A Memory & A Guest

Hello, friends! I have just returned from a long trip away from home, visiting a few schools and feeling very lucky. Thank you to all at Sicomac Elementary School and Washington Elementary School in Wyckoff, NJ for your warm welcome this week as I had the opportunity to visit and write with first and second graders. It was wonderful to be in your schools again. Now, though, I am back home for the summer, gardening, making jam, reading, knitting, writing in my shed named Gratitude and planning school visits for next year.

Florence Conolly Dreyer

Students - Today's poem sprouted from the beginning of a poem I wrote a few weeks ago while visiting a school. Again and again I am reminded of the helpfulness of a notebook for the gathering of ideas. Just as we gather ingredients in cupboard and refrigerator before preparing a meal, we can gather words and memories, wonderings and facts into our notebooks before preparing a piece of writing. Every piece of writing need not be a finished piece of writing. Rather, any piece of writing can inspire another. So those little jottings count and matter!

It is interesting to write about food and the memories that come with food. HERE you can watch an old video I made in Betsy the Writing Camper. It teaches how to make a food timeline to inspire memories. There are 71 other such videos at my YouTube channel.

The picture you see above of my grama was likely taken around 1920. I did not know her then but am fortunate to have an old family scrapbook with many treasured photographs like this one. The lemon memory comes from around 60 years after this photograph was taken.

And now for our special guest!

Earlier this month, I mentioned my happy visit to Cayuga Heights Elementary School in Depew, NY. Librarian Tonya Bulas introduced her students to my books in so many beautiful ways, and I will share those soon. But today it is an honor to highlight one special poet, nine-year-old Angelina, who I was fortunate enough to meet during a grade two and three writing workshop. She had brought her notebook to our session, allowed me to read some of her fine poems, and was willing to share them with you here. Thank you to Poet Angelina! And thank you to Librarian Tonya Bulas. Such educators make the good world go round. 

Please enjoy Angelina's poems below, and take inspiration for your own!

Angelina and Amy

Cayuga Heights Elementary, Depew, NY

May 2023

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

All About Me: I am Angelina. I am deaf, Puerto Rican, Italian, but we'll talk about that later. My hobbies are: playing on the new swing my dad got for me, playing soccer, monkey in the middle, etc. I am 9 years old and I will be a future poet. I am Puerto Rican and Italian. I almost always get good grades in school. I have lots of friends. My mom is a teacher for disabled kids like me! (She does not teach me.) I go to Cayuga Heights Elementary School. My dad is a person who used to be a guy who made movies but now he talks to college kids. That is all about me!

Angelina's Notebook

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Puffball by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Puffball

by Angelina

Little little puffball.

So big, so small.

It's cute.

What is it?

It's a little puffball.

So big.

So small.

What is it?

It's a little puffball!

Snakes by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Snakes

by Angelina

They're slippery, slimy,

slithering around, and

when they hiss they

make a horrible sound.

Often found in the

desert, they eat bugs

for dessert! They can 

be 3 feet long,

and when it hisses,

it sings its deadly song.

Waves by Angelina

Photo by Librarian Tonya Bulas

Waves

by Angelina

Watching the waves wash away

it is beautiful

Always calming me down when

I'm angry

Very relaxing when I dip my toes

in the water

Escaping reality and life when

I go and watch the water

So...perfect...

Angelina is a poet today, and I agree that she is likely to be a poet in the future as well. Thank you again, Angelina, for generously joining us all today at The Poem Farm. 

Patricia is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reverie with a most loving anniversary cento celebrating 40 years of marraige with her husband. 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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A Guest & a Project on NPM Eve!

Hello Readers! If you are looking for the 2023 National Poetry Month 24 HOURS poems, they have been taken down from The Poem Farm as they are out on submission for hopeful publication. xo, Amy

Happy National Poetry Month Eve!

From The Poem Farm, 2017

I returned home late last night from two days of writing workshops with the young poets of Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, CT, and this morning I am still thinking about those poets. I was moved and touched by their words and ways of seeing and responding to the world and am grateful for the time we spent together. Thank you Lower School girls and teachers for such a delightful visit!

