I Learned From

Clara and Her Kittens

Photo by One of Clara's Many Admirers

Today's poem was inspired by one of my favorite poems, What I Learned from My Mother by Julia Kasdorf.  You can hear me talk about this and see Clara and her babies in action in the video below. Usually I do write more here, but during this time, I am instead sharing daily writing videos for students and teachers at Keeping a Notebook and will crosspost here on Fridays.

Michelle is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Today's Little Ditty and she is sharing all about SOUTHWEST SUNRISE, the latest gem from Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Wendell Minor.

As for Poetry Friday, we invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

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Playing with Pattern

Dear Poetry Friends,

For the foreseeable future, I will crosspost on Fridays, here and at Sharing Our Notebooks, where I have been sharing - and will continue to share - a daily notebooking talk. (Today is Day 10.) Instead of writing about my poem in a blog post as is usual on Fridays, I will include that day's video talk from Sharing Our Notebooks.

If you are new to visiting The Poem Farm, I welcome you to poke around. There are all kinds of things to try.

Fridays are for Poetry...here and for now, at Sharing Our Notebooks

Sending all the best from my home to yours.

xo, 

Amy

Another Week of Talks from Inside Betsy the Writing Camper

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poems were inspired by poems by young people as well as by some writing I did this week. I won't be writing much here these days, but you can learn more about the poems above by watching this short video below.

Thank you so much to Irene for sharing our my new book with illustrator Ryan O'Rourke at her wonderful place, Live Your Poem. It was fun to think about "the delicious, the difficult, and the unexpected" related to WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Tabatha is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at The Opposite of Indifference with a neat exercise and a lovely poem which grew from it. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

Next Friday will be April 3, the third day of National Poetry Month! I will be sharing this year's project (still thinking), which I will crosspost each day here and at Sharing Our Notebooks next Wednesday, April 1. Happy almost National Poetry Month!

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A Color for My Teacher

Please note that on Poetry Friday August 23 we will celebrate the life of Lee Bennett Hopkins here at The Poem Farm. At Jone MacCulloch's great suggestion, I invite everyone who wishes to write and share a poem inspired by or including a line from a LBH poem. Tag with #DearOneLBH. Thank you. xo, Amy

Cotton on Linen

Photo by Amy LV

Sky Over Barn Over Thistles

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Poetry Great Lee Bennett Hopkins died yesterday after living a rich, beautiful, word-filled, generous life.  I am thankful to call him my teacher as he was teacher to so many.  And while I grieve and mourn today, my work is to continue to write the best I can...the way Lee taught me to do.

As I told my children last night, when you wish to learn something deeply, seek a mentor. And my wish for you is that you will be as fortunate as I was in finding one so giving, so funny, so wise.

One day when you are filled with tears, remember that you can turn tears into words. It helps a little.  I liked stitching these stitches today, finding the thistles, looking for words and remembering.

Please read about and celebrate Lee's life here at his website and here in yesterday's news.  Read one of his books!  And suddenly, you may find yourself reading 120 of his books!  (Did you know he is in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS for having edited the most poetry anthologies for children?) 

Lee Bennett Hopkins

1938 - 2019

Photo by Charles Egita

May he rest in peace and poetry.

xx

Molly is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Nix the comfort zone with a post about writing from titles and two lovely poems with the same title - Lost in the Milky Way. Please know that we gather each Friday, sharing poems and poemlove, and all are always welcome.

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Poetry Friday

THE POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP IS HERE.

If you would like to learn more about other National Poetry Month projects happening throughout the Kidlitosphere, Jama has rounded up many NPM happenings over at Jama's Alphabet Soup.  Happy continued National Poetry Month 2019!

If you are here to link in for Poetry Friday...please do so below.  And if you've never joined us for Poetry Friday before, please know that you are always invited.  Each week, a different blogger hosts a roundup of posts...and all are invited to visit and link in if you wish.  Today is my turn, so if you click below, you will be transported to a list of many poetry places to visit around the Kidlitosphere today and beyond.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

See you tomorrow!

xo,

Amy

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Poems of Humblelovely

Three Stones on My Desk
Photo by Amy LV

Students - This week, notebooked about these three stones on my desk.  They have been living on my desk for some time, but this week I made them into a little stone pile.  Stacking them and unstacking them is a simple pleasure as I have always loved the feel and sound of stones quietly clicking against each other.

