ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #11 "Bread's Lament"

Welcome to day 11 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! 

But first, please visit Buffy's Blog to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

This year's ARTSPEAK! theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market.

Here are the poems so far:

"After the Fire" after Ruined Farm by Hubert Robert
"Cow at the Gate" after Landscape with Open Gate by Pieter Molijin
"I Am the Plate" after Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit by Paul Cezanne
"Courtship (According to the Cat)" by Winslow Homer
"Courage" after Planting Corn by Stanley Mazur
"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's image was the first image I found when I began rounding up images on this year's theme, so I've been thinking about this little boy for a couple of weeks now. Those eyes! But, again, I didn't know what the boy could say that would be unique/original. So I started looking at the other elements of the painting. I kept coming back to that hunk of bread...

Bread's Lament

How am I

to compete

with a basket

of fruit

so luscious

and sweet?

Look how

the plum fits

perfectly

in the boy's

palm –

and I am

but crust

and crumb.

My life is

nothing

but boring –

until the mice

come along.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #10 "After the Fire"

Welcome to day 10 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! 

But first, please visit Pat at Writer on a Horse to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

This year's ARTSPEAK! theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market.

Here are the poems so far:

"Cow at the Gate" after Landscape with Open Gate by Pieter Molijin
"I Am the Plate" after Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit by Paul Cezanne
"Courtship (According to the Cat)" by Winslow Homer
"Courage" after Planting Corn by Stanley Mazur
"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's piece was tough to write, in part, because I attended a funeral for my nephew, who was only 23. The day was filled with family and remembrances and sadness. This is a poem I will want to revisit in the future -- I do like its simplicity. BUT. We aim for specificity as poets, and using a word like "bird" isn't as strong as using a word like "owl" or "sparrow." But the way I set this poem up, a more specific word didn't work either... and then I ran out of time. As did my nephew. Sadness. But writing the poetry helps.

After the Fire

What is a farm

without a barn?

It is a body

without a heart.

What is the earth

without sky?

It is a bird

with no place to fly.

- Irene Latham

Listen on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #9 "Cow at the Gate"

Welcome to day 9 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! 

But first, please visit Margaret at Reflections on the Teche to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

This year's ARTSPEAK! theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"I Am the Plate" after Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit by Paul Cezanne
"Courtship (According to the Cat)" by Winslow Homer
"Courage" after Planting Corn by Stanley Mazur
"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's piece Landscape with Open Gate by Pieter Moijin is certainly rural, and I am certain there is a garden/farm just out of the frame. And cows. There are definitely cows! When writing poems inspired by art, it often helps me to look beyond the frame... this is a way to bring something unexpected to the poem, to enrich the experience of the painting. Another question to ask: who (or what) is seeing this image? Right away, that gave me the eyes of a cow.

Cow at the Gate

Cow knows

a closed gate

means graze,

sleep;

its early –

or late.

An open gate

means,

Hurry now,

pick up the pace!

The world

 awaits.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #8 "I Am the Plate" & Janet's Line in Our Progressive Poem!

Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Laura at Writing the World for Kids for Roundup -- and to see the latest installment of her Putrid Poetry series!

So we're a week into National Poetry Month... how's everyone holding up? So much creativity flowing... I hope to catch up on my blog reading this weekend.

Real quick, I have to share my favorite pic from yesterday at Fay B. Kaigler:

Joyce Sidman & me (the person who photographed us said, "Smile, Poets!"
And we did. :)

I had such a great time... if you're curious, I live-tweeted from speeches made by Lois Lowry, Jacqueline Woodson, and Joyce Sidman. Search for the hashtag #USMCBF (University of Southern Miss Children's Book Festival).

But first, please join me in welcoming Janet Fagal, who is here to share the newest line in our Progressive Poem. Hi, Janet!

I am happy to be back as part of the Progressive Poem 2016 “team”.  I loved watching the poem grow the first year and asked Irene in 2013 if she would host me since I do not have a blog. She has graciously agreed 3 times now.  It is so interesting to see the poem grow, turn and sing. I don’t know about the other poets but I certainly spend a lot of time pondering what my line ought to be. Since I grew up on Long Island, the beach, the ocean and all things sandy hold fond memories. I feel a lot of responsibility to those who have started the poem but especially to those who follow.  We have a nature poem, a poem of pondering and a poem of adventure, perhaps. Where will it go? I send it off to Margaret to see where she takes us next.

