Our Beehive Brains Make Metaphors

Beehive Brain

by Amy LV

Students - Lately, I have been thinking about how the more different things we do in life, the more we learn. And the more we learn and know, the more we can write about. The more we understand about the world and how it works, the more comparisons and metaphors and similes we can make. If we did not have beehives in our yard, I may not have decided to write about how a beehive is like a brain. Experience grows a writing garden. See, a beehive is NOT a brain. And a brain is NOT a beehive. But they are similar to each other, and in writing My brain is a hive, I make a metaphor, or comparison, calling one thing another thing that it is not actually, but is like.

Learning something new develops our brains, and as my husband Mark has taken on beekeeping, I have learned from him about bees and hives and caring for these creatures. Watching bees got me to thinking about our amazing brains. As bees gather nectar to make honey, we gather ideas to make writing. We gather ideas to make paintings and songs. We gather ideas to make our lives as we wish them to be. Our brains can be as busy as beehives!

In the below video, you can see some of our bees working away in the frames of a hive. Unlike bees, we can choose what to put in our beehive brains. How do we wish to grow our brains? What do we wish to learn about? I think about this a lot.

You may have noticed a couple of wordsmushes and one made up word in today's poem. One of my favorite parts of writing poetry is playing with words. One can do a lot with the 26 letters that make up our English language. And those of you who speak more languages...you have even more letters and words to work with.

A Peek Inside a Hive

Video by Mark VanDerwater

Thank you to all of the librarians, teachers, administrators, tech people, custodians, secretaries, and students of the Williamsville Central School District in Williamsville, NY. Over the past few weeks, I have been fortunate to spend six days at the following elementary schools: Dodge, Heim, Maple East, Maple West, Forest, and Country Parkway. I feel very lucky and dedicate today's poem to everyone at those schools. Thank you for spending time with me.

Please don't miss yesterday's post HERE. Award-winning author Marilyn Singer came for a visit with her latest book, WILD IN THE STREETS: 20 POEMS OF CITY ANIMALS. She shares a bit about her writing process, a reverso poem from the book, and her publisher, Words Pictures/Quarto, has offered a book giveaway too.

Catherine is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core. Visit her place to celebrate gratitude this week, with a poem, a video, a new anthology by Miranda Paul, and a giveaway too. Please know that we gather each Friday, sharing poems and poemlove, and all are always welcome.

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.

Foxes and Welcome to George Welgemoed!

Little Fox

by Amy LV

(I will add audio to this poem when my voice returns - it was a talky week!)

Students - This is a poem that I found in my old file of poems for FOREST HAS A SONG. It's a forest-y poem that never made it into the book, but I still like it.  You'll see how just as in After Marshmallows, I smushed some words together.  Yes, I do enjoy doing that.  

The other week, when our daughter Hope went to volunteer at the horse barn where she works, we saw some baby foxes playing in the woods nearby.  They were adorable, and once again I found myself wondering how something so cute could be considered so crafty.Yet, in Aesop's fables, the fox is indeed the crafty one. You can see this is so here in The Fox and the Grapes, The Fox Without a Tail, The Fox and the Goat, The Fox and the Stork, and so many more here.

So this is my question poem.  Are foxes really sly?  Or not?

Today I feel very lucky to welcome my new colleague and faraway friend George Welgemoed to The Poem Farm. From South Africa, George wrote to me in June asking if he might make designs to go with some of my poems.  As a furniture maker, George was searching on the Internet for a photo of a small key box. Through his searching, he Googled his way to poems about keys and found The Poem Farm.  Lucky me! Honored, I said yes, and today you can see two such pieces of his digital work.

George does design work and web design for the South African Police Service and says, "Designs, or art as you say it, is only a way to express some of my thoughts.  I read a lot on the net and every day search for a poem of something interesting, something that you can illustrate to give it more than the poem itself. Sometimes I have this idea with a picture and then search for a poem...I think that all poems should be visualized, to see the power of the words...I choose the poem by its power of words the strongest visualization or I choose a particular image and then search for a poem that fits."

Technically, George makes these designs by searching through the Internet by using Google search results, images that will fit his visualization of the poem.  He uses only pictures that are freely available (not copyright protected), layering multiple images to make something new with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

George creates this beautiful work in the face of some physical challenges.  He walks on two prostheses due to amputations of his legs below the knees as well as amputations of both hands save for his right hand thumb.  He is also deaf.  George says, "With all of this, I am still living a 100% full life." With his strong spirit and love for life, George enjoys woodworking, planting gardens of roses and fuchsia, growing Bonsai trees, and spending time with his family.

When making digital designs, sometimes George finds a poem first, and sometimes he finds an image first.  Either way, he uses different fonts to form the idea of each poem, thus giving "more power to the words".  

"Designs for me are a way to express one"s thoughts," says George. At first he was very shy to do so, but he hopes to make people happy through sharing his designs. I'm so grateful to have met him, and I hope you enjoy seeing these interpretations of my poems as much as I have.  Please, I welcome you, to leave any questions or words to George in the comments of today's post.

(Click to enlarge each image.)

Thank you so much, George, for finding me here and for sharing your work with us!

