a poem written in the voice of someone else.  In this case, I decided to write the poem in the voice of...a poem!  Actually, I did not decide this at all.  This poem decided how it wanted to go, and I just listened.  Indeed, I tried to "love it real".  Sometimes when writing, we try too hard, try to force words and lines into life. It is important to do our best as writers, to take time to reread and revise our words. However, when we invite ideas to come to us, we must quiet down our bodies and our minds so that we can hear words and messages knocking on the windows of our hearts.  We can only do this when we are open and listening, not criticizing our newly born thoughts.

You can read a wonderful post about this idea of opening up to write at Jeannine Atkins' blog, Views from a Window Seat.  In this post, she explains her habit "to move my pen before making judgments."  Try this - allow yourself to trust and open up...

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Kate Coombs is hosting Poetry Friday over at Book Aunt today.  Click your heels (and your mouse) on over to find out what's happening in the blogosphere around children's poetry today.

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MyPoWriYe #148 - Sea Glass

Seek and Find

by Amy LV

Last week found me walking the beaches of Camp Westwind in Oregon.  Watching Georgia toss starfish back into tides and combing sand with my toes, I found many new jewels for my sea glass collection.  As I spotted and chose from among the ocean's many offerings, I thought of Lilian Moore's poem, "Beach Glass".  It's wonderful have just the right poem in mind for life's little gifts.

To keep my new gems beautiful, this week I will put them in a jar full of water to keep these Pacific jewels looking glossy and grand.  So often I think back to the bottles that these bits of sea glass once were.  Last night, while writing, I imagined the broken bottle that will one day be a treasure for me.

Students - when I walk beaches, my eyes are like tiny flashlights searching out bits of blue and glints of green.  I adore sea glass, and my eyes don't leave the ground as I stroll along a sandy or rocky coast.  All of us look for things, seek small treasures and beauties. Such hidden surprises are wonderful places to find topics for writing.  What do you seek?  What small things fascinate you?

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My Poem Writing Year #147 - Ready

First Day 2007

Photo by Amy LV

This week's Monday Poetry Stretch over at Tricia's The Miss Rumphius Effect challenges us to write about returning to school.  You can read the poems as they roll in at her post here.

Today's poem, Ready, is a companion to the poem I wrote for the last day of school in June, Last Day of School.  You can read and remember that "beginning of summer feeling" here. 

One of the most interesting things about keeping up with a daily poem is finding out which topics surface and resurface.  So far I've noticed my own interest in: fireflies, punctuation, school, nature, and the inner feelings of inanimate objects.

After mentioning that I might write a collection of punctuation poems about different characters, I found a book series online that makes punctuation marks into characters.  The series is called MEET THE PUNCS, and I have yet to read one.  Does anyone out there know these books?  I would love to hear what you think of them before I order one.

I did reformat yesterday's poem, on wind, and now it is a concrete poem.  You can click on the title above and check it out if you're interested in seeing its new look.  Throughout the week, I hope to reformat poems that were originally typed into my tiny phone!

As this school year begins, I highly recommend reading a poem each day.  Here are two sources to get you started.  J. Patrick Lewis has a new collection of original poems titled COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER for elementary students.  For middle school students, I recommend NAMING THE WORLD collected and with lessons by Nancie Atwell.

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Here in New York State, we do not begin school until after Labor Day, but some schools are already back or just returning.  To all teachers and students:  many good wishes and blessings for a beautiful year!  Today my own children received letters from their teachers, and they look forward to a whole new year of adventure.

Do not miss Elaine Magliaro's 2010 list of Back to School books and resources.  You can find this wonderful resource here at her blog, Wild Rose Reader.  Thank you, Elaine!

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MyPoWriYe # 146 - on wind

Our Beautiful 'Dark Star'

Photo by Amy LV

We have a new kite, "The Dark Star", and we flew it above the beach (along with all of our hearts) in Lincoln City, Oregon.

This will be a concrete poem as soon as I reformat it on a regular (not dollhouse) sized keyboard.  See you tomorrow from our home computer...thank you for your patience throughout the strange formatting such tiny keyboards can bring!

