Poems About Home

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

I've spent the week blessedly AT HOME gardening, reading, writing, cleaning...and lunching! Seems like every day I've had a lunch date. 'Tis the season!

If you want a peek inside my reading-as-a-writer life, be sure to check out my post over at Smack Dab in the Middle, where I share excerpts from a few MG books in my HUGE computer folder titled "Books I've Read." (Yes, recording beautiful words written by others is an important part of my life and writing practice!) Prepare to be inspired.

Also, this just in: check out the cover reveal of mine and Charles' debut anthology THE MISTAKES THAT MADE US (coming Oct. 1 from Carolrhoda/Lerner) over at Poetry for Children. So many thanks to Sylvia Vardell!

One of the books I'm excited about is HOME by Isabelle Simler, translated from French to English by Vineet Lal, brought to us by the good folks at Eerdman's. It contains 27 poems all about homes made by birds, ant, spider, sea snail...and each one has a home/human-made-building word in the title, like the comet moth's "Silky Apartment" or the cathedral termite's "Clay Skyscraper"  or elf owl's "Cactus Cabin." 

Isabelle Simler

The palette is kind of dark and enchanting, and each spread showcases realistic renderings of both animal and home. Back matter includes "More About These Amazing Animals" a Glossary, and a list of Recommended Resources. End papers charmingly show man-made home structures. Beautiful choice for animal/nature lovers and engineer/builders alike! Thank you to the publisher for granting permission for me to share two poems from the collection.

MOSSY MINIATURE HOME

of the hummingbird

Family Trochiladae

My teeny-tiny

featherweight house

has grown under a leaf.

Over several weeks,

I've patiently gathered

numerous bits

of moss and lichen

and, little by little,

shaped my jewel case home.

In this doll's teacup of a nest

lin two hummingbird eggs,

each the size of a pea.

- Isabelle Simler

BLUE PAVILION

of the satin bowerbird

Ptilonorhynchus violaceus

I have a real flair for home decoration.

Azure bottle caps and petals catch my indigo eye

and excite the designer in me.

I've built an arched avenue from sticks and twigs.

I've painted the walls with berry juice

and stuck some flowers here and there.

My collection os objects is a garden of love.

At the blue hour, I shall make my entrance

to steal the heart of my beloved.

- Isabelle Simler

And now for today's ArtSpeak: FOLK ART. Since we're on the topic of "home," I've selected a piece by Cheryl Bartley that features a lake house. Thanks so much for reading!

Lake Cottage

This little house our ours
sits beside a lake full of stars.

Our garden grows rainbows,
thanks to sunsplash and rainglow.

How lucky we are to live
in a place with so much to give!

This little house of ours;
you and me, kissing the stars.

- Irene Latham