Falling Pears & September Chalking

Today is Chalk-a-bration, a celebration of poetry in chalk rounded up each last-day-of-the-month by Chalk-a-bration founder, teacher and blogger Betsy Hubbard. Stop by Betsy's blog, Teaching Young Writers, to visit other chalk poems and hey - why not chalk your own and share with us!

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

Students -Today's poem is about exactly what our family is doing at exactly this moment in time.  Picking pears.  And apples.  This fall's harvest at The Poem Farm is glorious, and we are gathering all we can from branches and ground.  Yesterday we filled four bags of pears, and today I will chop some up and dry them in our dehydrator for snacks through winter.

You will see that today's poem is short, does not rhyme, and simply stops a moment in a season.  It is a haiku, I suppose, though it does not beat out the 5/7/5 syllables we may first consider when thinking about haiku.  Yesterday, as I watched our children climb this tree and shake the branches, I thought, "It is raining pears!"  I will try to post a video of today's shaking as it is quite amazing to watch so many pears fall at once.  One must get out of the way!

Watching seasons carefully for signs and beauties and surprises is a wonderful way to sneak up on a poem idea. Try it. Look outside.  Walk in a natural place.  What is changing?  What strikes you?  Try writing a few short lines of your observation.  Let it be short.  Include only what matters.

If you would like to read more about haiku and Issa, a well-loved haiku writer, this book with story and translations by Matthew Bollub and illustrations by Kazuko G. Stone, is a great place to go.

Read More at Indie Bound

Our Pear Tree

Photo by Amy LV

My Sweater Pocket

Photo by Amy LV

Happy Chalk-a-bration!  Thank you, Betsy!

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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Poetry Friday Is Here!

Welcome 

to...

Written Critter
by Amy LV

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

Students - This poem comes from two happenings that have been swirling in my brain this week.  The first happening is that I've been working on a new project and hoping that people will feel kindly toward it.  The second happening is that our children have been catching Northern rebelly snakes and twirling them around their fingers and hands.  Pets and poems.  We need to take care of both.

And now, a bit of news.  I am very happy to announce the title of my second book with Clarion!  WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS is currently under contract, and I could not be more grateful.  I am very thankful to both my agent, Elizabeth Harding, and my editor, Dinah Stevenson, for believing in this collection.  WITH MY HANDS is dear to me as I believe deeply in the power of working with our hands, the power of making.  I will let you know when this pile of typed poems becomes a real holdable book.

Poetry Friday is a special day for those of us who love poetry and visit it all around the Kidlitosphere each week.  This is a time when we gather around to celebrate words and each other.  I feel lucky to have good friends in here, friends who enrich my life even when they do not know they are doing so.  We welcome everyone to join on in, so please enjoy the links below and feel free to leave your own.

Because I will be away for much of the day, I am allowing Mister Linky the pleasure of helping me host.  Kindly leave your information below.


I look forward to visiting everyone's blogs throughout the weekend.  Happy Poetry Friday!

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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Flower - Poems of Address

The Angeliques Have Arrived!

Photo by Amy LV

This poem

is trying

to be

a book.

xo, Amy

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

Students - The picture you see at the top of this post is actually a picture of tulip bulbs, not seeds.  I have always thought that bulbs are amazing, and this particular type of bulb is one of my favorites - Angelique Tulips. Years ago, Susan Mendel, the wonderful school principal where I was a fifth grade teacher, had these tulips in her yard.  I've thought about her tulips for 15 years...and last spring I ordered some for our home here in Western New York.  They just arrived last week, and so I'll be getting some dirt under the ol' fingernails this week. Spring will be so exciting!  When the Angeliques come up, I'll show you how pretty they are.

Today's poem is a poem of address, in which I speak directly TO the flower.  When you write a poem, you might ask yourself if it would be a good idea to try out this technique. Instead of talking ABOUT a cat or AS a cat, you might speak directly TO the cat.  This gives the reader a neat scenario to imagine!

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, Kimberly Kuntz has opened her prayer journals for us to learn about this important way she writes through her life.  

This week, from September 22 - September 28,  is Banned Books Week!  It is important that we stand up for books, all books, even ones that express ideas and viewpoints with which we disagree.  Last year I wrote this poem, Are You There, God? in honor or Banned Books Week.

