Look Around & Choose an Object

Garden Watering Time

Video by Amy LV

Hello Friends! First I would like to thank the community of Ripley Central School (Grades K-6), in New York State, for spending Wednesday with me. It was such a treat to begin these autumn days with thoughtful writers and teachers. I look forward to our future time together, and today's poem came from something I shared in our upper grade assemblies.

One of the most meaningful, interesting, and important parts of being a writer, whether we share our writing or not, is deciding what to write about...choosing an idea. And sometimes we can fall into the trap of believing that we need to have a GOOD idea, an IMPORTANT idea, a SPECIAL idea. But we do not need this at all. We just need to begin writing.

We can begin by starting down one of many possible paths, but one of these paths is simply the path of observation. We look around. We look at one object. We write about this object. Now, you may be wondering, Just what might we write about any object? Well, we can write in any genre, and we might:

• Describe the object with our senses
• Compare the object with something else in the world
• Tell about a personal memory related to this object
• Teach something about this object
• Share beliefs connected to this object
• List words this object brings to our minds and write from these
• Invent the beginning of a story inspired by this object
• Begin a poem about this object

For me, the best part of writing is the surprise part. I like beginning NOT KNOWING what I will write, NOT having a great idea to begin, but rather, allowing an idea to show up on the page like a surprise guest.

As for my poem today, I was trying to think of a writing idea when I realized that I should water the garden. As I did so, I admired the sprinkler and so...the sprinkler became my main character of today.

This poem is short and it does not rhyme. However, it does use a lot of sound repetition, namely of the short i sound. The poem, including title, has 20 words, and 10 of them include the short i sound, my favorite sound in the English language.

I would love to read and share any poems you write from just looking around, choosing an object, and allowing the object to bring you to new places, thoughts, and wordplay.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at Teacher Dance. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

ps - For those of you who, like me, are fans of English Professor and Musician Gart Westerhout, he is back with another song version of one of my poems, "Summer Mystery," from two weeks ago. Hear him sing that poem about my generous neighbors here.

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Finding Metaphors Along the Road

The Purple Lilac

Photo by Amy LV

Students - When I was younger, I liked flowers just fine. But now that I am older, I LOVE flowers. I have been planting hundreds and hundreds of bulbs and learning about different flowers, and with each new week of spring, I am thrilled with the new colorful friends who appear. This week is the week of lilac bushes. We have a whole line of them along the road in front of our house, and when people walk by, I offer them a bunch to take along the way.

Today's poem celebrates a bit of daily beauty. Writing poetry can help us notice things that we otherwise walk right by because the simple act of writing in a every day helps us to see more, notice more. I have been away from my own notebook due to the fact I have been helping someone who recently died. Now I am taking care of their house and belongings. Seeing this lilac and writing about it reminds me how much I have missed writing as I have been not-writing-busy over the past couple of weeks. Thank you, Lilac, for reminding me to return to daily noticings.

In this small poem of address (I write TO the lilac), I compare the branches of a lilac to human arms and its flowers to human hands. When we compare things to other things in poetry, we call this metaphor or simile, depending on whether we use the word "like" or "as." This poem uses metaphor, which is a bit stronger in a way. If I had said, "Your branches as long as arms" or "Your flowers wave like hands wave," I would still be comparing one thing to another, and those comparisons would be called similes. Since I do not use "like" or "as," this poem uses metaphor. You might want to try comparing something to something else in a poem or story you are writing. This is one way to give a reader a mind picture.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Word Edgewise with her generous clunker exchange. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

I encourage you to write in your own notebook for 5-10 minutes a day, perhaps at the same time every day. You do not need to know what you will write about before you begin. Simply begin, and as the days go by, you will find that you notice more and more in this inspiring world.

Next week I look forward to a week-long writing residency at Greenacres School in Scarsdale, NY. I have not been there since before COVID, and it will be wonderful to see everyone again!

xo,

Amy

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Coaxing Poems 4: Abracadabra!

