Apparently, it's Poetry Month.
Only, I've been a little distracted.
I skipped off to the city
for my local SCBWI meeting -
an art show,
a lecture from book-wise and witty
editors Mary Kate Castellani and Caroline Abbey,
and then a consultation and workshop with
art director, professor, and story genius Joy Chu.
This is the same Joy who guided me over the last two winters
in visual storytelling classes through the UCSD online extension program.
I'm still reeling with inspiration.
I could have listened for days. Months. Years.
Now I'm home, all bright and hopeful,
waiting for my brain to shape so many beautiful tips
and ideas into working order.
Time to let the front thoughts simmer.
Time to play with poetry.
We started with a poet-tree.
The wildebeests and I cut out branchy trees and labeled each branch with simple word:
sky, go, sea, etc.
Next, we cut out dozens of leaves - in all flutters of color,
because it just looks more exciting that way.
Each branch grew rhyming leaf words:
sky = cry, my, pie, etc.
Because we like to make life even more thrilling, and sometimes complicated,
I thought it might be fun for the older wildebeests to thread their leaves on yarn.
Winnie added a button.
Pip used gold pen. She's really into gel pens lately.
And their finished masterpieces.
I'd love to meet a tree like this someday, shimmering with colors, yarns, and words!
I think I'd move in.
I'll share more poetry play next time.
Until then, here are a few favorites:
A Kick in the Head, An Every Day Guide to Poetic Forms - compiled by Paul Janeczko, ill. by Chris Raschka
The Random House Book of Poetry - edited by Jack Prelutsky, ill. by Arnold Lobel
Switching on the Moon - collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Peters, ill. by G. Brian Karas
Chicken Soup With Rice - by Maurice Sendak
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard
Now We Are Six By A.A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard
We made ornaments this week...for the birds.
Because they ate all our cherries this year?
Because they pecked holes in the eaves
and made attic nests?
Heh.
But then we went birding.
A day's adventure into the wet, into the wind,
unconnected
from my technical world,
no busy busy, no run arounds, no errand hopping,
just listening.
Squinting into far off brambles.
Surprisingly, I connected. With the herons in the tree.
With the brown-headed eagle, the sparrows, the finches.
Like the time we stumbled on a barn owl and we lingered there, watching,
till the sky turned shadowy.
Or the day we pulled over the car to observe scores of starlings bathe in muddy puddles.
Maybe it's just the act of stopping
in the midst of a life that whirls
-watching birds go about their day,
breathing in a piney forest,
feeling rain pelt and pummel -
Maybe that's what slows me down.
wakes me up.
brings me peace.
And peace is what we all need this time of year.
So we made gifts for the birds.
I never thought I'd buy lard.
Or thistle seeds, for that matter.
Who needs more thistles? Birds, I guess.
So we squished together birdseed "cookies,"
threaded cheerios onto pipe cleaners
and bent them into hearts.
Where did Birdy's cheerios go?
The big kids strung popcorn, nuts and apples into garlands.
I cut up felt and old jeans and t-shirts into bird-ish shapes
for ornaments and pins.
It was a good project for little sewists.
And then we gathered our bounty
and strung it up
in the climbing tree.
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
- and wild and sweet
- The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
- Had rolled along
- The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
- A voice, a chime,
- A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
- "For hate is strong,
- And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
- The Wrong shall fail,
- The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Peace to you, my friends...
peace that lifts,
peace with wings.
And some beauteous books to warm your winter!
The Birds of Bethlehem - Tomie dePaola
Night Tree - Eve Bunting, Ted Rand
The Candle in the Forest - compiled by Joe L. Wheeler
Uncle Vova's Tree - Patricia Polacco
The Trees of the Dancing Goats - Patricia Polacco
The Birds' Christmas Carol - Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Mitten - Barbara McClintock
The Mitten - Jan Brett
The Money We'll Save - Brock Cole
Owl Babies - Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen, John Schoenherr
No Two Alike - Keith Baker
I'm at a blank!
I know my plot, my scenes,
my characters and their backstories to the nth generation.
I have tidy rows of index cards in Scrivener
spelling me all the way to the end.
I know what NEEDS to happen next
but I just can't picture WHERE it happens.
On a ship? In a shack?
(Sounds like something from Green Eggs and Ham)
Outside? Moonlight? Storm clouds? Hammocks? Dock? Bridge?
This is no end of frustrating!
I recently read
this advice from author Molly Blaisell
about writing novels.
One of the gems she writes is to Stop Rushing Yourself.
So I'm playing with the kids.
A fruit box puppet theater is a good way to try different settings for the novel...right?
While a fruit box has a perfect open shape
for marionette-style puppets,
my kids wanted stick puppets.
So I cut a hole big enough for four pairs of hands
plus
Beautiful! We're going to be making some bird ornaments ourselves before the week is out...love your ideas!
We love feeding the birds too! I loved all your birdie ornaments and food!
It always feels like coming home to visit your blog. Birding can be so fun, and you did something so cool after. Peace with wings to you, too.
Aaaaaaah, I can feel that peace from here. Thanks so much for blessing me with such a moment in the midst of a very hectic day. Sweet peace to you and yours as well.