Chaos Theory poem

 

photo by Laura Purdie Salas

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

Happy Summer Solstice! I have written so many poems about summer...and no wonder. What a wonderful season. Even though I do NOT love heat or sweating or mosquitoes or poison ivy.

Charles and I had a great time at NCTE-NCTM conference in Chicago! So many thanks to all the passionate educators (Ann Marie!) and poets (Laura!) and staff who made our visit a joy. Our keynote was titled "Mistakes Are Bridges," and indeed they are. Yay!

Question for the Poetry Friday Hive: Brooke at Inked Voices has invited me to teach another Poetry webinar. Yay!! 

What poetry craft topic would you most like to learn about? Beginning, Endings, and the Magical Middle? 8 Ways to Play with Poetry - structure, form, titles, setting, literary devices, white space? Revision strategies? 8 Ways to Amp Up Your Poem Fast? Crafting the Unexpected Inevitable? Or ??? I welcome your reply in comments or email: irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com. Thank you!! (and yes, I realize the number 8 came up twice there. Ha!)

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is titled "Chaos Theory." It's after Las Meninas, a series of 58 paintings that Picasso painted in 1957 in an exploration of Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. (Y'all. 58 paintings in an exploration of a single existing artwork. I LOVE that!)

Chaos theory, as I understand it, has to do with randomness and unpredictability. The example I like is the pinball machine. How there are all sort of laws about how a ball will behave, but it doesn't always do what you'd expect. 

How does this apply to my life, to poetry? 

I think it has to do with growing up not always feeling safe, and consequently developing a habit of looking to/inviting chaos as a means of distracting/protecting oneself from painful emotions. This poem documents a recovery of sorts. 

It's also a variation of a poem I wrote in celebration of creative chaos during my "red" year called "A Dream of Red."  

Essentially, I think both poems are about freedom.

Don't you love how in poetry something similar (here, red walls with randomness!) can yield such different poetic experiences? Thanks so much for reading!

Chaos Theory

once I courted
chaos

dipped my fingers
in red paint,
made a canvas
of every wall

these days
when chaos calls
I may marvel—

rapt, breathless

but soon
I label the itch
an itch

and gently
shut the door

- Irene Latham

Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Ruth at there is no such thing as a  godforsaken town for Roundup.

Charles and I are excited to be traveling to Chicago to deliver the keynote (Monday!) at the NCTE-NCTM Joint Conference! Educators, we look forward to sharing this time with you!

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features Don Quixote. I've always felt a certain kinship with Don Quixote, and perhaps Picasso did, too! Yes, I've read the book...and one of my favorite musicals from childhood was Man of La Mancha. 

And—fitting for the Poetry Friday before Father's Day AND this month's 9 year anniversary of my father's death—I shall never think of Don Quixote without thinking of my father. He was a DQ fan for sure! Papa was a dreamer, an adventurer, a lover of freedom, and a firm believer in helping those in need. He gave all those things to me, and I remain deeply grateful.

Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

by Irene Latham

Days bleed
into dream—
I cannot discern
what is real,
   what is not.
I charge forward
alone
    and not alone.
What you call
madness,
I call
    freedom!
Never before
have I kissed
such winds.

Picasso Speaks of Poetry

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Buffy Silverman for Roundup.

It was my honor to contribute again to David Harrison's "Poetry From Daily Life" column. This time I wrote about things I've learned about life from reading poems. Maybe you will recognize some of the lines I selected to share!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is (again!) in Picasso's voice. For some reason, he started talking about math...and poetry! 

Does it make sense? Do the metaphors hold up? Does it have anything to do with the art? 

Maybe, maybe not! And that's okay. So often I write what I most need to hear, so perhaps my subconscious is encouraging me to loosen up, follow the wild threads, let the poem be what it wants to be. Thanks so much for reading!

Picasso Speaks of Poetry

A poem is at least half geometry,
the rest is quantum physics.