 

Hello again my dear Poetry Friends, and welcome to the fourth 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(s) I read below the video. You can find the earlier videos linked below and you may wish to watch those first:

COAXING POEMS VISITS:

Visit 1: We Are Libraries

Visit 2: Eat the World

Visit 3: Make & Break a Pattern

And now I invite you to join me for Visit 4, Abracadabra!

Students - The whole world feels more interesting when we practice comparing various objects and feelings to different things we know in life. We find one way that two things are alike, tap our magic writing wands, and we turn one thing into another, right on the page. In this way, writing is magic. We see things anew, and we pass these surprising images on to our readers.

Here you can see the notebook page where I remembered some metaphors I have written before and came up with some new ones too. I have never written such a metaphor list in my notebook, but I think do this more often as I found it quite helpful.

Metaphor Notebook Page

Photo by Amy LV

Enjoy these two short, non-rhyming poems centered on metaphor, each comparing one thing to another. As a writer, it is my hope that each poem, even without a matching photo, will give readers a new way to see a familiar object.

When I was a little girl, I used to suck on lemons. Perhaps this is why I wished to write about citrus fruit. 

Orange Snack

Photo by Amy LV

The below poem, about my kitty Claude, focuses on just one object that I compare him to - a throw pillow. But truth be told, I compare Claude to many things. He is fast and quiet and hazy-furry, so sometimes I call him a ghost, and sometimes I call him a cloud. Perhaps I should make a page in my notebook for all of the different things I compare Claude to in the world.

Claude on the Couch

Photo by Amy LV

One last note to you about metaphors. You will read many metaphors in books and hear many people use metaphors in speech. Sometimes these are used so often that they lose their freshness. When I write in metaphor, I try not to use metaphors I have read or heard often, such as "He was a quiet mouse" or "Her anger was a thunderstorm." The work of a writer is to dig into our own strange and beautiful selves and find brand new ways of seeing old things. And when we come upon such a comparison...it is joyously surprising for our writing selves. We don't want our metaphors to be stale like week-old doughnuts.

In travel news, thank you so much to the Heights Elementary School community in Oakland, NJ for inviting me to visit this week. It was a joy to share some writing with you and to see the photographs of all of the projects you made with your own hands. I wish you much happiness in your own writing journeys.

Author Visit to Heights Elementary School

Photo by Librarian Stacy Contreras

Susan is hosting this week's Poetry Friday over at Chicken Spaghetti with a new year piñata poem inspired by a news article. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Remember that you are a writing magician, and with a brilliant flash of your pen, you can turn one thing....into another. 

Poof!

xo,

Amy

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A Two-Liner & a Comic

Winnie and Claude (Tail is Monet)

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I believe this to be the shortest verse I have ever shared here at The Poem Farm! I did indeed work to write it longer, but each time I added more lines, the poem simply rejected them. So here it is...a small giggle that grew from a photo I took earlier this week.

Did you notice that the title of today's two-liner makes it a metaphor? See, a bookshelf is not really an apartment...now, just for this poem, it has become one. Sometimes a title can add a lot, even to a teeny, two line verse.

This summer you might wish to make a point to take photographs as you are moved by the world. These pictures - whether you look at them again or not - can inspire your future (serious or silly) thinking and writing.

Speaking of inspiration, it is a joy to welcome an artistic guest today! 

On the first Poetry Friday of this month, I shared a poem titled "Possibility" along with some poems written by Fourth Grade Teacher Cheryl Donnelly's students from Tioughnioga Riverside Academy. Not long after, I received the most generous and specific thank you notes from this class. Poet and Comic Izzy included a comic that she drew from my words in "Possibility." 

Possibility Comic

Click to Enlarge

by Izzy

I asked Izzy if she would be willing to share how to make such a poem comic as hers made me smile completely and also made me curious about how to create such a thing. Here are her words:

I got this idea because ever since I was a kid I fell in love with drawing and making comics. Just about a year ago, last Christmas, my grandparents got me a comic making set which included a short comic for an example. As I was reading it, I fell in love with the simple designs and pictures (Not all comics are like that) so I tried making my own.  I enjoyed every minute of it. The simpleness of it, and how fun it was to draw. Almost a year later I decided to take that memory and make a comic inspired by a poem.