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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Weaving True with Dream - Writing from Stories

Love
Photo by Amy LV

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

Students - This poem is based on a true story that my teacher friend, Nicolette, told me just this fall.  One of Nicolette's students wrote a beautiful story about cutting a piece of her blanket to give to her little brother when he got hurt.  I have been thinking about this story ever since I first heard it, and even though I didn't really see it happen, writing lets me pretend.  See, I know that the first part is true, and I imagined the second part with the "I love yous".  Writing lets us weave true with dream.

I probably also wrote this poem because my friend Karen recently told me a kindness story about her sons.  You can't hear or read or write too many stories or poems about kindness. We can make the world a more gentle place by sharing the kindness stories we see and hear.

You may be wondering why this poem is so full of the word 'and'.  'And' is a word that I usually try to minimize - even eliminate - in my poems, but I wanted today's poem to have an almost breathless-storytelling feeling, to just roll away...and so I left all of those 'ands'  in there.

When I finished writing today's verse, I realized that it had a familiar sound.  Something about the rhythm made me think about a poem I already know.  I think I am being reminded of a David McCord poem I love very much, "I Have a Book" which ends like this, also with a rolling away feeling -

Now there isn’t any lady
and there isn’t any knight,
and there never was a horse,
so there never was a fight.
And the book all by itself
is sort of lonely on the shelf.

Do pay attention to the stories you hear and watch.  It is not necessary for us to only write about what happens directly to us.  Writers can be moved and changed and inspired by others and others' stories and lives.  Pay attention to kindness. Write about it.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I welcome teacher Kimberly Kuntz with her prayer journals.  Come and read about another way to keep a notebook in your life.

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is over at The Opposite of Indifference with Tabatha Yeatts. Visit her inspiring online home to find more poetry and poetry friends.

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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Snake Sheds - What's On Your Desk?

Complete Snake Shed Found by Henry
Photo by Amy LV

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

Students - This photograph is of a snake shed that our son Henry found outside.  It's a special one because it's all in one piece.  You can even see the eye holes!

Eye Holes Close Up

Photo by Amy LV

I didn't know what I would write about this morning, but I knew that I wanted to write something.  So I sat myself down at my desk, looked up, and there it was: this snake shed. Immediately, I began writing the first few words, and immediately I knew that the poem would be long and skinny just like a snake.  This is called a concrete poem, where the shape of the words matches the meaning of the poem.

At first, this poem was going to be a poem about Medusa, my husband's high school class snake.  The other week, Mark had his school picture taken with Medusa (Dusy) around his neck.  She is shedding her skin right now too, and well...maybe I just have snakes on the brain.

Dusy Sheds in September and Hope says, 

"Wow! It looks like Dusy Exploded!"

Photo by Mark LV

Bio Note from Mark VanDerwater, Science Teacher:  Bio note: each eye is covered by its own single scale that is embedded in the rest of the snakes skin (kinda like goggles) and explains why they don't blink.

One thing I'm realizing is that the more interesting things I have around me, the more interesting poems I can write.  Last Friday I wrote about acorns, today a snake shed. Collecting objects helps me to write.

What neat objects do you place in your writing space?  What do you keep nearby that inspires you?  Teachers - what beautiful or curious or fascinating objects might you bring in or invite students to bring in to school?  Here is a beautiful book about keeping a nature table; I may have mentioned it before.

Shop Locally!

You can read about snake sheds here at wiseGEEK and watch a snake shed its skin below.

Dan Bailey shares his musical notebooks at Sharing Our Notebooks, and today is the last day to enter the giveaway of a musical notebook!

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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Gatherer - Collecting Bits of Seasons

One of Many

by Amy LV

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

Note from September 16, 2013 - Over the weekend, I listened to this poem in my head many times and decided that 'September' would sound better in the last line than 'October'.  I made this change in the written text but not in the recording.  Which do you like better?  Why?

Students - I am getting back into my notebook, making a more regular writing schedule. You may be doing this too as school is just starting near where I live.  Some of you have been in school for a month or more, and those of you who live across the world from me in Buffalo, NY...you are not near summer at all!  I do always find this so neat to think about.

Getting back to a writing time feels so good to me, like a change of seasons on my insides. And I'm noticing the change of seasons outside too.  This week I have been home much more than lately, and I keep hearing a certain sound.

CLANG!

