Recall the Words of Another

Breakfast Pear

Photo by Amy LV

Reading by Amy LV

Song by Gart Westerhout

Students - Happy New Year! I am finally back after a lovely holiday filled with visitors and visiting and so much food. I hope that your January is off to a warm and cozy start, and I wish you so much goodness as we make another trip around the sun together.

While you can always hear me reading a poem as above, today I am happy to also share my friend Gart Westerhout's lovely musical version of "Words Live On." Gart is a professor, composer, and director of a musical theater in Japan, and I am grateful each time he translates my small poems into song. Thank you, Gart!

Today's poem was inspired by my breakfast, shown in the photograph above, and the final stanza of this poem is a true one for me. My loving grandma Florence Ethel Conolly Dryer did say these words to my mom, and she keeps them alive so that now and forever...pears will taste like perfume to me. My grandma was a great teacher and a poet who loved theatre, battled depression, and brought so much kindness into our lives. Each time my mom tells me a story or shares something that Grandma used to say, I hold on to the words.

What about you? Whose words rise regularly in your mind, even once every long while? What did you eat for breakfast? Who do you miss? One of the interesting things about life is that one thought leads to another leads to another, and if we follow the crumbs, the trail can sometimes add up to a little verse.

Below you can see the happily scribbled draft of this poem, written in the wee hours of this morning before I drove my husband to school. Notice that even though the final words appear here, the line breaks are different. Often when I move from a handwritten draft to a typed one, this is something that changes. It is so easy to change line breaks on a computer, and I am thankful for that.

Draft for Today's Poem

(Click to Enlarge)

Photo by Amy LV

As I wrote the first two lines of this poem (four lines in the first draft), I felt myself remembering one of my favorite books, Lynn Reiser's CHERRY PIES AND LULLABIES, a list story sharing the ways that traditions change - and also stay much the same - through generations. The rhythm of this book still lives within me, just like my grandma's pear-words.

CHERRY PIES AND LULLABIES by Lynn Reiser

Available through thriftbooks

Might you be able to think of a book you've heard or read many times and write a poem or story or essay somehwat inspired by its story or rhythm? The world is strewn with good ideas, like the zillions of snowflakes covering our Western New York world.

Thank you to Kat for hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Kathryn Apel with a fabulous back and forth poem comparing cats and dogs. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I wish you memories of words that you wish to keep. And too, a heart and mouth full of words to live forever in the people you love.

xo,

Amy

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Poems Can Grow from Special Dates

Thor and Me, 1971

Photo by Debby or George Ludwig

Baby Book Note 

by Debby Ludwig

(I will find a photo of Valentine to share!)

Students - Happy Valentine's Day! This morning I was thinking about my second childhood dog, Valentine, and the story about how she became part of our family. We really did get her on Valentine's Day, 1981, and Thor really did die the day before, which happened to be Friday the 13th. That date stuck with me for a long time.  To be honest, it's still with me. He was at the vet for an operation on his cancer...and he never made it home.

At first I was going to write simply the story of getting Valentine on Valentine's Day, but then Thor wanted to be in the poem. So did Eli. And Cali and Sage were here at my feet asking to be part of it too. So there you have it, a poem including my most special five dogs. And of course I also love my mom's dog Max who is the dog on which I based Betsy in last April's (to be published in a book by Eerdmans) JOHN AND BETSY collection.

I could have chosen to write this poem in quatrains and almost did...but then instead at stopping with four lines (lines 2 and 4 rhyming), I decided to tack on an extra unrhyming line at the end of each stanza. I rather like the feel and sound of this. Remember: read your poems aloud and play. There are no set rules, but working with rules and choosing when to live by and when to break them in poems is what makes for your own voice.

