Repeat What Matters to You

Happy Poetry Friday! The roundup is here today.

Heart in Snow

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is about something I have been thinking about lately: ways to be good. And I wrote about it in the form of a triolet. I write many triolets here, and I've shared the following words about them in this space before as well:

A triolet is one of my favorite forms. I enjoy the rolling repetition and the way a writer can emphasize an idea simply by repeating it according to the form's rules. You will notice that lines 1, 4, and 7 match, as do lines 2 and 8.  If you look carefully, you will also notice that the rhyme scheme is: ABaAabAB. If you read it aloud and listen verrrry closely, you may notice that the poem is written in iambic pentameter, ten syllables per line with the accents reading daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM.

The main thoughts that matter to me in today's poem are:

1. One can be one's best self in many different ways.

2. True goodness will not always be celebrated.

I think that this may be the first time that I have broken up the lines of a triolet as I usually keep them all in one eight-line stanza. I made today's line breaks, as one does, to emphasize the meaning of the lines I wish to stand out:

There are so many ways one can be good.

One cannot judge what matters by confetti.

When you write this week, you may consider repeating a line, either in your poems or in your prose. Repetition helps a reader focus, even when the reader doesn't realize it, and a writer can use repetition in different ways. Pay close attention to your reading to notice how your favorite writers use repetition to make something clear: a word, a phrase, a symbol, an action. Why might these repeat? Try what you admire.

Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community. I'm hosting today, and if you have a link to leave, I welcome you to do so below. Whether you leave a link or not, you are most welcome to click around and explore for inspiration and goodness.

I wish you warmth and peace this week.

xo,

Amy

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Look for Messages & Make Meaning

One Feather

Photo by Amy LV

Students - A big question that people often ask out loud or wonder to themselves is, What is the meaning of life? I wonder this too, and lately I have decided to believe that the meaning of life is the meaning we give our lives. We can choose what matters to us and live our lives according to these beliefs. So, looking for small messages and giving them meaning is giving me joy.

It is summer here in Western New York, and a hot summer indeed. To get exercise and experience more of the elements, I am striving to walk in water for one hour each day. This might be at the YMCA pool or in a creek with a friend or on very special days, in Lake Erie. The feather I found last week was on one of those Lake Erie days. It called to me, and I find myself thinking about the seagull who left it behind.

Today's eight lines are written in a form called a triolet. I very much enjoy writing triolets, and you will find several of them here at The Poem Farm. You will notice that lines 1, 4, and 7 are exactly the same, as are lines 2 and 8.  If you look carefully, you will also notice that the rhyme scheme is: ABaAabAB. If you read it aloud and listen verrrry closely, you may notice that the poem is written in iambic pentameter, ten syllables per line with the accents reading daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM. 

This week, consider looking for messages. Know that a message counts as a message if you believe it to be a message...anything counts! Make meaning of your life. Give meaning to feathers and sweet snowflakes and the smell of maple syrup and a song that plays on the radio at the very perfect time. Decide what the message means to you, and maybe write about it. (Yes, I still do need to decide what the feather-message is for me.)

If you wish to try a bit of a triolet, try repeating a line or two...or choose two rhyming words to thread through a poem, or write something with eight lines. One need not follow every form rule to try something new.

Jan is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Bookseedstudio with a focus on resilience. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Life can be tough sometimes. And so, this week, I wish you magical messages big and small, in every sense from sight to smell to taste to touch to hearing.

xo,

Amy

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HELLO MY NAME IS - Day 23

Happy National Poetry Month!

(Feel free to search for poems in the sidebar or watch videos in the tab above.)

Hello, Poetry Friends! This month I am sharing poems written in the voice of Little Red Riding Hood, and I invite you to join me in writing in the voice of someone else too. You might choose a fairy tale character or a book character or a person from history or anyone else real or imagined. These are your poems, so you make the decisions. Each April day, I will share my poem and a little bit about writing poetry. Mostly, we’ll just be writing in short lines with good words and not worrying about rhyming. Meaning first. Our focus this month will be adopting the perspective of another…for 30 days. I invite you to join me in this project! To do so, simply:

1. Choose a character from fiction or history or somewhere else in the world of space and time, and commit to writing a daily poem in this person's voice for the 30 days of April 2025. You might even choose an animal.

