Someone Said Someone Said

Yesterday's Raspberries on Their Bushes

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I am now reading a novel by Beth Duke titled TAPESTRY. These are the opening lines: "Gossip is the most valuable currency in a small town. It's the reason the elderly widow waits in her front yard for the mail carrier. It's why the hardware store clerk quits stocking a shelf and rushes to see his neighbor near the nuts and bolts bin. It causes three women to maneuver themselves around a shampoo bowl and listen while they await their turns at the hair salon."

People talk. We tell each other stories about our histories and our lives. We talk about other people's histories and their lives. We tell the stories we hear and the stories we read about. We like to talk, and we like to listen. This talking and listening is more than gossip - it is stories in our mouths, words in our ears, stories and words that change us.

I have heard about my grandma telling my mom about raspberries smelling like perfume many times, so eventually this thought would end up in a small piece of writing. That piece of writing is here today!

Which words do you remember that someone said?

Which words do you remember that someone said someone said?

Consider making a place in your notebook - or your saving-section-of-your-brain to keep words which feel like good jumping off points for writing. Often a tiny seed grows a huge surprise of an idea.

What was said? What do you think about those words now?

Molly is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Nix the Comfort Zone with an original poem titled "Summer, Ten Times." If you visit her place today, you will likely want to try out one of your own "Ten Times" poems, and it will be neat to see what you come up with. Remember: all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. 

xo,

Amy

Yesterday's Raspberries in My Pot

Photo by Amy LV

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Family Photographs, Family Stories

Great Grandmother Anna Elsa Feder Conolly

Photo by ?

Students - Each one of us carries a history full of names and dates and songs and stories. We may not know much about these people or even know their names, but still they are here, floating over our shoulders, coursing through our veins.  And we can write about them.  I am on a family history quest these days, learning what I can about the family that came before me.

Above, you see a photograph of Anna Elsa. She was my mother's mother's mother, and we never met as she died seven years before I was born. But I love that strong look in her eye.  How I wish I could chat with her over a cup of mint tea.  

I have written about family objects and photographs before, most recently in November, about my Great Aunt Tom (Anna Elsa's daughter and my grandma's sister).  This is a recurring topic for me. 

If you have interest in your own family history, ask a family member older than you to tell you a story or two.  I just asked my parents to each keep a little notebook of stories as they remember them. Such stories are precious stones. 

Note that today's poem is written in quatrains.  Each stanza has four lines with lines 2 and 4 rhyming.  If you wish to rhyme a poem, always be sure to do the Does This Make Sense Test.  All you have to do is read your poem, line-by-line, asking yourself, "Does this make sense?"  If you force your rhyme, it may not.  You'll know.  And if you don't want to admit it, be brave and ask an honest friend to run your poem through the Does This Make Sense Test for you! 

Life is brief and beautiful. This week the poetry community sadly bids farewell to Paul Janeczko.  Recipient of the 2019 NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award, Paul was a brilliant poet, anthologist, and teacher of teachers. I am grateful for the body of work he has left behind as it will continue to teach me and so many others in the years to come.  His new book, THE PROPER WAY TO MEET A HEDGEHOG AND OTHER HOW-TO POEMS, illustrated by Richard Jones, will be released on March 12.  May he rest in peace, knowing he has left a bright legacy of words.

Robyn is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at Life on the Deckle Edge with a wee trip to Scotland and bit of bird goodness. Please know that the Poetry Friday community shares poems and poemlove each week, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in with us.

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Ideas Live in Objects & Emotions

A Page from Great Aunt Tom's Notebook

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I am in Houston, Texas right now, at a conference for English teachers.  Tomorrow I will be speaking a little bit about keeping a notebook.  (You may know my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks.)  And so, of course I am thinking about notebooks.  And one of my family members who kept notebooks was my Great Aunt Tom.