That was the first time that I ever made a comic inspired by a poem, but I will definitely have to do that with more of her (Amy’s) amazing poems.

Some tips I have are: 

Make sure you are interested in the poem you choose, if you don’t like it then you will find no interest in making a comic inspired by it.

Use your imagination. If you make something boring or not exciting then you and other people will not bother to read your comic.

Don’t be hard on yourself. It’s good to push yourself a little, but not a lot. If it’s not perfect, then don’t stress, it’s ok if it’s not, nothing is perfect.

And most important…HAVE FUN!!!! 

Thank you,

Izzy 

Tons of gratitude to Izzy for her willingness to share not only her comic, but also her process. I am going to take her advice this summer and will be sharing here. Learning from others makes life magical.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today with such a fun idea - a "clunker exchange" - over at A Word Edgewise. This would be such a neat thing to try in a classroom, and I recommend checking it out. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

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4 - Poems Can Compare Two Things

Welcome to my 2020 National Poetry Month Project
See My Last 10 Poetry Projects HERE

Each day of April 2020, I will share three things:

• A dice roll of three word dice
• A video explaining one poetic technique titled POEMS CAN... You can also find these at Sharing Our Notebooks as part of my ongoing Keeping a Notebook project
• A poem inspired by one or more of the dice words and the technique

Here are All of This Month's Poems:

10 Years of National Poetry Month History at The Poem Farm

April 1 - Poems Can Go Down the Page

April 2 - Poems Can Play With Space
April 3 - Poems Can Tell a Story

And now, for today's words! 

Day 4 Words

Photo by Amy LV

Thank you to Heinemann for giving away a copy of my book POEMS ARE TEACHERS: HOW STUDYING POETRY STRENGTHENS WRITING IN ALL GENRES each week of April. I will draw names from the previous week each Thursday evening at 11:59pm, and I will announce a winner each Friday. Please leave a way to contact you in your comment as if I cannot contact you easily, I will choose a different name.

If you would like to learn more about other National Poetry Month projects happening throughout the Kidlitosphere, Jama has rounded up many NPM happenings over at Jama's Alphabet Soup.  Happy National Poetry Month 2020.

xo,
Amy

Little Mouse

Photo by Amy LV

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Our Beehive Brains Make Metaphors

Beehive Brain

by Amy LV

Students - Lately, I have been thinking about how the more different things we do in life, the more we learn. And the more we learn and know, the more we can write about. The more we understand about the world and how it works, the more comparisons and metaphors and similes we can make. If we did not have beehives in our yard, I may not have decided to write about how a beehive is like a brain. Experience grows a writing garden. See, a beehive is NOT a brain. And a brain is NOT a beehive. But they are similar to each other, and in writing My brain is a hive, I make a metaphor, or comparison, calling one thing another thing that it is not actually, but is like.

Learning something new develops our brains, and as my husband Mark has taken on beekeeping, I have learned from him about bees and hives and caring for these creatures. Watching bees got me to thinking about our amazing brains. As bees gather nectar to make honey, we gather ideas to make writing. We gather ideas to make paintings and songs. We gather ideas to make our lives as we wish them to be. Our brains can be as busy as beehives!

In the below video, you can see some of our bees working away in the frames of a hive. Unlike bees, we can choose what to put in our beehive brains. How do we wish to grow our brains? What do we wish to learn about? I think about this a lot.

You may have noticed a couple of wordsmushes and one made up word in today's poem. One of my favorite parts of writing poetry is playing with words. One can do a lot with the 26 letters that make up our English language. And those of you who speak more languages...you have even more letters and words to work with.

A Peek Inside a Hive

Video by Mark VanDerwater

Thank you to all of the librarians, teachers, administrators, tech people, custodians, secretaries, and students of the Williamsville Central School District in Williamsville, NY. Over the past few weeks, I have been fortunate to spend six days at the following elementary schools: Dodge, Heim, Maple East, Maple West, Forest, and Country Parkway. I feel very lucky and dedicate today's poem to everyone at those schools. Thank you for spending time with me.

