Self-Portrait, Early Morning (poem)

 

Sunset Point
Key Colony Beach, FL

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit dear Jan at bookseedstudio for Roundup. 

Like many in our community, I'm excited for Monday's ALA Youth Media Awards, which of course is always such an inspiring opportunity to celebrate books we've loved and also to add new titles to the never-ending TBR stack! Love love love.

This week's ArtSpeak: Light poem turned into a self-portrait. It's inspired by The Artist's Sister at a Window by Berthe Morisot. 

Most poems, probably, are self-portraits, at least a little bit, because of what the words/thoughts/images reveal about the poet who wrote it. I guess self-portraits are more direct, more intentional about what they are revealing? 

For the past several years I have studied a lot about awareness and the seat of consciousness—lots of meditation and mind-training and surrender. (Michael Singer, anyone?) This poem speaks to some of that. Thanks so much for reading. 

Self-Portrait, Early Morning

no surging
thoughts

no billowing
feelings—

I simply
sit

in the world
of the moment

unfolding
before me—

this window,
this world

that requires
nothing

of me—
not fingers,

mouth,
nor mind—

I am
morning,

I am
light

- Irene Latham

Called by Light (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Marcie (who is simply amazing!) for Roundup.

After a busy holiday season and working VERY HARD on a big revision of my adult novel, as well as providing virtual school visits and tending to multiple kidlit deadlines...today I am away from my desk, having an adventure with Paul and Rosie.

You could say today I'm living my 2023 OLW, which is "space." I'm open to experiencing many more days like this in the months to come! 

In fact, I'd like to be brave enough to claim one day a week for "doing nothing." No plans, no agenda. Just let the day unfold. No work on current (writing, household, or whatever) projects allowed. Can I give myself this kind of space on a regular basis? Can I offer myself that much kindness, to just "be" instead of always doing? 

As it is with starting pretty much anything, I think I'll begin with a smaller chunk of time (maybe an hour a week?) and grow my courage from there.

In other news, a couple of firsts: 

1. We saw a live local community theater production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Community theater is my favorite! These actors bring so much passion to their performances, and the venues are generally small and cozy, and there's always something fun and unexpected. This time it was a "split the pot" raffle ticket sale during intermission. Patrons could buy a raffle ticket for a dollar, and then at the end of the show a winner was drawn. The pot was split between that winner and the theater company. Pretty great, right? (No we didn't win! But I'm totally stealing that idea for other nonprofits I'm involved with!)

2. I made creme brulee at home, from scratch, and it was delicious! It only took me a year. :) Last year for my birthday one of our sons gave me one of those little kitchen torches. I did some research, and I realized that I needed all sorts of other supplies: the little dishes, for one...and also ingredients like vanilla beans and vanilla sugar. I didn't even know vanilla sugar was a thing! Well, now I do, and for Christmas I got everything else I needed. I have now made my creme brulee, and you can bet I will be making it again. I mean, I do have about fifteen vanilla beans left. :)

This week's ArtSpeak: Light poem grew out of last week's poem. 

Remember how I was saying I was enamored of that Rockwell painting title "And the Symbol of Welcome is Light"? Well, that has been in my brain for days now, and I wanted to somehow use the idea, but make it my own (of course!). And this week I did! 

ALSO: You'll notice in this poem I include something that's not actually in the art. "Outside the frame" thinking is one of my favorite ways to approach ekphrastic poetry, and I guess it was especially on my mind, as one of my most recent virtual school visits (hello Villa Madonna poets!) was on the topic of writing poems inspired by art. So there you go! Thanks so much for reading.

called by light

and the scent of tomorrow

bee crawls inside

- Irene Latham

3 Ways of Looking at a Night Party (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Susan at Chicken Spaghetti for Roundup.

Shout-out to our youngest son Eric whose birthday is today. (Ever since he was born on the 13th, I have adopted 13 as a Very Lucky Number...even when it falls on a Friday. :)

For this week's ArtSpeak poem, I kind of fell in love with the title of Norman Rockwell's "And the Symbol of Welcome is Light." I wanted to work those words into the poem, but then that felt a little like cheating! I decided to challenge myself. Here's where I landed. (I may honor Rockwell's title in a future poem!)

