My Birthday - Poems about Occasions

Calendar

Photo by Amy LV

Happy birthday to all leap year babies!

Students - Today's poem is a holiday poem, a math poem, and a riddle poem! The other day, when I sat down to write, I got thinking about what a special year this is...leap year! I stopped to think about those with birthdays on February 29 and how they can only celebrate their true birth date every four years.

Writing a math riddle poem is a neat little exercise.  Just come up with a math problem in your head (or on paper) and then play around with it and with words, turning it into a verse.

Having a leap year birthday puts a person in a special sort of club, much like being a lefty. And so of course, there is a group you can belong to. It's called The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies. You can read about why founder Peter Brouwer founded this group here at the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

Did you know that there is a special newspaper that only comes out on leap days?  It's in France, and it's called La Bougie du Sapeur!

To read about some children who have leap year birthdays, check out THE WASHINGTON POST.  To read a bout a leap year couple, check out npr.  Too, npr has some suggestions about how to spend this extra 24 hours...

And now for a few words from Marilla, NY native, Scott Gowanlock, about having a leap year birthday.

I love having a leap year birthday because I can trick people when they ask my actual birthday. They don't actually believe I am actually five years old, so when I show them my license, they are amazed. Also, 75% of the time I can have a 2-day birthday because I was born in February so we celebrate it on the 28th, but I was also born the day after the 28th which is March 1. This gives me a 2-day birthday! We usually celebrate it on whichever weekend falls closest to the day, either before or after.

When I was born, I was supposed to be on the news as I was the first Buffalo leap year baby born in 1992. However, on that same day, a woman had her second leap year baby so they interviewed her instead.

Thank you, Scott.   Happy birthday!

Did you figure out the answer to this poem's question?

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Fear and Poems about Changing Your Mind

Understanding

by Amy LV

Students - have you ever felt afraid of something, faced your fears, and then realized that the scary thing was not so bad after all? There have been many times in my life when I have felt sure of something and then later changed my mind. Today's poem is a changing-your-mind poem, telling the story of fear changing to wonder.

If you find yourself looking at a blank page of your notebook today, consider writing about a time when you changed your mind, when you realized something new, when you gave someone or something a second change. Such moments of realization and change are good seeds for writing.

You may notice that each stanza of "Fear" has three lines and that the first line of each stanza is short, only two syllables. I enjoy playing with patterns and sometimes even borrowing patterns from other poems I love. You can try that too. Choose a poem that you like and then ask yourself:  How long is this poem? How does the rhyme work? How does the repetition work? How can I take one of these ideas and make it my own?

My husband's biology class has just added a new friend, a ball python who doesn't have a name yet. And a warm box in our basement is currently home to three little chicks (Georgia named one Petronella, after a character in GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE.) It's animal season around here!

As-Yet Nameless Ball Python
(about 3 weeks old)

Photo by Mark VanDerwater

On Valentine's Day, the winners of the 2011 CYBILS were announced. In the poetry category, Paul B. Janeczko won for REQUIEM: POEMS OF THE TEREZIN GHETTO, a haunting and beautiful book, a book to make each of us more human. It was an honor to be a first round judge for this year's CYBILS, and I offer many congratulations to Paul.  Visit the CYBILS website to read about winners in all categories.

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And now for a bit of personal happy news! I am extremely grateful that Boyds Mills Press will publish my collection of reading poems for children! More news when I have it...what fun to dream of illustrators...

Myra is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Gathering Books. Fill your arms and pockets with gathered poems and words, and many good wishes for a lovely weekend!

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My Suitcase - Eavesdropping Poems

Time to Unpack

Photo by Amy LV

Students - once again, I would like to encourage to to keep your ears open. If you are in a public place and hear an interesting snippet of language or a curious comparison or a clever mishmosh of words, you can tuck it in your brain and save it for later writing. I overheard such a line yesterday...on an airplane!

