Birds, Sunflowers, & Two-Part Poems

Junco Waits

Photo by Amy LV

Chickadee Waits

Photo by Amy LV

Cardinal Waits

Photo by Amy LV

Students - We have lots of snow here in Western New York today!  So far, about twelve inches have fallen, and there is lots more to come. On snowy days like this, I like to look out the windows at the birds, so happy to eat the seeds that Mark has put out for them.  Today I could not help but notice the little line of juncos and chickadees and cardinals fluttering in to patiently wait on that dead sunflower stalk you see in the pictures above. (Blue jays don't wait...they just hop right in there!)

You may have noticed that each of the two longer stanzas of this poem describes a the same location in a different season - the sunflower and feeder in fall and also in winter.  This is really a two-part poem...and that last line?  Well, that's a just a fun surprise.

You might try this too.  Think of a place in two ways - before and after an event, in two different seasons, or even as seen by two different people or animals. Then, write one stanza from the one time or viewpoint and one from the other time or viewpoint.  And if you wish to throw in a surprise, well, you're the poet.

SUNDAY JANUARY 27, 2019 UPDATE:  Yesterday, Mark decided to bring our old Christmas tree out for the birds...so now there are perches for all!  Here you see a chickadee atop the tree (just like an angel!) and a blue jay flying in from atop the sunflower stalk.

Perches for All

Photo by Amy LV

Tara is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Going to Walden, with a poem by Linda Pastan. Please know that the Poetry Friday community shares poems and poemlove each Friday, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in with us.

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

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Imagine Yourself in a Story

Deer Sheds Found at The Poem Farm

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This story poem grew from a conversation I was fortunate enough to have last week with a few young hunters at Elba Elementary School in Elba, NY.  We were talking about the deer sheds I'd brought along, and they were kind enough to share some hunting stories with me.

I am not a hunter, and I have no interest in learning to hunt.  Yet hearing these young men speak with passion and reverence for nature and this skill filled me with curiosity and wonder.  Though I will likely never hunt or shoot a deer myself, in this poem I imagine the moment of transition between life and death.

In today's poem, I have pretended to play a part in a story I will likely never live.  And in so doing, I have been remade.  I see hunting in a new way, through the eyes of my young teachers and through my own imagination.  Since I write this from imagined and talked experience, though, I am not sure if there are details that are off or missing or untrue.  So, young hunter friends in Elba....if you read this, would you please tell me if there is something clearly wrong here?  Something that feels totally untrue?  If so, please send me an e-mail through your librarian, Mrs. Perrault.  And if you would like to share any of your own hunting poems or words around hunting, please let me know as I would love to include some of words here.  Thank you for that talk we had...I have been thinking about it all week.

This week I was fortunate enough to visit two wonderful elementary schools in Paramus, NJ, and I would like to extend so much gratitude to everyone at Parkway Elementary and Stony Lane Elementary for such a joyous two days of celebrating poetry and notebooking.  I loved writing with you and am now thinking about stories and ideas we shared together too.

At Sharing Our Notebooks, I am so happy to welcome third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey.  Please read their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a lovely new notebook.  I will draw a name next week!

Donna is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Mainely Write with a bouquet of beautiful poetry postcards. Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Donna this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.  Please join us!

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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.

Photography, Winterberry, Haiku

Winterberry Branch Near My Porch

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Did you know that a poem can be very short?  This short poem is simply an image (winterberry branch) and my personification of that image (calling birds for breakfast).  It's a haiku. 

The Poetry Foundation explains haiku - "A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time."  This branch right outside of my front porch here at The Poem Farm is full of berries now...but likely not for long once the birds find it.  So this IS a specific moment.  Here I fell in love with bright red against white snow and brown barn and branches....

If you are on a school break this coming week, or even if not, keep your eyes open for images specific to the season where you live.  Find a moment, a specific moment when the season seems to define itself to you.  Write or draw or take a picture.