3 Ways of Looking
at a Night Party

Moon whispers
to her cloud-sisters—
here I am!

Paper lanterns
hung from branches
lean into breeze—
follow me!

Lamplight shatters
doors and windows,
reaches across the dark—
there you are!

—Irene Latham

A little more backstory about the poem: Once, a long time ago, someone told me (or I read in a book) that there are two kinds of people in the world—the ones who walk into a party and say, "here I am!" and the ones who walk into the same party and say, "there you are!" I know exactly which one I am. What about you?

SPACE & LIGHT for 2023

 Hello and happy first Poetry Friday of 2023! Be sure to visit the ever-inspiring Catherine at Reading to the Core for Roundup.

This is my 16th year to choose One Little Word to guide and inspire my year. It's a spiritual practice I'm quite attached to. Each year so far I have created a quilt block to commemorate the word and the year, and a few months ago I realized I had enough squares to make a "sampler" twin size quilt...so, voila! 

My One Little Word list (so far)

2008 joy

2009 listen

2010 celebrate

2011 deeper

2012 fierce

2013 sky

2014 mystery

2015 wild

2016 delight

2017 abundance

2018 behold

2019 happy

2020 red

2021 bewilderment

2022 whimsy

Now I am not sure how I will commemorate this year and/or the coming years. I love cumulative projects, and I love quilts...but do I want another word quilt...or do I want to create something else?? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

The word I've selected for 2023 is a bit...odd. And open to interpretation. And it came from my dear friend Summer Laurie, who was the very first person in children's publishing who saw something in my writing and encouraged me to keep going! (We met at an SCBWI conference many moons ago, where she was presenting as an editor for now-defunct Tricycle Press. We had a one-on-one critique of a middle grade novel ms, and Summer requested the full ms! That book never got published, but Summer and I have kept in touch over the years, and she continues to be a huge supporter and person I'm proud to call friend!)

Aside: Summer edited a gorgeous verse novel that came out last year: WAVE by Diana Farid. It was recently recognized (along with AFRICAN TOWN! Thank you, committee!) as a Cybils Verse Novel Finalist. Don't miss it! (These other titles are wonderful, too. I've read and loved all of them!)

Back to my 2023 OLW. 

In my lastest Adventures in Ink e-newsletter, I asked for suggestions regarding my ArtSpeak theme, and Summer wrote back with "Space." 

Space, as in the moon, Mars, constellations, black holes...and perhaps also because I have a moon book of poems coming this year, called THE MUSEUM ON THE MOON: CURIOUS OBJECTS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE. 

More on this soon! Some of you know I am a NASA/Space junkie, and I'm super-excited about the Artemis program...so fun to be able to bring this passion to a book of poems for kids!

Anyway...I instantly latched onto this words not for ArtSpeak, but for my One Little Word. It's got me thinking about space in the celestial sense obviously. 

Space in the physical sense, as in my writing space, my space in the world, and natural spaces, like caves, forests, meadows, lakes... 

Space in relationships. 

The space between us.

 Negative space. Space in poetry. Space in music.

 Empty space. Peaceful space. 

I'm a person who needs a lot of space, privacy, distance...and then there is nothing that means more to me than closing those distances to be with the ones I love...no space! 

With all those things in mind, I'm excited to explore and discover more about my own personal relationship to Space in the coming year.

About my annual ArtSpeak project: this year I have decided to focus on LIGHT. 

I know! It's another vague/open word! This is what I need in my life right now, apparently. And when I think about the art that moves me most, it often has to do with light. 

I'm fascinated by how artists use light as a tool, how it guides the eye and the composition. 

There are so many kinds of light: moonlight, starlight, lighthouse, candlelight, sunlight, a certain slant of light, light at the end of the tunnel, and so many more!

Light is such a great metaphor for so many things, and when I think about what I crave and enjoy on a daily basis, it's light, lightness, illumination... 

When I think about the best gift we can give the world, it's us, ourselves, shining our own special kind of light....

