Beauty in the Grocery Store

Little Hyacinth

by Amy LV

Students - Yesterday was my mom's birthday.  And the one thing she said she wanted as a gift was a white hyacinth.  I brought her two little ones and of course thought about this beautiful old favorite poem.

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
And from thy slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

~ Saadi (1184-?1283), Persian Poet

We need bread, yes.  And we need beauty too.

As I paid for my mom's small flowers, still in bud, the cashier and I talked about the delightful fragrance of hyacinths, how one plant can fill a whole living room with its springy scent. She told me that she could not figure out why there does not exist a hyacinth perfume, "I have a rose perfume, and a lavender perfume...."  I agreed, but just now looked online and see that hyacinth perfumes do exist!  If I could find her again, I would tell her this. If you have never smelled a hyacinth, do make this your spring goal! They are magical.

So today is a celebration of a plant and it is a celebration of something humble.  What plant do you care for?  What small item makes your heart sing right now?

Too, you will notice that today's poem is titled after a place name...and the poem is about something that happened at this place.  If you do not know where to begin, perhaps try with "At the..." or "In the..." and see what journey your words take...

Some of you may know that my lullaby picture book with illustrator Aaron DeWitt - DREAMING OF YOU came out this week!  I posted about it and am hosting a giveaway on Twitter through March 13, and you can learn more (and see the trailer if you wish) at my release day post HERE.

Sweet Dreams!

And in last fall's book news, I am excited to share a new podcast that just went up at Heinemann!  It's between Valerie Bang-Jensen and Mark Lubkowitz, authors of one of my favorite new books, TALKING BOOKS, SHARING SCIENCE...and me!  We had a blast discussing the connections between poetry and science, and I learned so much from their book and from our conversation.

Our Podcast Connects Our New Books!

Michelle is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Today's Little Ditty with a fog poem and a whole collection of poetry teaching tips from a whole lot of folks. Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Renée this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.  

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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.

Poetry Friday is Here! Wallow in Wonder with Me!

Happy first Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month 2016! 

I am so glad that you have joined me in this warm gathering of poetry friends, and I hope you will continue to join us in our poem-festivities all month long.  If you wish to learn more about all poetry happenings in the Kidlitosphere throughout the month, please visit Jama's Alphabet Soup.  There you will learn about many poetry challenges and other goodnesses you can enjoy each day of April.

If you are new to Poetry Friday, please know that we celebrate poems each week, all year long.  You can learn more about Poetry Friday at No Water River.  We welcome everyone, always!

And now, before the links, my own poetry project for April 2016...

Welcome to 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 (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.

Here we begin...

Wonder from March 31, 2016 

Coral Memories

by Amy LV

Students - I often write about things "I was before."  Whether I really have been these things before or not, I feel that I have been.  Writing poems allows me to revisit parts of myself that I have not visited for a long time, or maybe even ever.

Today's poem, as will be true for all poems this month, was inspired by yesterday's post at Wonderopolis.  I am challenging myself to learn about different subjects and to see what poetry-journeys I will take with these topics.  Writing is an adventure...always!

You may have noticed that this poem has a very regular meter. What do you notice about the syllables in each line? What do you notice about the rhyme?  This is actually a special type of poem called an English - or Shakespearean - sonnet. While this month's poems will not always be so form-focused, I do enjoy tapping out syllables on my cheek or desk.

You can read another coral poem 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.

Much gratitude to my friend Robyn Hood Black who is hosting me at Life on the Deckle Edge today with an interview about EVERY DAY BIRDS, my new Orchard/Scholastic book illustrated by Dylan Metrano.  It is such fun to be at her place and to see Robyn's kitty reading all about birds.  

It has been fabulous to host teacher and writer Stacey Dallas Johnson at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  If you have not yet read her post, please do so by Sunday...and leave a comment to be entered into the book giveaway too!

If you have a Poetry Friday post to share to begin this magical month, please do so below.  I look forward to visiting all of these blog posts and finding new poems to love.

Happy Happy Poetry Month...and Happy Poetry Every Moment.  I look forward to wondering with anyone who wishes for the next twenty-nine days!

xo,

a.

An InLinkz Link-up

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