If we are made of starstuff,
then a poem is a black hole.

For every flower I paint,
a galaxy crashes into a windowpane,
lost.

What kills a poem?
Algebra, calculus.

So stop counting.
Stop thinking.

Hurl yourself into a summer sky.
A poem is nothing
if not infinity.

- Irene Latham

Blue House (Isn't Really Blue) poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Karen Edmisten for Roundup.

It's been a bit of a rough patch with my mom having some emergency health issues...I know many in this community have experienced this with one or both parents. Thanks for all you've given me to help me through it.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a house! That's because we've had real estate on our minds as our youngest son has been shopping for his first house. He wants a fixer-upper, and he just may have found it! Fingers crossed. 

Meanwhile, here is my poem. Picasso titled his piece "A Blue House." It is a sad house, but it isn't really blue! So that became the theme of my poem. I could have just titled it simply "Blue House," but I wanted the reader to know right up front that this isn't a sad poem. This house is more complicated than that! Thanks so much for reading.

Blue House (Isn't Really Blue)

Broken windows.
Empty rooms.
No whistling kettles.
No sweeping brooms.

Spiders spin in peace.
Birds flash in and out.
Rain dampens corners.
Lush mushrooms sprout.

Blue House shambles.
Blue House sighs.
Listens for jingle of keys.
Waits for the sun to rise.

- Irene Latham

Peace poem after Picasso's flowers

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Michelle at More Art 4 All for Roundup.

Whew, it's been a plump and juicy week full of:

1) travel (research trip with Charles for our 2027 picture book!)

2) reading and offering feedback to many wonderful and talented poets

3) book club! (We read Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. Next up: )

4) baking for the Bake Sale that accompanies our community's annual Butt Sale (that's "smoked Boston pork Butts" for the uninitiated!)

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a classic piece of Picasso's art. 

I decided to go with an acrostic, partly as a way to "put my money where my mouth is" and write against my preferences (I'm generally not a fan of the acrostic form) and also because I wanted to force myself to write very sparely on this topic (as it is easy to turn sentimental or fall back on overused language and images). 

This is where I landed. Thanks so much for reading. Wishing you a PEACEFUL Memorial Day weekend!

Peace

Praise the hopeful bouquet—

each bloom plump with rain,

ardent suns spilling brilliant

color—at once an offering

            and also a tender

embrace.

- Irene Latham

Picasso Speaks of Pigeons poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit dear Ramona at Pleasures from the Page for Roundup.

One of my favorite parts of this past week has been consulting with other poets about their poetry. I come away from these conversations completely inspired and grateful. And y'all, isn't it FUN to dive deep into our words and emotions?! I feel like I have made a bunch of new friends.

Also: the garden is exploding! Here's my first purple coneflower opening. It's been fun to watch it change shape each day.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features one of Picasso's paintings in the primitive style. (I know! Who knew Picasso ever painted in this style?! But yes. Yes he did.) He painted quite a few pieces featuring pigeons, so I knew this year would bring me a few pigeon poems! 

Here's "Pigeon Song," from February. And now I offer you the first poem in this series in which I've given Picasso himself a voice.

Other inspirations for this poem include Knocking on Windows by Jeannine Atkins. Jeannine's beautiful, powerful memoir-in-verse will release August 5. (More on this soon...Jeannine will be visiting Live Your Poem soon!) 

I copied many passages into my notebook, and I especially fell in love with Jeannine's final poem. It's hard sometimes to know when to get out of a story. How do you say goodbye? So that was definitely on my mind. 

Then I read "Future History of Earth's Birds" by Amie Whittemore, which was featured on poets.org poem-a-day earlier this week. In the "About the Poem" section, Amie said this: "I could envision a poem that celebrated the wild wisdom of birds while also mourning their diminishing numbers.” That statement brought to mind this painting, and off I went, in search of words! Thanks so much for reading.