Last night I came home from two days of teaching and working with wonderful teachers at Fowler School and Green Meadow School in Maynard, MA. Waiting for our plane to arrive at the gate, I found myself listening to a little girl talking with her mom. She said, "We'll go get our suitcases from the little roller coaster now." It was one of the cutest sentences I'd ever heard, and I knew that it would form the beginning of today's poem. Great lines are dropping from the sky every day, but our ears must be ready to catch them!

I still may play more with this one. Part of me wants to try a free verse poem using this little girl's words as well. If I do, I'll share it in this space. And if you try sprouting a poem from an overheard line, please let me know.

As for roller coasters, I'm not a rider. But I do love Marla Frazee's book ROLLER COASTER.

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If you've ever wondered how roller coasters work...here you go!

It's February 1!  This means that there are only 2 weeks left until we find out about the winners of the 2012 CYBILS!  Here, again, are the poetry finalists.

Many congratulations to Kristine O'Connell George for winning Bank Street College's Claudia Lewis Award for EMMA DILEMMA!

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Water - Writing about Contrasts

Watery World

by Georgia LV

Daily

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Sometimes it is fun to trace back the family tree of a piece of writing - where did it come from? Well, this one came from a few places. One place it came from is a poem that I've read a few times this week, The Place I Want to Get Back To by Mary Oliver. The last few lines read -

If you want to talk about this
  come to visit. I live in the house
    near the corner, which I have named
      Gratitude.

Mary Oliver's poem got me thinking about what I'm grateful for.

Then, I came across the drawing above that my daughter Georgia drew.

I did some reading about informational texts, particularly compare and contrast.

I also remembered this book -

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And all of this led to to today's poem!

Try it - find a piece of writing you've done (or write a new one) and then trace it back.  Find its relatives and see where it came from in your attic-mind.

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Poetry Friday & Patience

Oh No!

by Amy LV

Students - Strange to say, but I've always loved the rhyming sounds of alligator and elevator. I think they're just funny words, each with four syllables, each with the stress on the first syllable. This pair has kicked around in my head for quite a while and even made a cameo in a poem once. Well, today they're back in center stage!

Today's poem is what I might call a "fake advice" poem. It's a how-to poem of sorts (I know that many of you have written how-to books and articles) only this time, it's got a splash of imagination too. You might want to try this twist on procedural writing. Make up a fake set of directions, and set them to a poem beat!

As for word play, here's something to try. Choose a word with two or three syllables. Take the word brother for example. Now, write that word on the top of a page, and try to think of other words that have the same stresses, the same beats, the same emphasis on the same syllables. Don't even think about rhyme for now.

Let's look at the word brother together.

BROther has the same stresses as WEEKend and PRAIrie. When we read the words, we naturally lean heavily on that first syllable. Can you hear what I mean? Say those words aloud.  Can you think of some other two syllable words with the stress on the first syllable?  Make a list!

BROther has different stresses than forGET, rePLY, and exCUSE. Those three words have the accent on the second syllable, and our voices press down more heavily on that second syllable. Say these words out loud to hear those stresses. Can you think of some more two-syllable words with the second syllable accented?

Fun, isn't it? You might even want to keep lists in your notebook or charts in your classroom of such stresses; sometimes I do.

If you find some great words or would like to share something you discover, please do so in the comments or by e-mailing me at amy at amylv dot com.

Elaine is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at Wild Rose Reader! I'm so happy to be back into more frequent blog reading and writing (partially thanks to the 2012 Comment Challenge), and can't wait for the weekend when I can truly dive into this Poetry Friday Extravaganza!

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Changing

Sage at Two Months

Photo by Amy LV

Sage at Eight Months

Photo by Amy LV

Students - once again we have a list poem, this time simply a list of many of the ways that one thing changes into another. In making this list, I wanted to focus mostly on natural things...so you will notice many images of animals and plants and outside beauties.