Thank you, Irene, for including me!  I love watching this group poem grow.

A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky
A hummingbird holds and then hies
If I could fly, I'd choose to be
Sailing through a forest of poet-trees

A cast of crabs engraves the sand
Delighting a child's outstretched hand
If I could breathe under the sea

I’d dive, I’d dip, I’d dance with glee

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

Thank you, Janet! It's a pleasure to have you at Live Your Poem, and I'm so glad you are a part of our Progressive Poem yet again. :)

And now, welcome to day 8 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Courtship (According to the Cat)" by Winslow Homer
"Courage" after Planting Corn by Stanley Mazur
"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

For today's poem, I am focusing on the "eat" part of my theme... sort of! The piece I've selected is "Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit" by Paul Cezanne. My regular readers know I adore persona poems, so this newest should come as no surprise. Although it DID come as sort of a surprise to me... I started out trying to bring movement to this still life, but I just wasn't finding anything fresh... and I kept looking for some strange angle, some unusual way into the poem... voila! The plate! (It might actually be a bowl, but it's so shallow... and so unremarkable it didn't even make it into Cezanne's title of the piece, which gives me the freedom to call it a plate if I want to. :)

I Am the Plate

I am the plate

that sits

by the jug

that rests

full-bellied

on the breakfast

table.

I can hold on

to nothing:

not the apples,

the pears,

the lemon.

Not time

nor sunlight.

Not even

this poem.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #7 "Courtship (According to the Cat)"

Hello, and welcome to day 7 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! Also, please visit Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

I'm still reveling in the wonderment that is Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS... I can't wait to tell you about it! Very soon, I promise! I did live-tweet Lois Lowry's talk yesterday, and I will be doing the same for Jacqueline Woodson and Joyce Sidman (!) today.

Meanwhile, it's also Spiritual Journey Thursday. Today we are sharing posts about Bobbie Ann Taylor's One Little Word MERCIFUL. It's a beautiful word isn't it? I want to spend more time with it, but right now the thing I'd like to share is how it brings me straightaway to these words of wisdom from my mother:

And now, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Courage" after Planting Corn by Stanley Mazur
"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's poem is another love poem... and it's kind of fitting, as today marks 26 years since me and Paul's first date. It was a blind date, actually, and a whirlwind courtship followed... we married almost exactly a year later. So when I saw "Rustic Courtship (in the Garden)" by Winslow Homer, I knew it was the piece I wanted to write about. But courtship poems have been done and done and done... how could I bring an element of surprise to this subject? Change perspective, of course! Read on...

Courtship (According to the Cat)

He comes

tucked in those suspenders,

carrying

that pitchfork –

my cue to slink away.

They never say

anything interesting anyway.

But how his face blooms –

as if she is sun

and rain

and soil.

Not once has he

noticed me.

When he is there,

she forgets my name.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #6 "Courage"

Hello, and welcome to day 6 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! Also, please visit Carol at Beyond Literacy Link to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Two things about today: 1) I am at Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS. My presentation is called Reading is Delicious: Fresh, Fun Food Programming for Kids. Hello, all my fellow book lovers! 2) It's our 25th wedding anniversary! How did THAT happen? I'm so, so grateful for that man, this life. Love love love.

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's poem is inspired by "Planting Corn" by Stanley Mazur. This poem went in an entirely different direction than I was expecting. What drew me to the painting was the row of women, and the farmer in charge. Yes, I could make this a feminist poem, but mostly I was drawn to the mathematics of planting and started out writing about the way the farmer measures the field like a seamstress. But then I read the April 5 (I write these poems a day ahead during National Poetry Month so I can post in a timely manner) reading in The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, which, in a wonderful bit of serendipity, spoke of the courage of the seed. And then that's all I could think about! So often I am inspired by what I am reading... which is a good reminder to read wide and often. (I can always go back and write the feminist and mathematics poems later.)

