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One form I’ve been meaning to get to for a while is the blackout poem and also the erasure poem. Both are sort of similar with the major difference being in presentation, I suppose.
Or it’s kind of like rectangles and squares. You see, all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
The same could be said of erasure and blackout poems. After all, all blackout poems are erasure poems, but not all erasure poems are blackout poems.
What is a blackout poem?
A blackout poem is when a poet takes a marker (usually black marker) to already established text–like in a newspaper–and starts redacting words until a poem is formed. The key thing with a blackout poem is that the text AND redacted text form a sort of visual poem.
I tried creating my own and pasting it onto the blog, but I’m having technical difficulties–so instead, click here to check out a blackout poem from one of the masters of the form, Austin Kleon.
What is an erasure poem?
An erasure poem is any poem that sculpts itself out of another larger text. The blackout poem is an erasure poem, but so is a poem like this:
From Ed, by Robert Lee Brewer
We’re approaching the annual
trip of six young winners!
The deadline for poets is NOW!
Open Antioch
Cincinnati
and Paris first.
Start journeys of great things.
How moral characters use
cash and horror for information.
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Some erasure poems work with or against the original text; some erasure poems look for completely new and unrelated meanings than the original text; and some erasure poems are just complete nonsense. In the example above, I used one of my recent WritersMarket.com newsletters (which by the way are free to receive, though site subscriptions have a fee).
Quick note on ethics: There is a line to be drawn between erasure/blackout poems and plagiarism. If you’re not erasing more than 50% of the text, then I’d argue you’re not making enough critical decisions to create a new piece of art. Further, it’s always good form to credit the original source for your erasures.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He prefers to use horoscopes for most of his erasures, though it’s also fun to do with longer rambling free verse poems too.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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Find more poetic goodies here:
If only a poetic form existed that could be both concise and free. Oh wait a second, there’s gogyohka!
Gogyohka was a form developed by Enta Kusakabe in Japan and translates literally to “five-line poem.” An off-shoot of the tanka form, the gogyohka has very simple rules: The poem is comprised of five lines with one phrase per line. That’s it.
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Write a poem for a chance at $1,000!
Writer’s Digest is offering a contest strictly for poets with a top prize of $1,000, publication in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a copy of the 2015 Poet’s Market. There are cash prizes for Second ($250) and Third ($100) Prizes, as well as prizes for the Top 25 poems.
The deadline is October 31.
Click here to learn more.
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What constitutes a phrase in gogyohka?
From the examples I’ve seen of the form, the definition of phrase is in the eye of the beholder. A compound or complex sentence is probably too long, but I’ve seen phrases as short as one word and others more than five words.
So it’s a little loose, which is kind of the theory behind gogyohka. It’s meant to be concise (five lines) but free (variable line length with each phrase). No special seasonal or cutting words. No subject matter constraints. Just five lines of poetic phrases.
Here’s my attempt at a Gogyohka:
“Halloween”
Ghosts hang
from the willow
as the children run
from one door
to the next.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53).
He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He is building a haunted house in his two-car garage with the assistance of his little poets, who are also spooky little creatives when it comes to Halloween decorating.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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Find more poetic treats here:
What do you get when you mix two super popular Italian poetic forms, specifically the terza rima and villanelle? The terzanelle, of course!
It combines the lyricism of the terza rima with the repetition of the villanelle to make a powerful one-two punch in only 19 lines. The traditional stance on the terzanelle is that the lines should be written in a consistent iambic meter, but there are plenty of contemporary terzanelles that just aspire to keep the lines a consistent length throughout.
Here’s the rhyme and refrain order for the Terzanelle:
A1
B
A2
b
C
B
c
D
C
d
E
D
e
F
E
f
A1
F
A2
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2015 Poet’s Market
Publish Your Poetry!
Learn how to get your poetry published with the latest (and greatest) edition of Poet’s Market. The 2015 Poet’s Market is filled with articles on the craft, business, and promotion of poetry, in addition to poet interviews and original poetry by contemporary poets.
In fact, it has an entire section covering various poetic forms.
Plus, the book is filled with hundreds of listings for poetry book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, contests, grants, conferences, and more!
Click to continue.
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Here’s my attempt at a Terzanelle:
“Big A”
The hardest thing to do is remember
what I just did and what I want to do.
