Lean on a Meter

Thor and Amy, 1971

Photo by Debby or George Ludwig

 

Students - Earlier this week, I was writing in my notebook about names. We have two cars, an old one and a not-as-old-one, and each has a name. The old Accord is named Iris (she's blue), and the less-old one is named Pearl (she's pearly white). This got me thinking about children and dogs and cats and chickens and hamsters and horses and all of the beings we name in our lives. I thought about how some people name every dog or cat they ever have the same name, and well...I got a name bee in my bonnet! I decided to try to play with the idea of naming in a poem but was not sure how to begin.

Sometimes when I have a writing topic but not a way in, I read poems by others, and sometimes, I borrow a meter from someone else, counting the syllables and studying the rhymes, marrying those syllables and rhymes to my own topic. On this day, I read and played with and leaned into the poem "The Python" by Hillaire Belloc, using the same meter and rhyme as the first 8 lines of his poem. You can read Belloc's poem HERE at The LiederNet Archive if you wish to listen to the poem that I leaned on.

Where did I find this poem? Well, in this old book from 1968, a book remaindered from a library but still so very full of riches! Remember this...when someone else is throwing something away, this does not mean that their discarded object does not have value. It might be just what you need!

CURRENTS IN POETRY by Richard Corbin, 1968

 Photo by Amy LV

If you begin writing this week, and if you are not sure how to begin, I recommend taking a writing break. Turn to reading. Perhaps something about the way another writer has crafted a piece will give you some shoulders to stand on. We all need each other.

Margaret is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Reflections on the Teche with three different poems in three different forms offering three different small journeys. Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community. 

Oh, if you're wondering how Thor (my first dog) got his name, I am not sure! I will ask my mom today and will let you know. Lots of love to you this week. Feel free to name a wild bird in your yard or a favorite chair in your home.

xo,

Amy

 

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Try Try Try a Tricube

Winnie, February 1, 2026

Video by Amy LV

Students - We like to tell ourselves that our cat Winnie is very smart. She is an indoor/outdoor cat, and so these Days of Deep Snow when she's stuck inside make her stir crazy. A few days ago, I caught Winnie tossing knitted hearts to the ground (spreading love?) and felt it urgent to film the moment. And while you can see Winnie tossing the hearts above, you cannot see the several times I filled and refilled her heart bowl. This was a good game.

As I think about our cat's simple fun, I think about how sometimes my own writing life gets a little boring too. I let it get boring and then I avoid it. I need to throw some hearts around like Winnie did, need to try something new and see what happens. Toss some words on the page and watch them fall over and over. Well, this week I'm playing, sharing a poem in a form I've never tried before.

Last week, as I moseyed around other people's Poetry Friday posts, I learned about a new-to-me form - the tricube. This form was invented by Phillip Larrea, an American journalist, and he first shared it in 2016 at Writer's Digest. So Happy 10th Birthday, Tricube!

As you have likely noticed, this is a simple form, and you can learn more about it here at Writer's Digest. No special rhyme. No special meter. Just this:

1. Three syllables per line

2. Three lines per stanza

3. Three stanzas

I chose to give my title three syllables too!

You might enjoy playing around with this not-scary form. I enjoyed making little lists of possible phrases to include and then moving them around the page. Now I'm thinking that I could even write phrases on bits of paper and actually, physically move them around my desk. I could even be fun to invite a group people to choose a subject and each write a few three syllable phrases, each on a different slip of paper, on that subject. Then, we could take the slips and move them around to form group tricubes.

Suddenly I don't feel bored...

This week I am happy to be a part the Colorado Reading Association (CCIRA) conference in Denver, Colorado. I'll be speaking about keeping writer's notebooks and stregthening writing through poetry study. Time with teachers is time that makes me feel grateful.

Molly is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Nix the Comfort Zone with two poems after Wendell Berry's "Like Snow." Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Trying something new is a creative way to face moments of boredom. Go ahead and push some objects off of a desk...or maybe consider writing a new-to-you kind of poem!

xo,

Amy

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Repeat What Matters to You

Happy Poetry Friday! The roundup is here today.

