Hi! - A Greeting from a Wolf Spiderling

One Little Voice

by Amy LV

Students - Earlier one evening this week, my husband called me outside to see a mother wolf spider covered in babies.  I had never seen this before, and I find myself thinking about it over and over.  When I saw her, I half wanted to run away and half wanted to pick her up.  So I compromised,  bent down, and looked closely.  I was unable to get a photograph in time, but I have one in my head that I can go back and revisit when I'm feeling wolf spidery.

Of course this led me to want to read more about wolf spiders, and I found myself amazed by their eight eyes and by the mothers' devotion to their babies.  When I sat to write, it makes complete sense that this is what I wrote.  I can't stop thinking about it?

It is important to look at fascinating things when people invite you to do so. Even if you're not in the mood.  Get up.  Go look.  Store away what you see in your mind.  You might write about it someday.

If you would like read a little bit more about wolf spiders and see a photograph of a wolf spider mom with her babies, visit KidZone, and if you'd like to see even more photographs, there are many at Google Images.

Diane is hosting today's Poetry Friday party of summer here at Random Noodling. All are always welcome to this weekly celebration of poems and poets and words and friendship!

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.

Tiny Artwork Everywhere! Just Look Around!

Tiny Artwork

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This morning, I went outside to write.  We have had many days of rain in a row, and so it was a treat to sit outside and feel sun on my shoulders. Writing was a little bit tricky because our cats all wanted cuddling, and Pickles kept on rubbing her head against me, begging for attention.  I petted her a bit...but then it was back to writing.

When I looked out across the lawn, I saw the spider web that you see above, just twinkling in the morning light.  It asked me to write about it, and so I did.  As I wrote, I loved the idea of Spider and Dew working together to make something so lovely, a tiny artwork that brightened my day from the very start.

Pay attention to what sits at your feet, flies in your sky, comes across your path. Sometimes it might feel to you as if an idea is saying, "Write about me!"  Always listen.

If you are curious about spiders, as I am, you can learn more about them at Wonderopolis:

Why Do Spiders Spin Webs?
Why Don't Spiders Get Caught in Their Webs?
How Strong is Silk?

Donna is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Mainely Write.  Visit her place to celebrate poems and poetry with friends old and new.

I wish you the eyes to find tiny artworks in your life all week, all life long!  Keep a list...who knows what it any one idea will become?

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Cat's Cradle - Art for Two

Two Artists

by Amy LV

Students - Don't you love spiderwebs?  I know, they make a mess and sometimes we have to clean them up (my husband was vacuuming a bunch of them yesterday), but none of us can deny that they are amazing.  Every once in a while, I find myself pondering the beauty that such a tiny creature can spin.

Today's poem is full of a poetic technique that I am thinking about lately.  It is called alliteration, and you can see it in line four where I use the 'n' sound in two words - 'nimble' and 'neat.'  Alliteration is when a writer repeats the same beginning sound over and over again.  Can you find any other places where I have used alliteration?  Sometimes the alliterative words do not come to me upon a first draft; they come through revision.

You can see the process of writing today's poem below.  I wrote most of it last night as I lay half-asleep on the couch.  Sometimes a sleepy state lets my creative side speak up more loudly.

Draft of "Cat's Cradle"

Later, I brought myself up to bed.  In the middle of the night, I got up for a drink of water, and on my way back to bed...I thought of a good rhythm for the last line.  This is what I wrote into my notebook in the dark of night, hoping I would be able to read it in the morning. Fortunately I could read it!

Always have a notebook by your bedside. I was just given this wonderful new notebook by my wonderful teacher colleagues and friends in the Webster Central School District. Today's poem is the first poem I've written in its new pages!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Listening to Spiders - Conversations

Learning

by Amy LV

Students - I am a mom.  So sometimes I think about mom things.  And one thing that moms do is teach their little (or not so little) ones about how to learn and make and do.  For this poem, I imagined a mama spider, and I thought about what this mama spider might wish to teach her little spider.  To spin, of course!

Today's poem is a conversation between two creatures.  The first stanza is the mother spider's voice, and the second stanza is the child spider's voice.  If you read this poem out loud, I suggest that you read with a friend and try it out in different voices.  Poems should be read out loud!  Let your voices fill the air!

And after your voices have filled the air...you might decide to write a conversation poem of your own.  Just imagine two people or creatures and what they may say to each other.  Then, as you write, pretend that you are each one of those creatures.  You might want to write the two voices in different colors or if you are typing, you may wish to write one voice in italics as I did with the child spider's voice here.

Oh, how I love pretending to be something else!  Don't you?

This week at Sharing Our Notebooks, I welcome Kami Kinard, my friend and roommate from the Highlights Foundation Workshop we both took with Rebecca Kai Dotlich back in 2001.  Come and peek into Kami's notebooks through the years, and don't miss the chance to win that beautiful red journal!

Thank you to all of you who are following this blog.  We reached 200 followers yesterday, and I am grateful to you as this helps me keep in touch and also demonstrates to publishers that real people read my posts.

Happy news!  My first book, FOREST HAS A SONG (Clarion), just got a publication date.  March 19....here we come!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!