2. Write a new poem for each day of April. Feel free to print and find inspiration from this idea sheet that I will be writing from all month long.

Teachers, if you wish to share any HELLO MY NAME IS... subjects or poems, please email them to me at the contact button above. I would love to read what your students write and learn from how they approach their own projects.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD'S POEMS SO FAR

April 1 - First Poem

April 2 - My Name

April 3 - Red

April 4 - Frank

April 5 - The Big Bad Wolf Had Been a Stray

April 6 - 8am on a Sunday

April 7 - Her Real Name is Orla Lola Bruin

April 8 - My Neighborhood

April 9 - Mushroom Hunters

April 10 - From Coat to Cloak

April 11 - Speaking of Coats

April 12 - Forgiveness is a Gift

April 13 - Here

April 14 - Running Home

April 15 - Nan's Apple Pie

April 16 - I Ask Nan How to Make Apple Pie

April 17 - untitled haiku

April 18 - The Right Thing to Do

April 19 - I Have Read it Six Times

April 20 - Bookmark

April 21 - A Note on the Doorstep

April 22 - Cozy Memory

And now for today!

Students - Today's poem is a triolet, a form I really like writing in. oday I wrote this one by looking at another triolet I wrote a while ago and copied the form just from looking at the lines. What do you notice about this form just by comparing the two triolets below?

You can read more about the triolet form in my February 27, 2025 post if you wish to learn the specifics.

Well, we are winding up the last days of National Poetry Month, and to give myself more choices, I added a few possibilites for poem topics. Feel free to add these to your grid and mind and heart if you wish:

• A Big Feeling
• A Wish
• A Word I Like
• A Wonder
• Just a Thought
• Wild Card!/Anything!/Blank Card of Choice

Here you can see where I have been keeping track of this month's poems. This organizational sheet has been helping me all month, and it is also giving me some ideas about planning future projects. It's messy, just like I am.

Amy LV's National Poetry Month Planning Sheet

Photo by Amy LV

Today I am traveling for eight days of school visits away from home. Thank you in advance to the teachers, students, parents, and administrators at Seely Place Elementary and Greenville Elementary in Scarsdale, NY and those of GW Miller Elementary in Nanuet, NY. I so look forward to my time with your writers.

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's Kidlitosphere poetry happenings. And if you are interested in learning about or writing from any of my previous 14 National Poetry Month projects, you can find them here. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.

If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

with a parent or as part of a group with your teacher.

HELLO MY NAME IS - Day 5

    Happy National Poetry Month!

(Feel free to search for poems in the sidebar or watch videos in the tab above.)

Hello, Poetry Friends! This month I am sharing poems written in the voice of Little Red Riding Hood, and I invite you to join me in writing in the voice of someone else too. You might choose a fairy tale character or a book character or a person from history or anyone else real or imagined. These are your poems, so you make the decisions. Each April day, I will share my poem and a little bit about writing poetry. Mostly, we’ll just be writing in short lines with good words and not worrying about rhyming. Meaning first. Our focus this month will be adopting the perspective of another…for 30 days. I invite you to join me in this project! To do so, simply:

1. Choose a character from fiction or history or somewhere else in the world of space and time, and commit to writing a daily poem in this person's voice for the 30 days of April 2025. You might even choose an animal.

2. Write a new poem for each day of April. Feel free to print and find inspiration from this idea sheet that I will be writing from all month long.

Teachers, if you wish to share any HELLO MY NAME IS... subjects or poems, please email them to me at the contact button above. I would love to read what your students write and learn from how they approach their own projects.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD'S POEMS SO FAR

April 1 - First Poem

April 2 - My Name

April 3 - Red

April 4 - Frank

And now for today!

