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Thoughts, opinions, and ramblings about (broadly) children's literature from my perspectives as a writer, parent, and volunteer elementary school librarian. Oh yeah, and poetry of all sorts... with lots and lots of Fibs.
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Immigrant's Song: Coal Dust, Peppers, and Tomatoes by Nancy Bo Flood
I come from coal dust And hopes taken down, down, down Deep mine shaft down underground. Dig hard, spend lean, save, save, save, Leave Before the shaft fills and dreams drown. Homestead rich black fields. Truck-farm tall corn, fat round tomatoes, Finest sweet peppers, red, yellow, green. Sell a bushel, soul hopes, Fingers hold earth. Buy it. Buy all the acres you plow. Wed. Birth. Bury. Plant again, Corn grows from one yellow seed Into an immigrant’s dream.
It never ceases to amaze me the stories poetry can tell and the way poets can use words. Nancy Bo Flood paints a picture here with such economy, subtle rhythm, and fresh images that combine to create a powerful, sweeping story. Good stuff, I say, lacking that same ability right now!
You can find more "good stuff" in her latest collection, Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo. While the setting itself may not be familiar, the verses make it all real, tangible, alive.
And if you want more (and of course you do!) and something different, too... Nancy Bo Flood's No-Name Baby was recently named one of Bank Street's 100 Best Children's Books of 2012. She is definitely a wonderful weaver of words, and I'm thrilled to have Nancy Bo Flood here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Through the wonders of social media, I've been lucky enough to know Robert Schechter for awhile now. He has answered many a poetry query of mine and, as you can see, can just flat out write.
I love the way Mistaken Identity comes up with some knockout phrases ("the sun when it was tired"!!!!) that establish the voice of the poem... then gives that "voice" a whole story, too. We get the rise and fall of the sun and moon and the voice and his/her theory all while learning some science, too. This is what I call "the good stuff," indeed.
I highly recommend you read (and listen to) a couple of Bob's poems that have been in Highlights - Colors and My Nose - both of which have a similar voice that makes me wonder... hmmm... is it Bob who has this wonderful world view? If it is, well, that'd just add to the reasons I'm so happy to have Robert Schechter here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love April around these parts? I do! I get to share poems (and read them before anyone else!) and enjoy poems here and all around the blogosphere, too.
I'm particularly enjoying the comments left for the poets here (most of whom are active online, too) and on Facebook and Twitter and elsewhere. And I'm excited to see all sorts of new names hanging out, too.
There's all sorts of great poetry left to come this month - including, I should note, some older skewing ones, so if you're reading these to your 5 year old without reading 'em to yourself first, you might want to take a step back! And yes, you'll hear from me throughout the month, too.
And finally... another hat tip to Carter Higgins for this year's logo! It makes me happy wherever I see it. I encourage you to check out more of her work because I predict it'll make you happy, too.
1 Comments on Rolling, Rolling, Rolling!, last added: 4/10/2013
Sing it loud. Sing it clear. National Poetry Month is here.
Sing it loud. Sing it clear. National Poetry Month is here.
Do not write a boring poem. Write about a front lawn gnome. Write about your Uncle Nick. Write about your favorite flick. Write about a your best friend’s burp. Write about the way you slurp. Write about a painful itch. Write about your left eye twitch.
Let your spirit swing and soar. Let your mind float out the door. Free your voice to laugh and seethe. Feel your poem begin to breathe.
Sing it loud. Sing it clear. National Poetry Month is here.
Yeah! What Jill Corcoran said! Go on... do all that. Or some of that. At least take heed of line five and do not write a boring poem. Yeah. That. But most of all... go on and write!
Longtime GottaBook readers probably know that I have a "thing" for poems about poetry and writing (and poems about Poetry Month, too), so I was quite happy to see Sing it Loud come my way. I love the playfulness... the permission it grants... the inspiration it gives... and the call to action, too. I read it, and I wanna write, and that is awesome.