Right now, as I type to you....about 20 goldfinches are enjoying the feeder outside my window. Another moment!  Our world is very beautiful, and we can often find this beauty in small and surprising bits.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find a very cool peek into Julie Patterson's notebooks. Leave a comment...and you just may win a book!

Buffy is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Buffy's Blog.  She's offering up a fun personal holiday poem and a current political poem by our Young People's Poet Laureate Margarita Engle.  Please stop by if you'd like to visit many different blogs, all celebrating poetry.  We meet weekly, and everyone is invited!

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.

Whip Up a Recipe Poem!

Ahhh....

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem grew from our new snow outside and from a new habit I have of making lists of things that make me happy.  I keep these lists in my notebook. Here's a snip of one from earlier this week.  You can see it has a wintry theme because winter is now here in Western New York.

Happy List

by Amy LV

I have always found lists to be helpful jumping off points for writing poems.  And sometimes the lists turn INTO poems as in the one you read above.  You might wish to try to write a recipe poem sometime too.  It could be about anything: Recipe for Friendship, Recipe for Good Sleep, Recipe for Befriending Cats...who knows? Recipes are almost like magic spells, and poems are almost like magic spells too...

My wish for you this week is that you will find and make time for many small things that make you happy.  This is my own goal these days, to put down my electronics and to make applesauce, fold Froebel stars, and spend more time outside. The busier life gets, the more important I find these things to be.

Teachers - You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at @amylvpoemfarm.  In these places I share more bits and pieces of life, including interesting teaching links and photographs of The Poem Farm.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find a very cool peek into Julie Patterson's notebooks. Leave a comment...and you just may win a book!

Lisa is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Steps and Staircases.  Please stop by if you'd like to visit many different blogs, all celebrating poetry.  We meet every week, and we welcome all!

Tea!

Photo by Amy LV

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Finding Questions and Wonders with Jeannine Atkins

Winter Chickadee

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem came from my own wonders about migrating birds (How do they KNOW?) and from the birds we see in our yard each winter. Today I share a questioning nature poem - from Chickadee's point of view - in honor of our special guest, a poet I admire so deeply.

Jeannine Atkins

Photo from www.jeannineatkins.com

It is my absolute honor to welcome Jeannine Atkins, author of, among other books, BORROWED NAMES, LITTLE WOMAN IN BLUE, VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT, and her latest...gorgeous...FINDING WONDERS.  Stay tuned for her forthcoming STONE MIRRORS (later this month) but today, please enjoy Jeannine's words about FINDING WONDERS, a book that has received stars from both Booklist and The Bulletin of the Center of Children's Books, a book that has been named a Book that Makes a Difference by The Horn Book, a book that has made me cry and cheer out loud.

I asked Jeannine, "Do you feel that you BECOME these girls when you write about them?"

She answered, Yes, there is some sense of channeling, of reading enough and getting the details till I feel like I have a special key.

Welcome, Jeannine!  Please tell us about this latest book.

Available at Your Local Bookshop

Finding Wonders is about three girls who were born in earlier centuries and whose lives focused on the close looking needed in science. Poems often begin with close looking, too. I want to see past words, which sometimes seem in the way, to what’s in front of my eyes.

A Room in the Queen’s Gallery in London

Honoring the Plants and tools Maria Merian Worked with 

after Sailing from Europe to South America in 1699

Photo by Jeannine Atkins

Maria Sibylla Merian grew up helping her stepfather in his studio and learning to paint. She loved the colors of butterflies, moths, and flowers, but she was even more fascinated to watch how a small animal changed, from a caterpillar or silkworm to a chrysalis or cocoon, then to a butterfly or moth. Maria Merian’s paintings had to be still, but sometimes she painted all the stages of a life in one picture.

Maria Sibylla Merian’s Work on Display

in the Queen’s Gallery in London

Photo by Jeannine Atkins

To write some poems, I also wanted to show these small creatures in motion. I watched videos of silkworms spinning sticky silk around themselves, and weeks later, breaking open the cocoon. I wrote metaphors comparing the spinning to dancing and twirling a spoon around a cake to frost it.