So lots of poetic potential, yes? 

And also some challenges: what fresh/new can I bring to poems inspired by/related to light? 

I'm trusting the universe (light!) here and just going with it. We'll see what happens! 

For today's offering, I've got Edvard Munch's Moon Light...and obviously had the hinge of the new year on my mind. Thanks for reading!

moon extends its knife

slices night-rumpled waters—

what was, what's to come

-Irene Latham

Playing with AI Poetry

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Patricia at Reverie for Roundup.

So, I've been hearing so much about art that can be created using AI, that I decided I wanted to play around some with poetry. More specifically, I wanted to know: Can ChatGPT write a decent poem?

Here's what I found out:

YES! 

When I typed in, "Poem about horses," here's the poem that was generated in oh, about five seconds:


Horses, majestic beasts of grace and might, 

Their manes flowing in the wind, a beautiful sight.

With hooves pounding the earth, they run with wild abandon, 

Their powerful muscles rippling, a sight to expand on.

Their eyes, intelligent and wise, seem to look right through you, 

As if they know your secrets, and all that you do.

They are creatures of the wild, yet also tamed by man, 

Loyal companions, and a joy to understand.

So here's a little poem, to honor these fine steeds, 

May they always run free, and fulfill all their needs.

....so, the AI program thinks poems should rhyme, yes? And it included some basic facts about horses, which is nice... though the poem itself is kinda clunky (as many forced-to-rhyme poems are). I can see a middle school student turning this in, can't you?

Since I've been writing a lot of haiku lately, I decided to try, "haiku about the new year." After I got the first response, I hit the "regenerate" button, just to see what would happen. The results reveal one of the weaknesses of AI poetry. Read on!

Haiku #1:

Fresh start, new year

Hope and possibility bloom

Leaves of the future




Haiku #2:

A new year begins

Fresh starts, new hopes and dreams

Leaves of the past fade



Haiku #3:

Fresh start, new year's dawn

Resolutions, hope, and renewal

Leaves of the past turn




Haiku #4:

Fresh year, new start

Leaves of the past fall away

Embrace the unknown

Okay. What's up with the "leaves?" Is this the only nature image that AI can find to fit my search requirements?  Also, each one includes rather mundane words like, "fresh" "year"  "new" "start" "hope" "past"... 

I do love the message of Haiku #4. Yes, language is expected, but it works. 

Which is your favorite?

So, my conclusions are these: 

1. Poetry still needs humans.

 

2. If a poet is feeling stuck, AI might be a useful tool to get the creative juices flowing. 

3. One way to "check" on the uniqueness of our own poems might be to run an AI chat like this one. If our poem-draft has these messages or these particular words, we might need to dig a bit deeper.

And now, I give you my final ArtSpeak: Animals poem! This has been such a fun series to work on. 

I started the year writing poems about virtues, and how they might be represented by animals. 

I discovered the Picasso line drawings in summer, and that kept me going for a while. 

These last weeks have taken on an additional "red," theme, which is something I keep coming back to.... apparently I am really drawn to art that features red! 

More than half the poems I wrote were haiku (not my intention, just something that happened)! Today's poem is is both red and a haiku...and is how I'm feeling as we move into the new year. Yay!

the sky is burning

crows carry dreams on their wings

it's enough

-Irene Latham

Thank you for following along. I've very excited to see what adventures 2023 brings for all of us! xo

All I Want For Christmas is a Poem

 Hello and welcome to Poetry Friday Roundup on this Christmas Eve eve! 

If you've got poetry to share, please leave your link below. 

And if you simply want to read all things poetry, welcome to our Poetry Friday neighborhood! All are welcome to click your way down our happy little street.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Two fun things I've done to celebrate this Advent season: 

1. enjoyed a cheese a day in an Advent Cheese box I bought at Aldi. Lots of variety, including a fun red pesto gouda that was like having an entire pizza in one bite. :)

2. read a poem a day for children in this Advent Poe-tree created by the good folks at Poetry by Heart. (Instead of one a day, you can now read almost all of them all at once!)

Hope your holiday and every day includes whatever joys make YOU smile!

