POETRY PARTY: IDEAS LIKE CONFETTI

Someone asked me yesterday, "Where do you get your ideas?" And I said, "ideas are everywhere." Like confetti.

So today I want to share a few confetti moments with you from last week's adventures.

1. This lovely goodie bag from Beth Ward who is the librarian at Alabama Christian School in Montgomery, Alabama. I was so impressed by these 7th graders. They knew LEAVING GEE'S BEND backwards and forwards, and you should have seen the posters they created! Also, Beth knows how to take a theme and run with it! Walking into that coffee house was like walking into Gee's Bend.

But this goodie bag says it all: homemade vanilla flavoring and a tin of cinnamon. With homemade labels. Sounds like a poem to me!

2. Ben Sollee at the Grocery on Home in Atlanta. When my crazy/innovative/sweet friend Matt Arnett invited me to meet and listen to Ben in person, I was thrilled beyond thrilled that I was able to work it into my busy schedule. I mean, I am only Ben's BIGGEST fan. And oh MY, what a show! Ben's songs ARE poetry, whether we're talking lyrics or the way he communicates with that cello. And guess what, friends? He's coming to Samford University's Harry's Coffeehouse April 21! And his new album will be released May 10. DON'T MISS.

3. I always ALWAYS enjoy Fay B. Kaigler's Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS. It was great to see librarian-friends and make new ones. And of course, at my signing table, the talk often turned to quilts. And when one of the librarians whipped this "Three Little Pigs" quilt out of her bag (she'd been stitching during sessions), I thought, Poem Poem.

Yep, ideas are everywhere. During the next week I will focus on getting my poems ready for the Rebecca Kai Dotlich retreat. Deadline to send 'em in is April 25. I'll also be talking LEAVING GEE'S BEND and poetry at three Mountain Brook elementary schools this week. I fully expect more confetti!