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MyPoWriYe #145 - '

'


I'm Emily Apostrophe.

Please introduce me properly.


Include me in contractions.

(That's my cat, Fred.)


Place me in possessives.

(Fred's ball is red.)


Don't stick me in a plural

or in front of every s.


Learn where I live.

Don't just guess.


(c) Amy LV

There are so many fabulous books and websites filled with interesting and funny facts about and misuses of different punctuation marks.   When I am back from vacation and not working from a dollhouse computer, I will share some of these with you.

I am currently considering writing a collection of punctuation poems with characters such as bossy Emily Apostrophe!

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Location : De Lake, OR,

MyPoWriYe #144 - Isolation

Earlier this month, I bought a new telephone.  It's smart.  Well, it's not really smart.  But it can do a lot of things.  My phone can do many things that it seems smart...but phones are not smart.  People are.

In trying to decide whether to get this "smart phone" or not, I talked for a long time with the man in the store.  He, too, raised several children without a television and he understood my concerns about "getting sucked into my phone".  In fact, he told me that many people come back into the phone store after owning their phones for a month to say that they do not know how to pull themselves away, that their telephones are taking over their lives. That is not smart.  It is sad.

Technology is useful as it teaches us and as it connects us.  When technology makes us less human and more robotic, it becomes dangerous.

Students - you can see that I feel strongly about this idea.  What do you feel strongly about?  What worries you or makes you think, "Something is wrong here."  It is important that we think and speak about our thoughts and concerns...this is what makes a difference in our world.  You are smart.  Speak up.

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My Poem Writing Year #143 - Hungry

This is one of our children's favorite breakfasts.  They can eat near a whole loaf of bread when it's Cinnamon Toast Day around here.  In fact, they pop so many slices in the toaster that I wanted to show it by repeating that stanza again and again and again.

Students - favorites, favorites, favorites.  What are yours?  Many writers like to make lists of all kinds of favorites.  This way, when we aren't sure what to write about, we can just check one of those lists to find something we love.

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Poetry Friday & #142 - Similarities

Similarities


A sneeze can tickle you all day long.

A sneeze can come at once.  Ah- CHOO!

A sneeze can take you by surprise.

A poem can be like that too.

A sneeze is a poem.

A poem a sneeze.

Words and germs blow in the breeze.

(c) Amy LV


This is #13 in my Poetry Friday series of poems about poems.

Students - I often notice the different ways that people sneeze and wonder what a sneeze says about someone's personality.  Yesterday (in the shower), I began thinking how sneezes and poems are alike.  I believe both to be natural and healthy.  Let yours free...happy Poetry Friday!

For today's complete Poetry Friday roundup, visit Laura for a wonderful post about nursery rhymes as well as today's complete roundup.  The link to her blog - Teach Poetry K-12 - is in the left column.

MyPoWriYe #141 - Thunderstorm

This is our dog, and it is many dogs.  Is it yours?

Students - During the very normal moments of life, I watch carefully, always asking, "Would this make a good poem idea?"  Someone once said that it's "the 22 hours away from a desk" that make one a writer.  Time away from desks, computers, and pencils is life.  And when we pay attention to it - writing ideas follow us around!

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MyPoWriYe # 140 - each time i fly

each time i fly


above the earth

i sit and stare

each farm

each field

becomes a square


my country is

a board game now

i can't see

human

car

or cow


just lines of city

drawn in place

mountains

deserts

traced in space


rivers of water

strips of sand

shapes

embroidered

on the land


the world looks

small

from way up high

i feel small too

each time i fly


(c) Amy LV


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MyPoWriYe #139 - New Old Friend

New Old Friend


I've known

some friends forever

but I like you even more.


I was sure

we'd get along

when you met me at the door.


I have

this funny feeling

I'm unable to ignore.


I wonder

if I knew you

in a lifetime long before.


(c) Amy LV


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My Project - My Poem Writing Year #138

Georgia, Knitter & Needle Felter Extraordinaire

Photo by Amy LV

Two Blue Ribbons & Off to the NYS State Fair!