I am home again after almost a week in Paramus, NJ at the Paramus Writing Institute, organized by principal Tom Marshall of Stony Lane Elementary.  It was a pleasure to work with so many wonderful teachers and to see my colleagues Stephanie Parsons, Karen Caine, the whole faculty of the institute, and the children's authors who spoke:  Vicki Cobb, Alexandra Siy, and Kati Hites.  I had a magnificent time and learned so much.  Thank you, Tom!  (If anyone is interested in reading the poems I threaded through my keynote on Tuesday, you may read them here.)

If you have not yet peeked into Linda Baie's notebooks, you may do so at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, a place to highlight notebooks and notebook keepers of all kinds.  Tomorrow I will draw and announce the name of a new notebook winner.

Jone is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Check It Out.  Stop by her place and enjoy all of the rich poetic offerings in the Kidlitosphere today...

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.
Visit Sharing Our Notebooks to peek in all kinds of notebooks.
Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest!

A Party in Red Boots!

Red Boots
(Purchase your own pair here!)
Photo by Maria Pieroni

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

Students - The idea for this poem came from the red boots on the girl in my new book, FOREST HAS A SONG!  When I first had a peek at Robbin Gourley's illustrations last May, I was tickled to see these red boots.  Our daughter Georgia had a pair of red boots that she wore for a very long time, and so it just felt perfect.  In fact, when Mark made the book trailer for FOREST, we got Georgia a new pair so that she could dress like the book character.  Then...for the party, we got Hope a pair, and a pair for me too!  So three gals in our family were red-booted.

The idea for this poem also came from an older book, RED IS BEST by Kathy Stinson that I just found on my search for good books about opinions.  I love the red boots and the celebration of red throughout the book.

Shop Indie Bookstores

If you look closely at today's poem, you will notice a couple of things about its structure. First of all, it is simply a list with a repeating line at the beginning of each 2-line stanza. You will also notice that the second line of each stanza includes a color smushed together with another word.  I do like smushing words together sometimes...but only when it feels right.  Originally, this poem only had a few smushes, but then I went back and revised to let every color have a smushpartner.

Do you have a favorite piece of clothing or footwear? Why is it your favorite?  Writing today's poem has given me a whole world of new ideas for new poems about clothing and shoes.  You might want to try writing about a favorite piece of clothing or a favorite pair of shoes yourself!  Or perhaps you'll write with a repeating line.  Or maybe you'd like to try a list poem.  Or maybe you would like to smush some words together.  Or maybe...you have a completely new and unrelated writing idea of your own.  If you do, let it out!

On Tuesday March 26, we had a release party for FOREST HAS A SONG at my friend Alix Martin's art gallery, redFISH Art Studios in East Aurora, NY.  I wish that you all could have been there....but here are a few pictures of the night to give you a peek into the festivities!  My dear college friend, Noelle, surprised me by coming to the party...all the way from North Carolina!

My First Book Illustrated by Robbin Gourley

and Published by Clarion, 2013

Cake by Luci Levere and Bakers at The Elm Street Bakery

Photo by Maria Pieroni

Alix Martin, Owner of redFish Art Studios With Me

Photo by Maria Pieroni

Book Table

Photo by Maria Pieroni

A Full Gallery

Photo by Maria Pieroni

Larry Buys 13 Copies?!

Photo by Maria Pieroni

Cheers!

Photo by Maria Pieroni

Mark Toasts with Summons by Robert Francis, our Wedding Poem

Photo by Maria Pieroni

I Sign Books Alongside the Doll Made by Dawne Hoeg 

and Above Robbin Gourley's Development Sketches

Photo by Maria Pieroni

This was a wonderful, magical night for me and for our whole family.  We were overwhelmed with gratitude for so many wonderful friends and colleagues and all of their generosity!  I will never forget any of it.

This week, reviewers and friends all around the Kidlitosphere have been generous toward my first book, and I am incredibly grateful for so many kind words and warm welcomes. I'm beginning to organize the reviews in two places if you are interested in reading any of them - here at my website, and on this Pinterest board.  If you are a reviewer who would like a review copy, please just send an e-mail with your address, to amy at amylv dot com, and I will be happy to ask Clarion to send you a copy.  

And now.....onto National Poetry Month.....beginning on Monday, April 1!  Last year, I took a Dictionary Hike.  This year, my April poetry project will be called 'Drawing into Poems'. Each day of the month, I am going to slow myself down, look closely at something, draw it, and take notes around my drawing. I'll photograph and share the drawing and notes on The Poem Farm each day. From time-to-time, at least on Fridays, I'll share a poem inspired by my drawings and notes. The purpose of this project is to help me see more clearly and to help me linger on images.

Voting begins soon in the Final Four (Round 5) in this year's Think Kid, Think! Competition with Ed DeCaria. Head on over here to vote....voting begins soon.

You can begin planning your blog visits for National Poetry Month by starting at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama is keeping a running list of everyone's various poetry projects around the Kidlitosphere.  And for more inspiration, visit poets.org.

Mary Lee is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Year of Reading.  Visit her to find out what's happening poetry-wise in the Kidlitosphere today....  

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!