Heart in Snow

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about something I have been thinking about lately: ways to be good. And I wrote about it in the form of a triolet. I write many triolets here, and I've shared the following words about them in this space before as well:

A triolet is one of my favorite forms. I enjoy the rolling repetition and the way a writer can emphasize an idea simply by repeating it according to the form's rules. You will notice that lines 1, 4, and 7 match, as do lines 2 and 8.  If you look carefully, you will also notice that the rhyme scheme is: ABaAabAB. If you read it aloud and listen verrrry closely, you may notice that the poem is written in iambic pentameter, ten syllables per line with the accents reading daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM.

The main thoughts that matter to me in today's poem are:

1. One can be one's best self in many different ways.

2. True goodness will not always be celebrated.

I think that this may be the first time that I have broken up the lines of a triolet as I usually keep them all in one eight-line stanza. I made today's line breaks, as one does, to emphasize the meaning of the lines I wish to stand out:

There are so many ways one can be good.

One cannot judge what matters by confetti.

When you write this week, you may consider repeating a line, either in your poems or in your prose. Repetition helps a reader focus, even when the reader doesn't realize it, and a writer can use repetition in different ways. Pay close attention to your reading to notice how your favorite writers use repetition to make something clear: a word, a phrase, a symbol, an action. Why might these repeat? Try what you admire.

Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community. I'm hosting today, and if you have a link to leave, I welcome you to do so below. Whether you leave a link or not, you are most welcome to click around and explore for inspiration and goodness.

I wish you warmth and peace this week.

xo,

Amy

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Explore a Question or Concern

My Phone and the Real World

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This morning, on such a gorgeous snowy day, I woke up to write and to see what would show up on the page. When I approach the page, sometimes I know where I'll begin. Sometimes not. Today I found myself noticing my own mind and how distracted I can become sometimes, too often thinking that I need or want to check something on my phone. Even though I do this, I am not happiest with myself or my mind or spirit when I do so. So I started to write about it. Writing, I was reminded me of Mike Teavee from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then line by line today's poem appeared.

Appearing poems don't usually look pretty. For me they're full of inky scribbles and cross outs, two things that feel much better for me on paper than at a screen. As do most things, to be honest.

Notebook in the Morning

Photo by Amy LV

Today you may consider taking a question or concern from your own life and writing from that. You might even fictionalize it as I did here, taking your original question or concern and then building a made-up story around it. Sometimes, fictionalized concerns will bring up new truths and ideas. Stoeytelling can also make writing less personal and even easier to explore. As a writer, this is your right. The pages are your freedom. They are also mine.

And remember - you can always end a poem with a question. You may also title your poem after you write it. This one took a bit. I kept reading and reading the poem, knowing that the title would show itself. It did. No One Knows is a line in the poem. And well, it also answers the final question.

Tabatha is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at The Opposite of Indifference with some wise "random bits." Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Take good care of your mind. It is you, and what you shape now will be with you for your whole life.

xo,

Amy

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Ask a Photograph

Geo. R. Ludwig 

Detroit and Broadway, Buffalo, NY

Photo from Amy LV's Collection

Students - Today's poem grew from meandering. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the verb meander this way - "to follow a winding or intricate course." The course I followed began with just writing in my notebook, letting one idea lead to the next. At some point, I remembered the old photograph you see above and went to find it. When I did, I remembered that it was taken in January, did the quick math (2026-1896), and realized that it was taken 130 years ago! This is old. I took a photo of the photo and zoomed in on my great grandfather's face.

George Richard Ludwig, 1896

Photo from Amy LV's Collection

Ah! If only I could bring him back to life. If only I could ask him some questions, learn about his dry goods store, now long-gone, learn about my grandfather George C., learn about this time in my family, in Buffalo, in America. But I cannot. Still, though, I can study the faces in the photo. And I can imagine. I can imagine what he might say to me. From this photo, in which he stands proudly in front of his growing shop, I believe he says to build. And while I will not build with bricks, I commit to build with words. For him.