Today's poem comes to us from a special guest. Today I am excited to welcome Adam C., a fourth          grade poet from Mrs. Jenny Hershberger's class at Washington School in Wyckoff, NJ. Recently I was leading an assembly at Washington, and Adam asked if he could share his poem with me. I was fascinated by how he compared the learning of facts to rain. Now, whenever I read facts on my own - regardless of the weather - I will think of his words and the way that we each grow our own learning puddle. Thank you, Adam, for joining and inspiring us today. 

Poem by Adam C. 

Mrs. Jenny Hershberger's Class

Washington School, Wyckoff, NJ

Process Notes by Adam C.

Mrs. Jenny Hershberger's Class

Washington School, Wyckoff, NJ

Students - Adam reminds us of something important about writing - we can write at any time in any place. Lying in bed, Adam connected his reading life to the weather, and this connection led him to his thoughtful poem. This week I recommend learning from Adam's writerly habit. Think about your life as you lie in your bed. Allow your thoughts to roll through the ocean of your mind, and allow them to bump into each other, creating new ideas and connections. Consider keeping a notebook or a piece of paper with a pencil by your bedside...just in case. Brains are amazing places, places where rain can change a brain. 

And now...

                  ...it is March 31st.

Tomorrow begins National Poetry Month and with it, my annual National Poetry Month Project. Each year, for the past twelve of thirteen years, along with many other writers, I choose to write and share a daily poem. I like to write these collections around themes, and during the weeks before April, I toss many ideas around inside of my head. Here is a list of my past projects:

2010 - Birth of The Poem Farm -  I wrote a poem each day for a month, beginning actually, on March 29, 2010. This blog just to be a one month project, just for me, to get me writing again as I awaited the publication of FOREST HAS A SONG.  At the end of April 2010, I was having too much fun to stop, decided to go for one whole year, publishing a poem at The Poem Farm each day.  And I stayed to post on Fridays.

2011 - Daily Poems Again - For each day of April 2011, I continued to write and share daily poems. However, I had no theme as the blog was just entering its second year.

2012 - A-Z Dictionary Hike - Here's where the themes began.  Each day of April 2012, I opened my children's dictionary to a different letter, starting with A, ending with Z.  Eyes closed, I pointed to a word and this word became the title of that day's poem.

2013 - Drawing into Poems - For each day of April 2013, I slowed myself down and looked closely at an object, drawing it with black pen into my notebook. On some days, I wrote poems from these drawings, but on many days, I simply allowed the looking-drawing practice to practice becoming a closer observer.

2014 - Thrift Store - For each day of April 2014, I wrote a poem from a photograph of an item I found in a thrift store.  These poems are no longer at The Poem Farm.

2015 - Sing That Poem - For each day of April 2015, I wrote a poem to the meter of a well-known tune and challenged readers to match the poem to the tune by seeing if it was singable to the same meter. One of these singable poems ended up in my book WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.

2016 - Wallow in Wonder - For my 2016 National Poetry Month project, I celebrated learning and writing from learning, writing poems from each daily Wonder at Wonderopolis.  I have not yet collected these posts into one post, but I may one day.

2017 - Writing the Rainbow - Each day of April 2017, I randomly selected a different Crayola crayon from a new box of 64.  Each day, I wrote a poem inspired by the color I chose.  These poems all ended up telling the story of a young city girl and the moments of her daily life and are no longer here at the blog.

2018 - 1 Subject *** 30 Ways - Each day of April 2018, I wrote daily poems focused on the constellation Orion.  Each poem played with a different poetic technique, and I used the lessons in my own book, POEMS ARE TEACHERS: HOW STUDYING POETRY STRENGTHENS WRITING IN ALL GENRES, to stretch my writing.  These poems are not currently online.

2019 - Tell a Poemstory - Three years ago, I shared a series of 30 free verse poems that told a story about a boy named John and a dog named Betsy and a lady named Betsy. I am so happy to report that these will be one day published by Eerdmans.

2020 - Roll the Dice - Three years ago, for my most recent April project, I rolled three word dice daily (from inside my vintage camper Betsy) and wrote daily poems inspired by one, two, or three of the rolled words. You can watch the videos that went with these on my YouTube channel, Keeping a Notebook Videos #13 - #42.