Picasso Speaks of Pigeons

A thousand pigeons
once roosted here—

their cooing lullabied me
into fractured dreams.

For hours I splashed
the canvas with paint,

creating my sums
of destructions.

And now just one
remains—

one soft cooing.

Maybe it means thank you.
Maybe goodbye.

- Irene Latham

Night Fishing at Antibes poem

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

First and foremost: THANK YOU, poets, for your support of the Poetry & Punctuation webinar earlier this week through Inked Voices. (Isn't Brooke fabulous?) I loved our time together and appreciate the opportunity to learn with all of you! 

Also: if you have other topics you'd be interested in learning with me, would you please let me know in comments or email? irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com. Thank you!

In celebration of Mother's Day, I offer everyone a video of Great Horned owl Athena feeding her owlets. Y'all, it is the sweetest!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is after a pretty stunning and memorable piece. Watch this 8-minute video about it, and your life will be changed! 

I guess I've got fishing on my mind. Spring is a great time for it! 

And not just fishing for fish. How 'bout fishing for poems? 

I hope this poem feels relevant, whatever your metaphorical "fish." Thanks so much for reading.

Night Fishing at Antibes

and I would give you
a boat to anchor
your heart

a lantern
to illuminate
your courage

a blade to sharpen
your purpose

and a red-swirl
galaxy of gratitude

when your spear
pierces
its first fish

- Irene Latham

Mirror, Mirror on the wall poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading for Roundup.

Hooray, it's May! 

I have A LOT going on this month, including traveling today to Atlanta to hang out with my good buddy Charles at Little Shop of Stories' Children's Book Festival.

 We'll be schmoozing with the other authors (Katherine Applegate! Dave Eggers!) and presenting to kids and families about If I Could Choose a Best Day. YAY!

Last call for the Poetry & Punctuation workshop through Inked Voices!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO was no doubt partly shaped by a few recent things:

1. The Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype audio series byClarissa Pinkola Estes (Soundstrue)

2. Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly ( a retelling of Beauty of the Beast in which the boy is the beauty and the girl is the beast!)

And...I can't title a poem "Mirror, Mirror" without thinking of Marilyn Singer and her marvelous reverso poem collections! Thanks so much for reading.

Mirror, Mirror

by Irene Latham

Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
you don’t know me at all!
My heart beats red
inside its cage,
my lungs are purple balloons.
Beneath my skin swells
an ocean of orange experience.
Even my eyes—
those soul windows—
cannot show you
my ten thousand skies
pulsing with stars, birdstorm
and great flashes of lightning.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall
you don't know me at all.

Some spring poetry books...and another spring poem!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Heidi at my juicy little universe for Roundup.

I'm away from my desk today, having a little spring adventure with Paul! I'll share more next week.

This month I've been reading A LOT of children's poetry! Here's three I'd like to share a bit about:

Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Claudia McGehee.

This one was recently awarded the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. I am in love with the art! And check out all the great verbs in this one: stalking, croak, gurgle, gliding, riding, skitter, hoot....And each poem has an adverb! Adverbs are generally highly discouraged in poetry, but here they are an essential element of the "form" for each number-poem. Check it out!

How Elegant the Elephant: Poems about Animals and Insects by Mary Ann Hoberman, art by Marla Frazee.

This one is organized A to Z...by poem title. So there's a lot of movement across the animal and insect kingdoms, sometimes jarringly so, like a "There Once Was a Pig" poem tucked between "Tarantula" and "The Spider's Web." But y'all: Mary Ann and Marla are magical together! (Remember The Seven Silly Eaters? Probably our favoritefavoritefavorite read-aloud with our kiddos.) I think my favorite poem in this collection is "Birdsongsingsong." Give it a gander!

Words with Wings and Magic Things by Matthew Burgess, pictures by Doug Salati.