I was also quite happy to see the anthology that Jill edited (and wrote a poem for) Dare to Dream... Change the Worldcome out last year and receive some great recognition. The book is full of poems about real people who inspire, written by fabulous poets, and it's sure to inspire kids who read it. Notice a theme? Jill's inspiring... and that's just one reason I'm excited to have her here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Love it! What a great poem for teachers to use in the classroom, and have the kids add lines to it. They could write their line on the bottom of a piece of light-colored construction paper and illustrate it. Put all the pages together with rings and chant it as a class. Then it can sit proudly in the classrom library corner. The ownership is great for reluctant readers. ~Joni
This does make me want to stand up and write! And I love the combination of seethe and breathe. I hope my poems do both, for sure. Thanks, Jill and Greg.
To all who are enjoying the number 30, stop by to suggest a word for my 30days30words collaborative, crowd-sourced poem: http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/
Long ago a renowned candy judge Who loved lemon drops, toffee, and fudge Found that each yummy taste Would go straight to his waist-- Now that fudge-loving judge cannot budge.
Oooh! Dessert! Yes, Tamera Will Wissinger's poem today makes me happy due to food-ness alone. Yet a bigger part of my glee is that good limericks make it look so easy, but the truth is it's a form that's hard to write well. I mean, you wouldn't know it from looking at The Judge of Fudge... and that's exactly why I was so happy, you see.
I first ran into Tamera via her blogging, not immediately aware that she was a poet, too. Then... kaboom! There was Gone Fishing, her novel in verse (with illustrations by Matthew Cordell), and it hits what I think is this really great middle grade sweet spot: telling a relatable story (with poems!), using different poetic forms within the text, and then explaining it all with back matter, too.
It's exciting to see her debut novel - just out last month! - and I know I'm looking forward to the next book from Tamera, too. In the meantime, I'm thrilled to have her here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
I can't wait to read her book. This is why I love 30/30. Find out about more poets I haven't heard of before but look forward to meeting through their written works!
Doug Cushman writes books and poems, AND he illustrates, too... and that just makes me pause. I mean, is it really fair when people have that many different and disparate skills? Like both sides of their brain are wired for creative goodness or something? Ah well. We're all better off for these multi-talents, even if we (okay, fine... I) have been known to be a tad jealous.
I'm a sucker, as many of you know, for food poetry and wordplay, so it was a happy day when Olympic Sprouts came over the email transom. And maybe it's because of Doug's illustration background, but I can just see what the voice of the poem sees, and I'm left wanting to toboggan down spaghetti, too.
The same sense of fun can be found in Doug's book, Pigmares, by the way - his first book of poetry... after having written or illustrated over 125 books for kids! That's a happy thing, indeed, as is having Doug Cushman here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
How much to I love Sonya Sones' poem Hayfever? I love it more than spellchecker hates it, that's how much. Heck, I love it more than book banners love her What My Mother Doesn't Know (one of the top 100 most banned books of the decade)!
If you haven't read Sonya Sones' novels in verse... well... just go and do so. Oh, I suppose you can wait for her upcoming box set but you're only postponing what you know you should do. Her books are so vibrant and full of the type of detail that makes everything come alive for me... and yet she does it all with such economy. I read and enjoy. Then I read and try to learn. (But don't tell her!)
It's a good time to be a Sonya Sones fan, by the way. She's got a novel out in August with the fantastic title of To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story). And she's got a picture book for high school grads coming out soon co-written with her daughter, Ava. Perhaps that will lead me to a future 30 Poets/30 Days participant... but for now, I'm thrilled to have Sonya Sones here at GottaBook. Achooooo!
Maybe it's because I just visited Sylvia's blog, but this made me want to break out afterwards with "Twas brillig and the slithy toves . . ."! It's a whole other language: "Hayfeberish." A lovely celebration of Sprig's Wigs, Sonya--your poetic range astounds!
Always tough to make such misspelled words SOUND believable (in one's own head or read out loud), but I think that Sonya pulls it off flawlessly here. Easy to read and to "become the character" on the very first read. Well done ...
Big boxes! Small boxes! Sturdy and tough. I love you space figures, I can’t have enough. Your bases and faces I truly adore. Big boxes! Small boxes! May I have one more?