I can still recall that one December
when both the moon and snow surrounded you
like a whisper. Am I losing my mind?
What I just did and what I want to do
vanish completely as soon as I find
the answer. The question a question mark
like a whisper, “Am I losing my mind?”
I’ve never felt comforted by the dark,
but I still remember that winter night
the answer, the question, and question mark
unraveled beneath the frozen moon’s light
like there was something worthwhile to forget,
but I still remember that winter night
in the park in the dark when we first met.
The hardest thing to do is remember
as if there’s something worthwhile to forget.
I can still recall that one December.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
Ever since college, he’s loved learning and fumbling around with new (to him) poetic forms, whether it’s the shadorma, paradelle, or triolet. When he’s not messing up another sestina or other traditional form, he’s bound to be making up forms to fit the poems he writes.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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Find more poetic finery here:
I’m in the middle of putting together my list of poetic forms to cover in the 2015 issues of Writer’s Digest magazine, and it prompted me to take a look at what I’ve already covered on this blog over the years. As the title of this post suggests, I’ve covered at least 50 forms.
Be sure to check out each form. It might even make a good year-long challenge to write one form each week of the year.
Here’s my list of 50 poetic forms:
(Note: Click on the name of each form to read the full description in the original posts.)
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Have you tried a WD Poetic Form Challenge?
Every month or so, Poetic Asides hosts a WD Poetic Form Challenge–a free poetry challenge in which poets try their hand at a specific poetic form. The current challenge is for the madrigal (click here for the guidelines), but if that deadline has passed, poets can always check the Poetic Asides home page for the most recent challenge.
Click to continue.
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- The Fib. Fun form from Gregory K. Pincus.
- Found Poetry. Finders keepers, right?
- Ghazal. Couplets and a refrain.
- Golden Shovel. Terrance Hayes-invented, Gwendolyn Brooks-inspired.
- Gwawdodyn. Welsh poetic form.
- Haibun. Japanese form popularized by Matsuo Basho.
- Haiku. Popular Japanese form.
- Hay(na)ku. Eileen Tabios form with 3 lines, 6 words.
- Kyrielle. Adjustable French form.
- Lai. Nine-liner from the French.
- Limerick. 5 lines and naughty rhymes.
- List Poem. Poetry at the grocery store.
- Luc Bat. Vietnamese “6-8″ form.
- Lune. Robert Kelly invention, also known as American haiku.
- Madrigal. Learn both the Italian and English versions.
- Monotetra. Quatrain madness developed by Michael Walker.
- Nonet. Nine-line countdown poem.
- Ode. Praise poetry!
2015 Poet’s Market
*****
Publish Your Poetry!
Learn how to get your poetry published with the latest (and greatest) edition of Poet’s Market. The 2015 Poet’s Market is filled with articles on the craft, business, and promotion of poetry, in addition to poet interviews and original poetry by contemporary poets.
Plus, the book is filled with hundreds of listings for poetry book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, contests, grants, conferences, and more!
Click to continue.
*****
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
A former Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere, Robert has been a featured poet at events across the country and is married to poet Tammy Foster Brewer, who helps him keep track of their five little poets.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
Find more poetic goodness here:
The madrigal originated as an Italian form, actually as a pastoral song. The Italian madrigal is written in lines of either seven or 11 syllables and is comprised of two or three tercets, followed by one or two rhyming couplets. Just as variable as the lines and line lengths is the rhyme scheme. In fact, there’s so much variability that I’m going to focus more on the “English” madrigal.
For the English-version of the madrigal (developed by Geoffrey Chaucer), the rules are much more defined. Here they are:
- Usually written in iambic pentameter.
- Comprised of three stanzas: a tercet, quatrain, and sestet.
- All three of the lines in the opening tercet are refrains.
The poem follows this rhyme pattern:
Line 1: A
Line 2: B1
Line 3: B2
Line 4: a
Line 5: b
Line 6: A
Line 7: B1
Line 8: a
Line 9: b
Line 10: b
Line 11: A
Line 12: B1
Line 13: B2
2015 Poet’s Market
******
Pre-order the Latest Poet’s Market!
