OPEN CALL: The Periodic Table of Poetry!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at The Apples in my Orchard for Roundup.

Exciting news: The Periodic Table of Poetry, a middle-grade poetry collection with poems selected by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, will be published by Lerner in 2028...and we want your poems! See the graphic for details...and I've also typewritten everything below. (You may also receive an email with the same information!) We are so looking forward to reading your work!!

OPEN CALL - PREPARE YOUR POETRY ENTRIES NOW FOR THE SUBMISSION WINDOW COMING UP FROM DECEMBER 6th - DECEMBER 9th. 

Hello, Poets! Send us your 3 BEST/FAVORITE original, unpublished poems for possible inclusion in a new anthology curated by Irene Latham & Charles Waters!

Irene Latham and Charles Waters, also known as I & C Construction Company, are an established writing & anthology team with multiple aims and commitments – including projects showcasing exceptional poetry for children created by diverse contemporary poets. We have been creating books together since 2015. 

In addition to jointly written titles such as Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship and Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z, our published anthologies include: The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from 20 Poets (Lerner, 2024), If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility (Candlewick, 2025) and For The Win: Poems Celebrating Phenomenal Athletes (Lerner, 2026). So far, our combined books have made twenty-six state lists. 

We’ve got an exciting new project, and we’d love for you to participate. 

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF POETRY

Published by Lerner, Spring 2028 

Illustrated MG poetry anthology for ages 10 and up

Blurb: Discover the art and craft of writing poetry in a brand new way: through an exploration of 25 elements selected by Irene Latham and Charles Waters. From basics like line & stanza to more complex elements for wordplay, impact, and sound; this fun, unique guide features poems that exemplify each element to illuminate the joys of reading and writing poetry. 

 

About the Book: The premise of this book—the elements of poetry presented as a periodic table—was originally conceived by one of our poetic heroes, Paul B. Janeczko (1945 - 2019), but he was unable to complete the project before his death. We miss him tremendously and are committed to carrying forth his work as children’s poetry anthologists. We couldn’t be more deeply honored that Nadine, his widow, and Emma, his daughter, have allowed us to step into Paul’s idea, expand on it, and make it our own. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive look at what makes poetry poetry—and perhaps inspire people of all ages to experience the joys of reading and writing poems. Here’s to you, PBJ!

What we’re looking for:

Your BEST/FAVORITE poems!

Original & Unpublished (no AI).

Any topic or type.

1-3 poems, no more than 60 lines TOTAL.

Payment $50 per poem accepted for publication in the anthology.

(We expect the collection to have 55 - 60 poems.)

First time rights only.

We’ll be searching for poems to serve as examples for the 25 poetic elements we’re featuring….basic elements like BREVITY (send us your shortest poems) and WHITE SPACE (send us something that uses white space in a compelling way)...impact elements like IMAGERY, EMOTION, SURPRISE. (Send us your poems that pack a punch!)...wordplay elements like ALLITERATION, METAPHOR, HYPERBOLE, and more. (Send us your playful poems that feature excellent use of these elements!)...and sound elements like RHYTHM, RHYME, and METER. (Send us your form poems, your funny poems, your re-readable poems!)

No need to “match” your poems to particular elements in your submission. Just send us your best/favorite 1-3 poems, and we will decide where it might fit into our collection. However, if you feel one of your selected poems is a great example of a poetic element, feel free to mention that in your submission!

Note: The submission window will only be open for 72 hours, from Saturday December 6, 2025 at Midnight (Eastern Time) to Tuesday December 9, 2025 at Midnight (Eastern Time). 

**PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR POEMS BEFORE THE DATES AND TIMES OR AFTER THE DATES AND TIMES LISTED AND ONLY TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED BELOW, OR WE WILL DISREGARD YOUR ENTRIES**

At that time, please send us 1-3 poems, no more than 60 lines TOTAL.

A 50-60 word short bio.

Your contact information.