Big boxes! Small boxes! Piled high in my room. You wobble, you bobble. You topple down— Boom! Your bases are strong. Space figures, you’re great! Big boxes! Small boxes! You’re cool! But, wait.
Pyramids, prisms, and cones, how you rock! Your faces and bases I like quite a lot! When I look at you I see 3D perfection. I want more figures— a bigger collection!
What is a Space Figure?
An object like a tissue box is 3-Dimensional. It may also be called a space figure. The sides and the top of the box are sides, or faces. The edge is where the base and face connect. A tissue box has six faces and twelve edges. Try counting them for yourself!
Yay, geometry! That's what I said when I saw that Heidi Bee Roemer sent me the above poem. Combine mathematical ideas and poetry together, and I start getting rather excited, ya see. And 3-D? Win!
Of course, it's not enough just to be a poem about a concept. No. It's still gotta be fun to read. The words and images have to speak and inform on their own, and if you read Heidi's poems, whether about math or seeds or whatever else, you'll find they always do.
Passing this along to our math teachers who will be teaching volume next week!
Heidi Bee Roemer said, on 4/6/2013 1:05:00 PM
Thanks for your kind words, blogger friends! I used to struggle with high school math; third grade math is more my style. I hope this poem will help students who find math difficult... maybe even make them smile a little.
He's also, as you can see from the above example, a wonderful weaver of words. Blackbird is such a soothing, lush poem and combined with the art that goes with it, from Catherine Hyde, it's got me wishing that the book it's from, Conjuring the Dusk, were out NOW. But, no. We have to wait. That's not right.
Still, in the interim, we can pick from Andrew's other books as poet, novelist, anthologist, and picture book author. Or we can hope to find him didgeridooing somewhere. In all cases, however, it's a real pleasure for me to have Andrew Fusek Peters here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
I loved this poem. It conveys such an atmosphere and story. And I love the music of his words. I love poetry per se, but I especially love poetry that rhymes when it's done well. And this was done so well! Thanks for a lovely share.
What imagery! Wow Fusek Peters ain't playing when it comes to verse. The illustration is BEAUTIFUL as well. One of the days (if he and Yolen do another anthology) I'll be all over it!
Bird song is much on my mind these days, too. The robins are starting to sing in the dark, which means that spring is just around the corner (or behind the door, as the case may be).
You've lost your shoes – you don't know where. You do not have another pair. Your mother says they're in your room. You trod upstairs to face your doom. They aren't lying on the floor, Not on your desk, not in a drawer, Behind the chair, under the bed – They must be someplace else instead. You pull the door – it makes a creak – Into the closet's depths you peek. The hanging clothes are all unhung Mixed in a pile with things you flung. You sift and dig. You sort and toss. You start to become very cross. Then finally, inside a box, You find your shoes. Where are your socks?
When Kelly Ramsdell Fineman's poem, Where Are Your Shoes?, appeared in my inbox, I was gleeful and a bit surprised. One of my favorite parts of hosting 30/30 is that I never know what people are going to send me, and Kelly has the type of poetic range that made prediction impossible. Would I get laughs? A sonnet or some other form? Or....? What I knew, however, is that I'd get something wonderful.
If you've followed Writing and Ruminating, Kelly's blog (where her ruminating is not to be missed, by the way), or seen her picture book, At the Boardwalk, or run into her poetry anywhere else it's been published, you'd no doubt share my opinion. With a keen eye and a great ability to push her reader just a little farther (as in... to socks!), it's always a treat to read her poetry... just as it's a treat for me to have Kelly Ramsdell Fineman here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Love this--boy, can I relate. And there's a mountain of laundry in my 17yo's room that when she starts to excavate in search of a particular item--God help us all. Go, Kelly!
Yay! It's National Poetry Month and 30 Poets/30 Days, and Mary Lee Hahn's poem has flung open the doors for a month of poetic joy for us all.