Notebook Snip

Photo by Amy LV

More and more, I find myself paying attention to good and simple objects and moments.  Life can be very busy, and paying attention to such objects and moments helps me to slow down.

Today's poem lists and describes something (three somethings, actually) in my life, and the title poses a question.  See, I most always write titles after I write poems.  If I wrote the title first, I might have just written Three Stones.  But while writing, I began to wonder which objects other people keep in their lives, and so selected the title What Do You Keep?

You might consider writing your title after you write a poem too.  You might consider a question title. You might consider writing about an object that brings you a sense of wholeness.  Or you might not.  You are full of your own ideas and strategies!  Please do share these with others...this is how we learn.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you will find an inspiring post by Dr. Shari Daniels. Her post is filled with notebooking ideas, great photographs, and everything that makes me want to dive right into my own notebook.  And yes, there's a book giveaway too!  Please visit and comment if you are able.  I am grateful to Shari.

Thank you to Carol who is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at Carol's Corner, with a lovely spring poem - Daffodils by Ralph Fletcher. Please know that the Poetry Friday community shares poems and poemlove each week, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in with us.

April - fondly known as National Poetry Month - begins Monday!  This means that my National Poetry Month Project begins Monday too, and you are invited to follow along each day as it unfolds.

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We Write What We Notice

Cat and Wall

Photo by Amy LV

Cat Drawing in Restaurant

Photo by Amy LV

Cat Behind a Grate

Photo by Amy LV

Two Cats in a Shoe Store

Photo by Amy LV

Cat in The Grand Bazaar

Photo by Amy LV

Gli, the Famous Cat of Hagia Sofia

Photo by Amy LV

Cat Houses

Photo by Amy LV

Cat in a Dress Shop

Photo by Amy LV

I will share a recording as soon as my computer allows...

Students - This week I have been teaching at the Enka Primary School in Istanbul, Turkey. It was a delightful visit including assemblies, writing workshops, reading and puppet times with preschool and kindergarten classrooms, a teacher workshop, and a parent workshop.  And as I have been traveling with my author friends Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger, we did a bit of sightseeing too.

We saw many cats!

The city of Istanbul is home to thousands of street cats.  People feed and give water to these cats, and there are many little cat houses tucked into nooks and corners as you see above. We saw cats of all colors, and I wrote this poem to share with the children at the school. As these students speak both Turkish and English, I typed the text in two colors so that the repeated words would be easy to distinguish.

This is a list poem with a twist ending, and there is a lot of repetition.  In some of the preschool and kindergarten classrooms I visited yesterday, we wrote list poems together too.

Our lives are full of things to see, things we pass every day. We can write about all of them. And so, too, can we write about the new surprises that travel brings our way.

Thank you to Sule and George and Weston and all of the wonderful people who welcomed me so warmly to Enka School.  It was a pleasure to write with you!

Jone is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Check it Out with a post about LONG WAY DOWN by Jason Reynolds, winner of the 2018 CYBILS Poetry Award. Please know that the Poetry Friday community shares poems and poemlove each week, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in with us.

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.

Ideas from Friends & Best Lists

Sage and Cali

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I am always seeking new and interesting topics for writing, and last week, I read this writing suggestion from my friend, the wise Rebekah O'Dell, on Twitter.

This got me thinking about best lists.  And about how terrible I am at favorites. And then, on a snow-hike, about how our family does have two best dogs. And of course about how everyone's dog is a best dog.

So, yes, young writing friends.  Way does indeed lead onto way in writing.  Keep your eyes and ears and all of those holes in your head open for learning and observing.  You never know which one plus which other one in your life will add up to the two of a little poem.

And who knows, perhaps Rebekah's suggestion to think about "bests" will inspire you too.  Mine is a list poem, but I could have chosen my best book from the year and written a story poem about snuggling up on the couch with it. Or I might have chosen my best 2018 day and written a poem from that day's point of view.  Or I could have taken Rebekah's advice and written a poem detailing all of the reasons that one particular something is one of the best of its kind.  Actually....now I really want to do this and likely will. Likely tomorrow. Likely in my notebook (with this shiny new fountain pen).  Maybe a poem...maybe prose.

