What Did You Find?

Hello again, my dear friends. I have been away for a long time, and I am grateful to return. I know that this community of generous writers and sharers has been here all along, making the world kinder and wiser through words, and it feels good to be back. I rejoin today with a poem about finding things and feelings.

Robin Eggs

Photo by Mark VanDerwater

 

Students - As is often the case, when I began to write today's poem, I did not know what I would write about. I waited. (The ideas do come, you know. They sneak up on you.) When I look back, however, I understand that this poem grew from gathered images I have held without realizing. Earlier this spring, my friend Christian told me stories about the robin family living in her garage. Later this spring, I found half of a robin egg at a park. Earlier this week, my husband shared the above photo with me, taken outside of his parents' garage. 

Summer is fantastic for finding, and you can always write a poem about something you find. If you would like to write a poem similar to this one, just write two stanzas: the first stanza describing what you found and the second stanza telling your feelings and emotions around it.

Margaret is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Reflections on the Teche with an original list poem titled "Eight Reasons to Take a Walk on a Sunday Morning." All are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. 

I wish you joy!

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.

Finding and Keeping Delight - Free Verse in Nature

Spotted Charm

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Lately, I have been recording more of my everyday delights and moments-to-be-grateful-for in my notebook.  And this week, finding a woodpecker feather was a highlight.  I had brought my recycling out to the roadside, and when I looked down...there it was.  Delight!  There is something magical in finding a surprise, and magic is always worth writing about.  You might wish to make a list of things that you have found in your notebook.  There will likely be some fine writing ideas hidden (or jumping out at you) there.

Today's poem is a free verse poem following no particular pattern or rhyme scheme.  You may have noticed, though, that there is one rhyme at the end. Sometimes I like writing without rhyme but for a bit of a twist at the end.

This month's posts have all celebrated the small goodnesses in nature.  From June 5th's Apology to a wood thrush to June 12's celebration of weeds to June 19th's Bottles to today's poem, I have been once more falling in love with the world outside.  I wonder what July will bring.  May it bring you many charms and delights, spotted and otherwise!

Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Carol's Corner.  Join her for a post full of rain, Billy Collins goodness, and so many fabulous links of poetry loving friends.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Day 8 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 8 of this Year's Poem Farm Project!

Find the Complete April 2015 Poem and Song List Here

First, I would like to welcome all old and new friends to The Poem Farm this April. Spring is a busy time on all farms, and this one is no exception.  Each April, many poets and bloggers take on special poetry projects, and I'm doing so too.  You can learn all about Sing That Poem! and how to play on my April 1st post, where you will also find the list of the whole month's poems and tunes as I write and share them.  If you'd like to print out a matching game page for yourself, you can find one here, and during April 2015, you'll be able to see the song list right over there in the left hand sidebar.

Yesterday's poem was Greefee Wumpa.  Here is the tune that goes along with it, below. Did you figure it out?

And here, below, is today's poem.  Look at the song list in the sidebar or on your matching form to see if you can puzzle out which tune matches this one.

Henry's Deer Shed - Found on April 7, 2015

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday, I had the opportunity to Skype with the first grade students at Darby Creek Elementary School in Hilliard, Ohio.  One of the questions they asked me was, "Where do you find your ideas?"  

Yesterday's Skype Visit - Hi Friends!

Photo by Cathy Mere

Well, friends - today's poem is a perfect example of finding ideas in the moment. There I was, lying on the couch, humming today's song to myself, wondering....wondering....wondering...."What should I write about?"

Suddenly, my son Henry walked in the front door.  He'd been out in the field, throwing his new boomerang, and he came in calling, "Mom! I have something you are going to love.  You will love this."

Henry walked right over to me, placing a small deer antler in my hand.  See, as he had  looked for his boomerang, Henry found a surprise that he never would have found had he been indoors.  White-tailed bucks lose their antlers between January and April of each year, and this little shed must have come from young buck.  (To learn how to become a good shed hunter, here is an article from FIELD AND STREAM.)

At that moment, after I thanked Henry, the first two lines of today's poem jumped right into my head:

Look what I found in the field --

An antler from a small deer.

And once again, my poemsong is longer than the actual song - hint!

Please share a comment below if you wish.