This week, if you are uncertain where to begin with your writing, consider meandering. Just write and see where your pencil leads you. Or begin with a photo. Ask someone in the photo a question...in your mind or on paper. Listen to what this person tells you. See, the advice you receive from a photograph-person may also be advice from your deepest self. 

Remember that your poem need not rhyme or follow a special pattern. Your poem wants to be you, a reflection of you, a photograph of what you feel and believe and think right now. 

AI cannot know what you feel and believe and think. Feelings and beliefs and thoughts are slow and come from within. Meander. Take the long way.

Thank you to dear Tabatha of The Opposite of Indifference who set up such a delicious December poem swap. I was matched with darling Robyn-who-I-wish-I-could-see-every-day. She generously gifted me with magical earrings and an ornament based on one of my ghost poems as well as a poem that, well, I would be honored to hear as a ghost at my own funeral. You can read the poem and see what I sent to Robyn at her blog, Life on the Deckle Edge. Thank you, friends!

Jan is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at bookseedstudio with a song and some thoughts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

And while it's a bit late, Happy New Year! I have been thinking about you and wishing you all of the goodnessess that can come in time. Each of you is strong and full of light, and I wish you discovery and hope in the days and months that lay before you.

xo,

Amy

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Find Meaning in a Repeated Moment

Claude the Cat

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Every time I come into our living room these days, Claude is perched on the chair I set near our Christmas tree. I know that I can find him napping, looking at the tree, or looking like he is guarding the tree. I placed the chair in this spot because I, too, love sitting near the Christmas tree, and it warms my spirit to know that Claude and I share this appreciation. I even wrote this poem in the very early morning, pages lit only by rainbow lights.

Writing by the Light of the Tree

Photo by Amy LV

Today I chose to write about something I see again and again, so many times that I could not help writing about it. We all have such recurring moments in our lives, small events that repeat. These may be snips of conversation or small daily rituals or sights in nature (the morning sky has been so pink here lately) or something else. 

Our daily lives regularly give us new sights and smells and sounds and they also regive us old ones. Today I am looking to find meaning in the repeating minutes, and in doing so in my notebook, I created an imagined friendship between my cat and the angel on our tree. How grateful I am to have done so! Here you can see Claude giving his tree a sniff...

Claude Sniffs His Tree

Photo by Amy LV

This week, you might wish to jot down small events or sights or other sensory bits that strike you. Keep a list on paper or in your head. Maybe you will sketch or take photos of these events. Listen to your heart as you choose one to write about in a long way. The moments that strike us strike us for a reason, and we can find the meaning behind our interest through writing.

Michelle is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at MoreArt4All with an inspiring offering of poetry and visual art. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

May you find beauty and connect with all kinds of old friends...

xo,

Amy

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Write About a Process & a Peek

Almost Socks!
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about one of my favorite hobbies...knitting! I have been knitting for almost 40 years, as I learned when I was a Rotary exchange student in Denmark. While I am still nowhere the knitter I wish to be someday, I regularly take on small challenges (this week a bit of lace in a winter headband) and so get better inch by inch. For many years, I began many hobbies and abandoned them because it took too long to become good at them. I wish I had learned about the importance of mistakes sooner.

This week you may wish to write about something you have made or about the process of making something. Try listing me-made things in your notebook. Or maybe....make a list of mistakes you have made and write about one of those. Mistakes make much more interesting stories than perfection does. I love making things so much that I wrote a whole book about it - WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.

Today I am grateful to welcome Kensley, a writer from Alden Intermediate School in Alden, NY. Kensley is a wise young person who understands the importance of writing not only to connect with others but the importance of writing to connect with ourselves and to heal our own hearts. Thank you, Kensley, for joining us here today.

I, for one, will be keeping Kensley's advice close at hand as like Kensley, I, too, have found writing to be a good friend in times of sadness and grief. Thank you again, Kensley, for your generosity in sharing your words and advice with us.

Linda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Word Edgewise with a cool poetry mash-up. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Here in Western New York this week, it is snowy and chilly. May words keep all of you warm, wherever you are.

xo,

Amy

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