Usually when I write rhyming list poems, I begin by making lists! Lists of rhyming words. These help me to find pairs of words that will go well together in the different stanzas. With a bit of shuffling, the words find their proper poemhomes.

I do like writing about changes and cycles, and I've done it over and over and over. And sometimes, when you think about something a lot, more things in your life point toward that idea.  Just last night, I drove by this sign on 20A in Wales, NY.

These Signs They Are A'Changin

Photo by Amy LV

If you write a lot, you will notice patterns and themes in your writing. What about you?  Hike through your old folders or notebooks and ask yourself, "What dreams and themes do I keep circling back to?"

Here's another change: the Poem Farm is back to more regular posts, now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you are a student who would like to share your work or a teacher with a neat poetry idea to share, I would love to showcase it here. Peek at some of the examples of Classroom Poetry Peeks in the left hand sidebar to see what this might look like.

If you are a dog person and like today's photographs, do not miss Michael Rosen's THE HOUND DOG'S HAIKU: AND OTHER POEMS FOR DOG LOVERS. Each dog is haiku-ed with the perfect few words.

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Finding Luck & Throwing Eyelashes

This week it's Poetry Saturday in Holland, NY! We had a big snowstorm, and it interfered with our satellite. Please excuse my tardiness to the Poetry Friday party!

Eye Self-Portrait

by Georgia LV

Students - Sometimes you might find a poem or writing idea inside of an old writing piece. Today's poem grew from a two-week-old notebook entry. As you read the entry below, you might notice small snips that appear in "Finding Luck."

January 4, 2012

The day began, like many days, with a shower. A hotel shower where so many men and women I will never meet have washed their bodies, breathing deeply, readying themselves for a day ahead. As I looked to the white curtain, I could see a small eyelash curled against the fabric. Someone else's eyelash. Not mine.

In these moments, I decide and re-decide what I will say inside my own head, how I will react. A part of me wants to squeal, "Gross!" and live like my Grandpa Norman who would not stay in hotels or eat in restaurants lest he get the germs. But another side of me is superstitious. This side of me says "Pa-diddle!' and kisses a fool when I see a one-headlight car. This side punches Hope when I see a punch buggy. An eyelash? Why you throw it over your shoulder, of course.

I stood there in the shower, eyeing the tiny line of hair, thinking back to the many small eyelashes I have gently brushed from the cheeks of Hope, Georgia, and Henry, throwing them over their shoulders.

Warm water poured down my back as I heard a clear voice in my head say, "Oh, what the heck!" And I watched as my own hand gently brushed the eyelash from its curtain and threw it over my own wet shoulder.

Again, like always, I thought, "It's lucky!" and wondered if the luck would be mine or if somebody somewhere today had a wonderful day with no idea where the luck hailed from.

I would not consider myself a very superstitious person, but there are certain little habits I have, like tossing eyelashes and avoiding cracks in the sidewalk. Back in 2010, I posted a poem about lucky socks along with a recommendation for Janet Wong's great poetry book about superstitions, KNOCK ON WOOD.

Lately I have been posting more links to great poems and quotes on The Poem Farm Facebook Page. Please 'like' it to receive these links and poems and quotes on your news feed.

Tara is hosting this week's roundup over at A Teaching Life. You may well have already been there, but in case not...enjoy! Happy week ahead!

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Goodbye to Christmas Trees

 

Ewes Taste Christmas - 2012

Photo by Amy LV

Students - it's that time of year when Christmas trees line the roadsides. When I was a girl, this was always a tough week. I'd want to keep the tree up for as many weeks as we could, and I fantasized about it becoming a Valentine Tree and a St. Patrick's Day Tree, and an Easter Tree. But one day or another, the needles would begin to fall, and out it would go...down the concrete steps, down the driveway, straight to the curb. And there it would lie, and there I would stand, kissing the tips of its needles and saying, "Goodbye."