Do you have a story about when someone or something special entered your life? Is there a date that stays with you for some reason? A season that always brings back a certain feeling or memory? Such stories and dates and season-feelings can lead us to writing ideas of all kinds. In a way, this is also a timeline-poem, walking through the dogs of my life. Now I am thinking of other timelines from my life which might hold poem ideas.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at TeacherDance with hearts everywhere and the sweetest, skinniest Valentine poem. 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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Writing with the Senses

Finnish Coffee Braids

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I baked the bread you see in this picture yesterday afternoon, and it really IS Mrs. Roske's braided bread recipe. When I was a little girl, our church had a yearly bake sale, and every year I waited for that bread. Every year we bought it...if it was still there. This is a Finnish bread made with my favorite spice, cardamom, and as you can see, it's brushed with a sugar glaze. It is fun to paint the bread with a paintbrush!

Beginning today's poem, I planned to write a free verse poem, though a little rhyme did creep in. More important is the repetition of Mrs. Roske's braided bread, because hearing those words again in the poem mimics the way I thought about that bread in my mind over and over -- before, during, and after eating.

Does my stomach really have ears? Well, in a way. In a way. And for a poem, in a way is enough. In fact, sometimes in a way is even better than really.

I feel very lucky to still have this recipe, copied from our church's old cookbook. And as I plan to do more bread baking, it felt right to begin again with my favorite.

Favorite Old Recipe

Photo by Amy LV

Do you have a food that sings to your stomach? Do you love a smell that sings to your nose? Is there a sight that sings to your eyes? Or a texture that sings to your sense of touch? Remember, our senses feed our poetry selves. Pay attention to your senses. You might even make lists in your notebook of favorite things to see, smell, touch, hear, and taste. Any one item from any one list could call a new piece of writing from within you. If you like, mix your senses up a bit as I did, allowing my stomach to hear.

As you write, you may choose to play with a repeating word or line. If you're unsure if your choice works, read the words aloud a couple of different ways to see which sounds (feels) best to your ear (stomach).

Happy New Year wishes to all of you, and thank you for your companionship on my writing journey. I am grateful for you. If you'd like to find a Poem Farm New Year Poem, here you go:

2011 - January 1
2014 - New Year's Eve
2016 - Wisdom

Michelle is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Michelle Kogan with a poem and artwork reminding readers of the importance of activism at this time in our earth's history. 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 every week throughout the new year ahead.

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

Wallow in Wonder Day 18 (Poems Can Be Sad) - Once

Welcome to Day 18 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

April 7 - Hummingbird's Secret - a poem inspired by Wonder #1663

April 8 - Limits - a poem inspired by Wonder #1664

April 9 - Sundogs - a poem inspired by Wonder #1665

April 10 - Perspective - a poem inspired by Wonder #128

April 11 - At the History Museum - a poem inspired by Wonder #115

April 12 - Seventy-Five Years Ago Today - a poem inspired by Wonder #1666

April 13 - Homer's Poem - a poem inspired by Wonder #1667

April 14 - The Right - a poem inspired by Wonder #1668

April 15 - 5:00 am - a poem inspired by Wonder #1669

April 16 - Writing - a poem inspired by Wonder #1670

April 17 - Sometimes - a poem inspired by Wonder #194

And now for Day 18!

Wonder #192 - from April 17, 2016

Birthday Tree

by Amy LV

Students - Last week on a school visit, a young boy shared his poem with me.  It was a poem about when his family had to sell the dog  he loved very much because they were no longer able care for it.  The poets' words made very clear how much he missed this dog, and I began thinking about the value of sharing our stories, the sad ones as well as the happy ones.

Sometimes stories are not all true, though. Sometimes we pieces stories together like quilt fabrics: a little from here, a little from there, and such is the case with today's poem.

This is not a true story for me, though I would say that the poem is true as it weaves true fabrics into one new quilt. Our yard does indeed have a cherry tree, and we have given our children trees for birthdays (though we do not picnic under them). My parents are divorced.  And I know someone whose life was recently broken into a heartbreaking before and after.  So parts of this poem are true...but the story is not exactly true. 

Since yesterday's Wonder at Wonderopolis spoke to the Japanese 1912 gift of Sakura, or cherry trees to the US, I began thinking about trees as gifts. Too, it was a beautiful day outside, and I was right near our own cherry tree...right near our barn.  And I was feeling sad for this person I know who is grieving a loss.  This is the poem that wanted to be written.

Today's poem is free verse, as it has no regular rhyme or meter.  I may come back to tinker with it later.  But for now, it's staying.

