Witch Decisions - Mask Poetry for Halloween

Vacuum...or Broom?

by Amy LV

 

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

Students - Today - Halloween - is a dress-up day, so I decided to dress up as a witch!  You might recognize this as a mask poem, a poem when the poet writes pretending to be someone else.  To write these lines, I sat with my notebook and began imagining problems a young witch might have.  Modern witches, like modern teenagers, may feel confused about when to use new technology. Should a witch use an app to write a spell or should she count on traditional magic?  Should she wear black jeans or a black dress?  For today's poem, I allowed my witch to stay a bit old fashioned.

For today, you might wish to write in the voice of someone else.  Pretend you are wearing a mask (maybe the one you will wear for Halloween tonight) and write in that voice.  Or write in the voice of an animal you know or an object sitting right near you right now.  What does that crayon being think about?  What struggles does a mermaid wish?  What does a rat wonder?

Usually I write poems longhand, in black pen or pencil into my notebook (also old fashioned, some might suggest).  And then, once I have crossed out and fiddled for some time, I type a poem up.  Below you can see the way I first typed this little poem.  Originally, it was in quatrains with the rhyming (or near rhyming) words at the ends of every other line.  Later, I decided to break the lines up a bit differently, to honor certain pauses...and the poem ended up as you see it above.  The rhymes, however, still match a quatrain pattern.

Witch Transportation

It cannot fly too high (the cord).

It sucks up every cloud.

It scares my own black cat.

It's heavy.  And it's loud.

Other witches cackle when

they see my shadow on the moon.

And so this Halloween I'll trade

my shiny vacuum for a broom.

When I was a little girl, some of my favorite books were the Dorrie the Little Witch books by Patricia Coombs.  If you don't know those great stories, you can read about them here at Vintage Kids' Books.  And from what I see here, it seems that several of the Dorrie titles have been reprinted.  Yay!

For older Halloween poems here at The Poem Farm, click on over to Pumpkin or Taking Stock.

If you did not read yesterday's post with Dee Michel (Eve Merriam's son), please be sure to stop by and see his magnificent edible books and hear about his childhood!

Here are some witch jokes for you!  Happy Halloween!

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!

Welcome to Dee Michel, Eve Merriam's Son!

Eve Merriam Photo, Poem, and Top of Edible Book

What a treasure I have in store for you today. A few weeks ago, I opened my e-mail to find this note from writer and retired librarian Dee Michel --

Hi Amy LV,
Eve Merriam was my mother, and I've been involved in a local Edible Book event here in Northampton, MA for the past several years.  When trying to find the photos online of my creation, I stumbled across your mentioning my mother's poem and then talking about the Edible Book fest just before.  Amazing.  So here's what I did last spring: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.349788398403031.72202.334159879965883&type=3

Here is Dee's edible book to go along with one of his mom's most well-loved poems, "How to Eat a Poem."

Dee's 2012 Edible Book 

Dee Michel and friends Laura Wenk and Mina Stern-Wenk 

(All worked on the fridge!)

Part-Eaten Poem, Part-Eaten Fridge

Cookies Baked for 4-Letter Word Magnets

Dee told more about his edible books --

I've been doing edible books for a few years and the title of this poem, "How to Eat a Poem," seemed perfect for an edible book, even though a poem is not a book. But I couldn't figure out how to embody it. Then, this year, I somehow happened on the idea of refrigerator magnets.

I think the edible book idea is so cool for so many reasons. First, folks interpret their books in a variety of unexpected ways, from 3-D actual books to scenes from stories to puns and rebuses to ... Second, the variety of folks doing it from kids to adults to kids and adults. Third, the community feeling. Fourth, the idea that it's evanescent art, like a Buddhist sand mandala, here today gone in a few hours.

The same week as the Edible Book event here in Northampton at the beginning of April 2012 was the 20th anniversary of my mother's death and by an amazing coincidence, I was on a radio show talking about her poetry.

My real fridge actually contains a bit of the Rice Krispie treat fridge that didn't get eaten. I also have the remains of a WIZARD OF OZ cake that the UMass library folks made for me at the opening of an exhibit I did for them quite a few years ago. 

Wizard of Oz Edible Book

And here is my edible version of BREAKFAST IN THE RAINFOREST.