Students - Today's poem is a triolet, an eight line poem with lines one, four, and seven repeating and lines two and eight repeating. Lines one, four, and seven also rhyme with line three and five, and lines two and eight also rhyme with line six. Each line of this poem has eight syllables...and as it happens,

so does the title, which also is part of the rhyme. (The title part is not usual for a triolet. I am just feeling especially playful today.) This poem form is one of my favorites, and if you wish to read more of my triolets, just search "triolet" in the search bar on the left.

If you would like to play with the triolet form, you need not rhyme and repeat in all of the ways. Perhaps decide to write an eight line poem that simply repeats lines two and six. Or choose two pairs of rhymes to thread through your poem. It can help to begin a poem with a wee bit of a plan, though I certainly do not always do this at all. And of course, often a plan must go by the wayside for a fresh new idea that just appears like a shooting star.

I look forward to spending today at the Burchfield Penny Art Center's Family Day where six local authors will read their books and children will be invited to participate in a variety of art activities.

Thank you for joining me on this fifth day of HELLO MY NAME IS...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's Kidlitosphere poetry happenings. And if you are interested in learning about or writing from any of my previous 14 National Poetry Month projects, you can find them here. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.

If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

with a parent or as part of a group with your teacher.

Try a Piece of a Triolet

Patterns and Travels

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I feel fortunate to once again share a musical version of my poem by my friend Gart Westerhout, a professor, composer, pianist, singer, and director of a musical theater in Japan. We met through the internet, through poetry and music, and while I always have concerns about the internet, finding good and talented friends in this way brings me joy. Thank you, Gart!

Yesterday I was driving home from the credit union over the snowy Western New York 

hills and had this thought, I want to write another triolet! And so last night, I did so. Isn't it neat how

our brains can just make decisions and then follow through? And the more little things we learn, the 

more ideas we give our brains to chew on and try out. Today's poem is about a friend, a friend from a 

faraway place. Many of us have and love such friends.

A triolet is, indeed, one of my favorite forms. I enjoy the rolling repetition and the way a writer can emphasize an idea simply by repeating it according to the form's rules. You will notice that lines 1, 4, and 7 match, as do lines 2 and 8.  If you look carefully, you will also notice that the rhyme scheme is: ABaAabAB. If you read it aloud and listen verrrry closely, you may notice that the poem is written in iambic pentameter, ten syllables per line with the accents reading daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM, daDUM.

Now, while this can be a lot to keep track of (it helps me to reread and look at another triolet I've written as I write: This Beet II, Wintertimes, Triolet for a Stone), it's also interesting to simply experiment with one technique from a particular form. Maybe write a poem about a friend you have or can imagine. Maybe try any one of these crafting techniques:

• writing an 8-line poem
• repeating a line two or three times
• keeping the same number of syllables in each line
• making your first two lines match your last two

Experimenting with forms gives us new ways to play with old ideas.

Next Monday! You are all invited to join many of the children's poetry community in celebrating a new Candlewick poetry anthology by Irene Latham and Charles Waters - IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY: POEMS OF POSSIBILITY. Register your class here at The Writing Barn to hear many poets (including me) read their IF poems aloud.

Find This Book at Bookshop.org

Thank you to Denise for hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Dare to Care. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I wish you friends from near and far, friends you understand and love and who understand and love you right back. May you be such a friend to yourself.

xo,

Amy

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If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

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ONE MORE LINE CROW - Day 8

 Happy National Poetry Month!

(For new poetry writing videos, see the COAXING POEMS tab above.)

This month I am studying crows, sharing a new crow poem each day of April. The number of lines in each poem will correspond to the date, with a 1-line poem on April 1...and a 30-line poem on April 30. If you'd like to play along, simply choose a topic that you'd like to explore for 30 days. It might be a subject that you already know a lot about or perhaps you'll explore something new.

I invite you to join me in this project! 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a subject that you would like to stick with for 30 days. You might choose something you know lots about...or like me, you might choose something you will read and learn about throughout April.