You might look at this poem as a kind of before/after poem.  The first stanza tells all about the before-time.  Then there is a line, all by itself, indicating a big change. The third stanza describes all about the after-time.  It reminds me a bit of  the picture book WHEN I WAS FIVE by Arthur Howard, only the change line in this picture book is a happy one.  

Available through IndieBound

Feel free to write a before/after poem yourself.  It can be true, fictional, or hold bits of each.  And you don't have to tell which is which if you do not want to.

Sometimes people assume that my poems all happened to me.  But many lines in my poems come from truths I have observed in others lives, from books I have read, and from scenes I have imagined.

This month I host teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada at Sharing Our Notebooks. This is a fantastic post full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie. Please check it out, and leave a comment over there to be entered into the giveaway.

Happy Day 18 of National Poetry Month 2016!  

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

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

Wonder Wallow Day 12 - Why Are There Seven Days in a Week?

Welcome to Day 10 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

April 7 - Hummingbird's Secret - a poem inspired by Wonder #1663

April 8 - Limits - a poem inspired by Wonder #1664

April 9 - Sundogs - a poem inspired by Wonder #1665

April 10 - Perspective - a poem inspired by Wonder #128

April 11 - At the History Museum - a poem inspired by Wonder #115

And now for Day 12!

Wonder #1666 - from April 11, 2016

Daily Notes

by Amy LV

Students - You probably already know that I love notebooks.  After all, I keep a whole blog about notebooks - Sharing Our Notebooks.  So when I began thinking and jotting in my notebook about yesterday's wonder, "Why Are There Seven Days in a Week?" I got to thinking about recording things over time.

Many people like to keep logs of weather.  These may be be small date books or leather journals, or even books made for recording weather such as this one - THE WEATHER WIZARD'S FIVE YEAR DIARY.  Keeping track of weather teaches people about their surroundings and also lets them look back to see patterns in weather over time.  You can find and read examples of these notebooks such as this one by John Andrew.

Scientists today are even using crowd-sourcing methods (having many people help with small pieces of a project through the Internet) to learn about weather of the past and to project future weather.  You can see an example of this at Old Weather where the scientists are studying old ships' logs for weather observations.

Keep your eyes open when you visit flea markets; you might just find an old weather diary yourself!  If you'd like to keep a weather journal, you might look at this one.  You could use it, or you could make your own. Then, your children's children's children can see what the weather today is like - because you wrote it down!

Today was going to be a free verse day, but when I got writing, the poem wanted to rhyme. That happens sometimes!

This poem introduces a character who goes back in time reading a great-grandfather's weather notebook. Yesterday's poem introduced a character who imagined back in time and future in time too.  I often wonder if the themes in daily poems come from somewhere deep inside a writer.  How could they not?

Oh, and in case you were wondering if today's poem is true...it is not.  As far as I know, none of my great-grandfathers kept weather notebooks.  My mom's mom's dad did keep family scrapbooks, but no weather notebooks.

You can read another poem inspired by Wonder #1666 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.

Please don't miss a blog post at my other blog!  Middle school teacher and librarian Stefanie Cole and her students from Ontario, Canada are visiting Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  This is a wonderful post  full of notebook inspiration, a video clip, and a great book giveaway from Stefanie.

Happy Day 12 of National Poetry Month 2016!  

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

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

Old Jottings + Old Photos + Old Jewelry = New Poem

Edythe Toebe, My Great Aunt

Photo by ?

Students - This poem is about my wonderful Great Aunt Tom.  Her real name was Edythe, but she went by the name Tom.  With sparkly blue eyes and a thousand artistic hobbies, she was a blast, and I miss her.  Many years ago, I even wrote an essay about her for our local npr station.  You can read it HERE if you wish.

Life gets busy, and I had not thought about my Aunt Tom in a while.  But then, it came time to write, and once again I didn't know what to write about, I opened a few old notebooks and began to paw through them, looking for a spark.  And happily, I found this, a notebook entry with some picture book ideas, an entry from 1999 (older than many of you!)

