#100DayProject

 

This 100 day project is not going to happen in 100 days, but creation takes time. Especially at the end of a school year!

Here are two of  the latest in my collection of snippet poems.

Progressive Poem 2022

 

I am the latest stop on the Progressive Poem journey - and what a journey it has been! When I saw this year's poem was inspired by lines from novels and books and songs, I knew the book I wanted to use, yet I was worried it wouldn't fit in with the poem. This week, I skimmed, reread, and marked parts of the book, hoping one of them would work. And I think it does.

My interpretation of the poem is that we are all on a journey, which sometimes takes us to unexpected places--even when we don't want an adventure. When I listen and heed the call, I begin to dance and dream and discover that the whole world is a place of beauty, but through this experience I also learn the value of  home.

I took a line from one of the last chapters of Tuck Everlasting and adapted it as we head back home and think about how our own journey changes us. We change by the lessons we learn and the people we meet along the way. I also thought about the wonderful life journey of Margaret's father as he begins to find his way "home."

Here is the current poem with my line added at the end.

Where they were going, there were no maps.

   Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today.

Take the adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!

   We have to go back. I forgot something.

But it’s spring, and the world is puddle-wonderful,

so we’ll whistle and dance and set off on our way.

Come with me, and you’ll be in a land of pure imagination.

Wherever you go, take your hopes, pack your dreams, and never forget –

 it is on our journeys that discoveries are made.

And then it was time for singing.

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain, paint with all the colors of the wind, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky?

Suddenly, they stopped and realized they weren’t the only ones singing.

Listen, a chattering of monkeys! Let’s smell the dawn 
and taste the moonlight, we’ll watch it all spread out before us.
 
The moon is slicing through the sky. We whisper to the tree, 
tap on the trunk, imagine it feeling our sound.
 
Clouds of blue-winged swallows, rain from up the mountains,

Green growing all around, and the cool splash of the fountain.

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden,

a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad; 
 and they stepped out into the middle of it.

Their minds’ libraries and lightning bugs led them on.

The darkwood sings, the elderhist blooms, the sky lightens; listen and you will find your way home.

The night sky would soon be painted, stars gleaming overhead, a beautiful wild curtain closing on the day.

Mud and dusk, nettles and sky – time to cycle home in the dark. 

There are no wrong roads to anywhere

lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove.

Standing at the fence of the cottage, 
    I hear the new note in the voices of the birds.

I added more white space in hopes that it would be the first line in the final stanza as we wrap up this week. If this doesn't work, feel free to change it. Take it from here, Marcie!

The source list:

1. The Imaginaries: Little Scraps of Larger Stories, by Emily Winfield Martin

2. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
4. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
5. inspired by “[in Just-]” by E. E. Cummings
6. “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
7. Maybe by Kobi Yamada
8. Sarah, Plain, and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
9. inspired by Disney songs “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas
10. The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor
11. adapted from Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman
12. adapted from The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron
13. adapted from On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer
14. adapted from a line in Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
15. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
16. Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
17. The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
18. Kate DiCamillo’s The Beatryce Prophecy
19. The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith
20. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
21. ThePhantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
22. Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen
23. adapted from Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Power is a Desperate Kiss #MetaphorDice

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It is National Poetry Month, and I am joining many others in writing, reading, sharing, and celebrating poetry (occasionally) this month. I am participating in a challenge with my Time to Write writing group where we are trying a different form every day inspired by a fun word of the day. 

This week, Teach Write hosted a poetry writing night, where we gathered together to write and share our poetry. Today's poem was a found poem inspired by the word create.

I played with my metaphor dice and choose these words from my roll to create my found poem.

Power is a desperate kiss,

which is to say, sometimes

we cling a little too long

to that which doesn't last,

sometimes making us heady,

and wanting more,

only to be left

holding regrets from a 

brief moment in time.

Join the poetry round-up with Margaret at Reflections on the Teche.

It's the Small Things

I am joining Two Writing Teachers today and sharing a small piece of my day.

Three times a grading period, we have a list of root words that we study. Pre-pandemic, I always began the lesson by giving them a root, having them turn and talk and find words with the root in them. Next, as a class, we choose three words to define. We act like word detectives and study the meanings of the three words and use those meanings to determine the meaning of the root. 

Simple procedure that gets them thinking and playing with words - one of my favorite things to do!

Like many things these last two years, this procedure had to change. No turn and talk with partners nor with small groups due to COVID restrictions and mandates. 

Today for the first time since March of 2020, we played with words in small groups. At first it seemed so foreign to all of us because we had been spread out across the room all year. But there was a buzz throughout the room.

