Flames are Horses - Metaphors

Heat

by Diane Mayr

 

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

Students - Here you can see another partnership between Diane Mayr and me. I regularly participate in Amy Souza's SPARK, a regular way for artists, musicians, and writers to share work and inspire each other.  This is a poem that I wrote quite a while ago, and I have come back to it again and again...making changes here and there.  Diane's art above was inspired by today's poem, and I think that the way she layered words and images over each other is just hauntingly lovely.

Sometimes we all look at objects or places and think, "This looks just like...."  or "This makes me think of...."    or "This is a...."  When we compare two things in such a way, we are thinking metaphorically, allowing one thing to become something else in our minds.  In today's poem, you can see that the flames really do become horses: galloping, cantering, riding night, leaving hoof prints.  That is so because in this poem, I wanted to hold one comparison in my hand (flames are horses) and carry it all of the way through every stanza.

You might wish to try this sometime. Stare around the room you sit in right now, or out of your bus window, or into the night sky.  Does something make you think about something else?  Is the connection strong enough that you might weave a whole poem around it?  Your class might like to try this together first.  If you do, please let me know!

Our other pairing (with Diane's photograph inspiring my poem) is posted here at SPARK, and I also posted it last Poetry Friday. I thank Diane for our collaboration and look forward to SPARK 18!

Today is National Punctuation Day!  Here are a few poems from the archives to help you celebrate: Inky Flyers, Emily Apostrophe, and Nolan the Colon.

This week over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, Barry Lane shares his notebooks and offers a generous giveaway of two of his books about writing and a CD.  A winner will be drawn on Sunday, September 30...the beginning of Banned Books Week!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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I Cry - Poems about Confusing Feelings

Welcome to Philip Levine, new Poet Laureate of the US!  You can read some of his work here at The Writer's Almanac.  For today, here are a few words, the last lines, from "On My Own."

...know, now it's obvious, what with the light

of the Lord streaming through the nine

windows of my soul and the music of rain

following in my wake and the ordinary air

on fire every blessed day I waken the world.

Changing Feelings

by Amy LV

When I was a little girl, I loved summer camp.  I loved summer camp as soon as my parents left, that is.  The transition of Mom and Dad leaving me for a whole week, however, was teary.  Hours of bonfires, play, crafts, sports, swimming, and camp songs later, the week ended and my parents returned.  So did my tears.  I always thought that my mixed up feelings were rather funny, and I still do. 

Students - one way to find writing ideas is to watch and notice your feelings.  We are all full of so many emotions, and writing can help us to understand our moods and our loved ones' feelings too.  When I was a little girl, my sister Heidi and I would dance around our living room to the songs in Marlo Thomas & Friends' FREE TO BE YOU AND ME, a book full of heart-wisdom both then and now.

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Here's one favorite song from the book/record/8-track/cassette/CD/ipod download: Rosey Grier singing, "It's Alright to Cry."

And since it is still summer, here's another camping poem about sleeping in a sleeping bag!

Karen is hosting today's Poetry Friday smorgasbord over at Karen Edmisten: The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title.

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