My grandmother's sister was my Great Aunt Tom. Her real name was Edythe Toebe, and she was a flapper.  Folks called her 'Tom' because she was what they called a tomboy, which at the time was a nickname for girls who liked what were considered more boy-like things back in 1910.  Here she is, below.

Edythe Toebe, My Great Aunt

Photo by ??

Great Aunt Tom really did keep a handprint notebook, and she really did write out her palm reader predictions for some of the handprints in the book.  And she really did tell me that when strange things happened, she stopped reading palms.  And I really am sorry that I did not ask more questions.  I was there when Great Aunt Tom died, and in 2011, I wrote about that day in an essay titled What Can I Do?

So today's poem is about an object.  It is about a sentence I recall from many years ago. And it is about a feeling too.  I did not know what the feeling was until I got to the end of the poem, and then I knew.  And then I chose the title.  One word - Regret.

Which family objects do you wonder about in your home? Allow objects to inform your feelings and allow feelings to help you think about objects. And listen.  Always listen.  Notebooks are wonderful for gathering snatches of conversation.  We never know when we'll need such snatches.

Here is a snip from another one of Great Aunt Tom's notebooks.  This one is full of poems she loved (some by my Great Grandfather) and quotes such as this one from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

From Great Aunt Tom's Typed Treasures Notebook

Photo by Amy LV

The time to ask your curious questions is now.  It is always now.  Yesterday I met a man whose parents are both Holocaust survivors, and his time to ask is now.  Do not wait.  We are all walking story books, and no story lasts forever.  

I feel so lucky to host Miriam Haefner over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks this month! She keeps track of the moon and sky, and I recommend a visit to see and inspire yourself.  Too, I am holding a giveaway for a moon journal...to go to a commenter on that post.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today at TeacherDance with her gentle generosity and a giveaway for  new book and print by Rosemary Wells. Please know that every Poetry Friday, we gather together to share books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  Everyone is always welcome to visit, comment, and post.  We invite you!

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My Someone Does Something....

Look Outside!

by Amy LV

Students - This poem about my husband Mark.  He is a hawk-spyer.  When we drive in the car, he always sees hawks and counts hawks.  I have written about this before because I think that hawk-spying is a neat habit...and because of Mark, I am now a bit of a hawk-spyer myself.

At times, it helps me to have a starter line when beginning a poem. Today's starter line was simply a statement about a person - My father spies hawks.

This gave me the idea that I could write many poems starting in a similar way - My someone does something.  I might think about quirky things that my loved ones do, or my favorite actions of friends.  I might think about things I've seen strangers do....or I might imagine the habits of people or animals I invent.

Here are some possibilities of similar poem starters I might try:

My mother reads books.

My friend tells good jokes.

My grandma plays poker.

My brother hugs cats.

My grandpa writes letters.

My goldfish looks lonely.

For each of these, I simply filled in the blanks as below:

My _______________  _______________   _______________.

You might wish to try this too.  Think of the people and animals in your own life.  Think about strangers you have seen.  Make someone up! Try writing some starter sentences as I did.  You may find that one of them makes you want to keep writing.  (I am feeling like writing about a cat-hugging brother and a lonely goldfish right now!)

A large part of a writer's job is to find ways to get started. If you try out this way-to-get-started, and if it works for you....please let me know!

And if you would like to know more about red-tailed hawks so that YOU can become a hawk-spyer....visit the The Cornell Lab of Ornithology where you can learn so much about all kinds of birds.

At Sharing Our Notebooks this month, I happily welcome third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey.  Please read their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a lovely new notebook.  Comment by month's end, please.

It has been such a joyful week of visiting schools!  This week I visited Pavilion Elementary, Byron-Bergen Elementary, Elba Elementary, and Pembroke Elementary, all in Western New York. Thank you very much to the wonderful people in these schools for your warmth and hospitality. If you are a teacher or librarian, please know that I am now scheduling school visits and poetry residencies for 2018 - 2019, and you can learn more here.

Carol is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond Literacy Link. Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Carol this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.  Please join us!

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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

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