It occurs to me that some of you may not know Mary Lee's poetry. Instead, you might know her as half of the A Year of Reading duo or as a teacher or the Poetry Friday organizing dynamo. In fact, I didn't know Mary Lee wrote poetry when I first got to cyber-know her years ago. But she does! Oh, indeed she does!
Now published in both the Poetry Friday Anthologies (for K-5 and middle school), I predict it won't be long before we're seeing Mary Lee Hahn authored collections. She has a way with phrasing and imagery that can often take my breath away and a startling ability to make me see the world through her eyes. And I find that I truly like the view, one reason I'm so happy to have here here today kicking off 30 Poets/30 Days.
Mary Lee's started us off with (a) spring in our steps, I dare say. Tomorrow... Kelly Fineman asks Where Are Your Shoes? For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.
20 Comments on Mary Lee Hahn - Green Door, last added: 4/4/2013
What a terrific metaphor--one I've never ever seen before, despite reading probably thousands of "spring" poems. Leave it to Mary Lee to come up with a fresh and beautiful spin!
Oh yes!! Well done, Mary Lee. I, too, am yearning to find that green door! I agree with everything Greg said in his intro to your work!! Keep writing your poems so we can learn even more from you. I'm a fan! Janet F. (See you in Texas!)
Love your green door, Mary Lee. Such a unique and wonderful perspective! Reading this poem made me feel that the door was opening and spring warmth around the other side (until I looked outside and saw gray skies and...flurries? Come on Michigan, look at the calendar!)
Like Laura said, we thought there were no more metaphors for spring--and then you flung one open! I envisioned the green door both as solid and as a curtain of weeping willow...
Believe Me When I Tell You The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger—1943-; Keith Richards—1943-; Charlie Watts—1941-; Ronnie Wood—1947-; Brian Jones—1942-1969
Rock ’n’ roll’s The perfect party favor Rock ’n’ roll’s Granddaddy’s nervous tic Rock ’n’ roll Believe me when I tell you Rock ’n’ roll Is always Keith and Mick
It’s the penthouse floor in a snazzy hotel It’s a symphony written to a sorcerer’s spell At the wedding of the undertaker and his bride When they kiss, he’s happy, she’s terrified
Rock ’n’ roll Comes shaking like a preacher Rock ’n’ roll Some say’s a dirty trick Rock ’n’ roll In case you ever doubted Rock ’n’ roll Is purely Keith and Mick
It’s the cyclone rush of a wind tunnel high It’s a poke in the snoot and it’s mud in your eye It’s a cream pie hit to the guv’nor’s tux As he swindles the choir for a few hundred bucks
Rock ’n’ roll Is caution on a riptide Rock ’n’ roll Is opera with a kick Rock ’n’ roll I think I oughta mention Rock ’n’ roll Is always Keith and Mick
How nice of J. Patrick Lewis to send a bit of rock 'n' roll poetry to share with the world, eh? Some might quibble with him, of course ("For those who say that rock is all/It's always John and Paul" for example), but who can deny our Poet Laureate's rhythm and way with words? Not I! As always, it's a pleasure to have Pat here at GottaBook.
By the way, you can check out today's Poetry Friday roundup at A Year in Reading to get a bunch of pre-National Poetry Month poetry joy. And consider today's poem pre-kickoff to 30 Poets/30 Days.
To get all the poetry that appears here on the blog in your inbox instead, you can join my poetry list. Simply enter your email address into the box and click subscribe:
12 Comments on J. Patrick Lewis - Believe Me When I Tell You, last added: 4/10/2013
I know it's only rock 'n roll, but I like it! That kept going through my head as I read Pat's poem...and I kept wanting to put it to a melody! Thanks for sharing, Greg.
This is great! It's true for my generation, I got a copy of Let it Bleed in 1970 or so, and for my son's generation. He heard the Stones in San Francisco 6 or 7 years ago.
Love the Stones and love this poem! Very fun to read out loud. I saw them at Madison Square Garden many years ago. Nosebleed seats. But the show was awesome!
And if you listen really closely, you can probably hear me singing and shouting with joy and glee.