For today's Roundup, I've got a special little something for you, and her name is Molly! She's a homeschool student who loves poetry, both reading it and writing it. She and I have corresponded via email and snailmail for a couple of years now, and I have loved watching her writing grow! 

This month Molly shared with me about the things she's doing to nurture her writing life, including finding a writing community of other young writers! starting a blog!...and she sent a small book of her poems. It totally made my day! And now she and her parents have graciously give me permission to share two of my favorite poems from the book with all of you. 

Your will is wonderful

You are sewing my quilt of life

I am but thread on a spool

- Molly

Many of you know I am a sucker for a textile/sewing metaphor...isn't that last line marvelous?!

A cold nose

There was a man

And he was old

He took a walk

But it was cold

Right away

Off fell his nose

It's quite a good thing

That his wife sews

- Molly

Ha! Another sewing reference, and such a fun story...it reads like a nursery rhyme, doesn't it?

I also invited Molly to respond to some simple prompts about her experience writing this book. Without further ado, here's Molly!

The Difficult:

The most difficult challenge about writing my poetry book was probably in perfecting the poems themselves.  I would have an idea or thought that I wanted to portray, as well as a rhyming pattern that I wanted to use but would sometimes get stuck trying to find the right words.  Once I did, the rest of the poem just slid from my fingers.

The Delicious:

The best part about writing my book was in knowing that I write for God.  These poems are a way I glorify Him as well as an attempt to help the reader.

The Fresh:

Something I learned while writing this book, is that poetry is an amazing way to process thoughts.  While restricting you to using verses and potential rhyming, it gives you the freedom in being able to really put meaning and thought into what you want to portray. 

-----

Poetry IS "an amazing way to process thoughts," isn't it?! I think it's why many of us can't NOT write. We need poetry. Writing poetry is an act of self-care, a way to grow and to deepen all the days of our lives.

So many thanks to Molly and her parents for allowing me to share these gifts. I won't be surprised at all when we see Molly's books in stores one day. 

For my ArtSpeak: Animals contribution, I decided to take a walk in the forest...just one more animal poem to go, then onto 2023! Wheee! 

lost in the forest

not knowing which is flower,

which is hummingbird

- Irene Latham

Lion and Sun (poem)

 

Nelson Grice, Miss Fancy,
and Irene Latham

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure and visit Karen Edmisten for Roundup.

I've heard several of you teacher-poets talk about moments with students, or former students, when you realize you had an impact on a person's life—how gratifying that is, and what inspiration to continue the work. I had a moment like that this past week! 

It happened at the Miss Fancy event, which was perfectly delightful in every single way. But the best part was talking to Nelson Grice, the sculptor of the new Miss Fancy statue. He said that while he was researching, he read MEET MISS FANCY, and it was then that he decided one of the children riding Miss Fancy's back needed to be African American. (!) 

No, that didn't happen in the real history. But this is 2022, not 1913, and we as artists have the freedom (and responsibility!) to create art that represents ourselves and our feelings and our times. I'm so humbled that a book I had a part in made a difference in someone's thinking, and that something so beautiful and lasting came out of it. Click to watch video coverage of the unveiling. (The children on Miss Fancy's back are more visible in the video than in my photo.)

For this week's ArtSpeak: Animals, I've got a lion for you! I love the name of this piece: The Two Majesties by Jean-Leon Gerome so much that I decided to steal "majesties" and put it in my poem! 

Aside: are you a fan of the Netflix show THE CROWN? This latest season has been particularly heartbreaking, perhaps because I remember all that drama playing out in real time... and the actress who plays Diana is amazing!

(Current show we're watching: Yellowstone. I have to close my eyes a lot.)

Here's the poem. Thank you for reading. See you next week, when Roundup is here at Live Your Poem!

as morning crowns

lion and sun are twin majesties

roaring, roaring

- Irene Latham

Coral Snake poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Michelle at Michelle Kogan for Roundup.

I've got India on my mind—because our youngest son is traveling to south India (Bangalore) tomorrow. He'll be gone for three weeks, so we'll celebrate Christmas a week late when he returns. I'm excited for him and can't wait to hear about his adventures!