Courage

The seed

in the apron

pocket

doesn't know

it will grow

into corn

yet it never

complains

about the dark

or the dirt

or the farmer's

calloused hands –

instead

it simply

waits

for light.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #5 "Orchard Barber Shop"

Hello, and welcome to day 5 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! Also, please visit Penny at a penny and her jots to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:


"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's piece is an etching, and since I am busybusy today preparing for my trip (this afternoon!) to Hattiesburg, MS for the amazing Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival (this year featuring Joyce Sidman! Jacqueline Woodson! Melissa Sweet! And so many others!!), this piece about garden work snagged my attention. 

There are so many chores associated with gardening -- and with being a human (haircuts, washing clothes, grocery shopping) -- and maybe they aren't all that glamorous, but they are kind of necessary. Just like everything I've got to accomplish before I hit the highway!

Orchard Barber Shop

- after  "Gardener Pruning a Tree" by  Jacques Callot

Gardener turns barber

when trees needs a trim –

snip, clip, slashhhhh!

And then –

a bower full of flowers

bears fashionable fruit,

each shiny face

boasting a slick, fresh style

that's just-right around the ears –

All because the gardener

picked up a pair of shears.

- Irene Latham

I look forward to revising this one. :) Listen to me read the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #4 "Gardener's Companion"

Hello, and welcome to day 4 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! One thing I love about writing poems after art is how wide and varied the responses can be. Fun!

We are just back from a wonderful few days in Los Angeles, which might have something to do with today's choice of painting... oh the things that nourish us! More on this in a minute.

First, I do hope you'll pop in on Diane at Random Noodling to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

Today's image "The Watering Can" really speaks to me. Something I'm learning about myself as I write these poems inspired by art is that I really love still life images. I especially love giving voice to those inanimate objects whose stories need to be told! I'm also drawn to the fun of imagining myself as something else, and also the freedom that allows me as a poet. I mean, since a watering can can't actually talk, I can give it whatever life I choose! I find this kind of writing delightful. And, this one turned out to be kind of a riddle poem, which I wasn't expecting. I do try to write a poem that can also stand alone (without the art), and I think this one does. I am more successful with some poems than with others!

Also, here we go again: readers from last year may remember I discovered a theme in my ARTSPEAK! poems -- waiting. Here it is again, in this poem. Poems certainly reveal us, don't they?

Gardener's Companion

- after Watering Can by Georges Seurat

I wait for the farmer

through the afternoon heat –

I go where the hosepipe

cannot reach.

Sometimes I spring a leak,

but even then,

I never speak.

When the sun beams

down

my skin gleams

like a leaping silver fish.

I have but one wish:

come now,

take me into your hands –

I am a watering can.

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (Turns out *I* can't see the embedded file, but others can... so maybe it's an issue with my own browser... still working on it!)

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #3 "Man, Reading"

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.

Before we get to that, Now, please visit Doraine at Dori Reads to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

Okay, so this year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems I've written so far:

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

So, Day 3, and I'm already stretching the theme a bit. What does a piece that features a man reading in a garden have to do with Plant. Grow. Eat? Well, I think maybe a lot of things! All is metaphor with we poets, isn't it? And this guy surely has a story... and one thing I've learned from entering contests is that it helps to come at a subject from an odd angle. You want to be the poet who writes something unexpected and memorable about a subject. But mostly I selected today's piece because I love writing love poems. And it just seemed like a Sunday thing to do!  

Man, Reading

- after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Jacques-Joseph Tissot

And this bench

is where I shall meet

the one who'll make

a garden of my life –

I'll be reading

(in my dapper suit)

and she'll say,

you're reading that one?

Me too!

And not a blossom

in the garden

shall compare

to the bounty we find there –

the two of us,

now a pair,

sharing a bench,

talking about books.

- Irene Latham

Click to listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #2 "At the Vegetable Market"

Hello, and welcome to day 2 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.

Before we get to the poem, please don your leis and visit Joy Acey (in Hawaii!) to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing! There's quite an unexpected word in the line today. Enjoy!