Submission link: lathamandwaterssubmissions@gmail.com

Subject Line: From YOUR NAME - Submission

Note: Poem(s), bio, and contact information in the body of the email. No attachments. 

We will respond to all submissions by January 31, 2026.

-------------------------

Also: this time next week I'll hopefully be at NCTE! Here's my schedule:

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a mother and child. I was struck by the art, I think because I recently read The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. 

This book has really impacted me. Children who don't experience faithful love and care from the parental figures they are born to or land with suffer throughout their lives in a multitude of ways. The book suggests that if we want to "fix" our society, we need to teach parents how to give children this kind of open, abiding love...and this would eventually result in less foster care, addiction, mental illness, incarceration, etc. The book is a powerful read, and I highly recommend it!

As for the poem itself, I thought about "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes—and almost titled it "Son to Mother." But I didn't want to bring gender into the poem... and that title might have been interpreted as a response poem, and it's not...though now I want to—and will!—write a response poem. Ha!

Instead, I decided to lean into the way our bodies often speak without words...especially children, yes? Youngsters who, before they learn the words, try their darnedest to communicate with us using their bodies and behavior. 

The end finds me again playing with the repetition of a single word. Here, my hope is that with the second "yawning," the meaning of the word shifts from "gap" to "sleepy." Thanks so much for reading!

Words Hidden in a Child's Hug

Tell me you love me

Tell me you'll always be

         here

         Fold me, hold me

         kiss my brow

For my body may be small

but my heart

is a deep cavern

          yawning

          yawning

- Irene Latham

Still Riding the Highlights High!

 

(l-r) Charles Waters, Georgia Heard,
Rebecca K. Dotlich, Irene Latham

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure and visit Laura Purdie Salas for Roundup.

I'm home from another wonderful few days at Highlights. What a Poetry Palooza! 

The magic is real, folks, and it's the poets who make it so. What a great group! Special shout-out to Poetry Friday friends who were in attendance: Rose Cappelli, Janice Scully, Cathy Stenquist...and we have a few new recruits! I look forward to seeing them joining the PF Roundup soon. :)

What an honor to spend time together! Happy news: Registration is now open for Poetry Palooza 2026! 

If you are even thinking about it just a little bit, go ahead and sign up. Slots are limited to the space available on campus, and we had a lengthy Wait List this year. (It's much easier to drop off the list if plans change than to get on it later!)

In other news, the Big Book Giveaway in celebration of my 20 Year Blogiversary is still open until Sunday!! Don't miss your chance to get these beautiful books.

AND...next week I'll be sharing about the Open Call that Charles and I are issuing to collect poems for a brand new children's poetry anthology! Come back next Friday to learn all the details.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO comes from Highlights (I think!). Someone recently shared a prompt with me: "I once.... but now I..." But I cannot for the life of me remember the source. I'm so sorry not be able to give credit where credit is due. 

Y'all my brain (and my heart!) are so full right now. Thanks so much for reading.

True Story

Once

I disappeared

in        winter

but now I

fling the curtains

w  i d  e

invite snowflakes

to nestle in

my ears     nose     eyelids

Can you hear it?

It's the kettle

that is my         heart

singing,

singing

- Irene Latham

Calavera skull poem + Book Giveaway!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jone Rush MacCulloch for Roundup.

Happy Halloween! Today I am traveling to Highlights for the Poetry Palooza!. Yay! I'm also joining others in our community (Matt! Heidi!) in celebration of a Blogiversary: 20 years!! 

This is post number 2,346!

Newsletter subscribers already know this, but I wanted to be sure and share it here as well: To add to the fun, I'm hosting a book giveaway of a few of my favorite 2025 reads.

I’m offering ONE (US only) winner a book bundle: James by Percival Everett (adult); Knocking on Windows by Jeannine Atkins (YA). The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner (MG). Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan (PB); and a fresh-in-my-mailbox F&G of For the Win: Poems Celebrating Phenomenal Athletes selected by Irene Latham & Charles Waters (POETRY)! 

Click to enter!

