ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance poem "Barbeque" and Janet's Line of Our Progressive Poem!

Welcome to day #8 of 2018 ARTSPEAK!, in which I am focusing on art and artists from the Harlem Renaissance.

Before we get to that, Janet F. is in the house with the next line of our Progressive Poem. Hi Janet!

Janet: I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to participate for the 5^th year in Irene’s Progressive Poem. I do not have my own blog but you can find me around commenting as Janet F. or Janet Clare F. and I am

Janet with a former student

Janet Clare on Facebook. I am in love with poetry and this place. I don’t do much on Twitter other than read. I have poems published in anthologies geared more for adults but am excited to have one in an upcoming Lee Bennett Hopkins anthology. (Anticipating a spring 2019 publication.) I am a retired teacher, a tireless poetry advocate, a fledgling poet and determined to keep involved in the blogosphere.

Each year I love the Progressive Poem more, even though the day I have to write my line is filled with lots of thought and writing, revision and only a little agonizing. (Probably like everyone else!) And a touch of nerves. I love the anticipation and the wonder. I worry about making my line something that adds and doesn’t subtract at all from the march of progress toward the essence of this poem for kids. But mainly, it is fun. I love being able to be part of this talented group of poets on the kidlitosphere and to contribute to this poetic feasting.

Heidi’s interview at My Juicy Universe with Liz Steinglass and Irene on March 29^th was so helpful and interesting. Thanks, Heidi. So here are my predictions such as they are. Much of what I wrote were questions:

Where will this line take the Progressive Poem 2018:

Who is the she in line one? Is the seed the beginning of an idea? What is that idea?

Could the female be a writer or is she a child? Is she going to invent something? Is she a painter? Is her cozy bed a bulb beneath the ground, so a literal seed?

I foresee this seed growing and flowering...but into what? If the poem is for children, is the female a person who is going to do something remarkable for kids? Is it going to be a party? A trip? As seeds grow and they pop into being, they need nourishment. What will nourish this seed? What is its destiny?

I leaned toward the idea that it was a poet in the end. Child or adult, I wasn’t sure.

Here is the poem so far:

(Doesn’t it make you wonder still?)

Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.

Oh, what wonderful dreams she had had!

Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with

the pulse of a thousand stars, sweet Jasmine

invented a game.

“Moon?” she called across warm, honeyed air.

“I’m sad you’re alone; come join Owl and me.

And keeping in mind the nature of children here is line 8:

We’re feasting on stardrops, we’ll share them with you.”

I played with the line and thought about possibly having the moon reply or bringing in more friends, but I felt that the moon would need some encouragement before playing. And kids love tea parties especially at midnight, so that is where I headed.

Please see all the contributors in this year's edition in the sidebar. Take it away, Ramona! There are so many possibilities for our friends.

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Today I'm continuing my Harlem Renaissance poetry project with a first look at artist John Archibald Motley, Jr -- who went by "Archibald Motley." He was popular in the early days of the Harlem Renaissance (1920's) and is called a "modernist." Many of his pieces feature lively music and dancing scenes. I've selected two of them to write on for this project. One of the things I learned about Motley is that he grew up in a white neighborhood in Chicago, and that often there is a sense of humor or irony in his paintings. The perspective he uses is that of observer or outsider-looking-in (which I think all of us can relate to at one time in our lives or another!). And he shows African American people with a wide variety of skin tones and physical characteristics, which helped bucked the stereotypes.

The first painting I want to share is "Barbeque." This one makes me think of a poem I often share with kids called "Knoxville, Tennessee" by Nikki Giovanni. I decided my goal would be to create a poem that engages all the senses, as Giovanni's poem does.

Here are the poems so far:

"American Idyll, 1934" after An Idyll of the Deep South by Aaron Douglas
"The Toiler" after The Toiler by Aaron Douglas
"Let There Be Poetry" after The Creation by Aaron Douglas
"Boy with Plane" after Boy with Plane by Aaron Douglas
"To a Dancer" after Sahdji (Tribal Women) by Aaron Douglas
"For the Builders" after Building More Stately Mansions by Aaron Douglas
"This Poem is a Dream" after Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

And here is today's poem:

Barbeque

Cue winking lights,

strike up the jazz.