Please don't miss yesterday's post HERE. Award-winning author Marilyn Singer came for a visit with her latest book, WILD IN THE STREETS: 20 POEMS OF CITY ANIMALS. She shares a bit about her writing process, a reverso poem from the book, and her publisher, Words Pictures/Quarto, has offered a book giveaway too.

Catherine is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core. Visit her place to celebrate gratitude this week, with a poem, a video, a new anthology by Miranda Paul, and a giveaway too. Please know that we gather each Friday, sharing poems and poemlove, and all are always welcome.

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A Leaf Journey & Poet Guests

Pressed Sumac Leaves

Photo by Amy LV

Students - The poem above is simply a true story stretched out as a poem.  It is about last night in my living room. In beginning my writing last evening, I decided to read a bit about poetry first.  But when I opened my book, I found all of the sumac leaves you see above.  I held and touched and thought about the leaves, the tree, the meadow.  

I often save little mementos of seasons (leaves, pinecones) or outings (ticket stubs, programs) or holidays (cards, bits of wrapping paper).  Today I find myself thinking that these simple saved objects might be wonderful writing springboards for many of us.  What do you tuck away and save?  Did you ever find a wee something that brought back a memory of a specific place and time?  If so, you might consider writing about it.

You will notice that this poem rhymes every other line....until the last few lines.  What happens there?

Today we have special guests! I am thrilled to welcome Reading Specialist and Leader in Me Teacher, Alicia McKenrick and her students from Pembroke Primary School in Pembroke, NY. Join Alicia on a journey from eye to finger to brain to heart, from shape to memory to color.

In the slides below, teachers will learn how to explore metaphor and analogous thinking with The Private Eye, an incredible resource explained with great wisdom and humor by Alicia.

If you are a student and you do not need to learn about teaching writing, please skip ahead to slide 32 and then to 34 and then to 39 and onward.  On these particular slides, you will find poems and yarn art highlighting students' fingerprints.  You may wish to learn from these models, studying your own fingerprint design as writing inspiration!

Click Enlarge Box to Enlarge

I extend my gratitude to Alicia and these young poet-artists for generously sharing this beautiful process, for allowing us to enjoy these poems and yarn paintings.  It was an absolute delight!  Teachers, you may access Alicia's Lesson template referenced in her slides HERE.

Linda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at TeacherDance with a celebration of almost-spring! Each week, we gather our posts together at one blog, so if you visit Linda this week...you will be introduced to many new poets and blogs and books.

Happy Poetry Friday!
xo

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Celebrating Simple, Humble Objects with Our Words

Winter Projects

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is a celebration of simple mittens.  I love mittens, I love yarn, and I love the short 'i' sound.  And so today's small temple of words comes together around these three loves.  

Sometimes in life, one goes through times of despair and worry, grumpiness and uncertainty.  I've been feeling these things lately, and so this week I decided to turn my attention toward humble objects that bring me and the world small measures of joy and beauty.  You can see yesterday's notebook words around this idea here --

December 1, 2016 Notebook Snip

Photo by Amy LV

I do spend bits of winter days knitting cozy projects, and today the words and wool come together as one.

Any one of us can choose to turn our attention to the humble nouns around us. Check your closet and pockets.  What do you see, feel drawn to, love?  Try choosing something that does not require batteries or electricity.  Go as simple as you can.  Appreciate small things.  And write about them.

Hand-stitched Notebooks by Stitch Buffalo Refugee Artisans

Photo by Amy LV

In case you missed it last month, just like last year, The Poem Farm will be giving a Christmas gift of free shipping for anyone who would like to order two or more hand-stitched notebooks or bird ornaments.  These are beautiful pieces made by refugee artisan women in Buffalo, NY through Stitch Buffalo.  They do not ship, but only sell locally, so this is a special opportunity. You can read my post and learn more information HERE.  