Even if you don't win, you'll get a subscription to my monthly e-mail newsletter. Good luck, and happy reading!!

In other news, The Mistakes That Made Us is a featured title in Lerner's Nonfiction November! Sign up for free!

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a piece I've been saving for this very day! I mean, what better than a skull poem for Halloween? Though this one did take an unexpected turn at the end! Learn more about calavera (skull poems) here. Thanks so much for reading.

Calavera
by Irene Latham

stubborn bone—
once a box for a brain,
once encased by skin—

empty now,
hollow

you glow–

     a skull is a skull is a skull
     no different
     no less dead

o, determined cottage 

of spirit and song—
shall I fill your windows with fruit?

perhaps you will be
the one to outlast
the internet

Bamahenge + "A Dream of Rabbits" poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Patricia at Reverie for Roundup.

I'm just back from a glorious few days with loved ones at the beach. We also visited Bamahenge, a partial full-size replica of Stonehenge in Elberta, Alabama. Cool! Also, new life goal: create something funky and cool and worthy of Atlas Obscura notice. :)

This weeks ArtSpeak: PICASSO features another of his b&w line drawings. I decided to write a trinet. Another resource I visited while writing this poem include this list of movement words...though I ended up using the element of repetition instead!

The poem is titled " A Dream of Rabbits." I've written a few other animal-dream poems:

A Dream of Sheep
What Tiger Dreams
Dream with Three Hearts
I Dream of Roosters

And now for the new one. Thank you so much for reading!

A Dream of Rabbits
by Irene Latham

Rabbits dance
by starlight—
Are they leaping for the Moon,
or kissing the Earth? I'd like
to be
a rabbit
dancing, dancing.

Alabama Safari Park + bison poem

 

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Sarah Grace Tuttle for Roundup.

Last week, as I drove across Alabama for the Book Expo Tour (so much fun connecting with librarians across the state!), I had a few adventures along the way. 

Some of them were challenging (death of car battery), and others were pure joy: visit to Alabama Safari Park, just outside of Montgomery. 

This is a drive-thru safari, and the way it works is, you buy buckets of feed. Well, as you can imagine, these animals are quite accustomed to cars and buckets! 

Some were kind of greedy, yanking the entire bucket from my hands! Others (looking at you, Mr. Llama!) stood in front of my car blocking my path until I offered a snack. 

A few were curious about the (classical) music coming from my car speakers. (See pic at the end of the post!)

 Even though my favorite, the giraffes, were in the barn due to the weather (rain), it was a lot of fun meeting new friends.

AND I guess it inspired this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem. I did have a moment of fear when a young bull came charging toward my car! 

But then, a bit further along the drive, a herd of bison were resting in the grass, paying no attention to me whatsoever. 

So I thought: maybe Picasso's bull needn't be the aggressive type. Maybe a sleepy bison should get a poem, too. 

Thanks so much for reading!

soft-eyed bison

nests in sunshine and spring grass

afternoon nap

- Irene Latham

And here's one more pic....perhaps a poem for another day!

Flit-Fluttering with Butterflies and Arthur Sze

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Linda at TeacherDance for Roundup.

It's been a busy week of travel and teaching and revising in the cracks! Life is full, just the way I like it. And I am full of amor mundi (love of the world), which I was reminded of in this article about Jane Goodall. Jane—may she rest in peace—and I have this particular trait in common.

Also, in celebration of our newest (25th) U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, here's a lovely poem. 

The Shape of Leaves

by Arthur Sze

Ginkgo, cottonwood, pin oak, sweet gum, tulip tree:
our emotions resemble leaves and alive
to their shapes we are nourished.

Have you felt the expanse and contours of grief
along the edges of a big Norway maple?
Have you winced at the orange flare

searing the curves of a curling dogwood?
I have seen from the air logged islands,
each with a network of branching gravel roads,

and felt a moment of pure anger, aspen gold.

click to read the rest of the poem

In answer to Arthur's questions: YES! Trees are the great witnesses, aren't they, to all our human-ness. I have my tree-friends for sure.

