Friday, November 28, 2025

Black Friday is for Poetry!

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

Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Joyce Sidman,
Irene Latham
Wow, what a week. A lovely time was had by all at NCTE-Denver, and I enjoyed catching up with poetry peeps like Allan, Amy, April, Carol, Charles, Georgia, Heidi, Joyce, Laura, Linda, Lisa, Lynn, Margaret, Marilyn, Mary Lee, Matt, Nancy, Rajani, Rebecca, Willeena... and meeting new friends along the way. The world of children's poetry is alive and thriving!

I think the photo at the top of the post may be my favorite picture of the lot—so many thanks to the indomitable Laura Purdie Salas for taking it and for being the source of so much joy both on and off the page. Shout-out to Georgia Heard, who was also with us making merry!

AND thanks to Poetry Friday friend Linda Baie, who shared her beloved bookstore with me! (And lunch...and the science museum!) Y'all, Linda is a FORCE. I want to be just like her when I grow up.


Thanks to all the poets and organizers and educators and EVERYONE for making NCTE-Denver a valuable experience. 

Special congratulations to all the 2026 NCTE Notable Poetry books! Several of my favorites were recognized, and I've already ordered the ones I haven't read yet from my library. Yay!

And yesterday was full of turkey and family and all the related JOY.



I have a wee Black Friday poem for you. It's a found poem from a website recommended by Heidi Mordhorst: Svahausa.com (where Heidi purchased her adorable typewriter key skirt!). Thanks, Heidi!

Poem for the Day After Thanksgiving

Black Friday is here—almost

everything appears automatically

now. Huge pockets hold nothing

but wasted time.

Shop. Explore. What do you really want?

- Irene Latham


And now for today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO. Y'all, I really struggled with this one! I wrote quite a few drafts, and they all just felt too heavy...so I spent the last ten minutes of my allotted time crafting a haiku for anyone out there who dreams of the coast, but for whatever reason won't be going to the coast. Yay for staycations!



lemons and oysters
pucker air with sunshine, salt—
staycation

- Irene Latham

*It occurs to me that this could be a fun poetry prompt. Forget about the art. Write a haiku that ends in "staycation." What would your first two lines be??
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4 comments:

  1. Michelle KoganNovember 28, 2025 at 7:12 AM

    Fun post Irene! Love your staycation haiku, creative prompt too! And lovely pics of the conference peeps and Linda, thanks for sharing all!

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  2. Linda BNovember 28, 2025 at 7:45 AM

    Aw, thanks for sharing our day, too, Irene. It was a fantastic day with you, and I am happy to read some of your other time, too! Love seeing your family smiles, plus the haiku takes me to the beach, where I always want to be! Happy weekend!

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  3. Mona VoelkelNovember 28, 2025 at 8:00 AM

    Irene, the "lemon and oysters" transported me to RI, and thank you for the "staycation" prompt!!!! I can't wait to check out the NCTE Notable Poetry Books. Thank you also for the "What do you really want?" line that resonated for me. As i head into the holidays, I wan to reflect on this question for myself and my loved ones.

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  4. Patricia FranzNovember 28, 2025 at 8:33 AM

    So much joy in gathering! And so grateful not to be caught up in shopping! Thank you for the prompt, too!

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