The 2015 Poet’s Market is now available for pre-order at a discounted price. Get the most up-to-date information for publishing your poetry, including listings for book and chapbook publishers, magazines and journals, contests and awards, and more!
Plus, this edition includes information on poetic forms, poet interviews, articles on the craft and business of poetry, and so much more!
Click to continue.
******
I’m no master of meter–by a long shot–but…
Here’s my attempt at an English madrigal:
“dead heat feet”
another gun fired & children are dead
the official claims he’ll turn up the heat
he says the earth will burn beneath their feet
but the gunman shot himself in the head
& those kids still alive avoid the street
another gun fired & children are dead
the official claims he’ll turn up the heat
blame all the guns & the games & the meds
blame the police who are working the beat
try to place blame so they’ll make it all neat
another gun fired & children are dead
the official claims he’ll turn up the heat
he says the earth will burn beneath their feet
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He loves reading poetry, writing poetry, and studying poetry–but he especially loves sharing poetry and is happy that Poetic Asides is a place that accommodates just that.
For those new to the blog, Robert tends to share a new poetic form just before he announces a new WD Poetic Form Challenge, which is a free challenge in which the winning poem and poet are featured in a future issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. The next challenge will probably be announced within the next week.
Robert is married to the poet Tammy Foster Brewer, who helps him keep track of their five little poets (four boys and one princess). Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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Find more poetic goodness here:
Earlier this year, I came across a mention of the “golden shovel” form created by Terrance Hayes and made a note to check it out. I’m so happy I did, because it’s a fun poetic form.
Here are the rules for the Golden Shovel:
- Take a line (or lines) from a poem you admire.
- Use each word in the line (or lines) as an end word in your poem.
- Keep the end words in order.
- Give credit to the poet who originally wrote the line (or lines).
- The new poem does not have to be about the same subject as the poem that offers the end words.
If you pull a line with six words, your poem would be six lines long. If you pull a stanza with 24 words, your poem would be 24 lines long. And so on.
If it’s still kind of abstract, read these two poems to see how Terrance Hayes used a Gwendolyn Brooks poem to write the first golden shovel:
As you can see, the original golden shovel takes more than a line from the poem. In fact, it pulls every word from the Brooks poem, and it does it twice.
This form is sort of in the tradition of the cento and erasure, but it offers a lot more room for creativity than other found poetry.
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Workshop your poetry!
Write and receive feedback on six poems during a six-week Advanced Poetry Writing course. Each course is taught by a published poet and provides an intimate workshop format.
Click here to learn more.
*****
Here’s my attempt at a golden shovel:
“Aging Well,” by Robert Lee Brewer
-after Basho as translated by Allen Ginsberg
The funny thing about growing old
is you never know how to respond
until after the fact. Like a frog
that sits and then eventually jumps
there’s absolutely no thought given
to the process. You’re young; then, kerplunk!
*****
Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). A former Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere, he’s been a featured poet at several events around the country, including recent appearances at the Austin International Poetry Festival and Poetry Hickory.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
Find more poetic posts here:
I’ve always been an admirer of French poetic forms, and I’m really digging the unusual flexibility offered with the bref double. It’s a quatorzain, which is any stanza or poem of 14 lines that is not a sonnet.
Here are the rules for a bref double:
- 4 stanzas: 3 quatrains (or 4-line stanzas) and 1 couplet (or 2-line stanza)
- 3 rhymes: an A rhyme, B rhyme, and C rhyme
- The A and B rhymes appear twice in the first 3 stanzas and once each in the couplet
- The C rhyme is the final line in each of the quatrains
- Each poem has a variable line length, but the lines should be consistent within each poem
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Blog your way to writing success!
Click here to learn how.
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Here’s my attempt at a bref double:
“dayton”
he lived in a city
made of elevators
and dead end alleyways
all was a box or trap
even the kids knew life
by its fistfights and strays
cats and dogs chased across
the corporation map
his first kiss was a lie
but one that was pretty
his teenage love affairs
flew through him in a snap
leaving him with gritty
women and one-act plays
*****
It should go without saying that a WD Poetic Form Challenge is just around the corner (I’d suspect a post on Thursday or Friday).
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Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up around car factories (and even worked in one) that are now either abandoned or in the process of being torn down. As such, he has a soft spot for car shows and rust.
Learn more at www.robertleebrewer.com.