I listened to an audio version (read by the author) before picking it up in print. Both experiences were delightful! In print we're given cutouts! And the ART: So. Much. Fun. Yay, Doug Salati! Here are a few of my favorite poems by title: "The Tiger in My Belly," "Dancer," "Have You Ever?," "Serious Question" (it has pizza in it :), and "The Tomato" (I am a sucker for a tomato...and for a tomato poem!)

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is in honor of these recent glorious days...of all the seasons, I believe I have written more "spring" poems than any other. And spring is not even my favorite season! (Fall! I love Fall best of all!)

Here's a small sampling:

Early Spring Rispetto (it has cows in it!)

Two Parrots Walk Together is Spring 

When I Ride My Bike in Spring

Airing the Quilts

When I found this painting, I couldn't believe Picasso painted it! Truly, he was such a versatile painter, willing to try any sort of artistic style. I imagine him as kind of insatiable in his creativity. (I can relate!) Thanks so much for reading.

The Pool at Tulieries

Today is all

sails & gentle,
sun & green.

Children ripple,
water giggles.

We launch
a thousand boats
in this dream
that is spring.

- Irene Latham

Lemon Poem

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

Yep, it's still National Poetry Month. Yay!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem is a still life. It can be a real challenge to write a lively poem after a still life! But. I love lemons. And the morning I was writing this poem I had just blended a giant, seedless lemon into our morning veggie juice (spinach, cucumber, zucchini, lemon). The scent of lemons filled the kitchen! 

Savvy readers may recognize this poem is actually a triolet that I have broken into shorter lines and stanzas. (Sometimes I just get bored or the same ol' same ol' presentation!) Thanks so much for reading.

Lemon Poem

Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden—

each hour a beehive
of sweet and tart,
if you keep a lemon
inside your heart.

Imagine! Inside you
a tiny, puckered sun!
Zesty, molten—

Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden.

- Irene Latham

Spring Storm: Poetry Friday is Here!

 

art by Linda Mitchell

Hello and Welcome to Poetry Friday Roundup! I'm so glad you're here. Please leave your link below!

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How's everyone's National Poetry Month going? The poetry-love is strong in these parts...and so have been the storms! (This influenced my ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem greatly! Read on!) Isn't April grand?

In case you missed it, here is my April public poetry installation: a Poetry Machine! It's now moved to its location-for-the-rest-of-the-month Charlie B's Restaurant. So many thanks to owner-all-around-good-guy-Lee...I told him I have a new tagline for his restaurant: "Where Poets Come to Eat." Yay!

Also, I'm honored to be among the poets featured in Michelle Schaub's Poetry Blast video series for National Poetry Month. Click here to hear me talk about and read a very short apology poem titled "Yellow Dog Explains." Thanks, Michelle!

Today I wanted to share some poems, art, and "StoryPeople" by Brian Andreas. I discovered Brian's work many years ago on a trip to New Orleans. Paul and I came home with this piece:

There

are

things

you do

because

they feel

right & they

may make no

money & it may

be the real reason

we are here:

to love each other &

to eat each other's

cooking & say it

was good.

-Brian Andreas

And then (1993!) I got this one, called "Bittersweet"  - one for me, and one for my father:

She said she usually cried at least once

each day not because she was sad,

but because

the world was

so beautiful and 

life was so short.

- Brian Andreas

AND THEN, last month, when I was with my mom and sister in Rome Georgia, at Dogwood Books, I picked up a well-loved copy of Brian's book, Traveling Light: Stories & Drawings for a Quiet Mind (2024). It's sigh-worthy start to finish! I'll leave you with a short one that makes me smile. Brian calls it "Final Reward."

finally realizes

that all the chaos

is what makes 

tea worth it

- Brian Andreas

:)

What tea am I currently in love with?

Bigelow Salted Caramel (black tea)

And now for today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem. I found myself (again!) writing on a stormy morning. I decided to try a tricube. But then the poem demanded to be set free from that constraint...so I let it storm its way onto the page just the way it wanted to. Thanks so much for reading...wishing all of you spring storms like this one!