Back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here's yesterday's poem:

"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

I selected today's poem because many farmers' markets happen on Saturdays, so what better way to celebrate the first Saturday of National Poetry Month? And yes, this is a piece by the same artist as yesterday. We will be seeing more of Mr. Pissarro before the month is through!

What caught my eye in this poem was the little girl hidden behind the basket. I've been that little girl at the market with Mama. I know the rules. I decided to give my experience to the girl in the art.

At the Vegetable Market

- after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

Mama says,

never go to the market

hungry.

She says I can't say

I want I want

or Pleeeeeeeease.

no matter how blue

the blueberries

or how perfect

the potato.

But I don't care

about money,

and I am always hungry.

So I smile wider than

a watermelon rind

and my cheeks

turn round as tomatoes

when the lady with the basket

leans in close,

says, want a taste?

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (still having trouble embedding... grr)

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #1 "Triolet for Planting Day"

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! I am out adventuring with my family this week -- living my poem! -- but please be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm for Roundup.  

Also, be sure to check out the first line of our Progressive Poem, over at Laura's blog!

Woohoo, it's NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!!!

Here at Live Your Poem I am celebrating by continuing the poem-a-day-project I started last year: ArtSpeak! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market.

This year I decided to start off with the "title" image. I don't know why -- it just sort of happened! 

The piece is "The Artist's Garden at Eragny" by Camille Pissarro. I love this image of the woman planting... I have known this woman (my grandmother, my mother) and I have been this woman. 

Planting a garden is full of hope, the weather is generally lovely, and there aren't yet any weeds. (Of all the garden chores, I HATE weeding. Grr.) But planting -- it's the most fun part of gardening, if you ask me! Yet, it's quite repetitious, isn't it? 

Which is how I came to write this poem as a triolet. (Remember Laura Shovan's "wild" triolet? I love it!) You'll notice that mine isn't a strict triolet, but a variation. I love variations. Truly. 

And isn't the whole poem a metaphor for what we poets are doing today, on this first (quiet) April morning of National Poetry Month? Enjoy!

Triolet for Planting Day

- after “The Artist's Garden at Eragny” by Camille Pissarro

This is the way we plant the seeds

on a quiet April morning:

Poke, press, cover is our mantra, our creed.

This is the way we plant the seeds,

as soil favors gentleness over speed.

Later, weeds may offer warning,

but today, this is the way we plant the seeds.

The garden starts on a quiet April morning.

- Irene Latham

**Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (I am having issues embedding the track... hmmm...)

Five Ways to Be Bold

Hello! It's Spiritual Journey Thursday, and I'm out adventuring, but I couldn't NOT leave a post in celebration of Donna's One Little Word BOLD.

When I look back over my life, I realize that even though I am a self-professed shy, introverted person, I have also had some really bold moments -- one such moment came to me this morning: when I was 11, I was the first girl acolyte at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington, Louisiana.

 I've also had plenty of wish-I'd-been bold moments. That's sort of what I want to talk about today. Because I'm learning being bold isn't always about being loud or brash or outlandish or first. For me, lately, it's about these five things instead.

How To Be BOLD

1. Be honest. About who you are, what you like, what you want, what you think.

2. Speak up.  Even when no one asks. Maybe especially when no one asks. Who you are and what you like/want/think is important, and no one will know unless you tell them.

3. Try something new. Read a book in a genre you don't usually choose. Sign up for sushi lessons -- even if you don't like sushi. (It will grow on you, I promise.) Go to a thrift store and buy something you'd never wear -- and wear it!

4. Say Yes. And NO. Yes to adventure, to an invitation for coffee, to getting up in the middle of the night to watch a meteor shower. Say NO when it interferes with what you really want to be doing or when it hurts you (or others) or when what you need more than anything is a nap.

Bold Oliver!

5. Wear rainbow shoelaces. Walk around in the world like it's a beautiful place to be, and you are so delighted to be in it. Smile at strangers. When someone says, I like your shoelaces, do a little dance step and invite them to join in. Sure, they might say no, they might think you're crazy. But this is a way to reach out and connect with the world. And I can't think of anything BOLDer than that.