Can you watch an action, such as a caterpillar crawling up grass or a spider making a web? Try comparing the motion to something from your own life.

Writing about Mary Anning, the first person to make a living selling fossils, meant I had to imagine her life, back before there was a word for “dinosaur.” In my mind’s eye, I saw Mary walking down the beach, picking up what she called curiosities. These stones with an impression of plants or animals are what we call fossils. I wrote about the questions these stones might have raised in her mind.

Trilobites and Ammonites 

Such as those Mary Anning Collected

Photo by Jeannine Atkins

Choose a scientist from the past to write a poem about. What do you know now that she or he wouldn’t know then? Can you write a poem as a conversation between you and this scientist, speaking about something now known that wasn’t known long ago?

Thank you so much to Jeannine for joining us here this week...and we are even luckier still because Jeannine is offering a giveaway of one signed copy of her book to a commenter on this post.  The winner will be posted in this same space next Friday, January 13, so please leave your comment by Thursday evening, January 12.

For more about FINDING WONDERS, visit here:

Doraine Bennett's post at Dori Reads, November 18, 2016
Linda Mitchell's post at A Word Edgewise, January 6, 2016

Linda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at TeacherDance.  Head on over and join the poetry joy.  All are always welcome.

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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.

Celebrating Simple, Humble Objects with Our Words

Winter Projects

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is a celebration of simple mittens.  I love mittens, I love yarn, and I love the short 'i' sound.  And so today's small temple of words comes together around these three loves.  

Sometimes in life, one goes through times of despair and worry, grumpiness and uncertainty.  I've been feeling these things lately, and so this week I decided to turn my attention toward humble objects that bring me and the world small measures of joy and beauty.  You can see yesterday's notebook words around this idea here --

December 1, 2016 Notebook Snip

Photo by Amy LV

I do spend bits of winter days knitting cozy projects, and today the words and wool come together as one.

Any one of us can choose to turn our attention to the humble nouns around us. Check your closet and pockets.  What do you see, feel drawn to, love?  Try choosing something that does not require batteries or electricity.  Go as simple as you can.  Appreciate small things.  And write about them.

Hand-stitched Notebooks by Stitch Buffalo Refugee Artisans

Photo by Amy LV

In case you missed it last month, just like last year, The Poem Farm will be giving a Christmas gift of free shipping for anyone who would like to order two or more hand-stitched notebooks or bird ornaments.  These are beautiful pieces made by refugee artisan women in Buffalo, NY through Stitch Buffalo.  They do not ship, but only sell locally, so this is a special opportunity. You can read my post and learn more information HERE.  

To read last year's Stitch Buffalo post and poem, visit HERE.  I am so happy and thankful to share that in two weeks, The Poem Farm readers have purchased over $1600 of birds and notebooks, most all of which will go directly to the individual artisans who made each item.  Thank you!

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find the winner to my latest book giveaway.  And I am currently seeking a new writer over there, so if you are a young student notebook keeper, please let your teacher know if you would be interested in sharing your notebook pages.  Together with your parents and teacher, I would love to celebrate your notebook!

Bridget is hosting today's Poetry Friday fiesta over at wee words for wee ones.  Join her, and all of us, in finding goodness in poetry and life all week long.  Everyone is always invited to Poetry Friday!

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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.

Day 5 - National Poetry Month 2015 - Sing That Poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Welcome to Day 5 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 Sharing.  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.

Snowdrops and Snow

Photo by Amy LV

Students - It's snowdrop time!  These are special days; I love walking to my front door, just seeing those little faces greeting me.  One of the funny parts of this time of year is not being sure what season it actually is. When our children were little, they would argue, "It's spring!" because the calendar said so.  But sometimes the calendar and the temperature don't seem to agree.  My friend Deb Bussewitz wrote a great poem about this, titled, March Tug-o-War, and I always think about Deb's words at this time of year.