1999 Notebook Entry Sparks New Poem

Photo by Amy LV

Just as the book IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Numeroff, one thing led to another, and reading this entry made me want to find Aunt Tom's old costume jewelry box.  I remember our oldest daughter playing with these sparkles shortly after Aunt Tom died.  When you open the box today, almost twenty years after Aunt Tom's death, you can still smell her perfume.

Aunt Tom's Pretty Jewelry

Photo by Amy LV

When I opened the box and smelled my Aunt's perfume again, writing the words did not feel difficult.  It was as if my aunt was right there with me.

What do you notice about the rhyme and meter in this poem?  

Many of you know that I love keeping notebooks, recommend that everyone keep a notebook, and even blog about notebooks at Sharing Our Notebooks, a site I've dedicated to just that.  Keeping a notebook, as the wise Shelley Harwayne once said, is like giving a present to your future self.  If I had not jotted in my notebook seventeen years ago, I would not have thought about my dear Aunt Tom this week.  One never knows when old jottings will come in handy...keep a notebook.

Today I am very happy to welcome fifth grade teacher Tracy Minton and her poets from the Douglas J. Regan Intermediate School in the Starpoint Central School District in Lockport, NY.  They have very generously offered to share some of their poems with us, and I've put them on a Padlet below teacher Tracy Minton's words.

Before really beginning our unit on poetry, I gave the students various books and poems to explore. They often read in pairs or small groups. We also read some poems whole group, talking about meaning and various techniques authors used. We learned some types of figurative language that might be found in poetry, and when reading various poems, we identified the figurative language used and discussed the meaning. Students explored writing poems using similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and hyperbole.

I also taught the students some elements of poetry such as: verse, stanza, meter, rhyme and rhythm. We read poems and highlighted the elements used. We also explored writing free verse poems. In mini-lessons we learned how to gather ideas, make lists, use emotions and put our hearts and souls into our poems. Many of my conferences involved helping the kids with line breaks and focusing on the real meaning that they wanted to give their audiences. 

For the easiest view of these students' poems, click to the Padlet HERE. 

(Read the instructions atop the page to see how to open each poem individually)

I am so pleased with the poems that my students wrote. They worked so hard for weeks, stretching their ideas and really pushing themselves to go out of their comfort zones.  They have truly amazed me as authors and poets!

Thank you very much to Tracy and her students for joining us today...I feel thankful to have the opportunity to share young poets' work in this space.

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, you can see the winner of our latest giveaway and anticipate next week's new post.  Yay for notebooking!

This Poetry Friday, find the roundup celebrating a beautiful new picture book over at Irene's place, Live Your Poem.  While you're there, be sure to wish Irene a happy birthday week for FRESH DELICIOUS, her newest book of poems.  I'll have her visiting this space with more on that book next Monday.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Free Verse & Cutting Unnecessary Words

Scene from a Bookshelf

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Like last week, this week I find myself writing from an object, this time with a bit more imagination.  Lying by our heater, warming my feet, I looked up and saw the below painting that our daughter Hope did in school when she was in eighth grade.  She had brought objects from home and painted: a vase that her Aunt Heather made, a poofy orange bandana, a ball, a box, and the orange wooden horse that my Great Aunt Kay gave to my mom many years ago when I was just a little girl. You can see mousie tracks too, from where a mouse lent a paw to the painting as it dried in school overnight.

Looking at the painting, I fell in love with the painting again, and too, with the orange horse.  I took it down from its shelf and held it in my hands, remembering how I would take it down from Mom's china cabinet where it lived with fancy porcelain eggs and crystal bowls and delicate figurines.

I thought about how the horse had belonged to Great Aunt Kay, to Mom, to me, and how our chidlren love it and maybe how someday their own children will too.  I imagined what the horse thought about watching generations of humans growing up around him.

And I wrote.  I began to write in rhyme, but then I decided to instead push myself to write in free verse, to just capture this brief snapshot of the horse.  A simple snapshot was my goal.

My first drafts had more words.  Take a look at this below draft, and find the words that do not appear in my final poem.  You will notice that the final line breaks are different too.

