Friday, February 21, 2020

Inspirations and Invitations


Quilt Bit 1
Photo by Amy LV

Quilt Bit 2
Photo by Amy LV




Students - Today I was thinking about one of my favorite poets, Joyce Sidman. I visited the generous Poetry Ideas section of her website and decided to write an "Invitation Poem" of my own. I also took a little time to read in her beautiful book WHAT THE HEART KNOWS: CHANTS, CHARMS, AND BLESSINGS, and once again I fell in love with it. I highly recommend this book to you.

Image result for chants charms and blessings

To write an invitation poem, you might think of something you would like to share with someone else. An experience, a place, a moment, a bit of nature or food or music or art. Your choice, of course! Then, invite away with the words we use when we welcome others to share in goodness with us.

Earlier this week, our friends Barry and his daughter Gracie Lane came for an overnight visit, and Gracie slept under the quilt pictured above. We talked a bit about it...how it is one of the many I have collected from thrift or antique stores...and once again, I got to imagining its stories. When time came to write an invitation poem, I wanted to invite everyone to sit under these fabric rectangles with me.

What might you invite someone to do? A party, of course, but what other, simple pleasures might you choose to share with a friend, family member, stranger, pet, or even something else...?

Next week I look forward to a four-day writing residency with the students of Greenacres Elementary School in Scarsdale, NY. Last year I visited this wonderful school for a day of assemblies, and this week I will be lucky enough to write poems with the whole school. On Thursday, we will share some with each other in an assembly. I am grateful to have received this invitation!

Cheriee is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Library Matters with a wondrous celebration of Vancouver Poet Avis Harley. 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 each week of the year.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

10 comments:

  1. I love Joyce's book (a personal favorite), quilts, and your invitation to us. These final words to your poem are the best! "Let the quilt sing."

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful week coming up for you, and them, Amy. Enjoy! It is fascinating, looking at objects and imagining what they have seen or experienced. Like your quilt!

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  3. Such a wonderful invitation. I love quilts and the stories they tell. I love the moonlight the best.

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  4. I love that book, too, Amy, and your invitation connects me to a 'scrap book', too. Quilts like that are a family's scraps and memories, a favorite skirt, a worn out sleeve. Your poem makes that memory live.

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  5. My students and I read one of Joyce's poems this week that was featured in the Scholastic Scope magazine, "Song of Bravery". Today I posted a poem after hers about meditation. I like these threads of connection we weave on Poetry Friday. I have a few old quilts handed down and one that I made thinking I might take up this hobby. But it's so time consuming. The pieces do tell stories.

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  6. Oh Amy, these images of quilts brought back wonderful memories of my grandmother and the quilts she made. Alas, none of hers are still around - at least not with family. I'm pretty sure that they were loved to pieces.

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  7. What a wonderful invitation. I have one of those old quilts and wonder where the fabric came from. My daughter's quilts, though, start with new fabric squares. I guess those quilts will have to acquire their own stories going forward instead of looking back.

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  8. Invitation poems are another one for me to try. Thanks for this initiation into them!

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  9. "Let this old quilt sing" such a welcoming invitation, and I love this line too,
    "See moonlight on your bed." Moonlight is such a magical light, and not always noticed. Lovely poem. Wishing you well for your writing workshops at the school, thanks Amy!

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