Let us gather

in mingling twilight

to savor smoky meat

and summerwarm tomatoes,

stickysweet peach pie

seasoned with street fumes

and guffaws across the table.

Did you know

Auntie Rosa moved two

blocks over?

Cousin Rachael graduated

nursing school?

Have you seen Pastor

Philip's new 'do?

Cue smooth saxophone,

grab a partner.

Let's dance!

- Irene Latham



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Sign Up Here for 2017 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit lovely Michelle at Today's Little Ditty for Roundup.

I do have a poem to share with you today, but first:

It's that time again! National Poetry Month (April) will soon be upon us, which means it is time again to sign up for our annual KIDLITOSPHERE PROGRESSIVE POEM. This year -- our 6th year! -- our goal is to create a poem for kids, and Heidi Mordhorst will be launching our first line! The rest is up to all of YOU! I invite you to choose your day in comments, and I will update the calendar below as we go along.

ETA: Schedule for 2017 is FULL. Thank you!

Here's how it works:

Poetry Friday Friends and other poetry lovers are invited to join in a community writing experience during National Poetry Month (April).

What is it? a poem that travels daily from blog to blog, with each host adding a line, beginning April 1. Anyone who wants to join in the fun can sign up below. First come, first served. If you are new to the Progressive Poem, please include your email and blog url in comments -or- send via email: irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com. 

April
1 Heidi at my juicy little universe
2 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty
5 Diane at Random Noodling
6 Kat at Kat's Whiskers
7 Irene at Live Your Poem
8 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
9 Linda at TeacherDance
10 Penny at a penny and her jots
11 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
12 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
13 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
14 Jan at Bookseedstudio
15 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
16 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy
17 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Buffy at Buffy's Blog
19 Pat at Writer on a Horse
20 BJ at Blue Window
21 Donna at Mainely Write
22 Jone at Jone Ruch MacCulloch
23 Ruth at There is no such thing as a godforsaken town
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
28 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
29 Charles at Poetry Time
30 Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids

Once we have a complete schedule, I will be send via email the HTML code to include in your post and/or sidebar so that readers might follow along/look back/look forward. And feel free to snag the above graphic!

Can't wait to see where our poem will take us this year! (To view poems from previous years, click on the Progressive Poem tab above.)

And now, a poem for you. I've just finished reading PIECING ME TOGETHER by Renee Watson. It's the story of Jade who is poor and black and attending a white private school in Portland as she navigates race and privilege and relationships on the road to success. And it ends with a poem by Jade's best friend Lee Lee:

Black Girls Rising
by Lee Lee Simmons

Our black bodies, sacred.
Our black bodies, holy.

Our bodies, our own.
Every smile a protest.
Each laugh a miracle.

Piece by piece we stitch ourselves back together.
This black girl tapestry, this black body
that gets dragged out of school desk, slammed onto linoleum floor,
tossed about at pool side, pulled over and pushed onto grass,
arrested never to return home,
shot on doorsteps, on sofas while sleeping
and dreaming of our next day.

Our bodies a quilt that tells stories of the middle passage,
of roots yanked and replanted.

Our bodies a mosaic of languages forgotten,
of freedom songs and moaned prayers.

Our bodies no longer
disregarded, objectified, scrutinized.

Our bodies, our own
Every smile a protest.
Each laugh a miracle.

Our bodies rising.
Our feet marking, legs dancing, our bellies birthing, hands raising,
our hearts healing, voices speaking up.

Our bodies so black, so beautiful.
Here, still.

Rising.
Rising.

- Renee Watson

ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance poem "The Toiler" and Line #6 in Our Progressive Poem!

Welcome to day #6 of 2018 ARTSPEAK!, in which I am focusing on art and artists from the Harlem Renaissance. It's also Poetry Friday, so be sure to visit Amy and her "1 Subject...30 Ways" project on Orion at the Poem Farm for Roundup. AND... it's my turn to add to the Progressive Poem! Eep!

First: Today I'm continuing my Harlem Renaissance poetry project with Aaron Douglas who was often called the “official artist of the Harlem Renaissance," or the “Father of Black American Art.” I'll stick with Mr. Douglas for just one more day before I move on!