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Find more poetic posts here:
I found references to the triversen this week in both online and print resources. It’s a fun poetic form developed by William Carlos Williams (one of my favorite poets–able to write both the concise, “The Red Wheelbarrow,” and the epic, Paterson). I like this form because of its flexibility.
Here are the triversen rules:
- Each stanza equals one sentence.
- Each sentence/stanza breaks into 3 lines (each line is a separate phrase in the sentence).
- There is a variable foot of 2-4 beats per line.
- The poem as a whole should add up to 18 lines (or 6 stanzas).
Here’s my attempt at a triversen:
“today we buried mom”
today we buried mom
& 1,000 red-winged blackbirds
found a branch in our backyard.
the shadow of a deer
was spotted on a snowdrift,
wind sneaking into our house.
everyone knows everyone
dies & then we’re faced
with how to handle the body.
in her favorite dress
we buried mom with some lilies
& a john wayne poster.
i’ve been trying to forget
the last time we talked
but here i am alone with you.
1,000 blackbirds hold the trees
before loosening their grip
to disappear in the sun.
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Want more poetic forms?
There are two great ways to get them:
- Writer’s Digest magazine
. Get a subscription to
Writer’s Digest magazine to read the Poetic Asides column that covers a new poetic form in (nearly) every issue.
Poet’s Market. In addition to hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities and great articles on everything poetry is a piece that collects 3 dozen poetic forms.
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Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems
. Robert has loved trying out various poetic forms since his days in college–when he once wrote more than 40 sestinas during one quarter (admittedly, they were all horrible). He’s partial to the French forms, but also loves the
shadorma,
monotetra, and
pantoum. Robert is married to the poet Tammy Foster Brewer, who helps him keep track of their five little poets. Follow him on Twitter @
robertleebrewer.
*****
Find more poetic posts here:
.
Jane Shlensky: Poet Interview.
2014 April PAD Challenge: Guidelines.
The haibun is the combination of two poems: a prose poem and haiku. The form was popularized by the 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho. Both the prose poem and haiku typically communicate with each other, though poets employ different strategies for this communication—some doing so subtly, while others are more direct.
The prose poem usually describes a scene or moment in an objective manner. In other words, the pronoun “I” isn’t often used—if at all. Meanwhile, the haiku follows the typical rules for haiku.
Here is my attempt at a haibun poem:
“1985″
In the shadow of the Nevado del Ruiz, rice farmers woke as if on any other morning. Their daily pleasures and worries were the same as always. Even the smoke and eruptions that afternoon were familiar—though masked by a thunderstorm—no one aware of the approaching lahars.
not the sound
but drops of rain
scatter ants
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As you may have guessed, a new poetic form challenge is around the corner. It’d probably be a good idea to work on your haibuns today and share them tomorrow.
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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Learn more about poetic forms…
…with The Poetry Dictionary, by John Drury. The book is loaded with poetic forms, poetic terms, poetic schools, poetic history, and poems!
Click to continue.
Never heard of nonet poems? That’s all right. I’d never heard of them before trying to hunt down a new poetic form to cover earlier this week.
Nonet Poems: The Rules
The nonet poetic form is simple. It’s a 9-line poem that has 9 syllables in the first line, 8 syllables in the second line, 7 syllables in the third line, and continues to count down to one syllable in the final (ninth) line.
I couldn’t find an origin, but I did learn that the word nonet is used for a group of 9 performers or instruments. So I’m assuming this is one of those poetic forms inspired by music.
Here’s my attempt at the Nonet Poetic Form:
“Nature”
There’s a life curled in the darkness
sweating out the evening storm
beneath leaves covered with rain
and an urge to bolt like
the lightning before
thunder. Under
here we run
free of
why.
*****
Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Learn more poetic forms…
…with The Poetry Dictionary, by John Drury.
The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means “six-eight.” In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines.
Here’s a diagram of how the first few lines of luc bat poems should rhyme:
xxxxxA
xxxxxAxB
xxxxxB
xxxxxBxC
xxxxxC
xxxxxCxD
xxxxxD
xxxxxDxE
And so on. Luc bat poems have no set length or subject matter, and some run on for thousands of lines.