Spring Storm

For you I

streak a poem

with lightning

for you I

boom a poem

with thunder

for you I

gush a poem

that flushes

field and wood

with brilliant

blooming things.

- Irene Latham

Poetry Machine!

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

How's your National Poetry Month shaping up so far??

 I LOVED hanging out with Poetry Peeps during #HFGather earlier this week. What a great way to get the month of poetry-lovin' started!

And today, I'm away from my desk, hanging out with my Garden Girls! A different kind of poetry!

My public art project to celebrate National Poetry Month is a Poetry Machine! Basically it's a 25-cent gumball machine loaded with pods that each contain a tiny poem! I'm so grateful to Dawn at Pink Porch Market and Lee at Charlie B's Restaurant for giving my Poetry Machine a home during April...and maybe beyond! See video below.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a Picasso landscape! I didn't even know Picasso painted landscapes...but yes, yes he did! This one features rain, because when I sat down to write this poem, it was raining, and I thought what fun it would be to write a "rain" poem to the sound of rain on our metal roof! (I was right: it WAS fun!) Thanks so much for reading.

When Rain Comes on a Sunday Morning
by Irene Latham


rooster calls to rain

cockadoodledrizzle!

gate squeaks to rain

thanks, I needed a bath

steeple sings to rain

you make me believe

child chortles to rain

now I'm all wet!

Little Goat Pantoum

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Marcie Flinchum Atkins for Roundup.

First a reminder about next Tuesday's #HFGather event in celebration of National Poetry Month! Hope you can join us.

I'm looking forward to all the poetry-love our community will be offering in the coming weeks! Isn't NPM the best?!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a goat! Goats have been on my mind since last week's Alabama Master Naturalist field day to Red Mountain Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Turns out goats have been park residents at one time or another. They're brought on to help control the privet, kudzu, and honeysuckle, which are invasive species. If you need this service, call Goat Busters! :)

Also: I learned on Clarkson's Farm  that it takes a couple of years for goats' mouths to harden. In other words, you can't expect young goats to be able to clear brambles! (Just in case anyone out there is considering bringing goats into their lives.)

Paul and I had a couple of goats early in our marriage...Beth and Billy. They were adorable! And also pests. They ate up my azaleas! 

When I was a child in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, there were LOTS of goats. I loved them. Especially when we'd go to get in our car, and a couple of them would be sleeping on top. They could be REALLY stubborn about (not) getting down! 

And then there's the Goat Trees in Dauphin Island, Alabama. Legend has it that goats would "roost" in the trees to ride out hurricanes...and also to escape roaming alligators. I believe it! 

I decided to write today's poem as a pantoum, because that's the page I flipped to in Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z. (I often use Dictionary to hunt for forms to jumpstart poems!) I also found this great step-by-step guide to writing a pantoum. (Just in case anyone out there is considering writing one!) Thank so much for reading.

Goat Pantoum

If you want to meet a goat
let it be spring.
Climb a hill,
look for tender green leaves.

Let it be spring—
that nest of sun and song.

Can't find tender green leaves?
Dream beneath a tree.

O, nest of sun and song!
What joy to climb a hill!
Dream beneath a tree
if you want to meet a goat.

- Irene Latham

Rainbows, Strawberries, and One Pretty Mama!

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

I'm excited! All those flower bulbs I planted in fall are coming up tulips and daffodils! (I think bulbs are my favorite kind of gardening: plant 'em and forget 'em. And then...surprise! flowers!) 

Also: My son helped me put up a new bluebird box, and a couple has moved in! They're frequent guests at the feeder, too, so, I am really enjoying getting glimpses. I also put out the hummingbird feeder to attract those early scouts. No visitors yet, but soon. . . isn't spring wondrous?