There are so many folks to thank, of course, and that includes y'all. I know so many of you have been hanging around these parts since this book was not even a manuscript. Others of you have come by more recently. And all of you here are a big part of what's kept me writing during the good and bad times. That's why I look forward to celebrating a lot with you in the months ahead.
I feel awfully lucky right about now: National Poetry Month and 30 Poets/30 Days are coming up, I get to see my debut novel's cover soon (and will share it here, natch!), and did I mention... my book is coming out in October?
Yay!!!!!!
17 Comments on My Book's Coming in October! (And That's No Fib!), last added: 4/9/2013
Hey Greg, This is tres cool. May your fibs do famously, drawing more folks into the magic of reading, going on to more printings, & launching you with panache into a brave new world.
WOW! Congratulations and I will be looking forward to reading your book. Your poems always make me happy and I suspect so will your book and I will definitely review it on my other blog. I am very happy for you.
I'm thrilled to announce the 2013 edition of 30 Poets/30 Days, an April-long celebration of children's poetry that takes place here at GottaBook.
Each day of the month, I'll post a previously unpublished poem by a different poet. I've seen a lot of the poetry already, and I can safely say it's gonna be a great month. Here's an alphabetical list of who's work you'll be seeing here during National Poetry Month 2013:
Am I excited? YES! Yes, I am. Now, there are a few easy ways to follow along and not miss out on any of the fun. You can visit here every day, of course. Or you can subscribe to GottaBook via email or your blog reader.
You can also join my poetry list, and get all the poems emailed to you the day they hit my blog. To be on the list, enter your email address into the box and click subscribe:
That list runs year round, by the way, so whenever I post a poem here, whether it's my own or a poem from a visiting guest poet, you'll see it.
There are always a ton of people to thank with an event like this and other details to share, but today I'm simply going to wrap it up with a bit hat tip to the extra-talented Carter Higgins for designing this year's 30/30 logo. And, of course, thanks to all of you for reading! Now...
THE POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP!
Please leave a comment with a link to your Poetry Friday post, and I'll be adding things in as the day goes on....
As always when I post the announcements, you won't find 30 names in the list just yet. You will soon. With the vagaries of email, my inability to count well, and other factors, there are not 30 poets yet. But there will be!
Hi, Greg. Thanks for hosting! My poem for the March Madness Poetry Sweet Sixteen is "Dear Bully." I am sharing my revision notes, and my own "Dear Bully" story.
I can't imagine what it's like for today's teens, when social media adds another layer to the bullying issue.
Thanks for hosting. Fats is in this week with some poetry for misfits. Here's the link: http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/poetry-friday-raise-your-glass-for-the-misfits/
I'm really looking forward to 30 Poets/30 Days! For Poetry Friday, I have a Douglas Florian poem about spring: http://readingtothecore.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/slice-22-of-31-douglas-florian-for-poetry-friday/
Greg! I always look forward to your 30 Poets/30 Days...now I want April to be here today!
Over at The Poem Farm I have a wee rhyme about wishes and welcome a homeschooling family of poets - http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2013/03/wishes-poems-for-occasions-signs.html
Greg, Thanks for hosting. I'm looking forward to your 30 poets. I have my round 2 March Madness Poetry Tournament process and a cute picture of a sloth. Happy Friday, Liz
I am excited about all the goings on for National Poetry Month. Today I have a poem about all my journals: http://reflectionsontheteche.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/my-journals/
Thanks for hosting today Greg. Today I am doing double duty over at A Teaching Life - a slice of life for the Two Writing Teachers' March writing challenge ( a letter I wish I could share with a student) and a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye about siblings: http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2013/03/slice-of-life-march-challenge-22poetry.html
Good morning, Greg, and thanks for keeping the 30P30D tradition going! Today I'm sharing the first two in a series of poems written by kids in a Sunday School workshop I did... http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2013/03/overheard-in-sunday-school.html
Here's my offering. My March Madness 2013 entry and another I wrote that I found lying around on my computer...both short ones about owls. http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2013/03/is-that-owl-you-have-to-say.html
Thanks for hosting. I'm double dipping on SLICE OF LIFE with Ralph Fletcher's "Daffodils" and then a little writing of my own! Looking forward, as I do every spring, to our terrific April line up!