If you have read this blog for a while, you know that I have a soft spot for inanimate objects. I feel what I imagine they feel. You can see this in Pumpkin and Christmas Tree Lot too. Today's poem is about imagining the feelings of something else, and it's about goodbyes. So if you ever imagine what something else is thinking, or if you have a certain type of goodbye that is tough for you, that might be a good place to begin today's writing. Too, this is a poem written TO something, to a Christmas tree. Such a poem is called a poem of address. Is there anything you want to talk to? If so, then go ahead and address it in a poem!

You may notice that the first line of both the first and third stanzas match the song, "O Christmas Tree." This was a fun way for me to begin, by jumping into the words of a familiar song from the season.

Back in my girlhood days, I was comforted to know that our small town of Vestal, NY recycled old Christmas trees as mulch for town parks. Today I am comforted to know that our Icelandic sheep happily munch our old tree right up!

If you haven't yet peeked into how third grade teacher Mary Bieger uses writer's notebooks and seen Arya's entries...there's a new notebook up at Sharing Our Notebooks, my blog devoted to writer's notebooks.

Joann is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Teaching Authors. Have a great time in the garden of poetry!

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Finding Answers - A Poem for Two Voices

Hope Looks for Eggs & Answers

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Earlier this week, I had the chance to visit Dale Sondericker's looping third grade students at Marilla Primary. They invited me to their classroom because they were having difficulty reading one of my poems - Two Hemispheres - and they wanted me to tell them how I thought it should be read.

We had an interesting talk about the different ways they tried reading the poem and what I had in mind. It was a treat to hear these children's voices read that poem aloud (it's hard to revise a poem like this when you're only one voice reading aloud), and I liked their way as much as the way I'd envisioned the poem being read. As I left the classroom, Dale stressed to his young writers that if you don't know something in reading, if you can't talk with the author, you can figure out what makes the most sense to you. Wise words.

Later in the day of my visit, Dale told me that when I left, one girl said, "I still like our way better." Hooray! So, today's poem is for Mr. Sondericker's third grade writers who read aloud together, who ask questions, and who find answers inside of themselves.

Kate Coombs is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Book Aunt. Along with sharing everyone's dish to pass today, Kate gives us a peek at some of the "magic tinged" poems that did not make it into her forthcoming book, WATER SINGS BLUE. Visit, read, ask questions, feast!

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Warm Memory & GIFT TAG

Paper Snowflake

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Lately I have been thinking lots about snow.  It started a few weeks ago when I had to choose a photograph to write from for GIFT TAG. This new e-book required each poet to choose an inspiration-photograph, and I chose a picture of snow falling around a small home. I needed to write a poem about a gift...and as a Buffalo girl, I think snow is a gift! My poem in GIFT TAG, "Snow Gifts," got me thinking about what's in store for us over the next five months.

Then, this Tuesday at school, a teacher friend told me a story. Sue teaches third grade, and a few days ago she looked out her classroom window to see snow swirling everywhere. And then she did just what the teacher in "Warm Memory" did. Sue put on her coat and led her students outside into a circle to "catch November snowflakes!" She and her class ate snowflakes together, holding their arms out, watching crystals land on their coats, cherishing this once-a-year first snowfall surprise.

At that moment I knew that I wanted to write Sue's story. And in doing so, her story became my story too. So many people do kind and beautiful things each day, and if we watch and listen carefully, our story-banks grow. Now, every time I see a first snow...I will imagine those third graders in their hushed circle, tongues in the sky and hearts full of fun.  Teachers like Sue are a gift.

E-book GIFT TAG comes to us from Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell, and it is filled with poems by 28 different poets, each inspired by a different photograph.  My poem, "Snow Gifts," nestles among poems about goldfish, a bicycle, perfume, a kitty, and many other goodies.