In other news, I'm proud to have poems in new anthologies. A Universe of Rainbows, poems selected by Matt Forrest Esenwine, illus. by Jamey Christoph (Eerdman's), includes my poem "The Rainbow Keeper" on the spread that talks about crystals and prisms.

When I wrote this one, I was thinking about one of my most favorite poems for kids: "Knitted Things" by Karla Kuskin. I do enjoy a poem that tells a kind of magical story, and because this book is informational, I especially wanted to create a poem with some whimsy! I'm grateful to Matt for including it.

The Rainbow Keeper

by Irene Latham

There was a girl who loved brilliant things:

crystals, gemstones, diamond rings.

She digs them up, wipes them clean.

She asks them: what wonders have you seen?

She marvels at their varied colors—

periwinkle, lime, cyan, butter.

She sings to them of geometry, of heat.

She displays them on her bedroom window seat.

Crystals are her favorite find—

especially the broken kind.

Their way of speaking is to glimmer,

shimmer, SHINE!

How do they make their tiny rainbows?

Only the Rainbow Keeper knows.

----

I'm also super-grateful to have a poem included in 40 Poems for 40 Weeks: Integrating Meaningful Poetry and Word Ladders into Grades 3-5 Literacy edited by David L. Harrison and Timothy V. Rasinski. 

Y'all this book is really special because in addition to the poems and word ladders, each poet speaks directly to kids! I loved learning more about all these wonderful poets, and I know children will, too.

My poem is called "Strawberry Self-Portrait." It was a poem cut from my collection Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers' Market (because it was in the voice of the fruit, and the publisher decided it was maybe a little too creepy for young readers to be empathizing too much with something that will be eaten!). But it's remained a favorite poem of mine, so I am delighted it found a home in this book. Thanks, David and Tim!

Strawberry Self-Portrait

by Irene Latham

Juicy, sweet, delectable:

that's me.

But do you see?

I'm also bumpy, grumpy.

My skin is pink in places

it ought not be.

My cap is crooked

and ants have chewed

a hunk out of me. See?

My brothers are bigger,

my sisters sweeter.

But it's fine, it's okay.

I'm the only me

there will ever be.

-----

Finally I'm excited to share this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem. I love this dreamy painting, I think because I love taking naps! :) 

I was thinking of Janet Wong's noodle poem when I wrote this one. Janet uses her noodle poem as a reminder that poems for kids needn't be complicated. Sometimes simple (silly!) language is best. So instead of wordplay or surprises, I focused my energy on channeling my (egocentric!) child-voice in this one. I was definitely a child who adored her mama (as my mom's box of love poems written by wee me proves!). Thanks so much for reading.

Mama So Pretty

by Irene Latham

Mama so pretty

when she smiles

Mama so pretty

when she sings

Mama so pretty

when she dreams

Mama so pretty

she must be

dreaming about

ME!

----

Donut poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Janice at Salt City Verse for Roundup.

I'm super-excited to be joining Charles Waters next Monday at Story on the Square in McDonough, GA, to share If I Could Choose a Best Day with Southeastern Independent Booksellers (SIBA)! Booksellers, if you're reading this: hello! Can't wait to meet you!

Something I love: donuts! Some of the best donuts of my life I've enjoyed at the following establishments...not necessarily the best donut, but the ambiance! The moment! The mood!

Daisy's Bakery and Cafe in Locust Fork, AL (Not far from home. Y'all! THE BEST!)

Donut Hole in Destin, FL (red velvet donuts!)

Tato-Nut Donuts in Ocean Springs, MS (later we had Tato-Nut bread pudding at Anthony's Under the Oaks!)

Harriette's in Key Largo, FL (key lime donuts!)

Fluffy's Cafe in New York, NY (any kind of donut with a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cold night!)

So of course when choosing this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO subject, this Picasso painting of pastries caught my eye! And then I got to thinking: wouldn't it be fun/ironic to write a Skinny poem about donuts? Ha! 