Aaron Douglas illustrated many books during the 1920's, and I learned in the book HARLEM STOMP! by Laban Carrick Hill that his work came to embody all that the Harlem Renaissance stood for – the culturally rich aspects of African-American life and heritage. So for the first week of this project, I will be writing after his work.

Aaron Douglas poems so far:

"Let There Be Poetry" after The Creation by Aaron Douglas
"Boy with Plane" after Boy with Plane by Aaron Douglas
"To a Dancer" after Sahdji (Tribal Women) by Aaron Douglas
"For the Builders" after Building More Stately Mansions by Aaron Douglas
"This Poem is a Dream" after Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

Today's piece is called The Toiler. I learned that it is thought that Douglas created it after visiting the Tuskegee Institute (here in Alabama).

I have so much admiration for hard-working folk... I know it's because of the people who came before me that I can enjoy the life I live.

Also, I was thinking of how there are so many ways of toiling... we writers toil, don't we? I had a conversation with a few other writers recently, and it really struck me: so often we make excuses, we put obstacles in our own way, and then bemoan our lack of accomplishment.

The Toiler in this picture? He's not bemoaning anything. He's doing the work. And y'all: that's what it takes. You might also recognize the structure of this poem.. I used in in DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST for a poem entitled "What Rhino Knows."

The Toiler

The toiler knows

the mango-glow

of daybreak

The toiler knows

all things grow

bit by bit

The toiler knows

the furrows

are rich

with fellowship

The toiler knows

to heave-swing-ho –

and dreams

will follow.

- Irene Latham

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And now for the latest line in our Progressive Poem! I'm so grateful to the poets who have launched our poem this year... what loveliness! And,  following Heidi's lead, here's what I wrote down Liz's day 1 line as my expectations for the poem:

"We might get a picture of this seed awakening and discovering its family and home -- nearby plants and woodland critters."

When, in fact, we kind of buzzed right past all that! And with Jan's (inventive) line about inventing a game, I instantly started thinking of childhood games, that may or may not include counting or naming... and that got me wondering, with whom (or what?) would our (rooted) Jasmine play? Who might help her? Who might play with her? And so, I give you the latest:

2018 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem (as yet untitled)

Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.
Oh, what wonderful dreams she had had!
Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with
the pulse of a thousand stars, sweet Jasmine
invented a game.
“Moon?” she called across warm, honeyed air.
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Please see in the sidebar all the poets participating this year... I look forward to Linda's line tomorrow at TeacherDance! I also look forward to catching up very soon on some of the amazing-ness that everyone is sharing and creating! What an inspiring month...

Finally, don't forget this Twitter chat on Monday evening:

Snapshot of A World Full of Poems by Sylvia Vardell

 

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for Roundup. I'm delighted today to be featuring Sylvia Vardell in celebration of her new anthology A WORLD FULL OF POEMS, brought to us by DK. 

And, to make it even more fun: on this very same day, Sylvia is featuring *me* on her blog -- or rather, my new book THIS POEM IS A NEST.  :)

I'm so excited about Sylvia's new big book of poems. I often tell new-to-poetry people to start with an anthology, because no matter your tastes and inclinations, you will likely find something there to love! It's why I often gift anthologies, too. (I have, in fact, already ordered copies of Sylvia's book to gift this holiday season!) And what better person to curate a collection of poems than poetry-dress-wearing, poetry-expert-and-enthusiast Sylvia??! So let's get to it, shall we?

Welcome, Sylvia!

SV: Thanks so much, Irene, for inviting me to share a bit about my new poetry anthology, A World Full of Poems. It’s been such a privilege to work on this book, especially during the first months of this horrible pandemic. All that quarantining enabled me to hunker down and dive deeply into poetry for young people. I have my own substantial library of poetry for young people and pulled piles of books to search for poems, then more piles, then more poems, and so on. I was given the assignment of finding approximately 150 poems for this anthology from the editor in London who vetted all the poems (along with her staff). I think it may be the first anthology of poetry that DK Books has published, although I may be wrong about that. (Please let me know if I’ve got that wrong!) It was my task to recommend poem after poem as they sorted through what fit best for each of the eight categories they had established.

