Celebrating THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY compiled by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Please visit beautiful Bridget at wee words for wee ones for Roundup.

I got myself an early Christmas present: THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY compiled by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes.

Michelle is such a gift to this world, isn't she? And this book is, too. I loved reading these 75 poems from so many poets (55!) I've come to love in our Poetry Friday community, and just yesterday one of the challenges (David Elliott's letter poems) gave me some direction for a poem-in-progress. What a fun, beautiful and useful ditty of a book! So I asked Michelle to stop by and respond to a few prompts. Here's Michelle:

The Difficult: Leaving out some really excellent poems. While I had a terrific ditty committee to help narrow down the choices, sometimes it came down to which poems more closely reflected the challenge, conformed to a particular format, or even fit best on the page. I also felt strongly that I wanted to reflect the breadth of the DMC community, so no one, including myself, had their work appear in more than three challenges.


The Delicious: Oh my, it all feels pretty delicious right now! But I'd have to say the most delicious is that I never felt alone in this undertaking. (I'm quite sure it wouldn't have happened otherwise!) I discovered that the same community that generously contributes all these wonderful poems month after month, is also generous with their time, knowledge, and, in some cases, hand-holding. All I needed to do was ask. I'm especially grateful to Renée LaTulippe for being my sounding board and proofreader throughout the process and to Michelle Kogan for the gorgeous cover.


The Unexpected: A few squiggles can wreak havoc at crunch time! Because I'd never self-published before, I knew the learning curve would be steep. I did my reading, asked for help when needed, and allowed enough time for each step in the process. It all went smoothly until I submitted the book at the beginning of November and was informed that nearly all the decorative borders I had chosen were not high enough resolution. Really??? I spent an inordinate amount of time choosing those squiggles, and higher resolution versions were not to be found. I had put far too much work into this book to have it be marred by fuzzy lines, so that's when the panic set in. You can thank Carrie Clickard for those nice crisp lines, but don't ask me how she pulled it off!

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And now for four of my favorite poems included in the book. Just like Michelle, it's difficult to select. There's always some other poem calling... but these are the ones that are whispering sweet somethings to me today. Enjoy!

Today's Piggies

This little piggy had an iPad

This little piggy Skyped home.

This little piggy watched YouTube.

This little piggy ran Chrome.

This little piggy went...

tweet, tweet, tweet,

all the way home!

- Buffy Silverman, based on the traditional nursery rhyme

(I know I am not the only one giggling... what a timely and entertaining poem!)

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Dr. Plover, DDS

Crocodile,

open wide:

it's checkup time!

I'll come inside

to see if you have

tooth decay --

bits of flesh

I'll eat away.

It seems you haven't 

flossed of late.

that's good news --

you're doing great!

Okay, my friend,

they're good to crunch.

See you next time --

thanks for lunch!

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

(Don't you love how imaginative and fun this one is?! I want to see it paired with an illustration... and it reminds me of my own "Oxpecker Cleaning Service" -- another cleaner-upper bird!)

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Lemon

Lemon is a sunny yellow word.

It speaks of summer,

days sliced thin and swirled

with sugar nights.

I halve one,

squeeze

a stinging spray,

raise the rind to my lips

for a sour-pucker kiss,

my hands perfumed with happiness.

- Renee M. LaTulippe

(I want to kiss this summer-sugar sour-pucker happy-making poem! Love the way it tastes in my mouth.)

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Scissors

Scissors is a sharp word,

a thin word, a steel word,

an I-can-hear-it-click word,

a catching-the-light word,

a see-it-flash word, a fast word,

cutting here, clipping there,

a round-metal-eyes word,

a long-pointed nose word.

It sews as it goes,

and it sings its own name:

Scisssssssssors--snip!

Scisssssssssors--snap!

- Julie Larios

(I love all those dashed-together words, and yes! It sings its own name, doesn't it?)

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who's a part of this lovely collection!