This week's Artspeak: PICASSO also speaks of trees...and those hopeful yellow butterflies that frequent the Alabama air in August. Thanks so much for reading!

yellow butterfly

gives flit-fluttering lessons

to August birch leaves

- Irene Latham

SOME STARRY NIGHT, my first novel for adults, coming in 2026!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Matt at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme for Roundup.

It's October, aka my most favorite month! There's a lot going on, including Mother Nature's regular October show, which I adore. 

AND I'm excited to share about my debut historical fiction novel for adults, Some Starry Night, coming from Historium Press in 2026!

Some Starry Night imagines the story behind Vincent van Gogh's most famous painting, Starry Night, and the secret love affair with American poet Emily Dickinson that inspired it.

So...it's a marriage of two of my favorite things: poetry & art! And LOVE. Always, always love. 

Y'all I had SO MUCH FUN writing this book. I'll be sharing more about this very soon!

Next week, I'll be on tour with the Alabama Library Expo, traveling across the state of Alabama from south to north, stopping in a different city each day. My presentation focuses on "backyard history," so I'll be talking about my historical fiction titles, particularly the ones with Alabama ties, like Leaving Gee's Bend, Meet Miss Fancy, and African Town (co-written with Charles Waters). I'm super-excited to share this time with Alabama educators!

For this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO, I've selected one of his animal line drawings, which I love! Somehow I missed writing after this particular one back in 2022 during my ArtSpeak: Animals year. 

I love these pieces! How satisfying might it be to be able to say I've written poems after all 24 drawings in this series? And what better time than now, during my Picasso year, to add some more poems to my tally? (I think this is number 15!) Thanks so much for reading.

the whisper of grass

as mouse disappears in hole

winter is coming

- Irene Latham

Three 2025 Children's Poetry Books + Love Poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry. Friday! Be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm for Roundup.

Today I'm excited to share three new children's poetry books with you!

But first, a shout-out to Jonathan Humble at The Dirigible Balloon, who selected three of my poems for his "Imagine the Future" issue. I mean, what a gift his website is! Click to read and listen to my offerings, then stick around to meet some other new poem-friends.

"untitled haiku" 

"Someday" 

"The Clearing" 

Now about those new children's poetry books!

In the science/nature/informational poetry category, I give you Rings of Heartwood: Poems on Growing by Molly Beth Griffin, illus. by Claudia McGehee (Minnesota Historical Press).

First: shout-out to Claudia: I love this art SO MUCH. You may remember Claudia also illustrated Counting Winter, which I blogged about earlier this year. And now another poetry collaboration!

The book features 12 poems about growing things: tree, wood ducklings, snail, etc. and included detailed sidebars and fun facts.

I love the frog/tadpole poem "Trade," which opens with the very relatable "Nobody asked me/ if I'd like to trade / my tail for legs / my gills for lungs."

The Monarch butterfly poem is titled " A Work in Progress." Aren't we all??

I also love the cicada poem "My Outside Voice" which ends with "I'll sing you the story of what I've tunneled through/ to get here."

But perhaps my favorite favorite is "My Whole Self" about a snake looking back after shedding its skin. "I sliver away, / new and bright and shining./ I start over, / comfortable in my skin.

In the SEL/mindfulness poetry category, here's The Gift of a Broken Teacup: Poems of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Me by Allan Wolf, illus. by Jade Orlando (Candlewick Press).

This is a big book that covers a lot of ground. It reminded me of Score! 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire by Charles Ghigna, illus. by Julia Gorton and Twist: Yoga Poems by Janet Wong, illus. by Julie Paschkis. Allan gives readers words like integrity, indomitable, and inconsequential. And yay for Allan bringing to kids Whitman's "Yawp!" My favorite line comes from the poem "I Write Myself Down!" The second stanza ends with " I write myself to life." YES!

In the Joyce Sidman category, here's her latest, Dear Acorn (Love Oak): Letter Poems to Friends by Joyce Sidman, illus. by Melissa Sweet (Clarion Books).