The Fresh (Unexpected):

SV: One of the things that was particularly fresh and fun was seeking poems from poets outside the U.S., particularly from the UK. Fortunately, I have MANY anthologies and collections and had fun reading and hunting for the “just right” poem. I only wish we could have had more time to include even MORE poems by MORE English-speaking poets outside the U.S. But I am so happy to find so many poems by so many diverse voices inside and outside the U.S.!

The Difficult:

SV: The most difficult part of this anthology building was finding perfect poems and then not being able to use them. Why? Including a poem in an anthology requires getting permission from the poet and usually from the publisher that originally included that poem in a book (unless it’s out of print and rights have reverted back to the poet). So, that means tracking down the permission source—both poet and publisher, sending inquiries, getting responses, and finding out the permission fee. DK Books had a limit to what they could pay for a poem (given that they wanted to include 150 poems). In most cases, it worked out just fine, but there were a few cases in which the fee was so high, it was beyond our budget. I shouldn’t be surprised that a poem by Langston Hughes or Pablo Neruda would cost quite a bit to include in an anthology, but I had high hopes!

The Delicious:

SV: One of my favorite things in this process is that I was able to secure permission to include two poems by one of my favorite poets: Karla Kuskin! She was one of the first contemporary poets writing for young people that I encountered as a brand new teacher in the 1970s. I had grown up on the classics (like Longfellow) and wasn’t aware that there were poets TODAY who wrote for young people—what a revelation! (This was around the same time of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends in 1974; boy, do I feel OLD!). Although she has passed away, Kuskin’s poetry is still so relevant, engaging, and thoughtful. I hope I can help new readers fall in love with her work too. Here’s just one of her wonderful poems (and it appears in the book, too). 

Anything Else:

SV: Finally, my last task was creating some “activity” pages for the back of the book and you may know that I LOVE back matter! I went to town here and they ended up using about half of what I developed—which is fine. I made a poem “treasure hunt,” as well as providing tips on sharing and writing poems. I even had fun using Canva to create a graphic design for each page to show them how I thought these activities could be made more visually interesting and engaging for kids.

And now the book is coming out (Oct. 6) and I can’t wait to see it! I don’t have my copies yet, but I hope they arrive soon. I’m so happy to see 110 poets get their work out into the world and that DK Books has taken this chance on poetry when publishers are sometimes “shy” about doing so. Meanwhile, I just discovered that you can purchase the book on the Target website and that may be the craziest surprise of all!

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Thank you, Sylvia, for sharing your book here today! And thank you for including two of my poems: "Summer Storm" and "Let's Celebrate the Elephant." YAY!!!

And now, my latest ArtSpeak: RED poem! I didn't know what to title this poem, and when I settled on "The Power of Art," I did an internet search on the same. I discovered this book that I immediately ordered! The power of art, indeed... also, you'll notice a little epigram "after Rilke." That's because of this Rilke quote which I adore, and sort of became the structure for the poem: “I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years, and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm, or a great song.” Thank you for reading!

The Power of Art
- after Rilke

I stand in the gallery –
I stand, I sit.

I pace for a morning,
an afternoon,
all day.

And still I wonder:
am I the singing parakeet

or the artist's solemn
daughter

or something else,
dancing just outside
the frame?

- Irene Latham

ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance poem "The Last Poem"

Welcome to day #30 of 2018 ARTSPEAK!, in which I am focusing on art and artists from the Harlem Renaissance. I cannot believe this is the final poem of the series... whew!

Before we get to today's poem, please be sure and visit Doraine at Dori Reads to read the final line of our Progressive Poem! Our little seed has sure come a long way.

Today I'm concluding my Harlem Renaissance poetry project with a look at photographer James Van Der Zee. James started fooling around with a camera at age fourteen, and he went on to become the most famous portrait photographer in Harlem. He was known for his portraits of African American New Yorkers -- both prominent people and "regular" people. Read more about James here.

