Mysteries - A Poem about Voices

Voices

by Amy LV

Lately I have been thinking about houses and moving and change.  This past month, my childhood home sold, and so it's likely that we will never go back there again.  Thinking about the closet where I used to play elevator, the secret spots where my sister and I once hid Easter eggs, and the wood stove where we warmed bare tootsies, I am both happy and sad.  

 My Childhood Home - 328 Burd Drive

Photo by Amy LV

I'm a grown up now, and my own family has had two homes.  We lived in the first one when our children were tiny, and this one once they past toddlerhood.  When we moved to Heart Rock Farm, I thought about the "baby memories" that we were leaving behind in our first home, that little brick ranch.  I wondered if I would miss the memory-ghosts, if the echoes of our little ones would be stuck in that house, not knowing how to follow us.

Students - it may seem strange that I wonder "if memories get stuck" or "if we can hear ancient voices when the light tilts just so."  But I am fascinated by how time and space cross each other over and over through generations.  At one time, a Native American family may have lived on this land.  I know for sure that the previous owners of our home married in our living room.  And I wonder if I squinted my eyes just right on a perfect day, if I could be right there back again, watching the ceremony.  Will someone hear my husband's voice laughing one day...one hundred years from now...on this very spot?

When we write, sometimes it helps to let our minds relax and accept what might seem like unusual ideas.  Sometimes it's good and healthy just to close your eyes and listen to the quiet of your own trail of thoughts.  One will lead to another, and you might make surprising connections.  Yes, they might feel strange at first, but keep listening.

If you are moving or thinking about moving or interested in the feelings around moving, don't miss Ralph Fletcher's poetry book, MOVING DAY.

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Irene is hosting today's Poetry Friday buffet over at Live. Love. Explore!

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Oh! A Poem from a Puppy!

Morning with Sage and Bonfire

Photo by Amy LV

We have a new puppy at our house!  Sage is a Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix, and we adopted her from a friend in the sheep barn at the Wyoming County Fair this week.  Watching Sage explore the world, I am again reminded of each of our children as toddlers, and every puppy and kitten I have ever known.  The world is new!  Who are you?

Students - this morning as I tried to sleep past 6:00am, Sage was wide awake and ready to play.  She was ready to bite on rocking chair rockers, to teethe on my hand, and to bounce about the living room.  Rather than try to settle her down, I brought her outside and watched her romp and wiggle through dewy grass, intrigued by sticks and kitties, unripe Concord grapes and flowers.  Watching Sage play, I wrote this poem from her point of view.  Sometimes writing is easier when you are right close and watching what you are writing about.  Why all of those exclamation marks?  Well, that's how I think Sage would talk if puppies spoke English!

Dori is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at Dori Reads with her own collection of books and words from many friends...

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I Cry - Poems about Confusing Feelings

Welcome to Philip Levine, new Poet Laureate of the US!  You can read some of his work here at The Writer's Almanac.  For today, here are a few words, the last lines, from "On My Own."

...know, now it's obvious, what with the light

of the Lord streaming through the nine

windows of my soul and the music of rain

following in my wake and the ordinary air

on fire every blessed day I waken the world.

Changing Feelings

by Amy LV

When I was a little girl, I loved summer camp.  I loved summer camp as soon as my parents left, that is.  The transition of Mom and Dad leaving me for a whole week, however, was teary.  Hours of bonfires, play, crafts, sports, swimming, and camp songs later, the week ended and my parents returned.  So did my tears.  I always thought that my mixed up feelings were rather funny, and I still do. 

Students - one way to find writing ideas is to watch and notice your feelings.  We are all full of so many emotions, and writing can help us to understand our moods and our loved ones' feelings too.  When I was a little girl, my sister Heidi and I would dance around our living room to the songs in Marlo Thomas & Friends' FREE TO BE YOU AND ME, a book full of heart-wisdom both then and now.

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Here's one favorite song from the book/record/8-track/cassette/CD/ipod download: Rosey Grier singing, "It's Alright to Cry."

And since it is still summer, here's another camping poem about sleeping in a sleeping bag!

Karen is hosting today's Poetry Friday smorgasbord over at Karen Edmisten: The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title.

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today - Word List Poems

Canoeing at Sprucelands

Photo by Amy LV

I am still at Sprucelands riding camp with our children, and this week found canoeing words sloshing through my brain.  Walking up and down the hills, watching children giggle-paddle around the lake, I began writing in my head.

In Zen and the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury explains how listing words, especially nouns, sometimes helps him to generate story plots.  This week's poem is a list of words, dropped one-at-a-time into a poem.

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 Students - favorite poems stay with us.  And one of my favorites is Lee Bennett Hopkins' poem "Good Books Good Times" from his anthology with the same title.

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Lee begins his poem :

Good books.

Good times.

Good stories.

Good rhymes.

He ends with these lines:

Good stories.
Good rhymes.
Good books.

Good times.

Can you see how Lee's last four lines are the same as his first four, only switched?  When I began writing my poem for today, I did not know how it would turn out.  I only knew one thing:  I wanted the first and last two lines to switch.  I knew this because I have been carrying a favorite poem around in my head for a while.

You might want to try this - write a list of words and then move them around.  Play with rhyme.  If you can't find rhymes you like, try some different words.  For me, such an exercise feels like skipping stones across a lake.  Some jump easily and sound good, and some sink to the bottom and don't stay in the poem  Either way, it's fun to throw both stones and words around.  

Do you have a favorite poem in your head?

Libby is hosting today's Poetry Friday buffet over at A Year of Literacy Coaching.  May you find some new and old favorites on the menu.

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