Here’s my attempt at a luc bat poem:
“Median”
Sometimes, I’d rather start
close to the middle part of love
after the stars above
but before crying doves fly off
in a Boris Karloff
and David Hasselhoff type way
near the end of a play
about a rainy day gone bad–
the end is always sad
with someone being had–you know,
a medias res show.
*****
Feel free to share your own attempts below, but realize that there may be another WD Poetic Form Challenge just around the corner (hint, hint).
Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Check out the Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Published. This heavily discounted bundle of publishing knowledge includes webinars, books, critiques, and more.
Today, I tried my hand at a new (to me) French poetic form that incorporates a refrain like in the villanelle and eight-syllable lines like in the kyrielle. Since I’m a big … Read more
Okay, here’s a new form. Actually, scratch that. This is a very old form (from Italy, no less). Still, new to me anyway. I found more than a few definitions, but here … Read more
Of all the poetic forms, prose poetry may be the most controversial. After all, free verse and most experimental poetry still contain line breaks. But prose poems often look like a short … Read more
As is my wont, I often post poems on Tuesdays, because everyone knows that once a week is not enough. Today, however, I'm going to talk about a particular poetic form, and it's for a particular reason: On Friday, the lovely poetry princesses (Tanita Davis, Sara Lewis Holmes, Andromeda Jazmon, Laura Purdie Salas, Liz Garton Scanlon, Tricia Stohr-Hunt) and I are going to post our original rondeau redoublés on our blogs, part of another group project/challenge/exercise in hysteria. So I thought perhaps a primer as to what the heck a rondeau redoublé is, anyhow, might be in order.
The rondeau redoublé is, as you can likely deduce from the spelling, a French form, which has been described as follows by the entertaining and educational Leonardo Malcovati:
this seriously minor, somewhat twisted and exclusively French metre, of which no more than a handful of examples (two of which, 'A Sylvie' and 'A Iris', of course, by Banville) exist, to show how twisted prosody can be, even in Europe.
Technically speaking a rondeau redoublé is made of six quatrains ended by a hemistich (of exactly the same type as the one in the rondeau form, and built on the first verse as well). The 24 verses, 4 of which are found twice (in the first stanza and as endings of stanzas 2-5) all belong to only two rhyme groups, one of which must be feminine and the other masculine; according to the usual conventions of this chapter, the tricky scheme of this form is:
ABAB BAB1 ABA2 BAB3 ABA4 BABAh
I'll bet I lost you at hemistich, right? I'll try to make it a bit simpler to follow than that technically correct (but presumes you speak poetic form language) definition.
Let's start with the name:
rondeau redoublé, or "doubled round". The most famous of all
rondeaux in the English language is
In Flanders Fields by the Canadian poet, John McCrae, which
you can read all about in this prior post of mine. The rondeau takes the start of the first line, usually three or four words (technically called a
hemistich), and uses it as a refrain at the end of the following two stanzas - hence the repetition of "In Flanders fields" twice more in that poem. The rondeau does not require a particular number of lines per stanza, but usually comes in with three stanzas and a total of 13-15 lines.
The rondeau redoublé, like its simpler sibling, uses a form of refrain, and it also borrows from the start of the first line in order to end the poem. The rondeau redoublé, however, has rigid stanza and line requirements. It traditionally has six stanzas and a total of 24-1/2 lines to it. The first five stanzas all have four lines each; the last has four full lines plus the hemistich (the snippet from the start of the poem), thereby ending the poem precisely where it started (although hopefully having taken you somewhere else in the middle). The "refrain" in a rondeau redoublé is derived from the first four lines of the poem, each of which serves in turn as the
last line of the next four stanzas. The final stanza goes its own way, but must end with that hemistich we talked about earlier.
Oh. And one more thing: the entire poem consists of only two end-rhymes. Traditionally, the first stanza uses ABAB rhyme, which means that stanzas two and four end with an A-rhyme, whereas stanzas three and five end with B. The last line of the stanza helps dictate the rhyme scheme to be used in that particular stanza - it may therefore rhyme BABA/ABAB or ABBA/BAAB, but whatever it does, it must end with its assigned line from the first stanza. The sixth stanza has to stick to the scheme, and must end using that hemistich.
