Some spring poetry books...and another spring poem!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Heidi at my juicy little universe for Roundup.

I'm away from my desk today, having a little spring adventure with Paul! I'll share more next week.

This month I've been reading A LOT of children's poetry! Here's three I'd like to share a bit about:

Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Claudia McGehee.

This one was recently awarded the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. I am in love with the art! And check out all the great verbs in this one: stalking, croak, gurgle, gliding, riding, skitter, hoot....And each poem has an adverb! Adverbs are generally highly discouraged in poetry, but here they are an essential element of the "form" for each number-poem. Check it out!

How Elegant the Elephant: Poems about Animals and Insects by Mary Ann Hoberman, art by Marla Frazee.

This one is organized A to Z...by poem title. So there's a lot of movement across the animal and insect kingdoms, sometimes jarringly so, like a "There Once Was a Pig" poem tucked between "Tarantula" and "The Spider's Web." But y'all: Mary Ann and Marla are magical together! (Remember The Seven Silly Eaters? Probably our favoritefavoritefavorite read-aloud with our kiddos.) I think my favorite poem in this collection is "Birdsongsingsong." Give it a gander!

Words with Wings and Magic Things by Matthew Burgess, pictures by Doug Salati.

I listened to an audio version (read by the author) before picking it up in print. Both experiences were delightful! In print we're given cutouts! And the ART: So. Much. Fun. Yay, Doug Salati! Here are a few of my favorite poems by title: "The Tiger in My Belly," "Dancer," "Have You Ever?," "Serious Question" (it has pizza in it :), and "The Tomato" (I am a sucker for a tomato...and for a tomato poem!)

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is in honor of these recent glorious days...of all the seasons, I believe I have written more "spring" poems than any other. And spring is not even my favorite season! (Fall! I love Fall best of all!)

Here's a small sampling:

Early Spring Rispetto (it has cows in it!)

Two Parrots Walk Together is Spring 

When I Ride My Bike in Spring

Airing the Quilts

When I found this painting, I couldn't believe Picasso painted it! Truly, he was such a versatile painter, willing to try any sort of artistic style. I imagine him as kind of insatiable in his creativity. (I can relate!) Thanks so much for reading.

The Pool at Tulieries

Today is all

sails & gentle,
sun & green.

Children ripple,
water giggles.

We launch
a thousand boats
in this dream
that is spring.

- Irene Latham

Lemon Poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jone Rush MacCulloch for Roundup.

Yep, it's still National Poetry Month. Yay!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem is a still life. It can be a real challenge to write a lively poem after a still life! But. I love lemons. And the morning I was writing this poem I had just blended a giant, seedless lemon into our morning veggie juice (spinach, cucumber, zucchini, lemon). The scent of lemons filled the kitchen! 

Savvy readers may recognize this poem is actually a triolet that I have broken into shorter lines and stanzas. (Sometimes I just get bored or the same ol' same ol' presentation!) Thanks so much for reading.

Lemon Poem

Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden—

each hour a beehive
of sweet and tart,
if you keep a lemon
inside your heart.

Imagine! Inside you
a tiny, puckered sun!
Zesty, molten—

Keep a lemon
inside your heart
and all your days
will be golden.

- Irene Latham

Spring Storm: Poetry Friday is Here!

 

art by Linda Mitchell

Hello and Welcome to Poetry Friday Roundup! I'm so glad you're here. Please leave your link below!

How's everyone's National Poetry Month going? The poetry-love is strong in these parts...and so have been the storms! (This influenced my ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem greatly! Read on!) Isn't April grand?

In case you missed it, here is my April public poetry installation: a Poetry Machine! It's now moved to its location-for-the-rest-of-the-month Charlie B's Restaurant. So many thanks to owner-all-around-good-guy-Lee...I told him I have a new tagline for his restaurant: "Where Poets Come to Eat." Yay!

Also, I'm honored to be among the poets featured in Michelle Schaub's Poetry Blast video series for National Poetry Month. Click here to hear me talk about and read a very short apology poem titled "Yellow Dog Explains." Thanks, Michelle!

Today I wanted to share some poems, art, and "StoryPeople" by Brian Andreas. I discovered Brian's work many years ago on a trip to New Orleans. Paul and I came home with this piece:

There

are

things

you do

because

they feel

right & they

may make no

money & it may

be the real reason

we are here:

to love each other &

to eat each other's

cooking & say it

was good.

-Brian Andreas

And then (1993!) I got this one, called "Bittersweet"  - one for me, and one for my father:

She said she usually cried at least once

each day not because she was sad,

but because

the world was

so beautiful and 

life was so short.

- Brian Andreas

AND THEN, last month, when I was with my mom and sister in Rome Georgia, at Dogwood Books, I picked up a well-loved copy of Brian's book, Traveling Light: Stories & Drawings for a Quiet Mind (2024). It's sigh-worthy start to finish! I'll leave you with a short one that makes me smile. Brian calls it "Final Reward."

finally realizes

that all the chaos

is what makes 

tea worth it

- Brian Andreas

:)

What tea am I currently in love with?

Bigelow Salted Caramel (black tea)

And now for today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem. I found myself (again!) writing on a stormy morning. I decided to try a tricube. But then the poem demanded to be set free from that constraint...so I let it storm its way onto the page just the way it wanted to. Thanks so much for reading...wishing all of you spring storms like this one!

Spring Storm

For you I

streak a poem

with lightning

for you I

boom a poem

with thunder

for you I

gush a poem

that flushes

field and wood

with brilliant

blooming things.

- Irene Latham

Poetry Machine!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme for Roundup!

How's your National Poetry Month shaping up so far??

 I LOVED hanging out with Poetry Peeps during #HFGather earlier this week. What a great way to get the month of poetry-lovin' started!

And today, I'm away from my desk, hanging out with my Garden Girls! A different kind of poetry!

My public art project to celebrate National Poetry Month is a Poetry Machine! Basically it's a 25-cent gumball machine loaded with pods that each contain a tiny poem! I'm so grateful to Dawn at Pink Porch Market and Lee at Charlie B's Restaurant for giving my Poetry Machine a home during April...and maybe beyond! See video below.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features a Picasso landscape! I didn't even know Picasso painted landscapes...but yes, yes he did! This one features rain, because when I sat down to write this poem, it was raining, and I thought what fun it would be to write a "rain" poem to the sound of rain on our metal roof! (I was right: it WAS fun!) Thanks so much for reading.

When Rain Comes on a Sunday Morning
by Irene Latham


rooster calls to rain

cockadoodledrizzle!

gate squeaks to rain

thanks, I needed a bath

steeple sings to rain

you make me believe

child chortles to rain

now I'm all wet!