Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2017! Students - Each day of April 2017, I will close my eyes, and I will reach into my box of 64 Crayola crayons.
Aerial View of Crayola Box
Photo by Georgia LV
Each day I will choose a crayon (without looking), pulling this crayon out of the box. This daily selected crayon will in some way inspire the poem for the next day. Each day of this month, I will choose a new crayon, thinking and writing about one color every day for a total of 30 poems inspired by colors.
I welcome any classrooms of poets who wish to share class poems (class poems only please) related to each day's color (the one I choose or your own). Please post your class poem or photograph of any class crayon poem goodness to our Writing the Rainbow Padlet HERE. (If you have never posted on a Padlet, it is very easy. Just double click on the red background, and a box will appear. Write in this box, and upload any poemcrayon sharings you wish.)
Here is a list of this month's Writing the Rainbow Poems so far:
(Comment on this 3/30 post for book drawing through 4/11)
And now...today's crayon. Dandelion!
Sturdy Flower
by Amy LV
Students - If you did not know that the Dandelion crayon was retired by Crayola just last week, now you do. You can read more about this in the NEW YORK TIMES if you wish. We don't know yet which new color will replace Dandelion, but as it's been around for 27 years, I was sad to see it go.
That's why I bought a box of 64 Dandelions as soon as I learned the news. (I also bought a box of 64 Silvers...just because.)
My new box of Dandelions is not here yet, but they're on the way. I never knew that a person could order a whole box of one color at Crayola's website. But now I do. If you ever need a Dandelion (or a Silver), give me a call.
If you are wondering whether I picked Dandelion for today's poem with my eyes open, for nostalgia's sake, I can assure you that I did not. I am very honest about these strange challenges. If this were not the case, you never would have seen CARNATION PINK and LAVENDER, two such similar crayon colors, as #1 and #2 of this project.
If you've visited The Poem Farm over time, you know that I do like dandelions. You might recall Dandelion Dot-to-Dot or Names Matter or Dandelion Grandmas. For today's poem, I kept in the same voice as the child from the April 1 and April 2 poems. I have a feeling that this character will follow me...and the crayons...all month long.
If you are Writing the Rainbow with me, you might choose to connect the color you choose today to a creature...or not. Colors can take us anywhere. And if you'd like to join in with us on our WRITING THE RAINBOW PADLET, please do!
Don't miss the links to all kinds of Poetry Month goodness up there in my upper left sidebar. Happy third day of National Poetry Month.
Please share a comment below if you wish.
Hooray for dandelions (and others who are strong and persistent and who grow through the cracks...I'm thinking of course of Malvina Reynolds' God Bless the Grass and all who fight for what's right in the world)!!
ReplyDeleteAppreciations for your color love
ReplyDeletepoem to Dandelions, Amy -
especially as shared in your fun
"Outside My Building," where you
salute
"growing in
unexpected places"
I too am a dandelion fan. It's not only their sun
color that I glom onto, but I salute the way they
fiercely promulgate themselves in urban grit
& washed out country gullies, alike.
Plus, sealing my dandelion love,
in Leon Adelson's story of words,
Dandelions Don't Bite, (ills. by Lou Myers)
the tale of how the shaggy tooth shape of
the leaves (melded via France and England) to be
Lion's tooth, then Tooth of the Lion (dent-de-lion.)
Love the ending, Amy. A beekeeper friend tells me that eveyrone should leave those "fiery faces" for the bees in early spring. They're often the only 'food' when the bees begin harvesting. They certainly are 'small and bold".
ReplyDeleteMy mother, who grew up in Auburn and Rome, NY, tells me that dandelions were important because when there were dandelions, she and her brother were allowed to go barefoot--spring and had sprung. I always assumed they grew up much later than April up north! They're everywhere here now and that would be quite a bit too early for me to go barefoot in Maryland! Loving your project, and thanks for the tip about a whole box of one color!
ReplyDeletePlaying around with your idea, I picked a color yesterday. It was...dandelion! (I guess now that it's retiring, it has more time on its hands!) I love how you used an urban setting to highlight those "flashing fluffy/fiery faces" and your ending brings it all to another level. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteLove those "flashing, fluffy, fiery faces," too! And your reassurance about your honesty for this project! And the links to other dandelion poems!
ReplyDeleteI love what you do for National Poetry Month. I posted this to Facebook. It was my pleasure to do so!
ReplyDelete