3. Write a new poem for each day of April 2024, corresponding the number of lines in your poem to the date. For example, the poem for April 1 will have 1 line. The poem for April 14 will have 14 lines. The poem for April 30 will have 30 lines. OR....invent your own idea! And if you start later in April, just play around however you wish.

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share any ONE MORE LINE... subjects or poems, please email them to me or tag me @amylvpoemfarm. I would love to see what your students write and to know that we are growing these lines...and our understandings of different subjects...together.

Below you may read the first poems:

April 1 - High in a Pine

April 2 - First Baby Picture

April 3 - Nestling Crow Appreciates

April 4 - Thirty Days Old

April 5 - Young Crow with his Sparkling Blue Eyes

April 6 - Free

April 7 - To Persevere

And now for today!

Eight Crows, Eight Lines

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This poem is written in a special form called a triolet.  You will notice that lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same, as are lines 2 and 8.  If you look carefully, you will also notice that the rhyme scheme is: abaaabab. I love the looping and swooping feeling of repetition in a triolet, and the rolling repetition of this form matched my hope for today, April 8...the day that needed an eight line poem.

Thank you for joining me for ONE LINE CROW...

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month!

xo,

Amy

ps - If you are interested in learning about any of my previous 13 National Poetry Month projects, you may do so here.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

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If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

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Another Beet, Another Triolet

 

Beets and Pink Fingers

Photo by Amy LV

The Same Beets, Roasted

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Well....

It took over a year (see my post from February 22, 2022), but I like beets now! In that post, I promised that I would report back by that weekend's end on how it went with eating the beet in my photo. I never did report back and never did eat that beet. It ended up on the compost pile along with my good intentions.

But a few weeks ago, we visited our good friends Katie and Dave for dinner. Part of dinner was boiled beets with butter. And being a polite guest, I ate some. 

They were yummy! So yummy, in fact, that (never to do a thing moderation), I bought a 25 pound bag of beets and have been roasting them and making beet fries. I find myself wishing that I could eat last year's beet today,

25 Pounds of Beets

Photo by Amy LV

Since this is a follow-up poem to a triolet, I responded with a triolet. A triolet - you may remember - is an eight-line poem with a special rhyming pattern that goes like this: ABaAabAB. This means that lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same exact words so of course they rhyme with each other. Lines 2 and 8 are the same exact words, so of course they rhyme with each other, and line 6 rhymes with them. Lines 3 and 5 rhyme with lines 1, 4, and 7. Go ahead and check, and while you're at it, see what you notice about the syllable counts in each line. It's fun to do that.

I like the way that triolets circle around with repeating lines. Not only are they cool to write, I find them interesting to read, almost musical.

This week consider playing with repetition in your poems. If you don't want to tackle a triolet, perhaps choose a line or two to repeat a time or two. Or play with counting syllables. To me, this is a challenging and rewarding puzzle.

Claude, My Assistant

(Our son says he looks like a cat who would wear "little round glasses.")

Photo by Amy LV

Laura is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Small Reads for Brighter Days with wonderful book news (three books out this spring - congratulations, Laura!) and also an announcement about her 2023 National Poetry Month Project, "Digging for Poems." Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

Oh! Want to hear a crazy thing? Last February when I posted the first beet triolet...Laura was hosting that day too. Perhaps I will write a beet triolet each time she hosts - hee hee!

I hope for you that you will be happy to be wrong about something in the near future, just as I am happy to have been wrong about the goodness of beets.

xo,

Amy

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Weather and Form

This Morning at Home

Photo by Amy LV

Students - It is kicking off to be a snowy weekend here near Buffalo, NY where I call home! Last night we had about 8 inches of snow on the ground, and this morning we woke to another 12. It was a tricky morning to take the dogs for a walk.

Weather is always a giving writing topic, and today's dramatic weather (it's still falling) inspired me to write this poem. I began with the form of a triolet (learn about triolet poems HERE) and then changed the form to match what and how I wanted to write about this snow.

