The Poem Farm

April 8 - breakfast

April 9 - beep beep beep

April 10 - now

Here is poem 11 -

Students - I live in a very old house (half of it is from 1810...the other half, rolled down with oxen and logs in 1900, is probably about the same age), and it has its creaks and groans here and there. We are updating parts of our home, but there is a certain charm to the old bits. 'Truth is we do have a creaky front door, and even when you oil it...the creak returns. I like to think that the door has a voice. And when I open it to grab a log or two for the fire, our kitties come running, thinking they will get to go outside.

Today's poem is about an old sound, a sound that the speaker used to hear, a nostalgia for a sound. I am nostalgic for many sounds: the sounds of our children playing with Legos or singing songs from Frozen or our old dogs running to greet us or my dad's voice. If you are writing about sounds, you may wish to consider a sound from your past, a sound you can still hear in your mind and heart but no longer in your everyday life.

This poem is in three parts: the old days, now, how the speaker feels about the change. That's a structure you can try too should you wish.

As I wrote this poem, I found myself thinking about two poems by poets I admire. One was "Animals" by Miller Williams and the other "door" by Valerie Worth, found in ALL THE SMALL POEMS AND FOURTEEN MORE. When you read many poems, they come back to visit you when you write, and you can't really know if one of them directly influences your poem or not. Do remember though, every reading experience you have will affect your writing. So read often, widely, and out loud sometimes, my dears!

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Creeeeeeeeeak!

xo,

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Friday, April 10, 2026

listen - day 10

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

April 8 - breakfast

April 9 - beep beep beep

Here is poem 10 -

Students - Today's poem is a list poem, and the idea for it came to me as I was working on my notebook list of daily sounds I hear. I noticed, "Gosh, many of the sounds I hear are some type of alert that is telling me to DO something NOW." List poems are not difficult to write. You simply think of several things that can go together and list them down the page. It often works well to end with a little twist, and this is why many folks might describe a particular list poem as "a list with a twist!"

My friend, highly respected educator Sheila commented on yesterday's post about many different types of listening, wondering what listening might mean to a deaf person. It seems right that I acknowledge now that this month's project partly grew from a conversation I had with a new friend who is blind, a conversation about her strong sense of sound. This got me thinking about how heavily (too heavily) I rely on sight in my writing and noticing of the world around me. I am grateful to expand my appreciation and use of my senses, and now I wish to expand it even more.

Have you been paying attention to the sounds in your life? Please allow me to recommend taking a moment or two this weekend with no screens, no made-by-you-sounds...time to simply listen. As I do this now, I again here the magical and very cheery spring peepers!

Jone is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Jone Rush MacCulloch with so much goodness, including information about her forthcoming book...TILT. Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

xo,

ps - And yes...we still DO have a landline! :)

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Thursday, April 9, 2026

listen - day 9

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

April 8 - breakfast

Here is poem 9 -

Students - Because this month's poems are very short (index card sized), each word must carry its own weight. After photographing today's, I changed the word sound to the word whirr, and at least for now, I think it works better. I really don't want to use the word sound or listen in a month of sound and listening poems. Remember that you can always change a poem even AFTER you thought it was finished.

This is my first poem of the month that addresses another. Such a poem is called an apostrophe poem or a poem of address. So far no other people or human voices have entered the poems. I wonder if they will.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

I wish you the joy of revision today!

xo,

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Wednesday, April 8, 2026

listen - day 8

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 8 -

Students - Yesterday I bought a few boxes of cereal, and this got me thinking about the sound of cereal in a bowl. I like this sound, but I have never thought of it before while or after grocery shopping. This must mean that my focus on sounds and listening this month is creeping (in a good way!) into my subconscious. Maybe I am changing the way I think...just a wee bit, tuning my brain to pay more attention to the sounds in my life. For me, this is the reason for writing, not to make a great product or become published, but to stretch my brain and think in new ways. This is why I never use AI to help me compose.

I chose to place one word on every line to make this metaphor poem look as much like a waterfall as possible. Line breaks matter in a poem.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Happy eating, my friends. Twinkle. Twinkle. Silky milk. Crunch!

xo,

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Tuesday, April 7, 2026

listen - day 7

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 7 -

Students - Yesterday, as I was out picking daffodils before today's snow...I heard the train whistle that I wrote about yesterday. I don't hear it too often, and so this felt like a little gift. Writing another outside sounds poem today has me thinking how different this month of listen poems would be if they all were written in winter or all about foods or all about animals. I may need to do this exercise regularly!

You have probably noticed the many s sounds in today's few lines. They found their way in, and I welcomed each one. You may have also noticed how the poem ends with shorter lines, almost like a funnel. Ending in this way directs a reader to slow down toward the end, to weight the ending, if you will. You may wish to try this sometime. Break up your last line and read it differently, with a wee pause at the end of each line. If you like how it sounds, keep it. If not, switch it up and keep playing!

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

May whatever today's weather brings to you be sweet.

xo,

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Monday, April 6, 2026

listen - day 6

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 6 -

Students - Yesterday I was visiting my mom who lives in a busier neighborhood than we do. I found myself pausing on her front porch, listening to the sounds of traffic and people going to and fro. This made me consider writing a poem about car sounds, but then, in the night I began thinking about other people-moving sounds, and loved the idea of writing about a train. We have friends who live right near the tracks, and they know the trains' schedules. Where we live, we only hear a long old sigh from time to time, when the wind and air are just right. I am thankful for this tuning of my sound-attention, to the habit my April project is developing inside of me.

I did have a writing helper today...Winnie of the clicky picky heels! Here she is atop my desk, such a good furry poet.

Winnie the Muse

Photo by Amy LV

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Don't forget to listen to sounds that are close by...and sounds that are far away. All sounds are a part of your listening landscape.

xo,

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If you are under 13 years old, please only comment

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Sunday, April 5, 2026

listen - day 5

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems