Showing posts with label Nature Poem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature Poem. Show all posts

Friday, November 14, 2025

Look Out of a Window

Morning Flight
Drawing by Amy LV


Students - There are times when I am not in the mood to write, but still I sit down and do it. Every time this happens (and it is often as it is difficult to begin writing), I am so glad that I did. I love surprising myself with new words that come from mysterious places. So my first piece of advice today is to do the thing that future you wishes you had done....even if you are not in the mood!

When I sat at my desk this morning, I looked out the window wondering, "What should I write?" Between several trees in the distance, I saw a few birds swooping around and imagined being one of them. Then, my pen began to move.

If you are nosy like me, perhaps you'll enjoy seeing my draft. Yes, I do write by hand as I love the fluidity of my hand moving across the page, making messy letters and scribbles and sometimes racing faster than I expect. I am a fast typist, but writing with ink on paper is my true poetry home.

Draft of "You Ask Why I'm Singing"
(Click to Enlarge)
by Amy LV

Not sure what to write? Look out your window. Any window will do. I wish you flight!

Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at The Apples in My Orchard. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I look forward to meeting the students of Coleman School in Glen Rock, New Jersey next week!

xo,

Amy

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Sunday, April 28, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 28

  Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)

 

Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. For a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems have lengthened to 15 lines...and now they decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twenty-Eight Crows, Three Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Crows do recognize people, and sometimes, if a person gives gifts to a crow, a crow gives a gift back. Throughout this month's project, I find myself wanting to befriend a crow or two that lives nearby.

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

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Friday, April 26, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 26

 Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)

 

Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. For a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems have lengthened to 15 lines...and now they decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twenty-Six Crows, Five Lines
Photo by Amy LV


Students - Today's poem is a bit of a continuation of yesterday's poem. It is true that crows save nuts for the future...and true that they are smart enough to drop walnuts on the road to crack them open. This poem is like a little story.

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW... I have had a beautiful and busy two weeks away from home visiting seven different wonderful schools, and this afternoon I head home to see and hear the crows near our home.

Ruth is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town with a dream of Haiti, a country she has called home. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 23

 Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)

 

Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. For a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems have lengthened to 15 lines...and now they decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twenty-Three Crows, Eight Lines
Photo by Amy LV


Students - This is not one of my favorite poems of the month so far, but I do like the idea of following Crow through the seasons. As the month is rounding the bend here into the last week, I wished to show the passage of time again, and so the form of the seasons made sense to me. The year goes around.

There are times when as a writer, you might not feel you have the time to work something through completely, but beginning a draft and knowing you can come back to it is part of the work. You can always come back to your writing. Perfection is not our friend and can stand in the way of beginning.

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
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Monday, April 22, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 22

 Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)


Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. For a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems have lengthened to 15 lines...and now they decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twenty-Two Crows, Nine Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - I knew that today's poem needed to be 9 lines, and then I decided it would be about a scarecrow. I had also considered writing an acrotic at some point this month. And then I realized...

Scarecrow has 9 letters!

I almost never write acrostic poems, but this was a fine writing time, and the acrostic part added another layer of challenge for me. I most like acrostic poems that flow like non-acrostic poems, that don't draw attention to the main word. 

Scarecrow. 123456789. Serendipity!

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
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Sunday, April 21, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 21

Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)


Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. For a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems have lengthened to 15 lines...and now they decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twenty-One Crows, Ten Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Have you ever wondered about those crows perching on the electric lines? Well, they are a little bit warm...and there is a looot of space to sit together. And...you can see everything when you're up high. 

Today's ten line poem is made up of rhyming couplets, and the last line is shorter than the rest. I did this on purpose. When you break a pattern in your writing, it changes how your reader reads, thus drawing attention to the change. In breaking this pattern, I hope for readers to slow down and think about how quickly it all goes. Crows flying...and everything else too.

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
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Monday, April 15, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 15

   Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)


Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. Now, for a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems will go up to 15 lines...and then decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. We are still on the MORE part, but beginning on April 16, we go back down in line numbers. Yes, the logo and the crow pics will change too!

Sometimes life surprises us, and we can change our plans to match the needs at the time. I chose to change course rather than abandon this project, and after some good thinking last night, I feel happy about this decision.

If you'd like to play along, simply choose a topic that you'd like to explore for many days. It might be a subject that you already know a lot about or perhaps you'll explore something new.

I invite you to join me in this project! 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for many days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024 and decide if you would like to match your line breaks to the date in any way. You might correspond the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. You may wish to switch it up as I have, writing increasing-line poems from 1-15 lines for this first half of April and then decreasing-line poems for the second half of the month. OR....invent your own idea! 

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE OR LESS LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Fifteen Crows, Fifteen Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Welcome to halfway through this project. I am feeling very good about having changed from increasing lines all month to increasing lines for the first half of April and then decreasing lines for the second half of the month. It feels in some way, like a life cycle, around and around.

Today's poem of fifteen lines is another list poem, listing only some of the 135 species in the bird family Corvidae. For me, the most fun part of writing this poem is ending with that fabulous fact about corvid intelligence and the lines Corvids fly throughout the world. Throughout the world, the Corvids play.

You might wish to play with repetition in this way. Simply repeat the last few lines of one of your lines right at the beginning of a new line.

Tomorrow I will be back, lingering at fifteen lines before beginning the decrease down to one.

Thank you for joining me for ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.
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Saturday, April 13, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 13

   Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)


Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. Now, for a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems will go up to 15 lines...and then decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. We are still on the MORE part, but beginning on April 16, we go back down in line numbers. Yes, the logo and the crow pics will change too!

Sometimes life surprises us, and we can change our plans to match the needs at the time. I chose to change course rather than abandon this project, and after some good thinking last night, I feel happy about this decision.

If you'd like to play along, simply choose a topic that you'd like to explore for many days. It might be a subject that you already know a lot about or perhaps you'll explore something new.

I invite you to join me in this project! 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for many days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024 and decide if you would like to match your line breaks to the date in any way. You might correspond the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. You may wish to switch it up as I have, writing increasing-line poems from 1-15 lines for this first half of April and then decreasing-line poems for the second half of the month. OR....invent your own idea! 

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE OR LESS LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Thirteen Crows, Thirteen Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Today's poem is a compare/contrast poem, highlighting the differences between Crow and Raven. Some people call this kind of writing "see saw" writing because it goes back and forth between two different topics, just like a see saw or teeter totter.

The poem is a free verse poem with no clear rhyme scheme or meter/beat. The use of couplets (2 line stanzas) was helpful to me as in each stanza, I could write the first line about Crow and the second line about Raven. You might have noticed that I repeated the first couplet at the end....but then added a one liner on its own. This, I think, gives the poem a wee bit of a twist. If you have been wondering why I am capitalizing Crow and Young Crow and now Raven throughout this project, it is because I am considering these birds as individual characters with names, not simply part of a group. Crow is one particular crow. And now Raven is one particular raven. We know, though, that in a way, the one stands for all.

When you go outside next and spot big black bird in the sky, give it the Know Crow test. Can you figure it out? (One additional clue - if you watch the bird fly, Raven does somersaults and rolls as he soars through sky.)

If you would like to see a great visual of the differences between crows and ravens, visit Corvid Research with Kaeli Swift to see Rosemary Mosco's work. And know, too, that there is much more information in books and online about this interesting topic.

Thank you for joining me for ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.
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Friday, April 12, 2024

ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW 12

  Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)


Hello Poetry Friends! If you visited earlier this month, you may have noticed a change my National Poetry Month project title. For my National Poetry Month Project this year, I had originally planned to study crows and share a new crow poem each day of April with the number lines in each poem corresponding to the date. The plan was to write 1-line poem on April 1...and go all the way up to a 30-line poem on April 30. Now, for a variety of personal and poetic reasons, I have changed the project. The poems will go up to 15 lines...and then decrease from 15 back down to 1. Hence the new name: ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW. We are still on the MORE part, but beginning on April 16, we go back down in line numbers. Yes, the logo and the crow pics will change too!

Sometimes life surprises us, and we can change our plans to match the needs at the time. I chose to change course rather than abandon this project, and after some good thinking last night, I feel happy about this decision.

If you'd like to play along, simply choose a topic that you'd like to explore for many days. It might be a subject that you already know a lot about or perhaps you'll explore something new.

I invite you to join me in this project! 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for many days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024 and decide if you would like to match your line breaks to the date in any way. You might correspond the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. You may wish to switch it up as I have, writing increasing-line poems from 1-15 lines for this first half of April and then decreasing-line poems for the second half of the month. OR....invent your own idea! 

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE OR LESS LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Twelve Crows, Twelve Lines
Photo by Amy LV



Students - Did you know that crows eat so many different types of food? If you put anything edible in front of them, they'll eat it! Each day of April so far, I have begun my writing by reading. Reading facts and information about the lives of crows. I do this to learn and to inspire myself because see...I have no idea where this month is going but simply follow the facts into poetry, day-by-day.

Today's poem is a list poem. A simple list. I could have included more foods (crows do eat it all): nuts, poison ivy, snails, lizards...but alas, I only had 12 lines. Initially I had broken up the lines differently and did not include the repetition of All food is good, but as I read it, I believed that to bring the title around to the end would be good and right. And for now, it is.

You might wish to write a list poem yourself. Think about your subject - any subject - and brainstorm some lists that could grow from it. Your list need not rhyme. But you may choose to add some repetition, perhaps repeating the first and last lines of your poem.

Thank you for joining me for ONE MORE OR LESS LINE CROW...

Jone is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Jone Rush MacCulloch where she interviews Labuzzetta about her newly released book of ekphrastic nature poems. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.
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