Thank you for hosting today! (And for posting my link up there.) Can't wait to read all the wonders from your 30/30 list this year. Happy (Early) Poetry Month.
Your 30 Poets feature sounds fun! Today I'm featuring a poem I wrote a little over a year ago that's filled with words one might expect from a #MMPoetry competition! http://mattforrest.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/poetry-friday-irony/
Your list of poets is awesome, Greg. Time for April & lots of poems! Thanks for hosting. I'm in today with a new poem for my goodbye project, saying goodbye to different stages in children's lives. http://www.teacherdance.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-poems-of-goodbyes-2231.html
Thanks for hosting, Greg. For my offering I'll pitch in my Word of the Month poem for March, "The Victim," which can be found on my blog at http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/my-word-of-the-month-poem-18 All the best, David
Hi Greg, Thanks for hosting. I'm looking forward to your 30 poets! I'm in today with some alternate versions of my March Madness Poetry sweet-sixteen entry, "Portrait of a Trembling Mouse."
Wow--police poems to book spine poems to everything in between! Tying in with the theme of "Poetry Is Everything," this week's Poetry Friday Anthology post features a poem ABOUT poetry by Patricia Hubbell. http://poetryfridayanthology.blogspot.com/
Hey Greg, Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday Roundup today. Can I come to the party? I have a form poem, a nonet, up today about spring in the desert at: www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com.
Here's my post for today: http://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-morning.html
It's Eleanor Farjeon's poem "Morning Has Broken," which I thought of this morning and which I'm thinking back to now after a not-so-great day with eighth graders.
Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday. I'm so flippin' excited about another 30/30. April is going to rock out socks, I can feel it! PINCUS POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I intended to stop by yesterday, but I guess for me it's Poetry Saturday! Thank you for hosting the roundup; what a great group of posts we have to explore. I can feel and see the energy building as we head toward National Poetry Month. I'm honored to be a participant in your 30 poets/30 Days celebration!
It is rare that I focus on YA books here, probably because I am only 11 years old and don't yet read up. Or something like that. However, I did want to take a moment to talk about Bridget Zinn's debut novel, Poison.
I met Bridget at an early Kidlitcon. I think it was impossible not to like her, even via a brief encounter. She just exuded positivity and good humor and... you know... you just liked her.
So, it was exciting to see her on her path to publication, even though, unfortunately, she ended up on a simultaneous path of cancer, chemo and hospitals. Bridget passed away in 2011 at only 33. Nearly two years later, her book has finally arrived.
But really... what's going on here is a celebration of a debut novel that's garnering reader love. It's what all of us authors want. Are there deeper levels? Of course. So go kiss a loved one or rededicate yourself to your own manuscript or both!
And maybe, in celebration, you can spread the word about Poison, too!
3 Comments on Bridget Zinn's Poison, last added: 3/21/2013
I, too, met Bridget many years back at a SCBWI-WI conference - and you are right, she was a delight. Looking forward to reading Poison and honoring Bridget's memory/work. Thanks for sharing.
My dog has it in for me badly. I swear he’s the worst cur on earth. I wish I could get away from the vendetta He’s had against me since my birth. Instead, he finds new ways to hound me. My days are spent shaking with fear! And he is why actually, truly and factually, None of my homework is here.
This was a poem written for this year's March Madness Poetry shebang... though it did not help me advance to the next round, as you can see. My task was to write a poem using the word vendetta, by the way. I believe it was the first time I'd done so, and I was pleased enough with the result to share it here.
If you want to get all the new poems here (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
0 Comments on To My 2nd Period English Teacher - a dog poem/a vendetta poem as of 3/20/2013 8:45:00 PM
The even better news is that whether I move forward or not, you can keep voting as new matchups keep coming! I know I'll be casting a vote in every matchup til it ends....
Look for the Poetry Friday round up here a week from today... but in the meantime, go see this week's Roundup over at Jone's Check It Out blog.
