Hello friends! I am the grateful host of this Poetry Friday. Please scroll to the bottom of this post to visit all of the different people sharing poems and poemlove and fellowship today.
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A Few Stones
Photo by Amy LV
In many places, it is the start of a new school year, and as I believe that writing poetry is a fabulous way to begin a new year and a beautiful way to get to know people, this poem is for all of you new poem writers.
Students - If you are in a place that is just starting school, happy new school year! If you have been in school for a while, happy day just the same! Today I am thinking about beginnings and doing new things, including making new kinds of writing. Each time I take too much time off or place too much distance between me and writing, it feels new again. This is good...and also difficult. For me, it is often trickier to start something new than it is to keep going with something already on the move. So writing regularly can be one helpful secret for writers. Then, the approaching-the-page feeling is simply I'm back! rather than What do I do again?
Today's little poem compares writing to a different activity I love - collecting stones. Truth be told, I also love collecting shells, buttons, pinecones, sea glass, yarn, flowers, old handkerchiefs, and of course words. I do believe that writing a poem is a lot like collecting little treasures and making patterns with them. And while I sometimes get nervous about writing or feel like there is a bag of tricks I do not know, the truth is that writing is collecting and arranging, standing back and rearranging. Writing is making time for the glory of words in all of their shapes and sizes. Writing is a way to figure out what we think and to think about what what we wish to figure out. It is not a mystery, and each of us can do it. But we need to eat. We need to rest. We need to not always be on the go-go-go. Pausing is part of writing. Allow yourself to look out the window, to look down at the pavement and to see the flat stone that is looking up at you. Eat.
What will you write this week? Perhaps you, too, will write a poem with a tip or a thought about writing as I did here. Maybe you, too, will think of an interesting "Did you ever...? question to begin a poem. Such an open-ended start could take you into the world of real or into the world of pretend. You may even choose to write a poem with a You Asked... title. Sometimes beginning with any old title gets a writer going, and you one always change a title later once the draft is on its way. Maybe you will compare one thing to a different thing as I have compared picking up and arranging stones to picking up and arranging words. We all learn from each other. If I could read your writing right now, I would learn from you.
Bloggers - I invite you to add your posts for Poetry Friday below. And if you're new to Poetry Friday, just click the blue button, and you will be able to visit other blogs and add your own if you wish!
I leave you with good thoughts about trying new things and sticking with habits that help you be your favorite you.
xo,
Amy
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I enjoyed your stone pondering, poem-pausing, and especially sliding words "around into smooth and sparkly songs!" And it's alway fun to find a heart stone. Thanks for your poem Amy, for hosting, new beginnings and reminding us to keep going on!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this week, Amy! I love everything about this wisdom-filled post! "You Asked..." is a great way into a poem, and the questions in your poems first stanza open up so many possibilities. Thank you, too, for the reminder that it's okay to "look out the window" or "down at the pavement." So many treasures await!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning and Happy Friday! My school year is new by three weeks and so far, so good. We are learning with smiles on our faces. And, we are taking challenges one at a time. Thank you for hosting Poetry Friday at the Poem Farm. This week, I am celebrating Irene Latham's, 'The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface.'
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I have begun collecting paper--paper that's on it's way to being thrown away or recycled. I like upcycling that paper into new things.
Thank you for hosting us, Amy, and for the big and small wisdom you share in your poem (and commentary). Today I will spend some time with all the little treasures I collect (and that Mom collected and now live with me) and do some writing about them!
ReplyDeleteBack to school time is so busy! I was just rearranging my stones as I revised a poem this morning before I head off to school. Thank you for this beautiful image.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting, Amy, and for your wise words. I like thinking about writing as "collecting and arranging, standing back and rearranging."
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting, Amy! I love this post. Writers of all ages need to be reminded that the heart of writing is in the "standing back and rearranging." :) And I love the reminder to stop and eat. ❤️❤️ Nourish all the things, in all the ways. :)
ReplyDeleteDear Amy, my fellow collector: thank you for your poem and for hosting and for being you! xo
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to read your words, offering the way for collecting, Amy, wherever one walks, to keep looking for something that speaks to you. Yes, I have stones in various places all over my home, some remembered for were found. It's a way to remember the small moments. Thanks so much for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou make writing sound doable, Amy. I'm saving this poem to return to. (And yes, I do save stones and pinecones and flowers etc.!) Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting, Amy, you're always so welcoming! I love stones AND your poem-- what a clever connection!
ReplyDeleteLove your poem and your advice to young writers!! Also wonderful to hear about your collections. Thanks for hosting this week!
ReplyDeleteAhh..."the glory of words in all of their shapes and sizes." That sounds like a great place for any beginning - for any re-start. I will take these into my weekend, refresh, and return to a new week of writing. Thank you, Amy.
ReplyDeleteI love that, Amy. Great advice in your poem. Thank you for rounding up.
ReplyDeleteAmy, as an avowed stone collector I appreciate the analogy with poetry that you have presented in your poem. There is a tranferrable calm derived from holding a smooth stone and when the words on the page become smoothed out the poet also experiences a sense of calm as well. So here's to beginnings and poetry and to the continuation of stone collecting and all it entails. Thank you also for hosting.
ReplyDelete"Pausing is part of writing. Allow yourself to look out the window, to look down at the pavement and to see the flat stone that is looking up at you. Eat."
ReplyDeleteThis is a valuable lesson, especially, but not only for children. It's a lesson I had to learn quite late in life and collecting words the way you collect both stones and words (and pine cones and shells and...) is what helped me to pause. And see. And think. And be.
Thank you for such a thoughtful post and for hosting, Amy.
Great advice, Amy! I always tell folks that the most important part of writing poetry is taking th time to understand your subject and just BE. Thanks for hosting, too!
ReplyDeleteAmy, what a lovely way to think about writing a poem. I always enjoy your metaphors!
ReplyDeleteYes, that pause to rest is so important for writers! Thanks for hosting, Amy.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great post! I love the comparison of writing to collecting stones. "Slide them around into smooth and sparkly songs." Yes! Your note to students is filled with stellar advice, especially the pausing and the tip to start with a question or an old title and see where it takes you. Thanks so much for hosting!
ReplyDeleteAmy, what a lovely format you have chosen to tell us so simply how to write a poem. We can all relate to collecting rocks and arranging them in lovely ways. Do it with words, and we have a poem. So wonderful! Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. Thanks for being so encouraging and for leaving us with good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAmy, Thank you for hosting this week. I am also a collector of stone and have some I got on the beach of Lake Superior outside Duluth, MN. I have plans to make Christmas ornaments out of them but if not, they will join my collection of stones from other places. Thank you for encouraging students to start their year with poetry! It's a great idea. And I think you are right, it lets teachers get to know their students, too!
ReplyDeleteAmy, thank you for hosting and providing such wise words for students on writing. I loved your initial idea about collecting stones. My little grandgirls have enjoyed doing that. In fact, they collected so many stones that they were able to cover their fairy houses with decorative stones. I must tell my 6-year-old who loves writing about your tips. Pausing is part of writing." YES!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always so encouraging to those writing poems. Thank you. I also love collecting rock and buttons. They somehow inspire poems.
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