To read last year's Stitch Buffalo post and poem, visit HERE.  I am so happy and thankful to share that in two weeks, The Poem Farm readers have purchased over $1600 of birds and notebooks, most all of which will go directly to the individual artisans who made each item.  Thank you!

Over at Sharing Our Notebooks, you can find the winner to my latest book giveaway.  And I am currently seeking a new writer over there, so if you are a young student notebook keeper, please let your teacher know if you would be interested in sharing your notebook pages.  Together with your parents and teacher, I would love to celebrate your notebook!

Bridget is hosting today's Poetry Friday fiesta over at wee words for wee ones.  Join her, and all of us, in finding goodness in poetry and life all week long.  Everyone is always invited to Poetry Friday!

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Pussy Willows Meow for Spring!

Welcome to Day 9 of Drawing Into Poems, my daily drawing/seeing/writing study into poetry.  You can read more about this month-long project here on my April 1 post.  Feel free to read the books with me, and pull out your own sketchbook and jewelry box full of metaphor too...

Day Nine - Pussy Willows

Click the drawing to enlarge it.

Students - Last night, my husband and I took a walk down our country road.  And there they were!  The pussy willows were out!  I was so happy that I almost did a pussy willow dance.  See, around here, pussy willows (along with daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses, and robins) are the harbingers of spring.  I picked some to bring inside.

Sitting down with my sketchbook, I decided to only draw one branch of these wee softies so that I could spend more time and space writing around the edges of my drawing.  I am trying to come up with many comparisons and descriptions for the things that I am drawing, as recommended by one of my new favorite books, The Private Eye, by Kerry Ruef.  I am excited to play more with my thoughts about this picture...to make a poem from some of these jottings.

Teachers - My Poetry Resource of the Day is Wonderopolis.  Check out some past poetry wonders, and take note that I will be leading this month's #Wonderchat on Twitter, next Monday April 15 at 8:00pm EST.  I welcome you to join us!

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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!

Day 2 - Drawing Spices, Smelling Memories....

Welcome to Day 2 of Drawing Into Poems, my daily drawing/seeing/writing study into poetry.  You can read more about this month-long project here on my April 1 post.  Feel free to read the books with me and pull out your own sketchbook and jewelry box full of metaphor...

Day Two - Spices

Click the drawing to enlarge it.

Students - I enjoyed setting up this little still life of spices.  As I drew them, I thought about what they remind me of, and I also thought about spice memories.  Suddenly I found myself remembering Valerie Worth's poem, "sweets" from ALL THE SMALL POEMS AND FOURTEEN MORE.

Shop Indie Bookstores

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To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

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Shell Teeth - THE PRIVATE EYE

A Sketch and Notes

by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem came from a drawing and a bit of thinking that came from the drawing.  Above, you can see a shell that I drew.  I was looking through a jewelers loupe, trying to draw as accurately as I could.  Then, I took a few notes about what the shell made me think about, what it reminded me of.  I asked myself the Questions from Kerry Ruef's book, THE PRIVATE EYE: What does it look like?  What else does it remind me of?  Why is it like that?  Why did it remind me of that?

A few days later, I came back to my sketch and notes and turned my initial interesting thought into the short verse atop this post.

Can you look at the notes and then follow the trail of drawing to writing to poem?

This process:  looking, drawing, thinking, writing, is very well articulated in THE PRIVATE EYE by Kerry Ruef.  I adore this book, and I am very excited about trying more of the ideas in here.  Science, art, and poetry are so tightly linked...and this book has a lot to teach me.  Author and founder of THE PRIVATE Kerry Ruef emphasizes, 

...the intellectual development that comes when kids (and adults) are nudged to press for 5 - 10 things “it reminds them of”. Repetition of the Questions — and a person’s answers — is what builds fluency and a habit for creative and critical work, poetry and beyond. People who are already highly associative and know instinctively how to put their associations to work don’t need the Questions, per se. But most people need those questions made conscious and succinct.  The questions work in concert for arousing associations, for exploring overlapping characteristics in associations, and for creating inferences, solving problems, and making theories out of their associations.  The Questions themselves act as magnifier, they cause the mind to keep looking as it makes associations/connections of all kinds. The Questioning sequence is actually the most important part of The Private Eye.