This e-poetry collection is third in a series of e-poetry anthologies put together by Janet and Sylvia, each only $2.99 through Amazon. You can read or gift POETRY TAG TIME, p*tag, or GIFT TAG on a phone, iPad, or computer, and the poems are easy to project in a classroom too. I like reading the different poems as well as the connections made by the poets, and one of my favorite things is the way each e-book links to the different poets' websites. So, for a few dollars, a reader opens up a whole new world of writers. For you early bargain shoppers, GIFT TAG will be available for $1.99 through Monday.

Last weekend found me at NCTE, in love with session after session of poetry goodness. If you would like to hear some snips of the wonderful poem sessions, visit Sylvia Vardell's Poetry for Children blog where she has graciously posted poem video clips from the convention.

Thank you to Heidi Mordhorst for hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at my juicy little universe. I am so thankful for my Poetry Friday friends...

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Thanksgiving

Wednesday Sky

Photo by Amy LV

The other day, Georgia looked out the window and exclaimed, "The sky looks like cotton candy!" And it did. Each day is full of such marvels, and this week I vow to behold more wonders in my life. Big ones, small ones, all.

Today I am grateful for a new word learned this week - murmuration.  You may already have found out what this means, but if not, visit  Wired Science to see something astoundingly lovely in the sky.

I know a local teacher who has her students write regularly about something they are grateful for.  Wise indeed.

Students - look around. Be grateful. Write about it.

I'm thankful to have met so many new friends through the beauty of words.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Thank you today to Tabatha is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at The Opposite of Indifference. Stop on by!

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Poetry Friday & Daylight Saving Bank

Stonehenge Sunrise

by Georgia LV

Are you used to the time change yet? Over here we're still adjusting our body clocks to the clocks in the world. And my car is still an hour ahead!

Students - today's poem comes to you from the Manuscript Bus Station. Some time ago, I wrote a poetry collection titled IMAGINARY NEIGHBORHOOD, and it's a rustle of poems about places that don't really exist except for in my mind. No, there's not a real "Daylight Saving Bank" or a real "Snowflake Designer's Studio," but in the IMAGINARY NEIGHBORHOOD...there is.

What's the Manuscript Bus Station? Well, it's not a poem. But it's a place where manuscripts wait for someone to pick them up and take them home. Writers spend lots of time visiting the Manuscript Bus Station, checking to see if they got a ride with a publisher.

This poem came from my crazy head and my constant confusion with Daylight Savings Time. The Daylight Savings Bank is a made up place, one I think would be neat to visit in real life. What place do you wish to invent? Go for it! Your imaginary place can come to life in your notebook! Thinking about different times in the year is another way that I find writing ideas.

Today is Veterans Day. Last year, I posted To You on Veterans Day, and today I am especially thinking about those who have served and continue to serve our country. Last Friday, my mother shared this family scrapbook with me - full of letters from my grandpa Norman H. Dreyer to my grandmother, Florence E.C. Dreyer, during WWII. I will be writing about these soon, but today I will be rereading the letters and thinking about my grandparents between 1943 - 1945.

Dreyer Family Letters

Photo by Amy LV

It was such a delight to talk with teachers at last week at Literacy for All about writing history poems in social studies class. This week I've been mulling over many of their comments and stories, and I am excited to continue this conversation at NCTE in a couple of weeks.

Today I look forward to talking with parents at the NYS PTA Convention about "Encouraging and Strengthening Young Writers at Home." If anyone would like the handouts from that session, please just send me an e-mail to amy@amylv.com, and I will be happy to send them on their way to you.

April Halprin Wayland is hosting today's Poetry Friday buffet over at Teaching Authors. Thank you, April!

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History into Poetry: Luigi Del Bianco

Partway Knitted Tote Bag

Photo by Amy LV

Driving last Friday, I listened to a story from npr's Story Corps series. The story was about Luigi Del Bianco, the man who carved many of the details in Lincoln's Mount Rushmore face. His daughter, Gloria, shared her memories of her father with nephew Lou, and I was struck by this quote,

"And when I was little, my father wanted to carve me, but being the rambunctious, impatient child that I was, I wouldn't sit for him...And my mother would say, 'Please go sit for your father -- he won't keep you long, just a little bit.'"