Here are examples of three good rondeau redoublé in English
Happy New Year. My intention (less unforgivingly binding than a resolution) is to post twice a week as briefly as possible: to float lightly through the Kidlitosphere without compromising the Charterschoolapposphere.
Today's Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect is to write a shadorma, a six-line form with a prescribed syllable count of 3.5.3.3.7.5. The word "shadorma" made me hungry.
And sleepy.
shadorma
sleep sizzles
aromatically
on the spit
of night. carve
juicy slices onto white
sheets of pita bed.
Last week Poetry Friday passed me by entirely as I attempted to plan for the next 3 months, during which I will be writing (not entirely by myself) an approximately 200-page charter school application--all in a revolving series of poetic forms, beginning with the following limerick:
A girl with too much on her plate
begins before it is too late
to "publish" a school.
Is she a fool?
If not, the result will be great!
Just kidding--the application won't be written in poetic forms, but I hope there will be some poetry ribboning through our vision for a small K-8 school--Global Garden Public Charter School--that aims to educate the whole child in a way that our huge, factory-model public school system doesn't.
But what I really want to do this morning is start following the advice of Lee Bennett Hopkins, who wrote to me this week after we met at the NCTE Poetry Party in his honor. (He interrupted my cherishing of his tribute book and his autograph to say that he would cherish MY book and MY autograph--fancy that!)
So here's a little poem that's been around for a few years, visiting with children whenever I do workshops at this dark time of year. I've thought it was right just as it is, but Lee has got me reconsidering the "and"s and "the"s...
We Light a Candle
see how the wick waits
cold and curled
hear how the match scrapes
hiss and burst
see how the flame leaps
tongue leaf horn
now how the light creeps
comfort is born
Those "empty connectors" are important to the rhythm, but I'm going to try reworking the poem without them and see what happens. What is it with me and the challenges?
April is poetry month. In the USofA it;s called National Poetry Month, but here in Australia I'm just calling it Poetry Month, since I've been unable to figure out if the month is officially recognised as such here. Anyway, whether it's only a US thing or not, how wonderful to have a month which celebrates poetry! And, because it's poetry month, I've been digging around looking for some
Coming to Mississippi IS coming home. I spent my childhood summers in Jasper County, Mississippi, with my grandmother (the real Miss Eula of LOVE, RUBY LAVENDER) and a cast of characters who couldn't wait to see me. I'll will see some of them before the day is out.
I was up at 4am Tuesday morning and to the Atlanta airport early, only to sit for an hour with flight delays. Still, got to Jackson, Mississippi in good time. Jim Allen was waiting for me. Jim toted me around Mississippi two years ago on the LITTLE BIRD tour. When he heard I was going to high tea at the Brandon library one afternoon, he commissioned his friend Barry to pick me up at the hotel in his 1959 Silver Cloud Rolls Royce. You can read more about it here (where you'll find the LITTLE BIRD tour journal archived).
I didn't ride in the Rolls today, but I was in good hands. I hopped inside Jim's red Ford Explorer for the trip to nearby Clinton, where I was scheduled to spend some time with third-graders at Northside Elementary School, a grade two-three school.
Librarian Tammy King had contacted Harcourt about having me visit at the same time we were wrestling with a last-minute schedule change in the tour, so here we came -- Tammy got busy preparing her students, and I seized this opportunity to read from my Mississippi stories with a Mississippi audience.
I'm setting up my slides. Here come the third graders. What a great group of kids -- totally attentive and eager to hear stories... "Put your hands in the yoga of writing," I say. They do. "Every one of you has a story to tell. So many stories. What are they?" And I read about my grandmother, about a little girl who has been to 247 funerals, about a big shaggy black dog who loves everyone, and about two boys who want to play baseball... all stories from my life, and yet all made up. Personal narrative turned into fiction. Something like that. We laughed a lot.
Saying goodbye: Parent Coordinator Jimmie Sue Stringer, Tammy King, me, Assistant Principal Joy Tyner, and Principal Stacy Adcock who has a gracious heart and a younger brother named Casey ("I think my mother wanted twin girls."). Thank you all so much!
Here are Tammy and Stacy again on the right. On the far left is student teacher Amanda Eldridge Helmintoller, standing next to her mentor, Janet Medders. Janet teaches at the local middle school. Amanda is doing her student teaching at Northside and is a student at the University of Southern Misssissippi. Heads up, Ellen Ruffin! Amanda confirms that you are a stellar teacher yourself, in addition to being the curator of the de Grummond collection.