People often ask, "Where do you get your ideas?" and I say that they come from everywhere.  They come from what we see and what we read.  Ideas come from plants outside our door and surprises that delight us year after year. I thought about today's idea in the shower, just singing to myself as the water fell down.

I have written about snowdrops before, in First Snowdrop, the first-ever haiku at The Poem Farm - in 2011.  Snowdrops are some of the first flowers we see here in Western New York each spring, and they always fill me with wonder and hope.  I giggled a bit to read that older post, to remember that I wrote some of each of these snowdrop poems in the shower.  Funny!

Go outside!  Look around!  Read lots of poems!  Take showers!  All of this will help your writing grow!.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Dawn - The Shapes & Colors of Our Days

Sage in the Morning

Photo by Amy LV

Students - A camera can be a very good friend to a writer.  Why?  Because our eyes see so many different pictures in a day that it can be difficult to slow them down and replay them one-by-one.  Yesterday morning, as I watched our Sage lie in the snow, I found her so peaceful, so blue there in the morning light.  I wanted to keep that picture in my head forever.  And too, I wanted to give it some words.

As a writer-artist, stay on the lookout for pictures that strike you, real 3-D pictures in your world that give you pause and make you appreciate the shapes and colors of your days.  You, too, might choose to take a photograph.  Or you might draw a picture.  Or you might just look closely and then close your eyes to see the image in your mind and keep it forever.

Today's poem is two quatrains, two stanzas of four lines each.  It is a quiet poem, echoing the quiet feeling I have been carrying inside of me lately.

Tara is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at her place, A Teaching Life. Swing on by there, check out all of the warm, whimsical, and wonderful poetry offerings...and know that you are always welcome in the Poetry Friday fold.

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A Box of Snow - Wish Poems

Present for a Faraway Friend

Photo by Amy LV

Students - We have snow again!  Here south of Buffalo, NY where I live, it has been a snow-free couple of weeks.  And now the snow is back.  Today I am thinking about all of you who live in snow-free places, wishing I could send you some snow (but not too much) to play with.

Do you have a wish for someone else?  Is there something you have that you would like to share with others?  If yes, then you might enjoy writing about it.  What better way to begin the new year than with a wish for a friend?

Today's poem does have a bit of rhyme and a bit of meter.  What do you notice about the syllables in this poem?  What do you notice about the rhyme?  If you ever feel stuck getting started with your own writing, you might find a poem with a simple rhyme and syllable count - such as this one - and try writing with the same number of syllables per line or with the same rhyme scheme.

Teachers and Adult Readers - For those of you who might not know, I also keep a Poem Farm Facebook Page.  This page is full of regular links to poems I love as well as poetry news I find.  If you choose to "like" it, please click on the arrow to "get notifications" if you would like to see the posts in your feed.

In publishing news, I am excited to share that I have signed a contract with Crown/Random House for a picture book currently titled ALL I KNOW. No date yet, but lots of happiness over here!

At this time of year, we have the fun of peeking at some 2014 favorites lists.  Don't miss the 2014 Nerdy Awards for Poetry and Novels and Verse and the 2014 Cybils Poetry Finalists.  Many congratulations to one and all.

Tricia is hosting this first Poetry Friday of 2015 over at The Miss Rumphius Effect.  Stop by and gobble up all of the wonderful offerings from poetry friends near and far.

Happy 2015 to you and yours!  Many wishes for a year full of poems and favorite new words!

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Morning Song - Copying Rhymes & Rhythms

Weather Report for This Week - Holland, NY

From the National Weather Service

Kitten Fiona Watches Snow

Photo by Amy LV

Students - As you can see in the forecast above, it has been a very snowy week south of Buffalo here.  So I knew I would write about snow again. (How could I not? I did yesterday too.)  But HOW would I write about snow?  I did not know and thought about it a lot while shoveling the driveway.

