THE PROGRESSIVE POEM IS HERE... with Janet F.!

Click here for today's edition of ARTSPEAK: Happy!, in which I write after a piece by Edgar Degas, about my once-upon-a-ballerina days.

And now, it is my pleasure to once again welcome Janet F. to Live Your Poem. Take it away, Janet!

     Here I am at Irene’s blog again happy to be part of Progressive Poem 2019. I so enjoy the Poetry Friday community, even if I am not always around as much as I would like. I have read and watched in eager anticipation for my line’s turn. This involves lots of wondering, planning, considering and trying out various lines. And of course some trepidation. Sound at all familiar? Will I move the poem forward enough? Give it that zing? Stick to some unknown journey’s winding path? Send us in a new direction? Add to the poetic form in development?

    Now, I do join those who may not be the most nimble when it comes to song lyrics. (Remember I am an advocate of learning poems by heart; song lyrics not so much, sadly!) Though the nostalgia of going back to songs from our own “day” (ie youth?) bring back many memories. And The Beatles rocked my teenage world for sure! (If my parents would have allowed it I would have tried to go to the Ed Sullivan show and the Shea Stadium concert!) Thankfully the internet search for lyrics can help if something does not readily pop in one’s mind.

Of course there is Matt’s caveat that one need not follow suit, so that, too, added a dimension to my poetic hand and thinking. To lyric or not to lyric, to hunt in a poem or book, that is the challenge. I also love using lots of prose pieces for creating “found poems” so this does appeal, too. As I considered I thought more about form and pattern and set out to see what might work with my addition and this stanza arrangement.

Rebecca has sent us off on an epic journey and we need to get going! After much contemplation and with “a little help from my friends” I add my line and send our poem off to Dani at Doing the Work that Matters!

Endless summer; I can see for miles…
Fun, fun, fun – and the whole world smiles.
No time for school- just time to play,
we swim the laughin’ sea each and every day.

You had only to rise, lean from your window,
the curtain opens on a portrait of today.
Kodachrome greens, dazzling blue,
it’s the chance of a lifetime,
make it last forever–ready? Set? Let’s Go!

Come, we’ll take a walk, the sun is shining down




Found Lines:
L1 The Who, ‘I Can See for Miles’ / The Beach Boys, ‘Endless Summer’
L2 The Beach Boys, ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ / Dean Martin, ‘When You’re Smiling’
L3 The Jamies, ‘Summertime, Summertime’
L4 The Doors ‘Summer’s Almost Gone’/ Led Zeppelin ‘Good Times, Bad Times’
L5 Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine “You had only to rise, lean from your window,”
L6 Joni Mitchell, “Chelsea Morning”
L7 Paul Simon, “Kodachrome,” “Dazzling Blue”
L8 Dan Fogelberg, “Run for the Roses”
L9 Spice Girls, “Wannabe”/ Will Smith, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”
L10 The Beatles, “Good Day Sunshine”

P.S. For those who don’t know me, I am on FB as Janet Clare. Here’s what is new: I have poems in several anthologies including
Best of Today’s Little Ditty 2014-2015 from Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell’s Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud and the upcoming I AM SOMEONE ELSE, Poems About Pretending, Lee Bennett Hopkins’ latest anthology. I consider

coming in July!

myself a Poetry Advocate and am always sharing and celebrating poetry with children and others in my community and elsewhere. Poetry is an educational dream come true. Something that I figured out rather late in my career as an elementary teacher ie year 35 which kept me teaching for an additional 7 years! And so glad I did. You can find a video on Youtube if interested in seeing Poetry on Parade in action.

Thank you, Janet! Such a pleasure to have you as part of our Progressive Poem... we're off to a great start, and I look forward to what comes next! xo