As a refresher, here are the rules for a Skinny poem: 11 lines; lines 1 & 11 have the same words (order can be changed...and I went even a bit further, because my aesthetic calls me to create a poem that moves/shifts from beginning to end, so I would call this a Variation on a Skinny); lines 2-10 contain only one word each; lines 2, 6, and 10 must use the same word.

At the Bakery

If this donut could talk, it would say:

don't
eat
me,
please
don't,
I'm
sooooooooo
sweet,
don't!

I'm glad this donut can't talk. Yum!

- Irene Latham

For Every Child Earth Cracks Open Her Toybox poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for Roundup.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined in the virtual reading earlier this week! Wasn't that so fun and inspiring?! I am so grateful for this community.

Poet-readers: Lacresha Berry, Charles Waters,
Irene Latham, Lisa Rogers, Sylvia Liu, Renée M. LaTulippe,
Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jolene Gutiérrez,
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Anna Grossnickle Hines,
Laura Purdie Salas, Georgia Heard, Gabi Snyder,
Nancy Tupper Ling, Amy Losak, Robyn Hood Black,
Eric Ode

You're invited to another free poetry offering coming April 1 from Highlights! This will be such a great way to start off National Poetry Month. I hope you'll join us! Click here for more information and to register.

Earlier this week we watched the movie Perfect Days. It's about a janitor in Tokyo who finds beauty in his simple life. 

One son said it was such a great portrayal of an introvert. 

Another son said, "that's me." 

And this mama's heart thrilled to know these boys love nature, love creating, and they value simplicity and peace over materialism and chaos. 

They love their lives. And so do we, their parents. No doubt this heartspace is where today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem hails from. Thanks so much for reading.

For Every Child Earth Cracks Open Her Toybox

Look!
sticks
pebbles
dirt
feathers
sky
puddles
leaves
and a zillion
singing, creeping
things
whispering
will you 

be my friend?

- Irene Latham

One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Denise at Dare to Care for Roundup.

Here on the eve of National Women's History Month, I am delighted to welcome Marcie Flinchum Atkins to the blog to share about her beautiful and informative verse novel One Step Forward, a historical YA verse novel that tells the story of Matilda Young, the youngest suffragist to be imprisoned for protesting for women’s suffrage. Named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and earning a starred review from Kirkus, this novel is a must-read! Visit Marcie's website to discover other goodies, including a Teacher's Guide.

Before we get to all the goodness, a reminder about next Monday's FREE poetry reading! Please come. It's going to be all kinds of inspiring!

Now, for more about One Step Forward. If you follow Marcie's blog, then you know what a generous, talented, and inspiring woman she is, always giving us haiku, photographs, reading lists, and new challenges to adopt or at least follow along with! And now, finally (!), her verse novel is entering the marketplace and the lives of readers.

Lucky me, I got an early look at One Step Forward. I read it all in one sitting and marveled at the history (which I did not know) and how beautifully Marcie used poetic tools to tell the story. Women marched for voting rights, and Marcie's words march down the page. Women were jailed in their pursuit of voting rights, and Marcie creates a "jail" with her words. You will never again take your voting rights for granted after reading this book. It left me grateful for those who fought so long (!) and so hard for us to exercise this right. Marcie's book really shows that. Here's the blurb I wrote:

And now, please welcome Marcie as she responds to a few prompts (that originated with the publication of my book Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers' Market)!

FRESH: I love stories that have never been told before. In 2020, the United States
celebrated the centennial anniversary of women’s right to vote. I wanted to tell the
story of Matilda Young, a teen who worked for suffrage in Washington, DC. Outside of some mentions in the historical record, Matilda’s story had never been told. You can see a picture of Matilda Young at the Library of Congress.

Marcie's manuscripts

DIFFICULT: Matilda’s story is the one I ended up telling, but I didn’t start there. 
I swam around in a bunch of different POVs before settling on Matilda’s. I started with a collective we voice, then I wrote the whole book from multiple POVs, each from different suffragists’ perspectives. Then I found Matilda. To be a teen novel, it made sense that the voice carrying the story was a teen. Finding the story was a long road.