Photo by Amy LV

This week is the Wyoming County Fair in Pike, NY.  For the past few years, Hope, Georgia, and Henry have been involved with 4-H, and it has been such a hearty and natural learning experience for them.  We love this just-right fair, with its animals and homemade exhibits, its treats and classic fair rides.

This year, Henry entered his first exhibits as a Cloverbud, earning many participation ribbons.  And both Hope and Georgia won several blue ribbons and have entries going on to the NY State Fair.  It is so exciting to make a project and then visit the fair, wondering, just wondering how you did.  Thank you to the leaders and all who make this lovely fair possible...the children will never forget these days.

Students - I got this poem idea from a feeling that I watched my daughter experience as she kept on walking through the 4-H building to see how her hats had fared in judging.  Sometimes we can find writing ideas in the experience of others, just watching and listening very carefully to what they say and do.

Over the next week, through Tuesday, August 24, we will be in Oregon, and a house and animal sitter will live here at Heart Rock Farm.  Internet access will be questionable on our travels, but I will do my best to keep up.  Please know that if a poem does not appear one day (or two...or three...), they will all catch up at the end.

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I Count - My Poem Writing Year #137

There is something about knowing how MANY TIMES you can do something that is very satisfying; quantifiable results offer a certain security.  Yesterday we went to the Wyoming County Fair in Pike, NY, and Henry asked me to time him as he scurried through the bouncy obstacle course.  He was quick - 18 seconds!  

I remember shooting lay-ups in our driveway, and I remember my personal high school record as 125 consecutive baskets.  I also remember trying to pogo stick as many times as I could.  These days, my family and I count rock-skips in the creek as well as number of shooting stars seen.  Sometimes it feels good to count.

Students - in what endeavors do you time yourself or count your achievements?  These very activities might be good writing topics.

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Chin Puppets - MyPoWriYe #136

Three Chin Puppets

by Amy LV

This is another one of those "I have no idea where this poem came from" poems.  But honestly, chin puppets have always cracked me up.  In fact, I have a sudden urge to make one on my own chin right now.  Do be on the lookout for future photographs of chinfaces here at The Poem Farm.  There may be a series coming.  If you have a chin puppet photograph that you would like to share, please send it to me at amy at amylv dot com, and heck, maybe I'll do a whole post about them!

Students - we all need to laugh!  If you don't know what to write someday, and if it's getting you down...try to remember a time that you could not stop laughing.  I believe strongly that belly laughs are great for writer's block.  And if you don't have any funny memories, grab some face paints and make a chin puppet.  That'll do it!

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Poetry Friday and Poem #135 - Love

This is the 12th poem in my Poetry Friday series of poetry poems!

Ah, there are so many poems to love in this world.  And how lucky we are to share and wallow in poetry-joy all day!  Visit Zsofia at The Stenhouse Blog for today's complete Poetry Friday roundup.

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: - MyPoWriYe #134

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(Colon Convention Begins )

Lately I have been thinking about colons.  Yesterday, it struck me that 'colon'  has the same name and spelling as one of our body parts!  This is surely fodder for a later poem, but today's poem is simply one which explains usage.  Sometimes poems do teach us facts within their rhythms and meters.  Indeed, poetry can make learning playful.

For more playfulness around grammar and mechanics, check out illiterate businesses, where Maria highlights all kinds of incorrect usage in signage.  You can even submit your own photographs or ask her to proofread a sign (5 words) that you plan to hang.  If you love this sort of thing, she links to other such websites as well.

One of my favorite books to help children understand mechanics, a book which makes this topic fascinating, is Jeff Anderson's EVERYDAY EDITING.  Throughout my reading of this book, I found myself whispering under my breath, "How could I have been an English major and not have learned this?"

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On Tuesday, npr ran a piece about a new book by Jeff Beck and Benjamin D. Herson, THE GREAT TYPO HUNT.  These two men traveled the country for 2 1/2 months searching for and correcting typos.  Result?  They found 437 typos and corrected more than half.

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Sometimes I find extra apostrophes on bulletin boards and stuff them into my pockets.  Do you commit random acts of editing?