Tomorrow I'll be taking part in the MISS FANCY festivities at Avondale Park 10 am - 1 pm. They'll unveil and dedicate the new life-sized statue of Miss Fancy at 11 am, and I'll be there with the good folks at Thank You Books signing copies of MEET MISS FANCY. Thanks to Avondale Library, there will also be a storywalk of the book through the park. I'm excited! 

For ArtSpeak: Animals I wrote quite a few coral snake poems. I'll leave you with two that share a "river" theme! Thanks so much for reading. Thanks also for your suggestion regarding 2023 ArtSpeak theme. I think I've decided! 😊

coral snake winding

along Amazon canyon

thinks she's a river

- Irene Latham

As shadows deepen

coral snake is all muscle

and splash—red river

- Irene Latham

Maple Tree Magic (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Catherine at Reading to the Core for Roundup.

Goodness, how can it be December?? And how can our middle son be turning 26 today?? Happy birthday, sweet Andrew! (PF Friends, Andrew was the biggest baby in the nursery that day -- 9 lbs,, 15 oz! -- and today he has the biggest heart of anyone I know! I'm so lucky to be his mom.❤️)

Today's ArtSpeak poem was inspired by this beauty in our front yard:

No wonder the following art caught my eye when I was cruising animal paintings at wikiart.org!

two birds disappear,
re-appear amid crimson stars—
maple’s fall magic

- Irene Latham

Just four more animal-art poems to write for this year's theme (though today's poem might be more of a tree-poem-with-birds than a bird-poem-with-tree!)...what should be my theme for next year? Thinking... 

Thanks so much for reading! 

Quandry, Quarry, Quarrel (poem)

This post brought to you by the letter Q!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday on this day after Thanksgiving! Be sure to visit Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town for Roundup.

This week I've got some hunting dogs for you! I, myself, have zero experience hunting irl, so for this poem, I decided to "hunt" for language, images, and meaning that would make hunting relatable for non-hunting folks like me. 

What did I find? Some great "Q" words! Thanks so much for reading.

Quandry, Quarry, Quarrel

Who could have predicted
the boat would mosey
this far from shore?

Not clutch of dogs
tense from morning's hunt

not ducks alert
amid thick nest of reeds.

Someone—
perhaps distracted
by blazing maples—

let the knot slip, or
never tied it at all.

How easily we break—

all of us waiting
for the next whistle.

- Irene Latham

Whenever You're Feeling Weathered (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jama's Alphabet Soup for a feast of a Roundup.

I've been crafting! When I saw some "Alabama" shaped ornaments cut from old quilts, I thought, hmm, I can do that....and I did! :)

This week's ArtSpeak: Animals poem is for anyone (like me!) who's feeling a bit worn and weary here at the end of the year. Thank you for reading!

At Sea

whenever you're
feeling weathered

remember: waves
can rise feathered

and crane's
whitecapped wings

can unravel sky,
stir a hundred dreams

- Irene Latham

Squirrel and Cherries poem

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

For today's ArtSpeak: Animals, I've abandoned Picasso but still going miniature with the poems. (Haiku? Small poem? I'm not sure!)

What I do know: I've got a squirrel for you. We have so many (destructive!) squirrel friends here at the lake that we regularly run a Squirrel Relocation Service—We use traps baited with bird seed and then transport our twitchy little friends to release them a few miles down the road.

However, I did not know (until viewing this piece of art and the research it prompted) that squirrels love cherries! Qi Baishi knew. Did you? Thanks so much for reading.

so much we'll never

know—was it squall or squirrel

that plucked these cherries?

- Irene Latham

Dove + Vote = Happy First Poetry Friday of November!

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

First, an Election Day poem (first published by Scholastic's Storyworks magazine in 2012) I like to share every voting cycle:

Election Day

Sift through promises,
replay interviews;

step inside the booth.
Forget scripted speeches

and candy-wrapped slogans.
Weigh again each pro

and con. Remember
the teeming world,

its people who dream
of freedom—

so many denied
the right to decide.