Here are the poems in the series so far:

"Hazel Scott at the Piano" by James Van Der Zee
"She" after Portrait with Flowers by William Johnson
"Poems Come Lately" after Still Life with Flowers and Chair by William Johnson
"Papa with a Pipe" after Self-Portrait with Pipe by William Johnson
"A Song for Old Glory" after Lift Thy Voice and Sing by William Johnson
"Midnight Party" after Harbor Under the Midnight Sun by William Johnson
"Summersong" after Children at the Ice Cream Stand by William Johnson
"Trio" after Art Class by William Johnson

"To a Water Boy" after The Water Boy by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Storytime" after Storytime by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Sorrow" after Sorrow by Meta Warrick Fuller

"My John Henry" after When John Henry Was a Baby by Palmer Hayden

"Night Music" after Untitled by Palmer Hayden

"A (Sub)way of Looking" after The Subway, 1930 by Palmer Hayden

"Girl to Mama" after Madonna at the Stoop by Palmer Hayden

"For Love of the Game" after Checkers Game by Palmer Hayden

"The Birthday Birds of Bonaventure Island" after Birds of Isle de Bonaventure by Palmer Hayden

"Boat Dock, Early Evening" after Boats at the Dock by Palmer Hayden

"Prayer for the Berry Pickers" after Berry Pickers by Palmer Hayden

"Sometimes Books Are the Only Playground I Need" after Among Them is a Girl Reading by Palmer Hayden

"Measurements" after Octoroon Girl by Archibald Motley

"Barbeque" after Barbecue by Archibald Motley

"American Idyll, 1934" after An Idyll of the Deep South by Aaron Douglas

"The Toiler" after The Toiler by Aaron Douglas

"Let There Be Poetry" after The Creation by Aaron Douglas

"Boy with Plane" after Boy with Plane by Aaron Douglas

"To a Dancer" after Sahdji (Tribal Women) by Aaron Douglas

"For the Builders" after Building More Stately Mansions by Aaron Douglas

"This Poem is a Dream" after Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

Today's piece is Dancing Girls. I love the expressions on these girls faces -- so different from one another! I started out writing a variation of "Five Little Monkeys" but it just wasn't popping. Then I started thinking about how several of this year's poems have been ars poetica (about poetry), and I realized this was the last poem, and started thinking about how the dancers might represent the last poem, and voila!

The Last Poem

is all knees

and flat feet

it keeps forgetting

the routine

yet it wears a hat:

see me!

it lifts its arms:

love me!

it closes its eyes,

looks past lens,

             mirror

                  stage

dances us

across the page

- Irene Latham

Guest Post: Janet Fagal Brings Us the Next Line in Our 2014 Progressive Poem!

Please join me in welcoming Janet to Live Your Poem!

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JANET: I am so happy to participate in the Kidlitosphere’s Progressive Poem again this year, even though I am not a true blogger! For those who may not know me I am a retired teacher, poetry-lover, poetry advocate and poet. I also read many blogs and comment often. Watching third graders embrace all kinds of poetry and poetry opportunities has been the happiest experience of my teaching career, though I only came to it in the last seven years in the classroom! I am thankful to Irene for allowing me to be a guest once again this year on her blog. I was lucky to meet her at NCTE 2012. I so enjoyed the 2012 Progressive Poem and couldn’t wait to read the next line each day. I loved the aura of that poem. Last year I joined in and must have composed 200 versions of my line before I committed! What fun we had with our dancing, daring poem.

And now some time for rhyme and reflection. We have a thinker who is debating, planning, wondering and a gift: some wisdom from Irene. With Mary Lee’s surprise, I could sense our poem turning, but where and how. After much debating I offer the latest line!

Can’t wait to see and hear what happens next.

Sitting on a rock, airing out my feelings to the universe
Acting like a peacock, only making matters that much worse;
Should I trumpet like an elephant emoting to the moon,
Or just ignore the warnings written in the rune?
Those stars can’t seal my future; it’s not inscribed in stone.
The possibilities are endless! Who could have known?
Gathering courage, spiral like an eagle after prey
Then gird my wings for whirlwind gales in realms far, far away.
But, hold it! Let's get practical! What's needed before I go?
Time to be tactical— I'll ask my friends what I should stow.
And in one breath, a honeyed word whispered low— dreams — 

Whose voice? I turned to see. I was shocked. Irene's?

“Each voyage starts with tattered maps; your dreams dance on this page.”

Now on to Deborah, where will these maps and the dancing dreams take us?