Breakfast in the Rainforest Edible Book

I asked what it was like to be Eve Merriam's son --

My mother loved language play and kept notes on funny or insightful things my brother and I said when we were growing up. I remember her telling me that we loved the sound of the word "sycamore." When my mother pointed out sycamore trees in New York City (they are along Riverside Park and elsewhere in Manhattan), she told me that my brother and I would run around yelling, "Sycamore, sycamore, sick, sick, sycamore!"

Both she and my father loved the theater in general and musicals especially. They took me and my brother to Broadway and off Broadway shows when we were really young. I inherited this love and have quite a large collection of LP's, old-fashioned vinyl, especially of Broadway musicals. My mother told many interviewers that the lyrics of W.S. Gilbert were especially inspiring to her, and Mom and Dad also took us to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas when we were young.

Recently I was involved in the Dining Room Players, kids as young as 3 and 4, but also up to preteen, who put on Gilbert and Sullivan shows in one family's dining room. Each week in the winter they would film one scene and then a grown-up would edit it all into an hour or so video. I helped with props and sets and the program and getting a CD for all the parents. My partner and I were the only non-parental adults helping out.

Dee shared his favorite of his mother's poems --
     
Let's see. I think "Apple" from HALLOWEEN ABC.  (For more about this book, visit The Miss Rumphius Effect.)  In fact, back in the year 2000 in honor of National Poetry Month, Ginny Moore Kruse of the Cooperative Children's Book Center in Madison asked for people to nominate poems by NCTE award winners. Since my mother got the NCTE award in 1981 and I was at the ceremony in Boston, I had to nominate something. This is what I sent Ginnie Moore Kruse:

I remember the NCTE award dinner in Boston in 1981 quite well. I got to meet David McCord and Myra Cohn Livingston. Anyway, here is my nomination for favorite Merriam poem:

"Apple" from HALLOWEEN ABC

"You be good and I'll be night" from the book of the same name may
      be sillier and more fun to read out loud.
"Landscape" from FINDING A POEM critiques society more bitingly,
      it must be allowed.
"How to Eat a Poem" uses the same image of fruit being Eden; it is
      so often anthologized, it makes me proud.

Eve had an affinity for alphabet books and apples and puns.
For gleeful evil that hurts no one,
That elicits the squealing of kids having fun,
The surprise ending of "Apple" is just the one.
 
And here's the text -

Apple
by Eve Merriam

Apple, 
sweet apple, 
what do you hide?
Wormy and 
squirmy, 
rotten inside.

Apple, 
sweet apple, 
so shiny and red, 
taste it, 
don’t waste it,
come and be fed.

Delicious, 
malicious; 
one bite and 
you’re dead.

Dee told me about his favorite poems by others --

Oh gee. I always liked "The grasshopper" by David McCord, with its zigzaggy lines across the page. I memorized it in grade school, but of course the zigzagginess was lost when I said it out loud. I also like these from Ogden Nash:  "Babies,"  "Canary," "The Eel."  Once read, never forgotten.  Interesting how 3 out of 4 are animal poems. And all pretty light verse.

I asked what Dee plans to do with his edible book collection --

I'm just a saver. Don't have any plans. Would you like a piece?  I'd be happy to send it to you to admire/eat/toss ...

I said, "Yes, please!" And then yesterday, on the heels of Hurricane Sandy, this package came in the mail.

Package from October 29, 2012

I opened it up...

Surprise!

...and found parts of the rainforest bowl (lower left), a big chunk of poem refrigerator, and many trees and castle parts from Oz!

Goodies for Us!

Today our family is spending the day reading, preparing for Halloween, and nibbling on green trees, a chocolate bowl, and the refrigerator that goes along with one of my favorite poems.  Many thanks to a generous man, who we'd never met until just a few weeks ago!

To read more about Dee's edible books, click on the links below.

Dee's article about his first Edible Book Festival
Poem Ingredient Card
Rainforest and Oz Ingredient Cards

Eve Merriam was the author of poems for adults, poems for children, picture books, and more.  She won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 1981, and her book THE INNER CITY MOTHER GOOSE (1969), a frequently challenged book, inspired the Broadway musical, INNER CITY.  For more information about Eve Merriam, visit Poets.org.

