Taking Classes, Appreciating Now, Sitting...

Front Porch View

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Last weekend our family went on our annual trip as part of the Allegheny Nature Pilgrimage.  One of the classes I took was a writing class with Karen Lee Lewis of The Blue Plate Studio.  This was a thoughtful and inspiring class, and as part of it, Karen read us some beautiful ecopoetry and gave us time to write creatively about birds.  I loved hearing others' writing, and during my writing time, I worked on the poem above.

Karen read from and recommended this book, it is now on my to-read list.  

Available at Your Local Bookshop

Taking a class from a great writing teacher gave me new things to think about and pushed me in new ways. I loved being a student, sitting surrounded by colorful paint chips, wise words on chart paper, and the sounds of pencils working on novels, newspaper articles, poems, memories...all about birds.

Today I leave you with three summer thoughts:

1.  Take a summer writing class if you can.  Even for one day, even with a friend your age who has one new writing idea to share with you.  Let another's writing advice push you.

2.  Appreciate something small and daily.  Let this small daily thing move you to write.  Perhaps think about birds, as I did in my class with Karen.

3. Sit.  Make time for sitting and paying attention this summer.  There are so many cool activities to join, but leave time for sitting.  Space is good for all of us and for our writing too.

If you missed Tuesday's post here at The Poem Farm, please visit and leave a comment for the third grade writers from Heather Sass's class in Webster, NY.  You'll be treated to a joyous collection of poems celebrating bodies, inspired by two books: LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech and THE BEST PART OF ME  by Wendy Ewald.

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, I am so happy to host teacher Katie Liseo and her adventurous student notebookers with a very inspiring post and giveaway of Aimee Buckner's NOTEBOOK KNOW-HOW. You have two days left to comment and enter that giveaway, as I am drawing a name on Sunday.

Carol is hosting Poetry Friday roundup over at Beyond Literacy Link.  Stop over and enjoy all of this week's poetry offerings...Poetry Friday is for everyone!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

Wallow in Wonder Day 7 - How Sweet is Honeysuckle?

Welcome to Day 7 of Wallow in Wonder!  For my 2016 National Poetry Month project, I will celebrate learning and writing from learning, writing poems from each daily Wonder at Wonderopolis.  As I did with my Dictionary Hike in 2012, I am looking to surprise myself with new inspiration daily.  This year, such inspiration will show up in my inbox each morning.  I will print it and carry each Wonderopolis Wonder around all day...and in the afternoon or evening, I will write and post the poem for the next day.  

I invite anyone who wishes to take this challenge too.  Just read today's wonder over at Wonderopolis, and write a poem inspired by it for tomorrow.  Share it tomorrow at your own site, and if you wish to link in my comments for others to find (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.  If you would like to share any ways you have used Wallow in Wonder or your own site (safe for children only please), please link to the #WallowInWonder padlet.

My April Poems Thus Far

April 1 - So Suddenly - a poem inspired by Wonder #1659 

April 2 - Thankful Journal - a poem inspired by Wonder #1660

April 3 - The Storm Chaser - a poem inspired by Wonder #779

April 4 - A Jar of Glitter - a poem inspired by Wonder #641

April 5 - To Make Compost - a poem inspired by Wonder #1661

April 6 - Deciding Now - a poem inspired by Wonder #1662

And now for Day 7!

Wonder #1663 - from April 6, 2016

Little Sipper

by Amy LV

Students - I actually wrote two poems for today.  I worked on the first one, titled "Open Window," for some time.  And it was fine. It rhymed.  It talked about honeysuckle and spring and it featured a hummingbird too.  But it just didn't feel quite right somehow.  It was fine, but it was only fine.  And fine did not feel good enough.  I felt that I needed not to work more on that poem...but to write another poem altogether.

I have been asked how I "know when something is ready to share."  And this is an excellent question.  Honestly, though, I am not sure.  Certainly there are times when I do share and others may wonder, "Why did she share that anyway?"  And then there are times when I do not know what I think about a piece, times when I need to let a poem sit.  