Now for some background about Janet for those who may not know her!

Third grade students reciting “School Daze Rap” by Carol Diggory Shields at Poery on Parade Night 2012

I am on FB as Janet Clare and I comment as Janet F. You can see a little of my work in this video. I believe poetry should be at the heart of the classroom and that we should joyfully highlight poems every day, whenever possible, in all kinds of ways and in all subjects. As you can imagine I am a big fan of Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry Friday Anthology books as well as so many new titles by poets I have met because of Poetry Friday and the Kidlitosphere. When I speak at teacher conferences like NCTE, IRA, NYSEC, CRA and NYSRA I focus on bringing the rich world of poetry, new poets and Poetry Friday bloggers into other teachers’ and students’ lives. When I work in schools I share different blog posts and send home links so children can follow on their own.

In my “adopted” third grade class which I visit at least weekly, we continue to learn poems by heart, learn about poetry and poets, write poems and bask in the glow of the words in all the books I bring in to share and read. My life is so much richer thanks to the poets and teachers I have met or learned about online via Facebook, Blogs and at conferences and workshops.

     I advocate learning poems by heart and believe we are all capable of learning more poems than we can imagine. That said, the quantity of amazing work I have found in the last three years makes me wish I had started sooner. And prolific writers like Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and others who write about places I love like the seaside, Kate Coombs and Eric Ode to name two, challenge me to keep adding to my repertoire. Having poetry literally at hand and heart is a true blessing. As Pat Lewis, recent Children’s Poet Laureate has said, “the two worst words in the English language are “poetry unit.” And I completely agree! So do the students I work with who literally cheer when I arrive, but not for me. They say, “Yay! We get to do poetry!” In this day of new standards and high stakes testing I think we all need poetry more than ever. 

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Ooh, I agree! We all need poetry more than ever. Thank you, Janet! 

Dancing into Fall

 

I finally got my hands on a copy!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit captivating Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink for Roundup.

Wow, I just checked the calendar, and we have just 14 more Poetry Fridays this year! That means 14 more Light poems. 14 more weeks to figure out what my art theme will be for 2024. 14 more weeks of "Space," my One Little Word.

Speaking of Space, it seems a good time to take stock. I've given myself space so far this year by staying off social media; by keeping my calendar full of white space; by setting and minding boundaries; by relaxing my sense of hyper-responsibility; by letting go of resentments, fears, worries. 

I've felt a little lost at times, a little confused and unsure of my path. Other times I've felt euphoric. 

I'm deliberately making a shift from the goal mindset of "what do I want to DO with my time/space/life?" to "who do I want to BE in this time/space/life?" 

I want to be creative and healthy/fit. I want to be connected to self, nature, and others. I want to be a giver, a learner, an explorer.

It can be hard to shift away from all those external measures that we are so programmed (and encouraged!) to pursue. This other path requires deeper observation, contemplation, and connection— yoga and meditation and dedicated reading time / writing-fun time / crafting time / learning time / nature time / cello time / just-me time / do-nothing time / let's-talk time has been really important.

Mostly what I see happening is that the Space I'm carving for myself offers a warm glow I can sink into—I think it's called "contentment."

Along with launching my MOON book (So many thanks to those who have helped spread the love!), I also did a little fun poetry crafting this week...I'm calling it "Matchbook Poetry." See the video below! 

Today's ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem features a ballerina. I love the beauty of ballet, the grace of the human form. I have written several other poems about dancers:

"The Dance Lesson"

"Backstage"

"To A Dancer"

"Flamingo School of Dance"

"The Last Poem" 

Here's a little memoir piece I did about my own (limited!) experience as a dancer.

Here's my review of Dancers on Dancing by Cynthia Lyle (and how it applies to writing!) along with my poem "Audrey Hepburn at the Dance Studio."

And now I offer you a dancer / dancing / ballerina / ballet haiku! It abandons syllable count and attempts to satisfy the haiku tradition of the middle line as hinge: the first two lines mean one thing, and the second two lines mean something else. Thanks so much for reading. 

ballerina leaps

a beam of light

arcs across our faces

-Irene Latham

Finally, I'm delighted to report that one of my photos of Rosie won an HM in a local photography contest! I'm excited to be working with Friends of the Locust Fork River on some nature-poetry things in the future. Here's Rosie!