Joyce and I met in person back in 2016—wow, that feels like another lifetime! Click to see the pic.

This book is joyously illustrated, and I love that the poems are presented in pairs: oak, acorn; pebble, river; button, coat. And then you have the next layer: Big-small opposites. (I love when a poetry book has multiple layers!) Finally, the poems are all letters—and Joyce offers some advice at the end about how to write letter poems. I especially love the pairings that have really distinctly different voices, like Coat and Button! "Button:" (from Coat) might be my most favorite poem of all.

The final poem "To All My Creatures—" (from the Ocean) reminds me of the first poem I had published in the children's market, with a quite similar first line: "Ship Spies a Light" by Irene Latham.  Joyce's poem ends with this stanza:

Dear ones, we belong together, /swirling and teeming, travelers all./ For smaller things add up to big,/ and all things big are made of small."

Lovely, yes?

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a portrait of another one of Picasso's mistresses: Marie-Therese Walker. Marie-Therese was known as Picasso's "Golden Muse," and their affair was long-lived. It began will Picasso was married and continued after Picasso's wife left (but didn't divorce) him and while he was concurrently having an affair with Dora Maar. What a mess, right? 

By Marie-Therese's own report, their relationship was one of calm and quiet...and Picasso does portray her in that way. However, Marie-Therese eventually committed suicide, so who really knows?? Was there hidden violence? Was it love, lust, comfort, passion? I don't pretend to know. But it did bring forth a Golden Shovel love poem of the bittersweet variety, for which I am grateful. Thanks so much for reading!

Love Poem

"You are the sky. Everything else—it’s just the weather." —Pema Chödrön

When I think of you

now, I forget what birds are,

their wings become the

clouds feathering a wintry sky.

I remember song is everything:

touch, taste, memory. All else

is noise. Even if the world says it's —

over, I'll look for you—Just

me, waiting out the weather.

- Irene Latham

Things You Can't Take from Me poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jama's Alphabet Soup for what's sure to be a delicious Roundup.

Attention Picture Book writers! There's an incredible retreat happening in January with an outstanding faculty including R. Gregory Christie, Sally M. Kim, Melissa Manlove, Katrina Moore, and the unstoppable Lola M. Schaefer! It's called New Year, Renewed in Writing. I wish I could attend, but DH and I have our annual trip to the Florida Keys in January. Fingers crossed the timing works with YOUR schedule.

So, I've been going through some difficult stuff lately—an old business partnership dissolving. I was "done dirty," and the best thing, the only thing to do was cut ties and move on. 

No doubt it's from that space where this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem started. The portrait is of one of Picasso's mistresses, Dora Maar. Picasso sees what he sees, but what's she thinking, really? She may be sad, but she also looks like a woman who may be thinking of ways to save herself.

You Can't Take from Me

you can't take from me

the mountains

you can't take from me

the breeze swaying pines

and when the sky

fills with proclamations—

impossible! impossible!

you can't take from me

that ripening voice inside

murmuring 

                      maybe

- Irene Latham

peonies haiku poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Rose at Imagine the Possibilities for Roundup.

I've got a peony poem for your today! (Very fitting, with Roundup at Rose's blog!) At first glance, I thought: I totally should have written after this piece during spring. 

But why write a poem about peonies when they are blooming? 

It's now, when the stalks are withering, that's got me thinking about what they mean and how flowers have the power to connect us to loved ones long gone...my grandma Dykes particularly comes to mind.

Also, it's a big birthday month in my family: My mother's birthday was earlier this week, and today is our oldest son's 31st birthday. Happy birthday, Daniel! There are others, too...and my father's birthday is the 17th. He would have been 79.  

For all those reasons, September feels like the perfect time to write a peony poem. Thanks so much for reading.

fluffy peonies

cozy the last unbroken vase

I remember you

- Irene Latham

p.s. Here are three websites I visited while crafting my poem:

a collection of Japanese peony poems

all about peonies

words to describe vases