Things are gonna heat up around these parts, I tell ya, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with you here all April long.....
Read the rest of this post
0 Comments on Poetry News and Notes! as of 3/15/2013 12:03:00 PM
Sweeeeeet! March Madness, poetry style, is back again thanks to Ed DeCaria at Think Kid, Think. And once again, I'm giving it a go along with 63 other poetry loving foo... errr... poets!
The way the Madness works is pretty simple: we "face off" against another poet, each of us having 36 hours to write a poem based on an assigned word. This year, I'm a 13th seed, and that means my words are gonna be challenging. But isn't that the fun of it all? Yes!
I hope you'll follow along with the whole bracket. I'm in action starting Tuesday the 12th, and others begin the 11th. Last year was a blast and a great way to lead into the fun of National Poetry Month in April, too.
3 Comments on Poetic Madness, 2013 Style, last added: 3/12/2013
Keep your "Bunny Ears" and "loop-de-loops" - I'll tie shoes with the method I've got. Oh, sure, it's a mess Yet there's often success... So I call it the "Probably Knot."
And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
10 Comments on My Method For Tying Shoes - a poem, last added: 2/11/2013
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I'm excited about the whole shebang but must give an extra cheer for Laura Purdie Salas and BookSpeak! - Poems About Books winning the poetry category. It's a great choice in a great poetry year....
1 Comments on Hooray for the Cybils Winners!, last added: 2/14/2013
You can head over to this post at Jone's Check It Out blog and enter for a chance to win a copy of The Late Bird (my ebook of poetry). Plus you get to see my poem Doughnuts! Oh Doughnuts!
What's not to love, I ask you? What's not to love?
0 Comments on Win a Copy of The Late Bird! as of 2/16/2013 2:27:00 PM
It's been a sparse blogging few weeks, and I've realized once again that for me, the joy of blogging is y'all. I miss the interactions and conversations and the idea that even when we're not in direct communication, you are out there reacting in some way to what I'm sending out.
I don't miss the act of blogging or the blogger interface or the joy of pressing "publish." Nope. It's you!
So thank you for being out there. Things'll be picking up here again soon. And then, just as now, I'll so happy you're here with me.
5 Comments on Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?, last added: 2/26/2013
We’re locked in our classroom all day for a test Answering questions for hours with no rest. You want us to learn? Well, this isn’t the way. Sequester the tester and just let us play!
I wrote this poem almost a year ago during last year's March Madness (the fantastic event masterminded by Ed DeCaria). During the Madness, some poor poet had to write a poem in 36 hours using the word "sequester"... and I decided it was such a great word, I'd give it a try, too, just cuz.
Flash forward to a year later, and "sequester" is suddenly in the news (AND it's standardized testing time all over the place, too). So, I've decided to dust off this little ditty. (And, yes... I'm doing the Madness again! More on that soooooon.)
And hey... it's Poetry Friday, so you can see what else is going on around the Kidlitosphere by heading over to the weekly roundup at Heidi's Juicy Little Universe.
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6 Comments on Sequester the Tester - a school poem/a play poem, last added: 3/9/2013
As my 1st-round MMPoetry adversary said, this is indeed very timely! I think most kids would love to sequester the tester. And best wishes for this year's competiton, too!
Wonderful poem! Timely also because many schools are heading into standardized testing - one of my daughters took her's last week and my other is taking her's in about 2 weeks. Thanks for the smile during our "sequestered" times. =)
It never ceases to amaze me the stories poetry can tell and the way poets can use words. Nancy Bo Flood paints a picture here with such economy, subtle rhythm, and fresh images that combine to create a powerful, sweeping story. Good stuff, I say, lacking that same ability right now!
I loved this, especially the last line. I'll never look at a kernal of corn quite the same way again.
It IS amazing how so few words can create a story so large and evocative!
thanks Nancy, and thanks Greg!
POETRY. Nancy Bo Flood writes POETRY now. Good grief. There are some people who can do anything.
"Dig hard, spend lean" reminds me of "lean in." Love that.