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: DANCING

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For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?

In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.

Here are February's prompts: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.

DANCING

For a brief moment in time, I was a ballerina. I remember the white tights and black leotard; the soft pink shoes and how they whisper-slid along the hardwood studio floors. I stood with half a dozen other little girls at the bar as a teacher showed us five basic feet positions. My arms and legs felt warm and elastic, and I knew I was a three-dimensional being. It was as if I existed as a bubble of energy as we watched ourselves in the long wall of mirrors on the opposite side of the room. When my teacher told me I had a dancer's neck, I really sank in: I would be a real dancer someday – one who wears toe shoes.

That never happened. As with so many of my dreams, this one was cut short when our family moved to another town, and I was forced to leave behind the dance classes. On the upside, this gave me an opportunity to try and learn new things -- like baton twirling and horseback riding. But my fasciation with dancers has continued. One of my favorite books in recent years was an out-of-print bookstore-sale find DANCERS ON DANCING, edited by Cynthia Lyle.  You can read my post that includes excerpts here. 

I've written a few poems about dancers or dancing, including "Audrey Hepburn a the Dance Studio," which appears in my out-of-print poetry book for adults THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS. (Audrey was a dancer before she fell into acting.) And "The Last Poem" which appeared last year as part of ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance, in which dancing becomes metaphor for poetry. I can relate to the dancers in the James Van Der Zee photograph!

Side note: This past weekend I was introduced to The Alexander Technique for actors and dancer and all performers. It's about our relationship with our bodies, and how we carry anxiety. As someone who does public speaking, and now as a cellist, I found it fascinating! I'll be doing some more reading and researching about it in the coming weeks.

9th of the Month Homeschool Poetry Party!

 

Hello, and welcome to a new feature here at Live Your Poem: Homeschool Poetry Party! Celebrating the joys of reading and writing poetry with Homeschool Families on the 9th of the month (all year long!)

This month we'll focus on GRATITUDE with blessings, prayers, and writing gratitude poems. 

First: a Prayer poem from my 2019 ArtSpeak: Happy series. 

Now listen to me reading the poem:

 

Question for discussion: When you think of God, what color comes to mind?

Next, a book recommendation:

Find out more about For Every Little Thing: Poems and Prayers to Celebrate the Day by June Cotner, Nancy Tupper Ling, & Helen Cann by visiting the blog interview I did with Nancy Tupper Ling back in September.

Finally, let's write a Gratitude poem! 

1. make a quick list of some things you're grateful for

my list:

family times

reading

writing

music-making

exploring nature

2. use the 5 senses to bring them alive

family times - together in the kitchen tasting pumpkin pie, nutmeg and allspice tickling our tongues  (taste)

reading - cozy under a blanket with a second-hand book (touch)

writing - the characters in my new story dancing in my dreams (sight)

music-making - "Ode to Joy" marching me across the hours (sound)

exploring nature - the scent of woodsmoke as I crackle-crunch across fallen leaves in the woods (scent & sound)

3. put them in an order that's pleasing to you

cozy under the blanket,

turning pages of a favorite book

characters dance in my dreams

Ode to Joy marches me

into the woods where the scent

of woodsmoke welcomes me

as we crackle-crunch across fallen leaves

together, nutmeg and allspice tickling our tongues

4. make changes so that the words sound and mean even more (i.e. add rhyme, title, punctuation, choose more precise words; take away words, etc.)

Every Day is a Holiday

Cozy under quilt,

flipping pages 

until characters 

dance dizzy in my dreams—

"Ode to Joy" 

marches me awake

and into the woods 

where woodsmoke 

welcomes all

as leaves crackle-crunch 

underfoot

The best times

are together times, 

nutmeg and allspice 

tickling our tongues.

5. Share your poem with someone!

I've created a special Homeschool Poetry Party! padlet, if you'd like to post your poem for others in this community!

Thank you for joining the Homeschool Poetry Party!! If you found value in this post, please share it with others. Thank you!

