Coaxing Poems 2: Eat the World

 

Hello, Poetry Friends, and welcome to the second of ten little poetry visits starting off the New Year at The Poem Farm. In each of these short videos, I will share a small something about poetry, and you will always be able to find the poem I read below the video. You may find the first visit (January 5, 2024) linked below and you may wish to watch that one first:

Coaxing Poems Visit 1: We Are Libraries

If you wish, enjoy a few seconds of the wood fire that heats our home! Each autumn when I stack pile after pile of firewood, I think about the trees who once offered shade, homes for creatures, and various nuts and seeds. In these trees' second lives, they keep our family snug and warm. (Our kitties especially like warming up on the floor nearby.)

Students - It is fascinating to look around wherever we are, to think about what we see and smell, hear and feel. And we are able to see, smell, hear, and feel more when we are not constantly looking at phones, tablets, and video games. One writing tip is to be sure to eat the real world, friends....not just the digital world. The real world will offer you many ways to learn and be. We are changed by our surroundings, and through making poems and other art bits, we bring new meaning to these surroundings.

From today's visit I hope you will remember that a poem can live in the empty space between you and any image or object. You create something new in that space. It may be a poem, or it may be another piece of writing or music or art. What you make is a bit what you observe...and a lot what you bring to it.

Remember, too, that a poem need not rhyme. It can fall down the page in lines broken up as we choose. A poem might include a bit of repetition (orange hands) and personification (waving leaves like a human's waving hands.)

So, what will you eat from the world before writing this week? You might

• Look around the space you are in now
• Go someplace and look around that space
• Select a book and write from any picture or words you read in it
• Write from an object you are wearing or in your bag
• Find inspiration in a piece of art
• Watch people to unlock ideas
• Find new ways to pay attention

Educator Friends: I would love to hear if you are writing along with me during this series. Please comment below, email me at the contact button above, or tag me on social media if you wish to share.

Tracey is hosting this week's Poetry Friday over at Tangles and Tails with such an interesting timeline about the history of Monopoly tokens ending with a delightful poem for Thimble. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

ps - Claude asked me to show you this photo of him all toasty by his favorite fire....

Cozy Claude

Photo by Hope LV

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