The Poem Farm

April 17 - a good meal

April 18 - their notes

April 19 - the show

Here is poem 20 -

Students - One thing I always find interesting during a National Poetry Month project is that as the month goes on, I find myself wanting to use words that I know have appeared in other poems, words that I do not wish to repeat. This month, when this has happened, I flip through my deck of listen poem cards and check, "Did I already use this word?" If so, I find a new one. Today I considered and rejected these: secret, whisper, soft, sing. You can see lots of scribbling out in the draft above!

I have mentioned many different things to notice about poems this month and am wondering what you notice I tried as a writer in today's short verse. What do you notice about the sounds? The way the words lay on the page? The title? Thinking about another's poem, whether you like the poem or not, can give a person ideas for their own writing.

Hmm. I am realizing that both yesterday's poem and today's poem are about performances...the brain is, indeed, a curious place!

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

May you find the secrets that live inside of you!

xo,

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Sunday, April 19, 2026

listen - day 19

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

April 17 - a good meal

April 18 - their notes

Here is poem 19 -

Students - It is a rainy morning here today, and when I can on rainy mornings, I enjoy staying in bed for a few extra minutes, listening to rainmusic. Any kind of rain sounds soothe me, from a gentle pattering to a wild thunderstorm. There is something very cozy about being an inside listener while the world is being watered.

Again, you'll notice some personification as I make the rain do a human act (tap dance) and a snip of unexpected rhyme.

My small poems this month have all focused on sounds that I like. Yes, there are sounds I do not like, but I have chosen not to write about those - part of this month's practice is to help me become a better listener, and part of this month's practice is to help me become more grateful.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Don't forget your umbrella!

xo,

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Saturday, April 18, 2026

listen - day 18

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

April 17 - a good meal

Here is poem 18 -

Students - Today's poem rhymes. I did not intend to write a rhyming poem. In fact, I have been focusing on not rhyming this month. At times, though, a rhyme just sneaks in a poem's side door, and this happened above. I was not thinking about rhyming, but rather about whether to choose the word sings (used already this month, in April 3rd's "spring peepers") or whistles (used in April 4th's "tea") or hums. I was thinking about how I like the word secretly, the idea that someone can give a gift without even knowing it.

This poem is about the sound of a person's voice, my second poem this month including the human voice (the first being yesterday's "a good meal".) You may remember a poem from this month that included an unseen person - "beep, beep, beep" from April 9.

Can you think of a phrase or sound that you like to hear from someone else? Maybe a nickname or a shared secret? This could be a possible door or window into your own poem or story.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Hum on, my friends!

xo,

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Friday, April 17, 2026

listen - day 17

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 17 -

Students - Did you ever laugh so hard you cried? Laugh so hard you almost forgot why you were laughing? Laugh so hard in a place where you should not be laughing at all? I have done all three, and each time, I feel more full, more me. Laughter, is, indeed like a good meal. And if you noticed that my poem is a metaphor (a poem that compares one thing to another) with the title as the thing I compare laughter to....you got it! Laughter is a good meal. Both make us feel full of goodness.

Go ahead and try this if you wish. Think of a sound. Compare that sound in your poem to another thing in the world, but do not name that thing. Instead, let that second thing become the title of your poem!

Heidi is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at my juicy little universe with a lively recorded conversation about teaching poetry to elementary aged students.. Each Poetry Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Tell a joke! Make someone laugh today!

SNORT!

xo,

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Thursday, April 16, 2026

listen - day 16

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 16 -

Students - Lately, a lot of people have been using the Merlin app, an app that will identify all of the birds singing or calling around you at any given time. As with so much technology, something about this seems magical, so much information instantly in our hands, at the quick press of a button. It's great in many ways. In other ways, I wonder if we lose something. Sometimes I am aok with not identifying something, not knowing, just lying back in the mystery. I know that mystery might not be enjoyable for everyone and that it's not even a mystery at all - just something I personally don't know - but all the same, I'm sometimes very good with not knowing something.

Today's poem is in three wee stanzas. The first simply makes an observation. The second offers a thought about the observation. The third offers an opposing thought about that same observation. I find it interesting to look at a poem after writing it, to name what happens in the different parts. Sometimes I plan it out ahead of time; usually it plans itself out, and I learn what happened after it's complete. As writers, we can read our and others' writing to see how it fits together, then we can consciously and subconsciously use what we learn in our new writing.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Can you hear a bird calling or singing right now? If you want to learn its name, see if you can figure it out or use a tool. If you don't want to know it's name, that's good too.

xo,

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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

listen - day 15

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems

Here is poem 15 -

Students - Earlier this month I was lying in bed in the quiet dark air, and suddenly I became aware of my heartbeat. The sound that people usually use to describe the beating of a heart is lub-dub, and to me this lub-dub sounds like footfalls, as if my blood is taking a hike through my blood vessels and arteries and heart...and you know what? It is! My heart is always beating, blood always lub-dub-hiking, and I usually just don't notice. This month of listening-noticing has been a wonderful gift to myself. How lucky I am to have a working heart.

Researching the work of blood, I read a bit about other body sounds. We make all kinds of noises related to food, and people sneeze and yawn with their own style. Do you make stretching noises in the morning or little satisfied noises when you eat or sighs when you're thinking or hums when you're happy? You might consider making a little list of sounds that come from you body. Maybe one will give you a writing idea.

You'll note that I use a lot of repetition here. That's because I wanted to mimic the sound of a heartbeat, alternating the lub-dub with each different line. And yes. This is a metaphor. Blood does not REALLY take a walk with feet as a complete body does, but blood can take a walk in a poem. Metaphor helps us see things anew.

Today I am grateful to spend time in two schools in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Thank you to Byrd School and Hamilton School for welcoming me on this, the halfway point of National Poetry Month. I am so happy to be spending this fifteenth day of April with you.

To learn about many of the wonderful National Poetry Month projects happening online this April, visit the generous Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

May your heart feel full today...

xo,

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Tuesday, April 14, 2026

listen - day 14

National Poetry Month 2026 Poems