Occoquan jail cell

I also struggled with the time covered in the book. I knew the midpoint of the story was going to be the Night of Terror in 1917, a night in Occoquan Workhouse where many women were jailed and tortured for protesting at the White House. But the time I wanted to cover was more than that night. It needed context. I wanted to feature the Women’s March of 1913 all the way to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. I cover seven years in this book, which made pacing tricky.

All of these were difficult decisions marked by trial and error.

Uncovering history can also be marked by difficult things. While I knew that 1920 didn’t allow ALL women to vote, I was horrified by how many women were disenfranchised for decades after the 19th amendment—including Matilda.

The residents of Washington, DC (Matilda was one) couldn’t vote for president until
1961. It took the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to open the doors for people of color to
vote. And many people still deal with voter suppression in this country today.

But I couldn’t shake the idea that many women who worked for suffrage still didn’t get to exercise that right even after the 19th amendment was passed.

It was also difficult to know that finding my way through this book meant that 2020,
and the centennial anniversary, was coming and my book still wasn’t quite ready. I felt like I was missing a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. And then COVID19 shut down the world in 2020 and the world wasn’t paying much attention to books.

DELICIOUS: I love words! It’s probably no surprise to the poets among us. I could play with words all day long. But in a verse novel, story must be paramount. As I wrote this book, I wrote out of order, and I wrote by hand—at first.

I start most of my picture books, poetry, and verse novels by hand. I love the XL blank Moleskine books for this type of writing. Then I type it up into Scrivener while I’m still playing around with it.

But the dessert is playing with the words. When you know I have the story down, then I play with the words and figure out how to utilize white space and form.

One of the most delicious things that has happened on this journey is seeing how other storytellers tell the story of the Silent Sentinels—those ladies who quietly, but boldly, protested at the White House. In 2024, I went to NYC to see Suffs on Broadway. It was a true highlight of the year. I knew the whole story, and I still was moved to tears. It’s no longer on Broadway but it is going on a national tour, and I highly recommend seeing it.

ANYTHING ELSE: I love telling stories from my backyard (or area). I discovered Matilda’s story because my husband told me about a local jail—where suffragists had been jailed—that had been converted into an arts center. I honestly didn’t believe him at first. We were new to the area at the time. We went to visit together and toured the suffrage museum. Just a few miles down the road from me, history happened. And yet, every time I discover a new story in my backyard (and there are MANY stories), I get that same feeling of excitement as when I found out about Matilda and her fellow suffragists.

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THANK YOU, Marcie! Y'all, do NOT miss this book. It will change you!

And now for this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO offering. 

I've wanted to try a trinet ever since learning about the form on Rose's blog. So today I tried two! 

I should say that these poems were also influenced by reading (listening to) Our Infinite Fates by Laura Stevens, a debut YA love story with a compelling, fantastical premise AND the (lovely) fact that all my guys gifted me flowers of one kind or another for my birthday! So the house is full of flowers, and so is my heart...and now these poems! 

ALSO. I generally don't like ending a line of poetry with the word "and." But something I've found that helps me grow as a writer is pushing against my preferences. In this case I made myself write a poem with at least one line ending with "and."

And you know what? I discovered the repetition of "and" affects the poem's energy in a kind of smoldering sunrise/sunset way, so YAY! (Still don't think you'll find me writing lines ending in "and" very often, though.:) Thanks so much for reading!

Alabama Sunrise Trinet

yellows and

pinks and

peaches arrive first—a nest for

one sweet juicy star we call

sun and

orange and

we reach

- Irene Latham

Key West Sunset Trinet

yellows and

pinks and

peaches linger—perfect kindling for one

fireball star that licks our skin

sweet and

sizzle and

we burn

- Irene Latham