Guest Post: Janet Fagal for 2013 Progressive Poem

Today I'm excited to welcome Janet Fagal, a poetry enthusiast whom I had the pleasure of meeting this past November at NCTE. While she doesn't have a blog (yet!), she's got poetry in her heart, and I am so pleased to have her contributing her line here at Live Your Poem.

And here's the poem so far, with Janet's line at the bottom:

When you listen to your footsteps

the words become music and

the rhythm that you're rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.

Your pen starts dancing across the page

a private pirouette, a solitary samba until

smiling, you're beguiling, as your love comes shining through.

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers

Don't you love it?! Thank you, Janet! And now.... drum roll, please....

Introducing a future Kidlitosphere blogger: Janet Fagal

Today I am so grateful to Irene Latham for allowing me to be a guest blogger so I can participate in the 2013 Progressive Poem. Some of you may know me as a commenter who goes by Janet F. and Janet Clare on FB. I have yet to start my own blog, but one is coming, I promise.

I loved watching last year’s Progressive Poem grow. I was lucky to meet Irene at NCTE in November along with Laura Purdie Salas, Mary Lee Hahn, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Leslea Newmann at Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell’s session about their book, The Poetry Friday Anthology. Perhaps you have seen this photo where we all sported pink to support Sylvia’s recovery from breast cancer treatment.

I

During the last 10 years of my 40 year teaching career, I discovered the expansive power of poetry for its own worth and as a teaching tool. Better late than never! Almost by accident I developed an approach that puts poetry at the heart of the classroom. My 3^rd graders eagerly learn poems by heart without any pressure or homework or testing. I actually never tell the children we are going to do this, it just happens naturally! By the end of the year we have a Poetry Night where they recite over 40 poems for close to an hour. Most of the poems are by published poets, but some are poems the children have written.

Here’s a link to a 3 min. video clip that gives an idea about how Poetry Night looks, though this was an encore Poetry Night done as a fund-raiser in mid-September and the children had not been together since June!!! But you’ll get the idea.

We mainly learn and recite as a group, but if the children ask I let some do solos or recite poems in small groups. The best part is how easy it all is. I didn’t know any poems by heart when I started. With all the generous poetry resources available on the Kidlitosphere, any teacher can easily replicate what I have done and tailor it to meet her kids’ ages, community and curriculua.

The children love doing this, and because we work as a group, they learn the poems in a very short time. They may cue one another on tricky parts and the group recitation creates happy bonds. It doesn’t take much class time to accomplish, either. Children are natural sponges for oral language at this age. But recitation and performance are not the only benefits. There are many educational side benefits, too. Besides learning about poets and poetry, the kids are exposed to rich vocabulary and sophisticated language. Academic content shows up in some poems and re-reading poems helps with reading fluency which aids comprehension. The quality of their own writing grows from being immersed in the poems we share. And the list goes on!

Today while traveling I found an Indie bookstore, The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington, CT. I was so excited to learn that Marilyn Singer often goes there for book signings and readings. Kate Coombs’ wonderful Water Sings Blue was on the children’s poetry shelves (note the plural) along with Caroline Kennedy’s fabulous new anthology, Poems to Learn by Heart, which includes one of Janet Wong’s poems and has a teacher’s guide written by Sylvia Vardell. I took it to be a sign. I want to help spread a love of poetry all over the country because I know firsthand about its power to make a difference in kids’ literary and personal lives.

Thank you to all of the poets and writers who keep giving us wonderful words to sprinkle in children’s hearts. I am delighted to add my voice to the growing chorus of those who are realizing the power poetry has to change and brighten lives. And by the way I told the bookstore about the exquisite new Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and they are going to order it! I take my role as “poetry cheerleader” and “Ms. Pied Piper of Poetry” very seriously! (Thanks, Pat Lewis!)

I have made many poetry friends in person and online in the past couple of years and I am particularly grateful to Heidi Mordhorst who first told me about the Kidlitosphere, and Janet, Sylvia and Laura Purdie Salas who, like Irene, have been welcoming and supportive along with so many other bloggers! I had been looking for this community for quite a while and am so glad to be here.

Thank YOU, Janet! So happy to hear about all the ways you promote the love of poetry. And we're all so glad to have you as a part of this year's Progressive Poem. Can't wait to see where the poem goes next!