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| sunset at Sunset Point, Key Colony, FL |
So many congratulations to this year's ALA YMA winners! I was glad to see poetry represented: Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell was named an American Indian Library Association Honor book; Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Bostone Weatherford was named a Coretta Scott King Honor book; Nearer My Freedom by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge was included on the shortlist for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award. (I haven't read this one yet, but soon!)
There may be other poetry titles that got awards...please add any others in comments!
Meanwhile, we're just back from a lovely time in the Florida Keys. No wonder I decided to write a Florida poem for this week's ArtSpeak: FOLK ART series.
The folk artist I've chosen this week is Harold Newton, a founding member of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of mostly male, mostly African American Florida landscape artists who sold paintings from the trunks of their cars during the late 1950s and early '60s. The sole female Florida Highwaymen was Mary Ann Carroll. I will likely feature her later in the year!
A few years ago during a visit to Ft. Pierce, FL, we were lucky enough to visit the A.E. Backus Museum, which features a beautiful collection of Florida Highwaymen art, mostly by A.E. Backus. (Museums like the Backus are my favorite kind of gallery...small, intimate, with knowledgeable, passionate docents!)
I chose to write this poem as a shadorma, a Spanish 6-line syllabic poem of 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines respectively. ("Florida" is a Spanish word, so of course a shadorma!)
I hope this poem brings some sunshine to those who have been brutalized by recent winter storms. Thanks so much for reading!
Florida
morning sky a ripe
cantaloupe
cracked open—
herons wade in the juicy
sweet shallows
- Irene Latham
Hi Irene, It's wonderful you had the time in Florida! I am jealous! And I love this, the form for fewer words, a just-perfect image to see and to read! Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteCanteloup cracked open and juicy sweet shallows! Perfect! I want to hop in my car and start driving to the keys right now.
ReplyDeleteA cantaloupe sky - and herons lit up in shine. Beautiful! What a fun trip, Irene -
ReplyDeleteYum! One of my daily Stafford poems featured a tangerine sky!
ReplyDeleteThe sky a cantaloupe! How clever. thanks for the glimpse of Florida, Irene, and a new-to-me poetic form.
ReplyDeleteYou never disappoint, Irene. It is so lovely to be here and read this delicious poem. (I learnt fairly recently that a cantaloupe is actually a rockmelon. In Australia.ðŸ¤)
ReplyDeleteA new poem form? Yes, please! And, that cantelope---yum!
ReplyDeleteI save up my audible credits for ALA's YMA...I'll be buying up new listens this weekend. Hooray for Charles! Hooray for poetry.
Irene, what a beautiful image created by these lines: cantaloupe/
ReplyDeletecracked open. I never tried the shadorma format but yours is so beautiful that I am interested.
So much to love! "Juicy sweet shallows." I recently read NEARER MY FREEDOM and found it fascinating how they wrote that book with his own words. What a puzzle that must have been.
ReplyDeleteYour words are a perfect match for that painting, Irene. I love "a ripe cantaloupe cracked open"
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this new-to-me form, and your poem is a lovely example!
ReplyDeleteOh, that poem! Such rich words to go with that artwork. Wow. Ripe cantaloupe definitely! And the herons in the "juicy sweet shallows" just gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a good time in the Keys. Though born and raised in FL, I've never been! I love your cantaloupe metaphor. xo
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness this is SO lush and visceral!
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