But usually, when I work on something for a while, I get a feeling.  I read the words to myself over and over again and I keep writing and rewriting until I get an "I like this!" feeling.  I have learned to trust this feeling.  Usually.  Sometimes, though, this feeling is way off!  But we makers must be able to laugh at ourselves and just move on.

Today's poem makes me happy.  I like to pretend that I am other things, and I am very happy right now to be a mother hummingbird, so proud of my wee eggs.  I like the sounds of the words in this poem and the way the last two lines funnel readers to the proud ending.  I like the word secret and the line in the white pine by the water and all of those -ing words.  I like the bit of bossiness in this tiny tiny bird.  Who knows how I will feel about these words tomorrow, but right now, I like them.

Best of all, researching and writing this poem made me fall in love with hummingbirds.  Hard.  Writing about an enchanting subject can do that to a person.

Writing today's poem has inspired my whole summer garden plan.  In addition to the rugosa roses I'll be putting in by the road, all I care about now are some grand plantings for hummingbirds, everything from lambs ear and milkweed (for nesting material) to native trumpet honeysuckle.

If you would like to learn more about hummingbirds, particularly ruby throated hummingbirds, you can do so here at All About Birds or at Operation Ruby Throat.  There are different types of hummingbirds, so you may wish to find out which type lives near to you and learn about that one first.

You can read another poem inspired by Wonder #1663 if you visit Wonder Lead Ambassador, literacy advocate, teacher, and writer Paul Hankins at his Wonder Ground blog where he, too, is writing daily poems from Wonderopolis wonders.  He and I are in this together daily and some other writers are joining in on the fun sometimes too. All are welcome to wonder through poems with us.

I am so happy to be hosting middle school teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada to Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  Do not miss this post; it is full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie!

Happy Day 7 of National Poetry Month 2016!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

My Friend - Susan Taylor Brown

 

Lily in Her Nest

Photo by Susan Taylor Brown

Lily at Water Rock

Photo by Susan Taylor Brown

Lily Feeding

Photo by Susan Taylor Brown

Lovely Lily

Photo by Susan Taylor Brown

 

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today's poem is about my friend Susan Taylor Brown.  Since early April, Susan has posted exquisite photos of her new friend Lily on Facebook. These photos have made my visits to the computer much happier and richer than ever, and even though I have never seen Lily in person...I see her through Susan's love.  So while today's poem might seem like it's about a bird, it's really about a person who has learned to slow down enough to see and know and understand something very beautiful.  And so today, I am grateful to Susan and to her wee friend too.

This is a wonderful challenge to all of us who love writing.  Let's all fall in love with something small.  Let's be patient.

And now, I welcome Susan with a few words about Lily.

What can I tell you about a tiny bird who changed my life?

Lily helped me learn to be still, an important trait for poets. Any fast movements and she would zip away, often to the nearby plum tree to scold me.

In learning to be still she taught me to see. I would stand stone still in front of her nest, and watch her wiggle and twitch on top of her eggs. My eyes would focus on her long, slender beak, the way her feathers glittered when the sun hit them, the little bits of moss and grass and dandelions that she had wove into her tiny nest. 

In learning to see she taught me to hear. Waiting in front of her empty nest she would announce her homecoming and I held my camera up to try and catch her coming in to land. My arms would start to shake and I couldn't see much through the viewfinder so my ears would listen to the sound of the bees buzzing around me, the chickadees begging for their dinner, all sorts of garden sounds until at last, I heard her chirp that let me know she was coming, and the hum hum hum of her wings.

In learning to listen, I have learned more of what I want to say.

You can read Susan's beautiful poem about Lily here at GottaBook.  And you can see many more photos, videos and read more about Lily's story here at Poppiness.  You can read an essay about her broken nest and Susan's response here.  Please know that though Lily's nest was destroyed, she is back to visiting with Susan and her camera on a happy and regular basis.

On a funny note, Sharing Our Notebooks, The Poem Farm's sister blog, was just featured at Notebook Stories.  Addict of the week!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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