Read the names,
imagine a future;

make the best choice.
In the space between breaths

your voice is heard
without a word.

- Irene Latham

....and now, my latest—and final!—Picasso poem as part of my ArtSpeak: Animals project. (I'll be back next week with non-Picasso animal art-poetry. :) 

Friends, I had a hard time with this one. Doves, peace, olive branches are all so cliche! How to make fresh? 

I wrote a bunch of versions, and decided to share a yin/yang duo, as I did last week with Picasso's sweet, prancing pig. 

This first (darker?) one makes me think of the fortunes we unfold from fortune cookies that are more like truisms than fortunes? See what you think. 

Look, an olive branch!

For dove's wings are not enough

to sway the faithless

- Irene Latham

...and now, take 27! It too can be read quite darkly...hmmm.... 

Thanks so much for reading.

sun tattoos dove's wings

with a thousand words for peace

only sky can taste

- Irene Latham

Picasso pig poem

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

We've been in the north Georgia mountains this week exploring the little railroad town of Blue Ridge. Actually, mostly, we've been walking and talking and sleeping and eating! (We needed a break!)

Of course I took a little time out to write the next installment of ArtSpeak: Animals. This week Picasso has a pig for us! 

Friends, I wrote a DARK poem. 

But it does a lot of the things I hope a poem will do, so I am sharing it first... and THEN, because I don't want to leave anyone in a dark place, I've got a more joyful pig poem for you. Thanks so much for reading...see you in November!

It looked so happy,

the prancing pig on the ramp

to slaughter

- Irene Latham

-----------------------------------------

with a snout like that

young pig can't help but follow

every fresh scent

- Irene Latham

 

Picasso Dachshund dog poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Bridget at wee words for wee ones for Roundup.

Last weekend we had our community fall festival. It was so great to see friends and neighbors enjoying pumpkin painting, scarecrows, food & craft vendors, hayrides, and so much more... I was in charge of the silent auction, which brought in over $800 to turn back around into community programming. DH Paul was in charge of grilling 200 hot dogs. :) (This is an oddly appropriate thing to include in this post! Read on!)

Irene & Dahlia
(in front of Floyd Cooper art)

A few days before that, I was at Highlights, where I met for the first time in person my friend Dahlia Hamza Constantine. Joy! Dahlia and I have written a picture book together that celebrates the joyful relationship between a girl and her grandfather "Giddo"— and traditional Egyptian arts like the Tentmakers of Cairo. It will be released by Nancy Paulsen Books in 2025. :)

Dahlia brought me issues of a new-to-me magazine from the UK called Daphne's Diary. It is full of whimsy and just thumbing the pages is an Artist's Date. This week I played with butterflies from inside the pages...and I'm still playing!

Irene & Charles hanging out on the
porch of cabin #10, where Poetry Friday
friends Laura Shovan, Linda Mitchell,
and Rose Capelli stayed before me!

More about Highlights: It was my first time to visit, thanks to Charles Waters, who has a long history at Highlights. His enthusiasm was absolutely my favorite thing about the experience—especially as everything he's ever said about the people and place is 100% true. Beautiful, beautiful! And our group was so kind and brilliant! We really bonded over words and risk-taking and dreams...also, the fabulous Carol Hinz was there. I took so many notes during her talk and had a breakthrough on a wip. :) I'm so, so grateful and look forward to the beauty this group will be bringing into the world and especially into the lives of children. 

And this just in from that amazing publishing duo Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell. I loved writing about friends both far away...and furry!

Today's Artspeak: Animals poem reminds me of the one Dachshund we ever owned, a black-n-tan cutie named Chester. Perhaps you have or have had a Dachshund in your life?? Do tell!

Meanwhile, the end is in sight for this Picasso mini-series...I'm thinking I'll write 2-3 more and then move onto something else. Thanks so much for reading!

whole long body

a smile perched on stubby legs

this dog

- Irene Latham

Picasso Ostrich poem

Whee!