Today, they were playing. They were engaged. They were learning.

And this teacher was smiling once again.

#100DayProject Found Poetry

Thank you Poetry Friday crew for always being so welcoming. I float in and out of this gathering, and I appreciate the kindness extended when I do return. This week's round-up is hosted by Janice at Salt City Verse.

My poetry project for this month has been rocky. But for good and exciting reasons. I have been nominated for two different teacher of the year awards these past few weeks, and I have been working on getting that material together. Exciting but the stress has left me little time for writing.

I also began a #100DayProject to dedicate a short amount of time each day to create. One of my favorite ways to create is through found poetry using words from magazines. In the past, I have written them on black construction paper and then put the words back into my stash. With this project, I finally bought a sketchbook, and I am gluing them in it. 

Today I share with you numbers 4-6. Click here to see 1-3.

I hope to get back into my monthly project this weekend - I have some catching up to do.

#100DayProject -Time to Create

 

After finishing the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge, you would think I would take some time off. from publishing every day. 

But no. 

It is April and that means National Poetry Month. My goal is to write a poem everyday for the month with my Teach Write group. 

I have already extended myself some grace because I have had some projects that I need to get finished, so my poem writing has gotten off to a very slow start.

I have also started a #100DayProject where I am focusing on one small creativity project for just a short amount of time each day. You would think my poetry project would work for this too.

But no.

I have a large collection of words that I have cut out from magazines. I love taking these words and creating short found poems. There is something very therapeutic about running my hands through all of these words and arranging them to create something fun or beautiful.

In the past, I have used black paper construction paper as a "canvas" and then put the words back after I took a picture. I wanted to start collecting my poems, so I bought a large sketch book where I am gluing them. I like what I have done so far, and I like that I have a "published" book of found poems.

Today, I share my first three pages.

I am joining Two Writing Teachers today and sharing a small piece of my day.

Joys from A to Z #SOSMagic

A flower blossoms for its own joy.

[Oscar Wilde]

An ABC list of my joys. 

all baked goods made from scratch

bubble bath at the end of a long day

cherry pie day - warm of course
Dr. Teals sleep lotion
Ethan - my skateboarder and rocker

Friday night pizza

green - as in kiwi, olive, and shamrock

hot summer days in the pool with my sister

iced tea, freshly brewed on a hot summer day

July 27th celebrating 32 years of marriage

knowing my children are safe and happy

Lincoln High School friends - my EJDs

Megan - my teacher and basketball coach

notebooks filled with words

outrageous collections of pens

porch time on fall evenings

quilts made from scraps

reading my endless pile of books.

sending positive notes home to parents

time with my amazing colleagues

under the blankets on winter nights

very warm fires on very cold days

writing and capturing small moments of my day

x-tra light in my days

yesterdays, where memories are kept

Z-z-z-z (a good night's sleep)

I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic

Life's Ditty #NationalPoetryMonth

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It is National Poetry Month, and I am joining many others in writing, reading, sharing, and celebrating poetry every day (hopefully) this month. I am participating in a challenge with my Time to Write writing group where we are trying a different form every day inspired by a fun word of the day. Welcome to my Journey with Poetry and Words.

Today's form is a limerick and the word was scatterbrain. I'm not sure what scatterbrain has to do with this poem, but the silliness was what came to mind. 

There once was girl from the city
who danced though life with a ditty.
With rhythm and rhyme
time after time,
she thought she was always quite witty!

Check out the Kidlit Progressive Poem, which is being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. You can find the poem's journey below.

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem
2 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core

Poetic License #NationalPoetryMonth

 

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It is National Poetry Month, and I am joining many others in writing, reading, sharing, and celebrating poetry every day (hopefully) this month. I am participating in a challenge with my Time to Write writing group where we are trying a different form every day inspired by a fun word of the day. Welcome to my "Journey with Poetry and Words".

Today's poem is a nonet, which is a nine-line poem with a decreasing syllable count and the word was "rules". When I am writing, I love being a rule-breaker! And that is where my mind went. In order for this to work, you have to read line four ramble + ing. See, breaking the rules already today!

Rule-Breaker

Breaking the rules of language or style

to get a desired effect:

a one-sentence paragraph

a rambling run-on or

a well-place fragment.

My writer's rights.

Poetic

license?

YES!

Check out the Kidlit Progressive Poem, which is being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. The poem's journey begins with Irene.

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem

I am also linking up with the Poetry Friday bunch and Heidi has the round-up.