I decided to open a book and find a poem and use the same rhythm as the poem I found.  In THE POETRY TROUPE, by Isabel Wilner, a writer I was fortunate enough to take a class with once, I came across the poem, "Song" by Elizabeth Coatsworth.  As you see below, I copied this poem into my notebook and noted the number of lines, number of syllables per line, and rhyme scheme.  Then I used the same number of lines, same number of syllables per line (almost), and same rhyme scheme for my own poem.

Coatsworth on Left/Me on Right

Photo by Amy LV

So while my poem is about something very different, Elizabeth Coatsworth gave me a boost with my rhythm and rhyme.  Some of you have seen me stand on other poets' shoulders so directly before; it is a favorite way for me to explore writing, a favorite way to grow.

This is a wonderful exercise if you ever wish to stretch yourself or if you ever feel you're in a writing rut.  Sometimes my writing sticks with the same rhythms, so experimenting with new ones keeps me limber.  Find a book with a poem you like, and just play around with the lines and rhythms.  See if you find a new writing you inside of the old writing you.

On a wonderous book note, I could not be more pleased to learn that Jacqueline Woodson has won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for her gorgeous memoir in verse, BROWN GIRL DREAMING. 

Learn More at IndieBound

I may have never folded down more corners in a book than I have in my copy of Woodson's memoir in poems. This book is honest, beautiful, wise, and full of love.

In the author's note, Woodson writes, "The people who came before me worked so hard to make this world a better place for me.  I know my work is to make the world a better place for those coming after.  As long as I can remember this, I can continue to do the work I was put here to do."

BROWN GIRL DREAMING makes the world a better place.  I dearly hope this snow lets up so that I will be able to hear Jacqueline Woodson speak at NCTE tomorrow.  And I dearly hope that if you have not read this book yet...you will.

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, I am grateful to host teacher, literacy coach, author, and founder of Book Love...Penny Kittle!  Please check out her notebooks, the great exercise she offers us, and leave a comment by Monday, November 24 to be entered into a book giveaway.

Celebrate Poetry Friday at Tapestry of Words with Becky today! All are welcome to visit her place find the varied poems and poem sharings around the Kidlitosphere in this third week of November.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Winter List - List Poems Can Tell Stories

Dining Room Window

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Greetings from the land of snow!  Our family lives south of Buffalo, NY, and as you may have read in the news, snow has been falling like crazy in the towns nearby.  We only have about a foot here (two more expected over the next day) but some towns have five feet of snow!  This is a lot of snow.  Even the bit we have at the end of our driveway was so heavy that it broke this (lifetime guarantee - the new one is in the mail) shovel right in half.

Oops

Photo by Henry LV

As the roads are impassable, we have all been home playing games, shoveling, making cookies, and thinking snowy thoughts.  We've even sung a few bars of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and perhaps this is why I wrote about a snowman today.

This poem is a list, and it tells a story too.  On my early drafts, I wrote out the numbers as words, but when I moved to typing the poem, I decided to try numbers. I think that the numbers have a more list-y look, and that this makes the warm story part of the poem more surprising.  I have loved every snowman I've ever made...and tomorrow, if it warms up, we just might need to make a new snowman here.

I like the idea of a list poem turning into a story, and I will definitely try it again.

Teachers - right now I am reading Thomas Newkirk's wonderful new MINDS MADE FOR STORIES, a book which proposes, "That narrative is the deep structure of all good sustained writing.  All good writing." I highly recommend this book along with anything else that Thomas Newkirk has ever written.

Available through Heinemann

Greetings to my teacher friends already at #NCTE2014!  I hope to arrive on Friday as today's flight has been cancelled.  If you are a teacher attending NCTE, Janet Wong has put together a list of some of the poetry sessions you might wish to attend.

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, I am so happy to host teacher, literacy coach, author, and founder of Book Love...Penny Kittle!  Please check out her notebooks, the great exercise she offers us, and leave a comment by Monday, November 24 to be entered into a book giveaway.

Please share a comment below if you wish.