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

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful time at Highlights! More on this next week, once I've had a chance to unpack. Old friends, new friends, adventures, inspiration, delicious food, fall...my heart is full. :)

I didn't do much writing while there, but wow, on the (14 hour) drive home, I voice-recorded many many many notes, breakthroughs, and new ideas. I'm excited to sort through everything and share more.

I don't know what an ostrich has to do with Highlights (or anything), but I did tackle Picasso's drawing as the latest in this mini-series as part of my ArtSpeak: Animals project.

 Actually, now that I'm reading it again, it's kind of exactly where I am in my writing life as described above! Ha! How our poems reveal us... 

Thank you so much for reading.

ostrich swerves through grass

a blur of fluffy feathers

far from flightless

-Irene Latham

Live from Highlights!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure and visit Sarah Grace Tuttle for Roundup.

The header is actually wishful thinking...but I am en route (driving!) to Highlights, where Charles Waters and I are leading a retreat on Poetry for Kids: A World of Publishing Possibilities. We're excited to share this time with other passionate poetry peeps!

 Earlier this week I posted about ghosts of AFRICAN TOWN over at Smack Dab in the Middle. Read the poem here.

And here's my latest ArtSpeak: Animals poem. Yep, another Picasso-inspired haiku! (The 10th, actually. I just counted. :) Thanks so much for reading.

on dark autumn morn

rooster will not be silenced

the sound of sunshine

- Irene Latham

p.s. Whatever's happening in the world, however dark the day...we can all be roosters! xo

Picasso Fox poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for Roundup.

Now that we are entering the last quarter of the year (!), I've got my One Little Word on my mind... WHIMSY. How has whimsy played into my life? When I look around my house, I see a whole lot of whimsy! Here's the latest addition:

Yep, I repurposed a leaky canoe into a raised bed garden! Don't you dig the blue paint? I planted kale for fall, and I kind of love it. :)

I think I've added some whimsy to my writing life, too...taking more chances, being more playful, stretching my imagination... 

For this week's ArtSpeak: Animals, I've got another Picasso for you! And a bonus poem, too. It kind of emerged as I was trying to write about the fox. (Don't you love when that happens?!) Thank you so much for reading.

a lone duck calls

and from the tall grass a fox

sets world ablaze

- Irene Latham

...and speaking of foxes...here's the bonus poem, just right for this time of year! :)

with a fox for

a soul, it blazes all hours

this autumn maple

- Irene Latham

Picasso grasshopper poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Rose at Imagine the Possibilities for Roundup.

I'm on the road today, heading home from my mom's. She's about halfway through her radiation treatments, and we are in the process of getting her moved closer to us. It's a big undertaking!

I'm also in the process of querying agents for a big sweeping novel for adults. (My agent doesn't represent adult projects.) It's not my favorite way to spend my time, I'll tell you that! But I love this book SO MUCH. And this is just part of the journey, right?

For this week's ArtSpeak: Animals project, I am still really enjoying this Picasso mini-series! (This is #8.) I'm just going to keep going until I get tired of it, or until I run out of Picasso's animal drawings—whichever comes first. Thank you so much for reading!

Little grasshopper

springs from stalk to stalk—playing

hide and seek with sun

-Irene Latham

Picasso Elephant poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Kathryn Apel for a Down Under Roundup.

This month while the tv runs college football games, I've been piecing a quilt! 

I realized a while back that I had quite a lot of black fabric in my stash. Black is not the most popular color to include in a quilt—which has made a black quilt project all the more enticing! I decided to use strips and construct squares on the diagonal—kind of a "crazy" quilt—and then arrange 4 squares to create some sort of funky block. 

(I am not a precision quilter! More of an improvisational quilter, ala the Gee's Bend quilters.)

As I've been sewing, a name for the quilt popped into my head: "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Glorious." 

No "evil" in this quilt! But lots of midnight. And my sweet friend Donna gave me some beautiful black-horse fabric, so I'll be incorporating it into the back— which I haven't figured out yet! I'll keep you posted.

In ArtSpeak: Animals news, I'm still having fun with Picasso. Today I have a sweet little elephant poem for you. Thanks so much for reading.

how jubilantly

elephant calf welcomes dawn

parade of mothers

- Irene Latham