Remember: as a writer, you can take any form and:

1. Use the form as it is.

2. Change it as you wish.

3. Combine it with another form.

4. Begin writing in the form and then toss it out the window.

You are the the decision maker in your own writing, and the more we learn about forms and possibilities, the more choices we know about and can work with.

Jama is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup with an exquisite Thanksgiving buffet. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

I am thankful for you.

How Much Will Fall?

Photo by Amy LV

xo,

Amy

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Triolet for a Beet

 

Beet on Quilt

Beet by Mother Nature

Quilt by Eileen Kisicki

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I have never been a fan of beets. The color? Yes indeed! I love the color, so in that way I suppose I am a fan. But years as a diner waitress serving small bowls of pickled beets turned me away from them. 

This past Monday, my friend Tamara told me that I should eat beets to get more iron in my system. So I bought a beet. Now I need to eat it. The lines of the triolet above are the lines going through my head.

A triolet is an eight-line poem with a special rhyming pattern that goes like this: ABaAabAB. This means that lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same exact words so of course they rhyme with each other. Lines 2 and 8 are the same exact words, so of course they rhyme with each other, and line 6 rhymes with them. Lines 3 and 5 rhyme with lines 1, 4, and 7.  You can test this all in the poem above. I dedicate this one to Tamara, the friend who got me pondering beets.

This week, you may want to try writing a triolet of your own. Or if you don't want to go for the whole form, consider writing a poem with a few repeated lines. Maybe even choose the numbers of lines that you will repeat and where before writing. Writing. Is. Experimentation!

Or, consider writing a poem about (or to) something you do not like. See what arises.

As for me, I will cook that beet you see above. And by weekend's end, I will have a photo of what I cook as well as a report of how I feel about the taste. (Likely fries.) Maybe I will learn to like beets.

Teacher Friends - if you wish to see more of this type of poem, I pinned a few of my other triolets on Pinterest. You will see that I am doing some work there, trying to make my Pinterest world more useful for educators.

Laura is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Small Reads for Brighter Days with a warm and curious excerpt from her forthcoming book WE BELONG. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

I wish you a week of trying new things, even if you (think you) don't like them!

xo,

Amy

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Winter Triolet

Candle

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I adore candles. I love looking into a flame and thinking about the past and the now and the future. I like to play with the wax of a candle and to watch a flame flicker with a breeze or my breath. I am grateful for the tiny bit of warmth that one candle can offer. In these dark days of Western New York winter, candlelight is a gift of hope, and today I try to honor this gift with a few words.

What gives you hope? Might you write about it for the first time or again?

Today's poem is a special kind of poem called a triolet. You will note that it has 8 lines and lots of repetition. In a triolet, lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same. Lines 2 and 8 are the same. And the rhyme scheme goes like this: A B a A a b A B. In poetry language, this means that lines 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 end with the same rhyming sound as do lines 6 and 8. Notice the matching capital letters for the lines which match each other.

I like writing poems with strict forms sometimes because such writing forces my hand. This means that I have to work with what is given: number of lines, repetition, rhyme patterns. I have fewer choices to make and will often make interesting choices based on the constraint. For me, choice works like Goldilocks and her porridge: I don't like too much, and I don't like too little either. 

A triolet felt just right today, partly because no one made me do it. Rather, I read a triolet by my friend, Author and Poet Laura Shovan the other day. I believe that her fine writing placed this form firmly in my head.

And yes, I did write these in the middle of the night.  I finished it at 3:53am today.

Clock

Screenshot by Amy LV

Writing Longhand in Bed

(Gotta find my notebook!)

Photo by Amy LV

As we begin our stride into a new year, I wish each one of you beautiful days of light balancing darkness and hope balancing despair. Our world is full of both, and small bits of light shine brightly, whether they are candles or people. You are lights for me, and I am grateful.

Buffy is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at at Buffy's Blog with a fabulous review of a Liz Garton Scanlon's new beautiful book, ONE DARK BIRD, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness every week.

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.