Please come back tomorrow for the kickoff of my 2016 National Poetry Month project ARTSPEAK! Plant. Grow. Eat. Yay!

Can I Get an ECHO ECHO?

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe (still one of my favorite book and blog titles EVER!) for Roundup.

Hard to believe it's the last Friday of March... next week we'll all be full steam ahead into National Poetry Month!

It's been ever so rollercoasterish in my life lately... I'm excited that today starts my kids' spring break. And I'm excited to share my favorite poem with you from ECHO ECHO: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths by Marilyn Singer, illus. by Josee Masse (Dial/Penguin, 2016). But first....

The winner of POET: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Don Tate is BRENDA HARSHAM. Yay!

And here's sneak peek at the line-up for this year's Progressive Poem!

2016 KIDLITOSPHERE PROGRESSIVE POEM

April

1 Laura at Writing the World for Kids

2 Joy at Joy Acey

3 Doraine at Dori Reads

4 Diane at Random Noodling

5 Penny at A Penny and Her Jots

6 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink

7 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass

8 Janet F. at Live Your Poem

9 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche

10 Pat at Writer on a Horse

11 Buffy at Buffy's Blog

12 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty

13 Linda at TeacherDance

14 Jone at Deo Writer

15 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme

16 Violet at Violet Nesdoly

17 Kim at Flukeprints

18 Irene at Live Your Poem

19 Charles at Poetry Time

20 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town

21 Jan at Bookseedstudio

22 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge

23 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page

24 Amy at The Poem Farm

25 Mark at Jackett Writes

26 Renee at No Water River

27 Mary Lee at Poetrepository

28 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

29 Sheila at Sheila Renfro

30 Donna at Mainely Write
.................................................

Another sneak peek: Here at Live Your Poem I will celebrating National Poetry Month by continuing ArtSpeak!, the project I started last year in which I respond to images found in the digital collections at the National Gallery of Art. This year's theme "Plant. Grow. Eat" was inspired my latest book release, FRESH DELICIOUS. I'm excited! The trick will be getting these poems written and posted during a month when I have 4 out-of-state trips and a slew of school visits. Whew! I'm tired already! But you know what? Poetry keeps me sane. It is a spiritual practice for me -- a way for me to feel connected with myself and the world. So, yes, it will be hectic, but it will also be beautiful and important. I do hope you will stop by and share the journey with me!

And, now, a poem from ECHO ECHO by Marilyn Singer:

King Midas and His Daughter

Golden
girl,
alas, my
good father
still dares to call me,
who
would never offer a gentle hand.
What kind of man would for years not give a caress?
I must confess
I suffer much.
Today --
so needy
so greedy -
for one magic touch.

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

For one magic touch --
so greedy,
so needy --
today,
I suffer much,
I must confess.
What kind of man would for years not give a caress,
would never offer a gentle hand?
Who
still dares to call me
"good father?"
Alas, my girl!
Golden.

- Marilyn Singer

Isn't that wonderful? I so admire the skill the reverso form requires... it partly seems a matter of punctuation, doesn't it? Very much like a puzzle. Each spread also includes a short summary of the related myth, which should help those of us who aren't all that well-read in mythology!

This Little Light of Mine

Hello, and welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday! Please join us as we discuss Doraine's One Little Word SHINE.

I love this word. I love how warm it is, how it brings to mind the sun and all its magic, and light of all kinds. I want my life to shine, my words to shine, my heart to shine, every single day. And I don't mean this in a "look at me" way... more of an inner shine, a me-at-my-best way, a me-experiencing-life-fully way.

I want to stumble in and sit down at a piano and tease out "Flight of the Bumblebee" the way Geoffrey Rush does as pianist David Helfgott in the movie SHINE.



Mostly I want to shine like the woman in this article -- a story I have revisited and revisited, and it still chokes me up. A shining not just for myself, but for others. Shining as a way to love this world and all the people in it -- even on days like today when I'm not feeling particularly shine-y.

Looking forward to everyone else's thoughts!