That's the sound of an acorn plunking onto our big metal mailbox, and it's the music outside my writing window this week.  On Wednesday morning, waiting with our children at the bus stop, I picked a bowl full of acorns to bring inside.  Just to have.  I will glue their tops back on this weekend.

(At first, part of me felt guilty about gathering so many acorns because I thought I should "leave them for the squirrels and chipmunks."  The reality is that we have almost no squirrels here in the country, and the chipmunks have been scared permanently underground or elsewhere by our five cats.  Remembering this, my worries disappeared.

Here at Mass Audubon you can read some interesting information about oak trees and acorns and how they grow.  You can read about mast years at AccuWeather too.

Teachers and Parents - here at yoga set free is a beautiful post I read about a mast year last year - and what exactly so much abundance can mean to all of us.

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts.  There you will find many connections, links, poems, poetry thoughts, and wonderful people too...  We all welcome you to join us for poetry fun each and every Poetry Friday throughout the year. See my sidebar - or any participant's sidebar - to learn where to find us each week.

If you have not yet visited Dan Bailey's music notebooks at my notebooks blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, you still have three days to enjoy that peek as well as enter to win a beautiful musical notebook.

Autumn Desk

Photo by Amy LV

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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Giving the Blobfish a Voice

Trophy
Photo by Henry LV

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

Students - I just had to write this poem after reading today's news story about a recent contest sponsored by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.  The blobfish won as "ugliest animal" by thousands of votes.  I could not help but wonder what the blobfish think.  What would you think if you won this prize?

Life is full of stories and facts and all kinds of interesting tidbits.  Part of the joy of writing is choosing which ones to spend time with and doodle about in our notebooks.  Sometimes, like today, the doodling about is plain fun.  Sometimes it is more serious.

What grabbed you in the news this week?  Don't let anything slip by your writing mind.

Today's not a regular posting day here at The Poem Farm, but this was too good to pass up.

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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Water Wonders with Wonderopolis

Wondrous Jerusalem Artichokes

by Georgia LV

Students - This is a poem I wrote for Wonderopolis, one of my favorite websites. I have been lucky enough to be a part of a Wonderopolis post (the Try It Out section of Wonder #575 "What is a Poetry Slam?") and also part of a WonderChat on Twitter.  Today's poem will be part of a new FAMILY GUIDE TO WONDER which will be a fantastic resource for parents and all kinds of family members looking for neat ways to learn and spend time together.

You'll notice that this poem is a list poem.  I've been thinking about wonders and wondering poems for some time, and then, "Poof!" one day this first line popped into my head.  The rest of the poem just followed right along, like wordy ducks in a row.  Sometimes writing is like that.  You just let something roll around in your head and heart for a long time, and then a good line comes out and takes you by surprise.

There was one glitch in writing this verse: choosing a last line was really tricky.  I kept wavering between "Wallow in wonder/wherever you go" and "Let wonder enchant you/wherever you go".  For now I have settled on wallowing because that word is just plain fun to say along with all of the other 'w's in this poem.

Last lines are important.  Pay attention to your parting words in a poem.  They matter.

Today is Monday, and school is back in session 'round these parts of Western New York. This means I will be back to posting twice each week, on Mondays and Fridays.  I welcome you to join me for poems, poem ideas, and sharing your own poems if you wish.

Happy fall!

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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Visit Sharing Our Notebooks to peek in all kinds of notebooks.

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Hermit Crab - Mask Poems

Looking for a Home
by Amy LV

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

Students - This is a mask poem, a poem written in the voice of something else - a hermit crab.  Our children had hermit crabs as pets for a time, and Georgia's first grade teacher kept a hermit crab as a class pet. I will never forget how Mrs. Kellner invited the children to write poems for Gus when he died partway through the school year.

It's neat to pretend to be something else, and mask poems are one of my favorite kinds of poems to write.  You can find more mask poems - and other types of poems - here at the FIND A POEM section of The Poem Farm.

Pianist Daniel Bailey opens his music notebooks for us this week over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks.  Stop on by, peek at Dan's music, and listen to him play.  You may even win a music notebook of your own!  If you're interested in keeping a notebook or teaching students about notebooks, this blog is getting fuller and richer by the week.

Laura Shovan is our host of today's Poetry Friday round up.  Visit Author Amok to join the festivities and read about what is happening in the our poetry community this week.

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!