Jim Allen and I grab lunch with his mother -- fried green tomato sandwiches. (Welcome to the land of Fried Everything.) We make a quick stop at Pentimento, a lovely independent bookstore in Clinton that Jim thinks I would love to see. He's right.
Each bookstore has its own personality. Look at this one! VERY Southron. Lots of southern writers and southern charm. Squint hard and you'll see a poster of Eudora Welty in the background.
Here, I'll bring it closer. I'm going to the Welty Home on Friday -- stick around for a tour of the house and gardens.
Here's Jim Allen with Marilyn Poindexter of Pentimento. Owner Toni Wall was out when we stopped in.
Back in Jackson, I checked into my hotel and spent two hours lying across the bed in my pajamas. Then I was ready for the legendary Lemuria Books.
When I visited Lemuria in 2005, children's buyer Yvonne Rogers had me at a little table in the front of the store, where she tenaciously introduced me to every person who walked by. This time I occupy the golden, lamp-lighted signing area in the back of the store and we have a lovely crowd of parents, kids, librarians and teachers who come in looking for me. How very nice.
This is the enthusiastic Emily Hardin (Yvonne and teacher Sherry McWhorter are watching), whose guided reading group is reading LOVE, RUBY LAVENDER. She's taking this photo of her stellar students Anne Carrie, Marlee, and Sarah (hmmm... Sarah might be wrong -- correct me!)
Readers brought their copies of RUBY and LITTLE BIRD to be signed. Payton (not pictured) told me she's going to be a writer. I believe her. She already is.
There was a fair amount of mayhem, actually (sorry, Yvonne!), and my family was there in all their gorgeous glory... just look at how collected we seem here, when it's all over! I feel about these folks the way that Eudora Welty describes family in her novel DELTA WEDDING: "These cousins were the sensations of life."
Here's the fabulous staff at Lemuria: Sarah Ryburn Stainton, Jennifer Meador, Mark Regan, moi, and Yvonne Rogers.
I asked for good books. Yvonne sold me INDIAN SUMMER: The Secret History of The End of an Empire by Alex Von Tunzelmann (can't wait to read this) and, for my grandgirls, IF I WERE A TREE (Brown Dog Books) by Dar Hosta, and SWING! (College of DuPage Press) by Pamela Klein, both of which I adore. "You're not going to find these in just any bookstore," said Yvonne. "We take the time to find books that are special, that not everyone will have..."
Yes, they do. Hand selling is such an art. I love being hand sold. :>
Then -- can you stand it? One more picture of one more event.
Supper with the Brandon librarians who made the tea party possible during the LITTLE BIRD tour, and who have tirelessly promoted Deborah Wiles books, and who are beloved by me. Cousin Carol is in the white blouse at the head of the table. Jo McDivitt, editor of "Today's Mississippi Woman," is wearing the straw hat. These are the women who put books into the hands of young Mississippi readers. Namaste! (Just for the record, I did eat the pimento cheese fritters and the eggplant fries.)
It's early Wednesday morning as I write this. Jim Allen picks me up in two hours. We're going to travel highway 49 to Greenwood. I want to ride through the country I'm about to write about in my next novel for Harcourt. By lunchtime we'll be at Turnrow Books, a new bookstore, smack in the middle of the Delta. I'll tell you all about it.
First things first, though. I ordered breakfast delivered to my room this morning -- I'm a genius for thinking of this last night. And, I'll ask Jim to make a stop at the nearest Walgreens for water, Ricola lozenges, and some Throat Coat tea. Gotta fortify myself for the days ahead. I'm already pretty pruned up. I hope you'll come along with a puffy prune on the next day's adventure.
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I've heard that about leaving out empty connectors, but I think sometimes they actually are important enough that they should be there. They connect. I think you should do what sounds best to you.
I really like the poem the way it is, BTW. Light at this time of year is really key. Celebrate it!
I am sad I missed NCTE this year. Sounds like it was great!
a) I LOVE the idea that your charter school application would be written in verse! I've been wondering if it would be possible to write a professional book in verse...
b) Can I come teach at your school?