I drove along the quiet roads of Alexander, NY thinking about this talented father wishing to immortalize his little girl. And I wanted to write about it. (You will notice the direct quote from Gloria in this poem.)

Students - At the top of this post, you may have wondered about why there is a photo of my current knitting project. Well, it's  going to be a tote bag, and it's knitted from scraps of yarn that I've had around the house. No need to go to the store for the yarn; it is old yarn. In the knitting world, we call this a stash.

So too, can we use "old yarn" for our poems. This world is full. Full of stories. The world is a stash! Every person you meet is a story-container. And so is every social studies book, each folded photograph, piece of clothing, or worn out tool. In any object or memory or person live unlimited possible-poems. We just have to go in there and get them! Faces from stone. Bags from old yarn. Poems from scraps of the past. We are makers, we humans.

Try this today. Open up your social studies book. Or an old one. Or any picture book that talks about the past. Remember something about the past that a family member once said. And open it up into poetry.

Teachers - in her book, PRACTICAL POETRY, Sara Holbrook discusses many ways to thread poetry through all of the disciplines. And with the new Common Core Standards, poetry is a beautiful way to incorporate writing in history, science, art, and math.

Available through Heinemann

This Monday at Literacy for All and later this month at the NCTE annual convention, I will speak about writing poems from and about history. With Karen Caine and Barry Lane (wait...my name doesn't rhyme!), I will share some ideas and resources for ways to weave poetry and history study. If you would like the handouts from these soon-to-be sessions, please just send me an e-mail to amy@amylv.com, and I will be happy to share them along.

If you're looking for a book just for you (or your YA students), I cannot recommend highly enough Allan Wolf's THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT. This verse novel takes on 24 voices, from Captain to undertaker, refugee to Colonel. It is beautiful. It is haunting. It is on your to-be-read list.

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For more information about Luigi Del Bianco, visit the Mount Rushmore site or listen to his children talking about him in this YouTube video.

And to read more about using poetry with social studies, don't miss Sylvia Vardell's recent post at Poetry for Children - Notable Poetry in Social Studies or this one about poems of war and peace.

Laura Purdie Salas is hosting today's Poetry Friday at her sharp new WordPress blog, Writing the World for Kids. Thank you, Laura!

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Hosting Poetry Friday & A Singing Lady

Welcome to today's Poetry Friday buffet...here! I hope you're hungry, as there will be many links to munch on throughout the day.

Plane Tickets

Students - today's poem comes from something that just happened to me...almost. This week, I had the chance to work with some fantastic and warm teachers in Ohio's West Carrollton Schools. Ohio is several hours from home, so this work required some air travel.


On Wednesday evening I flew home through Newark, and while in the airport restroom, I heard a woman singing a lovely and mysterious Spanish song. It was mysterious to me because I do not speak Spanish and because I have never sung in a public restroom. I just stood there, washing my hands, savoring water and words both.


Were there others there? No, we were alone. Was it in a store? No, it was in an airport. So no, the facts of this poem are not exactly accurate. That's why I say that this "almost" happened to me.


The facts are not exact, but the spirit and soul of this moment could not be more true. I was touched by the openness of song in a restroom, of joy in the most mundane moment of daily life. My evening was made more beautiful by this chance encounter, and I know that I will think about this lady again and again.


Remember this - you do not need a perfect memory or the exact facts of an event to recapture the mood and dust left upon your heart.


To leave your link for today, please click on "Mister Linky" below and add a direct link to your Poetry Friday post. Along with your link, please include your name or blog's name followed by the topic of your post in parentheses.


For example: The Poem Farm (Original poem "I Heard a Lady Singing")


I will add posts throughout the day, though I will be out for much of the morning. Please click below to see what's here, and I'll round everything up as soon as I get back home.