Today, if you're not sure what to write, try starting with drawing.  Look at something very closely.  Study it.  Draw its lines and edges and curves and leave its white spaces.  Then take some Private Eye notes.  Ask yourself the Questions: What does it look like?  What else does it remind me of?  Can I think of 5-10 things it reminds me of?  Why is it like that?  Why did it remind me of that?  Use these notes to help you begin a poem or a story or a piece of nonfiction. Your drawing will lead you.

Available through The Private Eye

Thank you to Irene Latham, my dear poetry friend who told me all about The Private Eye when she recommended it to me as a way to help children explore the forest with my new book.  When you see me soon with FOREST HAS A SONG, I'll likely have a jewelers loupe in my pocket!

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is brought to us by Heidi Mordhorst over at My Juicy Little Universe.  It's wonderful to have her back from her time away, and I encourage you to head on over and check out this week's poetry menu.

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.

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Poetry Friday & Like a Butterfly - #234

Stillness & Symmetry

Photo by Bruce VanDerwater 

This is poem #25 in a Friday series of poems about poems.

Students - Today I feel grateful to be at NCTE, a conference for English teachers, learning about poetry from all kinds of experts, poets and professors, teachers and librarians.  We teachers and writers are always trying to learn more, just as you learn in school and home each day.  And we are very lucky to have this opportunity.  In some places of the world, children and adults do not have the chance to learn to read, write, draw, play an instrument, or delve into math.  Our chances to learn are gifts, just like little butterflies that quietly land on us.  We must take good care of such gifts.

One thing you may have noticed is that I have been comparing poems to all kinds of things over the past six months of poem-poems: hitchhikers, butterflies, scared animals, healers...  I adore metaphors.

Diane is hosting Poetry Friday today over at Random Noodling.  Head on over to learn about today's poetry offerings all throughout the KidLitosphere!  If you are a new Poetry Friday visitor, please know that you are always welcome to join in, posting and sharing about poetry on any Friday and linking right in.

(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)

My Poem Writing Year #191 - This Windmill

On my way home from school in Hilton, NY last evening, I drove through the High Sheldon Wind Farm on Route 77.  Each time I drive this route, my eyes are drawn upward and around, marveling at these whirling dervishes so quietly making electricity.  I am awed by the humans who think of such things and curious about the inner workings of such machines.

Students - this poem is simply descriptive.  I have looked at these wind turbines many times, and I think of them as big metal flowers, as spinning wheels for air.  Last night I sought to paint a playful picture of this movement with words, to compare one windmill to a spinning wheel and to a large flower.  You might try this.  Look at something carefully, and through the words of your poem, describe what you see, compare what you see to something else.

I enjoyed writing this poem because it is a science-y topic, a fascinating world of alternative energy.  Poetry can happily grow from our nonfiction interests, so if you are a person who loves space or animals or learning about the Civil War, consider allowing these interests and fact-fascinations to inspire your poetry and writing.

You may have noticed that certain words in this poem begin with the same sounds - the 'm' sounds in 'massive metal flower' and the 'w' sounds in 'whisking winds' were not accidents.  Rather, I tried many different words until I found ones which began with the same sounds.  This is called alliteration, or repeating of initial sounds of words, and one way that I revise my poetry is by rereading to ask myself, "Might I change a word to strengthen the alliteration of this line?"

If you would like to learn more about how windmills work, you can see an animation showing how wind turbines spin air into power at The US Department of Energy or read even more at Horizon Wind Energy.

Tomorrow is Poetry Friday, and in celebration of this new school year off to a healthy start, I will be linking along the right-hand side to The Poem Farm's previous Poetry Peeks.  Next week, we welcome teacher and author Lynda Sentz from Cloverbank Elementary in Hamburg, NY and her fourth graders for yet another peek inside one classroom's celebration of poetry.

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