Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Karen Edmisten for Roundup.
You're invited to view Tuesday 2-Minute Writing Tip 29: Small Steps Lead to Big Writing. I hope you find the message useful!
What a thrill for Charles & me to be featured on Book Breaks video series for For the Win: Poems About Phenomenal Athletes. It was fun sharing poems from the book about LeBron James (by JaNay Brown-Wood) and Eileen Gu (by Nancy Tupper Ling), in honor of her recent Olympics medals! Kaylyn Farneth has created such a special series for teachers sharing booko-love... be sure to get to know her!
Today's ArtSpeak: WOMEN features work by another new-to-me artist: Agnes Martin. I am intrigued by abstract work, which feels so mysterious to me! I lean heavily on titles of the works to help me find meaning. I instantly loved the "feeling" of "Desert Rain." Stark, yes, but also full of promise...so much unseen! It carried me to Death Valley National Park, which I have long wanted to visit in the springtime, to catch the wildflower season. 2026 is predicted to be a "superbloom" year! I wrote two poems -- one a trinet, the other a failed haiku. (Too many syllables!) Thanks so much for reading.
Trinet After Drought
Desert rain,
what winds
blew you across these mountains today?
I wish I could catch you,
carry you
like a
bride's bouquet.
- Irene Latham
Gift
Rain, forever swift of heart,
waits until mountains are sleeping
to ride in on a brisk wind
& surprise desert with flowers
-Irene Latham
p.s. I read somewhere recently (where??) that "swift of heart" doesn't mean "fast." It means "to be fully committed." I love that!!