The best thing about writing? The possibilities are endless.  Every single year.

Donna is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Mainely Write with an introduction to a few of her yard angels and a poem about the reading angel. This community is here and sharing poems and poemlove every Poetry Friday, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in!

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A Wish for a Friend - Poemgifts!

Pencil Eraser Stamp

Carving & Photo by Amy LV

Students - Happy New School Year!  Here where I live in Western New York, school is not yet back in session, but I know that many of you have already met your new teachers and classmates, and I have even seen photographs of some of your beautiful new notebooks here online.  The new school year is much like a new notebook, filled with possibility and pages for you to fill with your own curiosity and goodness, observations and dreams.

I wrote today's poem as a gift for Kat Apel, as part of this year's Poetry Friday summer poem swap generously organized by Tabatha Yeatts.  Each year, Tabatha invites us Poetry Friday folks to sign up for their chosen number of poem swaps.  Then she matches us up with each other, and we send each other poems and other surprises in the mail. Most of us have never met in person, so this all feels like having a one time poem pen pal, and it is extremely wonderful of Tabatha to organize this.  Just look at this handmade notebook that I received (along with a magical poem which I will share as soon as I find the notebook I tucked it into!) from Michelle Kogan. I feel so lucky and still have to decide what I will write on these pages.

              

Dream Notebook by Michelle Kogan

Photo by Amy LV

Now I am thinking how wondrous it would be to organize poemswaps between classes of students.  What do you all think about this idea?

My poem, you may have noticed, is a simple list poem of wishes for another writer.  What I would wish for me, I wish for Kat.  It felt good to make wishes for a faraway, nevermet friend, and this is something you might want to try sometime.  You need not write to someone you have never met.  If you prefer, you could write a wish poem for a family member, friend, or even a pet! Poems make fine fine presents.

And just so you know, while I wrote today's poem for Kat earlier this summer, the words hold true for you too.  I wish every one of you every part of this poem...and so much more.

Margaret is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche...with the poem swap poem she received and a zeno of her own too!  Each week we gather together, sharing poems, books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  All are always welcome to visit, comment, and post.

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To the baby blue jay skeleton....

Blue Jay Nest

Photo by Amy LV

Students - My husband Mark was watching some blue jays nesting in our barn earlier this summer, and when the babies fledged and the nest was abandoned, he took it down and looked inside. There was one baby who did not live long at all, perhaps just long enough to hatch.

Baby Blue Jay Skeleton

Photo by Amy LV

Not every creature is given a long life, and in today's poem, I simply wanted to speak to that little one, about all of the things I am sorry it never got to experience. The blueness of blue jays is a special blue indeed, and their might in flight is beautiful to witness. Today's poem created a pause in my day, an acknowledgement of a very short, very tiny life.

Bits of life strike us humans. And poetry is a way to hold a feeling or a question in our hands, to look at it and to take our time. I am glad to have stopped my day to think a bit about this small bird and am grateful for the time to honor its life with a few words.

You will notice that today's poem is simply a list, each line beginning with "You never..."  I did not want to talk about my feeling (sadness) but instead, hoped that this simple repetition would make it clear.

And yes, this poem does have a long title.  I am not sure why. I just like it that way...

Christie is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Wondering and Wandering with a celebration of birds and her love for birds.  Each week we gather together, sharing poems, books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  All are always welcome to visit, comment, and post.

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A Kindness Poem Party!

Morning Hearts

Photo by Amy LV

Today we are very lucky.  We have guests at The Poem Farm!.  Second grade teacher Mrs. LaMonaco and her poets from Brooks Hill Elementary School in Fairport, NY are visiting with their poems, all celebrating quiet kindnesses.  Last month I invited poets to share such poems, and I could not be more grateful that these young writers chose to do so.  

This is a lovely way to celebrate love and friendship and all of the good things that people do for us every day.  For more ways to do this, take a peek at all of the beautiful projects folks are taking on at the Global Kind Project.

