Turn Yourself Into a Place

A New Book Edited by J. Patrick Lewis!

From THE POETRY OF US edited by J. Patrick Lewis

(Click to Enlarge)

Students - It is always a thrill to be part of an anthology, and I could not be happier to share this new poem from this new book edited by J. Patrick Lewis and published by National Geographic Children's Books.  THE POETRY OF US: MORE THAN 200 POEMS THAT CELEBRATE THE PEOPLE, PLACES, AND PASSIONS OF THE UNITED STATES is a stunning volume full of poems old and new laid over spectacular photographs.  If you are familiar with J. Patrick Lewis's NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BOOK OF ANIMAL POETRY or NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BOOK OF NATURE POETRY, this is the same gorgeousness.

My poem takes the voice of a place, and I enjoyed imagining I was the Appalachian Trail itself.  What secrets and wonders this trail witnesses, holding people on journeys both external and internal.  

If you do not know what to write about today, try making a list of places.  Then choose one. Become it.  Write.  Did you know that writing in the voice of something else is called a persona poem...or a mask poem?

Some of you a St. John's School in Houston, Texas might be wondering why I am not writing about the mouse.  Well, sweet mouse will appear next week instead. As THE POETRY OF US celebrates its entry into the world this week, I decided to invite this poem to hike its way onto the blog today.

Jone is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Deo Writer, where she shares Janet Wong's title poem from her new collection with Sylvia Vardell, GREAT MORNING: POEMS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS TO READ ALOUD. Each week we gather together, sharing poems, books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  All are always welcome to visit, comment, and post.

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.

J. Patrick Lewis: My Earth Day Guest

Happy Earth Day!

Veronica: A Small Gift from Earth

Photo by Amy LV

It is with great pleasure that I introduce my guest blogger today, former US Children's Poet Laureate (2011 - 2013)  and winner of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Award fpr Excellence in Poetry for Children...J. Patrick Lewis.

Take it away, sir!

J. Patrick Lewis

Photo by Robert Donaldson

As April is World Habitat Awareness Month as well as National Poetry Month, I thought I’d combine the two themes in one poem.

In fact, this poem, Make the Earth Your Companion, is the title of a gorgeous forthcoming book from Creative Editions, 2017. (I’ve seen the art by Anna and Elena Balbusso, sisters from Italy.) So I'm delighted Amy has given me a chance to share it pre-publication.

Make the Earth Your Companion

Make the Earth your companion.                    
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do.
Let the Sky paint her beauty—she is always
                  watching over you.
Learn from the Sea how to face harsh forces.
Let the River remind you that everything will pass.
Let the Lake instruct you in stillness.
Let the Mountain teach you grandeur.
Make the Woodland your house of peace.
Make the Rainforest your house of hope.
Meet the Wetland on twilight ground.
Save some small piece of Grassland for a red kite
                  on a windy day.
Watch the Icecaps glisten with crystal majesty.
Hear the Desert whisper hush to eternity.
Let the Town weave a small basket of togetherness.
Make the Earth your companion.
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do. 

© J. Patrick Lewis

If I’m asked to say what is the first thing to do if you want to be a poet, it’s simply this: Be a reader. Never trust anyone who writes more than she or he reads. (Thanks to Samuel Johnson for that quote over 200 years ago.)

Start every day with a poem—and end it with a poem. 

Read poetry out loud, even if you are all alone in a room.

• Poetry is song. Poetry predates books and the alphabet. 
• Reading good poetry aloud resonates through your entire body.

Imitate other poets.

• Imitation is not plagiarism. Remember: You are not writing for publication; you are writing for practice.
• Choose your favorite poems and write parodies of them.

Thank you so much, Pat, for joining us today.  It is a privilege to share this space with you and a delight to read your wise and beautiful poem celebrating our planet.

Jama is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Jama's Alphabet Soup with a beautiful and delicious celebration of one of my favorite new books.  Enjoy all of the offerings, and please join in as you wish!

I will be back later today with Wallow in Wonder 22!

And in the meantime, in celebration of Earth Day, I am hosting an Earth Day giveaway of FOREST HAS A SONG on Twitter.  Please find me there at @amylvpoemfarm to enter.

xo, 

Amy

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.

Petrified Forest - Researching and Writing

from THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BOOK OF NATURE POETRY

Edited by J. Patrick Lewis, former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate

Students - I am very pleased to share today's poem, which you will soon be able to find on page 169 of the National Geographic BOOK OF NATURE POETRY, the latest book edited by our former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis.

This book will be released next Tuesday, October 13, 2015, and I feel lucky to have my poem nestled alongside poems of so many poets I admire.  It is a deliciously beautiful book in both word and image, and it is a sibling to the equally wonderful National Geographic BOOK OF ANIMAL POETRY (2012).

Available at Your Local Bookstore

When J. Patrick Lewis put this book together, he shared a long list of the many topics he wished for different people to write about.  We were able to choose from this long list of topics, and as I have always been fascinated by petrified wood, I was happy to find it wasn't chosen before I had a chance to take it.  Topic in hand, I was off to research so as to know more when I sat to write.

You might try this too.  Consider beginning your writing today with a subject from science or social studies.  You might even brainstorm a list of subjects with friends and then each of you choose one (or pick from a hat!)  Do a little bit of research first so that you have some solid information and hard facts when you sit to write your poem.