Just One of Eve Merriam's Many Books

Available through Amazon

I am simply delighted today...to have a new friend who loves edible book festivals as much as I do, to crunch on these books, to know Eve Merriam's son, my new pen pal!  Thank you so much, Dee, for finding me, for sharing your photos and stories, and for goodies in word and food.  I cannot wait to see your next edible book.

Sycamore!

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!

Spinwishes - Writing from Objects

My Kaleidoscope

Photo by Amy LV

 

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

Sutdents - Today’s handful of words is a small tribute to the feeling I have each time I look into the end of my brass kaleidoscope.  It had been a long time since I picked this old treasure up, but recently I held it to my face in wonder once more.  I peeked into that magical cylinder, and like jacks sprinkling a sidewalk,
questions poured out:

• Where did this glass come from
• Does everyone see the same thing in here?
• Will these patterns ever repeat in such a way again?
• Who made this whirling work of twinkling art?
• Why can’t I see the world in kaleidoscope patterns all the time?

As a notebook keeper, I tuck wee snips of beauty and surprise into my blank pages every day, uncertain if they will one day grow into something “sharable.” Sometimes they turn into poems or essays right away.  Sometimes they never do.  And sometimes they do, but it just takes many months or years for them to grow up into something ready for others to read.  That is the beauty of a notebook.

A notebook is a place to save things that you just may need, or you just may not...but either way, you've got them.  (This is how I feel about all of the candles and chocolate chips I have stocked up for the oncoming storm!  For a laugh, see my old WBFO essay about readying for storms.)

Writing verse brings me joy in that line-by-line, I am surprised by which words decide to show up for the party.  I began “Spinwishes” as a celebration of an object - a brass kaleidoscope - and ended up with a bit of a funny wish, not something I had planned at all.  The contrast of lovely geometric lace to that of a person walking with kaleidoscopic eye sockets makes me smile.

Try this yourself.  Just choose an object near to you.  Look at it closely.  Pick it up in your hands and examine it from various angles.  Ask yourself some questions about it.  Feel it in your hands. Let some new thoughts rise in your mind. Now...mind open...write!

If you do not see a post from me on Wednesday, please know the VanDerwater family does not have power...  If this happens, know that I will be back as soon as possible...and writing by candlelight until the lights return!

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!

Indian Summer - Celebrating Weather

summerintofallintowinter

October 25, 2012

Photo by Amy LV

 

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

Students - Yesterday was the most magnificent day here in Western New York. It was an Indian Summer day, a wondrous day reminding us of summer's joys before we turn to the beauty of winter.  Sitting outside in  one of our family's fold-up chairs, my hand and pen turned to weather, and I knew that this poem would try to save a snip of sun and warmth for chilly days.

This is a free verse poem, a poem with no regular rhyme or meter.  Still, though, when I write free verse poems, I take care with each word.  See if you can find any words with the same beginning sounds near each other.  Then see if you can find any repeated words.  Any rhymes?  My favorite part of this poem is the idea of pretending that Fall is a dancing girl...with two competing partners.  That idea makes me smile, and I like watching the play of it in my mind.

The most important to do when writing poems like this one is to read them over and over.  Aloud.  Hearing how each word tumbles gently or bashes into the next helps me know when to make changes.

Many poems celebrate weather.  Weather is a special kind of mirror for each day, determining what we do and sometimes even how we feel.  Pay attention to weather where you live, maybe even writing notebook entries or drawing sketches of weather observations.  Then, mind and heart full of sun and wind and blowing rain and snow...shine some words onto your page.

For the past two weeks, Nina Crittenden has been Sharing Our Notebooks, and today I am happy to announce that Tara at A Teaching Life has won Nina's generous book and notebook giveaway.  Tara, please send me an e-mail with your snail mail address, and I will pass it along to Nina.  Thank you again, Nina!

Linda over at TeacherDance is hosting today's Poetry Friday extravaganza. Visit Linda's extremely warm and generous blog to read all about what's happening on this 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.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

Welcome to Mrs. Ferrara's Cats...Students!

Dandelion, Footloose, & Xylophone

(Our Current Foster Kittens)

Photo by Amy LV

Today I am very happy to welcome teacher Marianne Ferrara and her third grade writers from Klem North Elementary in Webster, NY!  I was lucky enough to visit Klem North earlier this month to work with teachers, and I was tickled when Mrs. Ferrara met me in the hall to share how her students have been reading and writing here at The Poem Farm.