2021 - Two years ago, I returned to the classroom as a fourth grade teacher after 22 years away and did not share a public poetry project in this space.

2022 - Pick a Proverb - Last year, for each day of April, I wrote a new poem inspired by a popular saying such as "The grass is always greener on the other side" or "One person's trash is another person's treasure." These poems are out on submission in the hope that they will one day grow up into a book.

And this year, I welcome you to...

This year, for each day of April, I will share a new poem about 1 hour in 1 day in the life of an old barn. I will write 24 hourly poems, 1 for each hour of a spring day, beginning with midnight and ending right before the following midnight. Because April has 30 days, I will write and tuck 6 additional poems into the month, likely 2 at the beginning, 2 in the middle somewhere, and 2 at the end.

I invite you to join me in this project! 

To do so, simply:

1. Choose a place or a person, an animal or an object you could imagine writing 30 poems about, someone or something you could imagine following and writing about through an imaginary day.

2. If you wish, download the hourly log and note page below to keep track of poem ideas as you have them through the month. You may do this project on your own, with a friend or two, or with your whole class, each person selecting different hours.

HOURLY LOG FOR 24 HOURS

NOTE PAGE FOR 24 HOURS

(Teachers - Please print or make a copy so students can access these.)

3. Write a new poem each day of April 2023. You might write in order of the hours (I probably will), or you might choose to write your hourly poems in a mixed-up order and place them in order at month's end. If you miss a day, do not worry. Just come on back to your project when you can. And know that I will share some poem writing ideas along the way. 

4. Teachers and writers, if you wish to share your 24 HOURS subjects or poems, please do so on social media with the hashtag #24Hours. Teachers, if you have permission from parents and only first names on student poems, I will share their topics and poems here in a Google Slides presentation.

Well, here we go....I look forward to spending 30 days - and 24 hours - with you. 

Mary Lee is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Another Year of Reading with a patient and hopeful springy etheree and an announcement of her National Poetry Month Project...a month of cheritas! Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

To learn about more National Poetry Month projects and all kinds of April goodness, visit Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup where Jama has generously gathered this coming month's happenings. Happy National Poetry Month 2023 Eve!

xo,

Amy

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Let's Write from Museum Postcards!

STORAGE JAR DECORATED WITH MOUNTAIN GOATS, 

Iran, Public Domain

Draft by Amy LV

Students - This week I had the good fortune to visit two schools in Glen Rock, New Jersey.  At Coleman School, I led two assemblies and loved meeting the children and teachers.  And at Hamilton School, where I have visited before, I did some notebook keeping with second graders and wrote about art with fourth graders.  Delightful!

Librarian Lisa Tomaselli asked if I would do this art writing with the two fourth grade classes as she had fallen love with Lee Bennett Hopkins's beautiful WORLD MAKE WAY: NEW POEMS INSPIRED BY ART FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (Abrams.) My poem, Young Ashoka Sundari, lives in these pages.

Available at Your Local Bookshop

So we did!  I spread out all kinds of art postcards, each depicting a piece of art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We looked at several postcards, we each chose one, we took some notes...and we wrote.  I chose the STORAGE JAR DECORATED WITH MOUNTAIN GOATS, and as I wrote about it, I fell in love with it more and more. I now feel connected not only to the goat and the pot...but to the potter.

Poetry about art is called ekphrastic poetry.  Writers and artists of all kinds are often inspired by each others' work, and sometimes when I do not know what to write about, I turn to art.  Many writers do.

If you choose to write about art, consider the point of view you will take in your writing. In this poem, I chose to be the potter, someone you do not even see in the piece.

Grey shared her draft with me at the end of class, and she was kind enough to allow me to share it here with you. Note how Grey clearly chooses which girl's voice to use in her poem. Note how specific she is with her descriptions and imaginings, offering us a possible insight to this young pianist's thoughts. Thank you, Grey! I have invited all of these young poets to all share poems here when they are ready.