Then, when you write your poem...open your mind, asking yourself, "What most intrigues me about this?  Where is the mystery?  What can I not forget?"  These questions will help you.

If you're interested in petrified wood, by the way, you can learn more at the National Park Service website.

Nominations for the 10th annual CYBILS awards are open!  Check out the the poetry judges for this year here, see which poetry books have been nominated here, and if you would like to nominate a book by October 15, 2015, please do so here.

You will not want to miss Cynthia Grady's graet post at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks.  Author of I LAY MY STITCHES DOWN: POEMS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY, Cynthia shares some of her favorite notebooks, behind the scenes of this beautiful book, and she offers a book giveaway too.  I will draw the name of the winner this Sunday, October 11!

Laura is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Writing the World for Kids. Visit her fabulous new site to enjoy the tasty menu of poetry goodness all around the Kidlitosphere.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Some Things Never Change

Building Building

by Amy LV

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

Students - I got the idea for today's poem from an assignment!  Sometimes here in the blogosphere, people share ideas of things to try.  This week at Connecting the Dots, David Harrison  guests who propose writing things-to-try.  Well, earlier this week, J. Patrick Lewis introduced the idea of "careerhymes."  To write one, you simply think of a career and write a light poem about it, including the name of the job in the first line of your poem.  There are many examples over at Connecting the Dots, including one I wrote about a dog walker.  But after reading so many and looking at the piles of snow around here, I wanted to write another.

Do you ever think about what grownups used to be like?  That's what was fun for me with this poem.  First, I wrote the first stanza...but then, I just needed to keep going.  The idea of a snow plow driver as a young boy got into my head, and I imagined him building, building, even then.

I am very very happy to welcome Amy Zimmer Merrill to Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  If you love notebooks...you will adore her post and lovely giveaway.  Please share this one with your notebook-keeping students.  It's always inspiring to peek into the notebooks of others, and Amy makes me want to grab my glue stick and go to town!

Happy happy birthday to No Water River!  Renee is celebrating her glorious blog's birthday today as hostess of Poetry Friday!  Head on over to see some funny bloopers, catch her spirited joy, and visit all of this week's poetic offerings.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

Snipping Snowflakes

Hope's Window
Photo by Amy LV

Students - Snipping paper snowflakes is one of the simple pleasures of life!  If you live in a snowy place, it is a way to bring snow inside.  If you live in a place with no snow, it is an easy way to create some.  Last week, when my daughter Hope was sick, she cut lots and lots of snowflakes out of red, green, and white paper.  You can see some of them above, in our living room windows.

If you're interested in knowing how I snipped this poem out, take a peek into my notebook below.  You'll see that I first started writing about fog and clouds and my notes turned to something I saw last night, raindrops on a twig.  Then, looking at the window, I began writing about Hope and her snipping...

Click to enlarge image.

...and then I began poem-ing!  One thing that helped me write today was something I did last night.  Before bed, I read aloud many many poems from J. Patrick Lewis's new IF YOU WERE A CHOCOLATE MUSTACHE.  Falling asleep with the rhythms of our Children's Poet Laureate in my head was a wonderful thing to do, and it is something I highly recommend.  Read ALOUD the work you admire, and those rhythms will sink into you.

Click to enlarge image.

If you have ever wondered about snowflakes all being different from each other, visit Wonderopolis to read all about the chances of that happening.

To learn about how to make paper snowflakes, visit Martha Stewart or High Hopes.

Over at Design Sponge, you can read a great tutorial about making doily snowflake garlands.

And at Spoonful, you can find a recipe for sweet tortilla snowflakes.  We will make these today!

There may be no snow in Holland, NY right now...but we can make our own!

Available through Amazon

I am so happy to have Mary Lee Hahn as a guest over at Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  If you have not yet visited her notebook, please don't miss it!

And for those of you who knew that I was away for a bit, I am now back to posting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  It is good to be home!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

Poetry Friday & Dandelion Grandmas

 Old Gray Ladies

Photo by Amy LV

Oh, this time of year!  I love the dandelions in spits and spots, on roadsides and decorating whole meadows.  Years ago, I didn't like them.  Now I do.  Part of this change is due to my husband's love of nature (which has rubbed off on me), and part of it is because we live in the country where all kinds of flowers and animals roam free.  And of course, now I see dandelions as food.  Our family has not made fritters yet this year...maybe tomorrow.

Students - this poem grew from our current yellow polka dot world!  And it also grew from somewhere else.  Years ago, I read a first grader's poem which will always stay with me.  Her poem compared a dandelion to a lion throughout the lion's life, ending with a "gray mane/the hairs blowing off."  This young child's image has rested in my heart for a long time, and yesterday it returned as I looked at dandelions and thought, "They're like little grandmas!"

It's a funny thing about writing.  We never know when an image, a memory, a word, a  dream, or a line from a poem or book will appear across our mindscreens, when it will whisper to us from years past, when such a surprise will echo, "Write me!  Write me!"  As writers, it is our job to listen and to write what we hear.  So students....listen.  Always listen.

For anyone who might have missed last week's announcement, many congratulations to J. Patrick Lewis, our 2011 Children's Poet Laureate.  Author of more than 50 children's poetry books and winner of the 2011 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children for the body of his work, we are lucky to have J. Patrick Lewis at our helm!

This week's Poetry Friday is at The Drift Record with Julie Larios.  Puff your way on over, wishing all the while, and visit poetry growing in the KidLitosphere!

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