This class writes all day long, and writing after listening to poems is a normal way for them to spend time together.  Sometimes these students write their own poems in response to the poems they read, and sometimes they write prose.  Either way, these young writers are playfully exploring language and making all kinds of new ideas.

Here are the poems mentioned in the letter, Poem Farm poems that this class knows -

I Want to Ask My Teacher

Sunflower

Here is my poem from October 12, 2012, If I were my dog for just one day, and after the poem you can read the responses of these young writers.  Thank you, children, for allowing us to peek into your poetry journals, allowing us to read these first thoughts as you listened and talked and let your hands speak to the page.  Thank you, Marianne, for sharing your students' work with all of us. Woof!  Meow!

Just click on any page to make it bigger!

Aren't these a lot of fun?  Honestly, they are making me think that one could write a whole poetry book on this topic of turning into different things!  If you still want more, and if you did not hear Matt Forrest's poem about what he would do if he was a cat, you can do so here.  Isn't it neat to think about all of the many different things we would do as cats?

Teachers - Short writing responses such as these do not take a lot of time, and they offer students a variety of ways to see the world.  One could read my poem or any of these and write any kind of "If I were..." poem.  Regular and brief open-ended writing exercises are wonderful for stretching writers' brains.  I love doing them too!  One never knows what will grow from one thought.

You may have noticed that some of these responses are written in a listy poem style and some are written in paragraphs.  Both are wonderful ways to respond to poems, and either could be switched to the other genre if one wished.  Paragraphs can turn into poems...and poems can turn into paragraphs!  

Many thanks, once more, for this visit.  Thank you, poetkitties...and thank you to you, Marianne!

You can see a perfect example of ideas growing over Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  Stop by and see how Nina Crittenden takes sketches and turns them into full color artwork.  (You will also have a chance to be entered into Nina's generous drawing of a book and pocket 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.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

A Pet Rock - Friend of All People

Buster in the Sunshine

Photo by Hope LV

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

Students -  For today's poem, I decided to just flip through photographs and choose one that made me smile.  How could a sunbathing rock not make me smile?  This is a photo of Buster, the pet rock belonging to our daughter Hope and her friends Julia and Delilah.  He has all kinds of outfits - you wouldn't believe!

This is a list poem with a lot of repetition.  You will notice that the whole first chunk of every line is exactly the same.  I wanted today's poem to just tell about all of the things that a pet rock cannot do...and then twist the end to show that pet rocks have their own certain charm.  I think they may be fun simply because they let us do everything!

What do you like to make and play with?  What do you like to pretend?  There are lots of great writing ideas hidden in your play and in your creative mind.

I remember when I was a little girl in the 1970s.  Pet rocks were all the rage, and they were the perfect pet for a girl like me who loved making small homes for things.  We always had a loving dog, but my rock was a great pet who put up with all of my caring antics.

If you wish to learn all about how to take care of a pet rock, you may want to watch this video by Marco Anders on YouTube.  This video is also fun for those of you who have written or plan to write how-to or procedural pieces.  One way to publish your how-to piece might be a video like this one!

You can also read and watch a video about caring for your pet rock here at wikihow.  And if you want to know the history of pet rocks, check out The Pet Rock Page or Wikipedia.

Or, just enjoy a short episode of Bill Nye's Pet Rock Theater.

You can order a pet rock and carrying box from the 1970's on eBay.  Or if you're smart, you can just go outside and find your own!

As one of my favorite Byrd Baylor books says....

Available through Amazon

Nina Crittenden is my guest at Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  Stop by and see the types of notebooks she uses and how she continues to create.  (You will also have a chance to be entered into Nina's generous drawing of a book and pocket 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.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

Welcome to Doodler Samuel Kent!

by The Lunchbox Doodler, Samuel Kent

 

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

Students - I found Samuel Kent's creative and cheerful website, i.droo.it, through a Tweet (a less than 140 character message on Twitter) from poet Kenn Nesbitt.  I was then and continue to be amazed and touched by Samuel's dedication to draw so many warm doodles for his children's lunchboxes.  One day, I sent him a Tweet asking if he might be willing to draw a doodle for me...and he was!  And he did!  Doesn't this drawing make you smile?

