THE RED PENCIL by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Shane W. Evans

Hello, and happy Poetry Friday! Please visit Cathy at Merely Day by Day for Roundup.

I'm in with a favorite verse novel from 2014: THE RED PENCIL by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus by Shane W. Evans. Set in Sudan, THE RED PENCIL is a verse novel that chronicles Amira's life before, during and after the Janjaweed attack her family's village.

Here are three poems I especially love:

HAND, TWIG, SPARROW

When I draw, it's not me doing it.
It's my hand.
And my twig.
And my sparrow.

My hand
and my twig
and my sparrow
make the lines.

My hand and my twig
and my sparrow
do the dance
on the sand.

I never know
what my hand
and my twig
and my sparrow
             will create.

My hand
holds my twig.

But my twig goes
on its own.

My sparrow - that's what's inside me:

             flight.

- Andrea Davis Pinkney
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I am in love with this "sparrow." I think Amira and I share the same sparrow, actually. Beautiful thought!
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POSSIBILITIES

Dando and I have a favorite game called
What Else Is Possible?

The only real rule for our game
is that answers to the question
What else is possible?
can only be good.

Dando goes first.

"If you wake to find your sandals gone, do you worry?"
Dando answers his own question.
This is how the game works.

He says,
"Worrying, that is a waste of time.
Better to ask, 'What else is possible?'"

Dando peels off his own sandal, waves it.

He insists, "Your sandals may not be gone at all,
only missing, while a generous hand mends
their worn edges."

Now it's my turn.
"If two days pass, then five, then seven,
and still no sandals, do you worry?"

I shake my head fast, ready to answer.

I tell Dando,
"It could be those generous mending hands
have stitched you a whole new pair of sandals."

"Made of gold!" Dando adds.
Dando wave both his sandals.

I wave my sandals, too,
one right, one left.

"Lift them high," Dando says. "High!
They are new, and glistening, our sandals."

What Else Is Possible?
is the game about looking at things
in shiny ways.

- Andrea Davis Pinkney
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How brilliant is this for staying positive and being creative?? And it reminds me of a game I play with myself all the time as a writer when brainstorming analogies... What Else does it look like? What Else?
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FAVORITE

Of all the funny-bug letters I know,
the letter O
is my favorite shape.

Ya, O!

Open.
Unbroken.
Eternal.

Ya, O!

- Andrea Davis Pinkney
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I have never before thought about my favorite letter -- favorite word, yes -- but letter? And now I can't stop thinking about O. :)
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