Please enlarge this slideshow to see it well!

Advance slides at your reading comfort speed.

Thank you so much to Mrs. LaMonaco and to these poets for celebrating kindness with us today.  If you would be so kind, please leave them a comment with your thoughts. Happy almost Valentine's Day! 

Peace,

Amy

xo

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Write About a Quiet Kindness

Friend of Kitties

by Amy LV

Students - Our eldest daughter attends college in New York City, and this week she told me a story about a lady she met while walking back to school from a babysitting job. The lady was standing near some scaffolding, reaching down and into a cut-out in the wood.  When our daughter stopped to chat, she learned that this lady is a feeder-of-city-cats.  This lady and some of her friends regularly bring canned cat food and blankets to homeless city cats.  I think that this lady is a special spirit, and I am very grateful know that she exists.  I loved hearing the story and right away knew that I would write about it in my notebook.  I did not know at that moment that I would write a poem...but here it is.

Sometimes people write poems about folks they admire.  About people they believe make the world a strong and light-filled and happier place to live in.  We can write thank you letters and opinion pieces or give written awards to such people.  Or...we can also write poems about them.  We don't even need to know the people or see them in action.  We may just learn a story about such a person, as I learned one from our daughter.

Here's a little challenge for you.  Listen to people talk.  Watch people.  See if you can uncover a kindness, a gentleness, a surprise-and hidden-goodness that many people might not know about.  Write a poem about this person or kind act, not using the person's name, but just offering it up to the world.  I sure would love to read such poems - and maybe even share them here. Such poems and stories make me want to be better myself, so I like to read as many as I can.  If you write a poem celebrating a kind act (and if you really work on it), I welcome you to have your parent or teacher send it to me through my CONTACT ME button....and I will write back.

Did you notice that the sentences in this poem get very short at the end?  I did this on purpose.  The first stanza is one long and rollicking sentence, describing the many kinds of homeless cats one might find in the city.  The second stanza, on the other hand, focuses on the actions of one human: kind and good.  I wanted that part to be read slowly.  With pauses.  That's why the lines and sentences are so short.

Here are some photographs that our sweet daughter sent to me after reading this poem:

From a Distance

Photo by H. VanDerwater

Closer

Photo by H. VanDerwater

Even Closer

Photo by H. VanDerwater

Closest

Photo by H. VanDerwater

The Educator Collaborative is currently (now through February 14, 2018) running its Global Kind Project 2018 for classrooms.  Please check it out if you are interested.  You can connect with others from all over, sharing stories and finding ways to be kinder....together.

At Sharing Our Notebooks, my other online home,  I am superhappy to host third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her third grade writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey.  Please read their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing.  I will send the winning name a cool new notebook!

Please visit Kay's place today's Poetry Friday roundup at A Journey Through the Pages. Every week a group of us gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Kay this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.  We welcome you!

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Whip Up a Recipe Poem!

Ahhh....

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem grew from our new snow outside and from a new habit I have of making lists of things that make me happy.  I keep these lists in my notebook. Here's a snip of one from earlier this week.  You can see it has a wintry theme because winter is now here in Western New York.

Happy List

by Amy LV

I have always found lists to be helpful jumping off points for writing poems.  And sometimes the lists turn INTO poems as in the one you read above.  You might wish to try to write a recipe poem sometime too.  It could be about anything: Recipe for Friendship, Recipe for Good Sleep, Recipe for Befriending Cats...who knows? Recipes are almost like magic spells, and poems are almost like magic spells too...

My wish for you this week is that you will find and make time for many small things that make you happy.  This is my own goal these days, to put down my electronics and to make applesauce, fold Froebel stars, and spend more time outside. The busier life gets, the more important I find these things to be.

Teachers - You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at @amylvpoemfarm.  In these places I share more bits and pieces of life, including interesting teaching links and photographs of The Poem Farm.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find a very cool peek into Julie Patterson's notebooks. Leave a comment...and you just may win a book!

Lisa is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Steps and Staircases.  Please stop by if you'd like to visit many different blogs, all celebrating poetry.  We meet every week, and we welcome all!

Tea!

Photo by Amy LV

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