Today's poem is a story poem.  I have always liked the idea of unlikely friends becoming good ones, and Samuel's poem allowed me to play with this idea in a new way. Thank you, Samuel, for this drawing.  You are my new fall friend!

Structure-wise, if you look at the rhyme-scheme of today's poem, you will notice that the rhymes fall in quatrains, alternate lines rhyming.  However, the lines do not fall in sets of four.  At first they did, but later I decided to keep the thoughts of each character together, and I think this works best.

This poem also connects to last week's bird poem, which begins with a description of birds in flight and ends with a wonder about what it is like to fly. If you revisit that post, you can read second grader Meghan's new poem Blue Bird, Blue Bird (just added).  It is so beautiful, and I am sure she would love to hear your comments!

Now we all have a new place to look for writing inspiration.  If the blank paper intimidates you one day, head on over to i.droo.it, scroll through Samuel's doodles, choose one, and write.  I imagine that Samuel would love to read what you write from his drawings.

You can read the story of The Lunchbox Doodles here. And if you have questions for Samuel Kent, The Lunchbox Doodler, there are answers here.

And may you, too, find an unlikely and cheerful fall friend....

Nina Crittenden is my guest at Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  Stop by and see the types of notebooks she uses and how she continues to create.  (You will also have a chance to be entered into Nina's generous drawing of a book and pocket 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.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!

Peacock - A Couplet Poem

Magic!

by Amy LV

 

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

Students - Today's poem started as an assignment as it started with couplet I wrote for Irene Latham's celebration of her new book, DON'T FEED THE BOY.  Irene is hosting Poetry Friday today and she invited many of us to write animal couplets to celebrate the book. You can read the collection of animal couplets at Live Your Poem.

Irene's idea is a fun one and one you might enjoy trying with your friends.  All you need to do is think of a topic that is easily broken up, a topic like school, or pets, or favorite foods.  (There are endless possibilities here!)  Then, each person write one couplet.  Once you gather them all up, decide on an order and title...and you've got it!  If anyone tries this, please let me know.  I'd love to host a collaborative couplet poem here.

If you would like to learn more about peacocks, visit National Geographic.  I am thinking that I might want to write a nonfiction peacock poem to go along with this one.

Speaking of animals and National Geographic, if you have not yet seen National Geographic's new BOOK OF ANIMAL POETRY, edited by Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis, and full of gorgeous poems and photography, do not miss it.  I just checked it out of the library, and I'm in love.  This book is on my order-right-away list!  As you read, you will recognize many wonderful classics, and you'll be happy to find lots of your current Poetry Friday friends too.

Available through the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Store

Nina Crittenden is my guest at Sharing Our Notebooks this week.  Stop by and see the types of notebooks she uses and how she continues to create.  (You will also have a chance to be entered into Nina's generous drawing of a book and pocket notebook.)

Happy Poetry Friday!  Head on over to Live Your Poem to celebrate Irene Latham's new book, DON'T FEED THE BOY, and to see all of today's Poetry Friday posts.

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!

Bear Behind - Silly Poems!

Oh My!

by Amy LV

 

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

Students - This poem let me play with my silly side!  Everyone has a silly side, and writing is a grand way to set it free.  Sometimes I will just look at a situation and wonder about the silly side of it.  What if there was a bear in the outhouse?  I wonder what potatoes think about?  What would it be like to dance with a tree?

You might wish to try that today.  Just look at something or listen to the sounds around you and ask, "Hmmm...what is silly about this?  What could I pretend could be silly about this?"  Then, once your silly side is freed, take out your pencil and simply follow it.

Here's a writing silly tip: one thing I've learned is that silly is different than crazy.  Silly is fun and quirky, a little offbeat and surprising.  Crazy can be confusing and too wild for me when it comes to writing.

Today's poem is written in quatrains - four lines per stanza.  Did you notice that lines 2 and 4 of each stanza rhyme.  Even bears can rhyme...who knew?

If you love camping and poetry, do not miss Kristine O'Connell George's wonderful book TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS.  You can read the title poem here at The Poetry Foundation.

Available through Amazon

This week, I welcome illustrator Nina Crittenden to Sharing Our Notebooks. Nina shares some fabulous notebook peeks along with her inspiring words, and you will have a chance to be entered into her generous drawing of a book and pocket 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.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!