Poemdraft

Photo by Amy LV

Revision can mean cutting words  Streamling.  Here are the words you see in the handwritten draft above that do not appear in my final poem.

"The" has disappeared from my final lin line 1.  I have learned from Lee Bennett Hopkins to cut any "the" I can.

"Only" has disappeared from my final.  I realized that "six" implied young, and "only" was not necessary.

"Outside" does not appear in my final.  "Real grass" is always outside, and so "outside" was a filler word.

Try rereading your own writing for extra words.  Feel comfy with cutting.  It may feel difficult to you at first, but the elegance of your writing will shine best with fewer, not more words.

And look around your house for old objects with stories.  I find so many ideas this way!

At my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I welcome educator and author Tanny McGregor.  Her notebooks just blew me away, and I welcome you to come take a peek.  You can also discover who won this month's giveaway of the great Peter Catalanotto's books.

Tara is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Teaching Life.  All are invited to come, read poems, find new friends, and hang out in our weekly poetry clubhouse.

Please leave a comment if you wish.

That Day - When Writing Comes from Many Places

Milkweed Plants on Raiber Road

Photo by Amy LV

Students - The picture you see above is of a little stand of milkweed plants on our road.  Early in August, my husband and I took a walk down the road and counted monarch caterpillars on the underside of the leaves.  I went back a couple of weeks later to look for chrysalises, but I did not see any, and I'm still wondering if those caterpillars turned to butterflies just a few yards away from our home. I smile to remember that weeks-ago-walk,  just looking for caterpillars and counting them together.  It is one of my favorite summer memories.

Later in August, our family visited and camped in Acadia National Park in Maine, and as part of our trip we went to Southwest Harbor where we found many more monarch caterpillars here in front of a shop called Sawyer's Specialities.  Can you see that chubby caterpillar just enjoying so much green?

Monarch Caterpillar in Front of Sawyer's Specialities

Photo by Amy LV

Well, yesterday I walked down our road again, and when I looked at the milkweed plants, I remembered the summer's excitement of finding caterpillars, imagining their mysterious change into butterflies.  The first line of today's poem just wrote itself on the page...and I went from there.

Remember in the summer

You might wish to try this.  Try beginning a poem or an essay or a story with the word remember.  See where the word leads you.  And once you arrive somewhere interesting in your writing, led by the hand by remember, you can decide whether to keep it as a first word or not.  You may choose a different beginning to your finished piece, but remember is a wondrous way to begin.

It is true that we found caterpillars this summer and true, too, that we often see wee toads.  Still, though, today's poem, I am sure, came from another place as well. From a book.  From TADPOLE'S PROMISE, written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross.  I learned about this book years ago, and a friend just reminded me of it the other day.  So, I pulled it out and shared it with our teenagers.  It's a funny and different book, and I won't say another word!

Available at Your Local Bookstore

Poems surprise us in the way they take the many colorful threads of our lives - our readings, play, work, chats, loves, despairs, wonders, fascinations, confusions, joys, quiet times - and weave poemcloth.  You never know which thread will appear when in a poem.  And this, of course, is what makes writing such great fun.  Who knew that last month's poem would appear in my mind yesterday all mixed up with an unusual picture book?  No one knew.  That's a good enough reason to write, if you ask me.  Write to find out which poemcloth will weave itself that day.

Let your mind and heart surprise you when you write.  And if something you don't expect but that tickles you shows up on the page, please let me know.  It would be great to have you share it in this space.

Speaking of sharing, at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I continue to feature writer and teacher Michelle Haseltine.  Stop by to peek inside her notebook and leave a comment to be entered to win a new notebook!  In that space, I am currently seeking some folks to make and share little videos about how to use a writer's notebook: videos of teachers explaining notebooks, videos of students giving short tours of their notebooks, all notebook celebration videos.  I am also seeking notebooks of guy notebook keepers of all ages.  Please drop me a line at amy at amylv dot com if you are interested in sharing in such a way.

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Today's Little Ditty with Michelle.  Enjoy her poem of remembering and celebrate poetry with friends old and new. All are always welcome at the Poetry Friday table.

Please share a comment below if you wish.