Untitled Poemdraft by Grey

Postcard of TWO YOUNG GIRLS AT THE PIANO 

by Auguste Renoir, Public Domain

(Click to Enlarge)

                                                    Father's watching in the parlor,

                                                    Sister's helping read the notes,

                                                    I'm looking for the last note G,

                                                    black keys white keys candle hooks,

                                                    I cannot find the last note G,

                                                    I make do with B instead.

                                                    by Grey, 4th Grade Poet, Hamilton School

If you wish to read many wonderful poems inspired by art, I encourage you to visit Irene Latham's Live Your Poem, where each April, she writes and shares ekphrastic poetry under the project heading ARTSPEAK!

This weekend I look forward to the New York Reading Association Conference, where I will speak twice about POEMS ARE TEACHERS.  Will any of you be at this conference?

Kay is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today at A Journey Through the Pages with lovely words inspired by today's morning - chicken feeding - sunrise. Please know that each 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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If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.

An Extra Post for Poetry Friday!

Greetings again! Today I have a special second Poetry Friday post for everybody. This morning I was greeted by a cheerful e-mail from second grade teacher Mrs. Laurie Luft in the Spencerport School District near Rochester, NY. She told me that her class reads regularly here, and that they are learning about blogs.

Later in the afternoon, Laurie sent this wonderful poem by Trevor, a young writer in her class. If you've ever cut onions, you will certainly agree that this is not only a clever poem, but it holds a great idea too. When I make soup this evening, I may just reach for my son Henry's blue goggles! Did you notice Trevor's neat use of counting in line 4?

Swimming Goggles

Swimming goggles

for cutting up onions

with a sharp knife

cutting 1, 2, 3, 4

and still have more.

by Trevor

Sometimes when I read poems, I get ideas for new poems.  Doesn't this poem make you wonder what other objects could be used for different purposes? Hmmm....

Happy Poetry Weekend to everyone!  And many thanks to Trevor and Laurie for sharing their love of words, poems, and....goggles...today.  My fingers are crossed that there will be more poetry coming our way from this class.  (Cross your fingers too!)

ps - If anyone in Mrs. Luft's class would like to draw a picture to go with Trevor's poem, please just send it along to me, and I will include it with the words here....

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

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Poetry Friday & 10% Through MyPoWriYe

Today marks 10% of my year to write and post a daily children's poem.  It is fascinating how anything can become a habit (flossing, cleaning the sink, writing daily poems....)  

Poem number 37 was partially inspired by Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus and the Carpenter", in which my daughter Hope recently played an oyster.  It was also partially inspired by Lisa Westberg Peters' poem "Obituary for a Clam" from her marvelous book, Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up.

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Last Friday was Poem in Your Pocket Day at Country Parkway Elementary in Williamsville, NY. 

Poems in Pockets at Country Parkway Elementary

Photo by Bobbi Hopkins

Bobbi Hopkins, third grade teacher, recounts the festivities:

It was a phenomenal day at our school on Poem in Your Pocket Day!  It was pockets, pockets everywhere in the halls of the school.  Every student displayed a decorated pocket and enclosed within it a treasured poem.  Classes made sure to roam the halls to reach into pockets and take out a poem to read and enjoy.  Throughout the day, there were random blasts of poetry over the PA - students reading poems of their own creation or favorite poems of choice.  A talented group of staff members did some "roaming poem-ing" by stopping in each classroom to recite and perform some poems.  Older students paired with younger students to read and compose poetry.  This was an event we will be sure to hold again next year!

I felt honored to attend Country Parkway's first Poem in Your Pocket celebration, especially when I was met at the door by third-grader Skyllar C., who wrote this poem.  Hopefully Skyllar's dance teacher will be lucky enough to read her words too.

Dancing Queen

I'm now a dancing queen,

So I can't wait to make a dancing scene.

I love being a dancing queen -

It is my biggest dream.

When I dance with my feet,

I can feel the powerful beat.

I dance everywhere I go,

Even in the ice cold snow.

I love to dance -

     and also prance,

I love to dance...no matter what.

Skyllar C., grade 3

May we, like Skyllar, see poetry as a way to celebrate great love...

Happy Poetry Friday!  Head on over to Random Noodling with Diane to learn about all sorts of poetry happenings in the blogosphere today.

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