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(Colon Convention Ends )

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Read - My Poem Writing Year #133

Students - sometimes a poem idea comes straight from a nonfiction topic.  This one did.   In THE READ ALOUD HANDBOOK, Jim Trelease recommends keeping books in the three 'B' places: bedside, breakfast table, and bathroom.   Do you have books in these places?

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This poem is simply a list poem, and as in many list poems, you will notice that the end takes a bit of a turn.  In this case, the turn is a bit...well...stark.

Speaking of reading, yesterday was a holiday!  It was the first  'August 10 for 10 Picture Book Event' over at Cathy's Reflect and Refine and Mandy's Enjoy and Embrace Learning.  Many bloggers wrote in to share their top ten picture books, books they can't live without, along with little reviews and links.  If you're looking to spend some money...this will help you.  Just click on either link above, and you'll be set.  I am so grateful to have found out about this new blogosphere holiday late yesterday evening, and I do hope that it will become an annual event.

Find free brochures about the power of read aloud at Jim Trelease's generous website.

And teachers - if you are beginning to think about going back to school, do not miss this post at Two Writing Teachers where Ruth and Stacey share their favorite old posts about beginning the year anew.

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MyPoWriYe #132 - Day Sleeper

Sleepy Small Raccoon

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Sometimes life brings on a strange event, and you know that you must write about it!  Yesterday, our dog Cali found a baby raccoon that had stayed out too late (early morning for us) and she chased it up a telephone pole.  Later in the afternoon, just as the raccoon began to come down...she chased it up a tree.  At 10:00pm last night, that poor raccoon tried to come down again, but my husband happened to be outside and it crawled right back up the tree.

Since we never know when unusual events will happen, it's always good to keep paper and pencil handy.  This is one of the wonderful things about having a writer's notebook.  You can put all kinds of little life-details into it so that you never forget small moments such as this.

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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?

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MyPoWriYe #130 - Closet Elevator

This poem is based on a real game that I used to play in my bedroom long ago.  When I was between seven and twelve years old, I had my own closet with sliding doors.  I remember drawing a page of elevator buttons with magic markers to hang right inside.  Then, up and down I would go, arranging my room into different scenarios, lost in a world of make believe.

Students - Our imaginations grow only when we use them.  What do you like to pretend?  Allow your mind to stretch by just playing and making believe.  It's fun!  And who knows... someday you may decide to write or paint or compose music from a game you grew from your imagination.

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MyPoWriYe #129 - Alone

Peace

by Amy LV

Students - Sometimes writing comes from a feeling.  We can think of an emotion we are experiencing right now or one that we remember. Writing can help us to make sense of our days, say things we wish to say to other people, slow down, and clear our heads.

Teachers - Writing helps us heal.  I cannot recommend highly enough Ruth's recent post at Two Writing Teachers about her children's swim teacher, Nate.  She lovingly lists all he has taught her about teaching.  And one day after Ruth wrote her post, Nate's weak heart failed and he died.  Please read about this wise young man here, and hold his words close in your own teaching.  You can also follow Ruth as she writes more about the power of writing to heal.

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Poetry Friday & #128 - What is a Poem?

Family is a Poem

Blueberries are a Poem
Life is a Poem

Photo by Amy LV

This is the eleventh poem in a Poetry Friday series of "poems about poems".  Today is my birthday (40!), and so today's poem is a present to me.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving me life...and thank you to my family and friends for making it beautiful.

Laura Shovan is hosting Poetry Friday today at Author Amok.  Give yourself a present of poetry by finding what the blogosphere has to offer your mind and heart and soul.

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MyPoWriYe #127 - Daisy

This week, Tricia's Monday Poetry Stretch over at The Miss Rumphius Effect suggests that we write poems full of sound and listening. 

 

Students - For this poem I decided to write about remembered sounds rather than present sounds.  One way to plant a sound or a feeling or a thought in readers' minds is to tell them what is NOT THERE.  Then your readers will imagine the sound, feeling, thought before they make it disappear.  It's amazing what writers can make people's brains do: laugh, remember, weep, connect.  Try this sometime - write what you hear.  And then another time, write what you do not hear.

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