Today's Dishes at the Poetry Friday Buffet
Steven Witherow at Crackles of Speech offers up an original poem about Facebook titled "Friendism."


Charles Ghigna at Father Goose leads us into autumn with his original poem "Autumn's Way."


Myra Garces-Bascal at Gathering Books features poet Professor Gemimo Abad.


Julie Larios at The Drift Record, in love with New York City, shares Allen Ginsberg's poem "My Sad Self."


Mary Lee at A Year of Reading brings us David Budbill's "What We Need" and some donuts.


Mandy brings Target's "Haiku-pons" over at Enjoy and Embrace Learning.


Maria Horvath's Daily Poems shares a poem about the ambivalence of love, "I Can't Hold You and I Can't Leave You" by Juana Inez De La Cruz.


Debbie Diller at A Journey in Learning shares Jane Kenyon's "Trouble with Math in a One-Room Country School."


The Stenhouse Blog spotlights a poem by California English Teacher Gayle Hobbs, "Thinking Survived."


Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids offers Alice Schertle's "Spider" from Alice's book KEEPERS.


Laura also invites us to join her 15 Words or Less Poems with a "Barred" photograph.


At Random Noodling, Diane Mayr brings "That's the Sum of It" by David Ignatow along with a video of Ignatow reading "I Killed a Fly."


Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference shares "Poor Angus" by Shel Silverstein.


At Kids of the Homefront Army, Diane Mayr has an original poem titled "Mail Call."


Diane also has cat poetry at Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet, including "Pussycat Sits on a Chair" by Edward Newman Horn.


At Kurious K's Kwotes, Diane offers a quote from Picasso about art.


Robin Hood Black shares Rose Fyleman's poem, "The Best Game that Fairies Play."


Over at Author Amok, Laura has a tribute to neglected master, Samuel Menashe.


Dori ushers in fall with Jeanie Tomasko's poem, "Edge of September."


At Jama's Alphabet Soup, Jama feeds us Mary Oliver's "The Poet is Told to Fill Up More Pages."


Sally, at Paper Tigers, shares the book UNDERWATER FARMYARD by Carol Ann Duffy.


At Across the Page, Janet offers James Taylor's song, OUR TOWN along with thoughts about the recent flooding in Owego, NY.


JoAnn Early Macken has an original poem about revision, titled "Revising a Poem" at Teaching Authors.


Greg Pincus shares his original poem, "The Writer's Chant (Butt in Chair)" over at GottaBook.


At Picture Book of the Day, Anastasia Suen brings the book Cats, Cats by author-illustrator Michelle Nelson-Schmidt.


David Elzey offers some minimally invasive poems at Fomograms.


Over at The Small Nouns, Ben shares Walt Whitman's poem, "Miracles."


Elaine Magliaro continues taking us through the year with poetry books over at Wild Rose Reader.


To read Elaine's first post about poetry books through the year, visit Wild Rose Reader here.


At All About the Books, Janet Squires brings AMAZING FACES, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins.


Pentimento offers us Jane Hirschfield's poem, "French Horn."


At Check it Out, Jone MacCulloch shares "The Words Under the Words" by Naomi Shihab Nye.


TeacherDance jumps into sharing on Poetry Friday for the first time with a poem for the beginning of school, James W. Hall's "Maybe Dats Your Pwoblem Too."


Over at Musings, Joyce Ray has an original 9/11 poem titled "Golden Seams."


Jennie, at Biblio File, offers up a Shel Silverstein poem from WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS.


At Twinkling Along, Carlie shares her original poem, "Lost Phone."


At There is No Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town, Ruth shares "Hurry" by Marie Howe.


Please come back later for dessert!


I would like to invite you over to my new blog, Sharing Our Notebooks. In this space, you can expect regular sneak-peeks into the notebooks of others. (Maybe yours?) Today you can see the scrawls-before-books of Anne Mazer.


Thank you to my daughter Georgia for today's calligraphy!

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