New Suncatcher
Photo by Amy LV
Students - I love the way that suncatchers toss rainbows all around a room, and so this past week I hung a suncatcher in a window here at home. There they were: rainbows everywhere! I wanted to run around and touch them all!
Today's poem is a list poem. You will notice that the first stanza is simply a list of where the rainbows are.
The second stanza is a thought I have about all of these rainbows.
You can try this type of poem too. Simply look around until you find something interesting. Feel free to DO something to MAKE something interesting. Look carefully, making a list in your mind of what you see. If you want, write this list down now. This list can be your first stanza.
Then, have a thought about what you see. Make a leap from what is there to what is in your mind. You might connect what you see to something else, ask a question about it, have an opinion about it. Let this be your second stanza.
Now that you have the bones of your poem, play around with the words to get them just right. This part takes me quite a while as I try to figure out whether to use plurals or singulars, the word the or the word a, adjectives or no adjectives, and on and on. As always, read your poem aloud to yourself as you revise. This is how you will know if it sounds right to you.
As for titles, your title can add a wee bit more to your poem. In today's poem here, the only way you know the poem is about a suncatcher is because I use that word in the title. Titles can bring information to a poem.
Back in 2010, the first year of this blog, I wrote a poem about prisms and bending light and rainbows. It is titled "Science is like Writing," and you may read it HERE if you wish.
Here are a few of the rainbows that my suncatcher set free!
Cupboard Rainbow
Photo by Amy LV
Bookshelf Rainbow
Photo by Amy LV
Closet Rainbow
Photo by Amy LV
Knee in Nightgown Rainbow
Photo by Amy LV
Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at The Apples in my Orchard with some news about an enrichment group she has been teaching. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.
xo,
Amy
Update on August 27, 2021 - A few people asked about a photo of a rainbow on a kitten or on a rocking chair. When I wrote this poem, I had not actually seen a rainbow on each of the things listed...some were imagined. But, later in the week, my daughter Hope snapped some kitten-rainbow pictures, and here they are!
Tuck & Rainbows
Photos by Hope VanDerwater
Please share a comment below if you wish.
It's so-o-o nice to read your posts again, Amy. You've reminded me that I used to have a small crystal hanging in the window at my other home, rainbows like yours. Someone lately posted that they hadn't seen many rainbows lately though there had been rain. Now I'm wondering why? Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteSigh...setting all the rainbows free makes this mama heart happy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy! Refracted light has always held a fascination for our family with at least one science fair project done on it. I love incorporating the science into a poem - a lot of environmental education is like that for me - interdisciplinary. Thanks for leading us through your process, too! I often overthink things and this helps me not to do it for the list poem! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is so full of serendipity. Your glance when the light was just right.
ReplyDeleteLove the sun catcher and the rainbows. They are magical.
ReplyDeleteSo much to love here! Freed rainbows, thoughts on process, and the power of a well-chosen title. I was hoping, hoping, hoping to see a picture of the rainbow on the kitten, though...guess I'll just have to try to free some rainbows here, round up the cats and hope for some serendipity.
ReplyDeleteLove the bonus you always include about your process. So much to learn from you, Amy! I used to have a suncatcher in the bathroom window. It fell down a few years ago and I never put it up again. It is still waiting for me on the windowsill, so today I will give it a new home.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you are setting rainbows free!
ReplyDeleteMasterclass on small observations and the big freedoms they bring! Thanks, Amy.
ReplyDeleteI have the same large crystal! I was inspired as a little girl by Pollyanna and the prisms they set up in Mr. Pendergast's window!
ReplyDeleteThis is a delightful poem! How fun to see the rainbow pictures after reading the poem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the beauty of a simple sun-catcher. Such a nice peaceful poem to read when all the world seems to be going mad.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous writing lesson you provide in the commentary.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I LOVE the poem and pictures, too!!! :-)
So much goodness, Amy! I have a rainbow of sorts on my blog this week too! Like minds... :)
ReplyDelete