The Finish Line {11}

 

It is April, and I am joining many others in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading, writing, sharing, and celebrating poetry each day this month. I have chosen to combine my love of reading with my love of writing. I will be writing poems using all things bookish--from titles to quotes to characters. So, come turn the page and write a little poetry with me.

I am lingering in the Poetry Friday community this month, and Jone has the round-up. 

Today's poem is a "found" cherita. A cherita is a poem consisting of a one-line stanza followed by a two and three lined stanza and also tells a story.  My inspiration come from The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. My poem was written from page 214 in the book, which I had copied and wrote beside in my notebook back in January of 2021.

Crossing the finish line,

even if you don't 

win a ribbon,

is symbolic,

as the finish line

becomes a new starting line.

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 trail below.

April 1 Mary Lee Hahn, Another Year of Reading
April 2 Heidi Mordhorst, My Juicy Little Universe
April 3 Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 4 Buffy Silverman
April 5 Rose Cappelli, Imagine the Possibilities
April 6 Donna Smith, Mainely Write
April 7 Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche
April 8 Leigh Anne, A Day in the Life
April 9 Linda Mitchell, A Word Edgewise
April 10 Denise Krebs, Dare to Care
April 11 Emma Roller, Penguins and Poems
April 12 Dave Roller, Leap Of Dave 
April 13 Irene Latham Live You Poem 
April 14 Janice Scully, Salt City Verse
April 15 Jone Rush MacCulloch
April 16 Linda Baie TeacherDance
April 17 Carol Varsalona, Beyond Literacy Link
April 18 Marcie Atkins
April 19 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in My Orchard 
April 20 Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes
April 21 Sarah Grace Tuttle at Sarah Grace Tuttle’s Blog, 
April 22 Marilyn Garcia
April 23 Catherine at Reading to the Core
April 24 Janet Fagal, hosted by Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 25 Ruth, There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town
April 26 Patricia J. Franz, Reverie
April 27 Theresa Gaughan, Theresa’s Teaching Tidbits
April 28 Karin Fisher-Golton, Still in Awe Blog
April 29 Karen Eastlund, Karen’s Got a Blog
April 30 Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, and Writing

#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.

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.

A Writing Waltz #PoetryFriday

It's that time of year when leaves and temperatures begin to fall, and a quiet hush seems to fill the air. For me, it's also a time when life slows its pace, and I find time to catch my breath and do things that bring me joy. Like writing.

Today I join the Poetry Friday celebration and share a poem I wrote this week with a group of Teach Write friends. Our November challenge was to write a tanka poem with a hint of gratitude. 

We gathered online, wrote our "Tanka You" poems, and then shared. I am grateful for my love of writing and the joy it brings, but I am especially grateful for the writing community where we can share that joy with each other.

"Tanka you" to the Poetry Friday group for letting me pop in and join you. Matt is gathering the harvest this week at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme. 

The Blank Page #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday and Mary Lee has the round-up this week at A Year of Reading. Check out all the poetry goodness!

If you have a loved one who has struggled with dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, then you can understand the pain of watching someone so desperately trying to find a memory or even a simple word. There are times of recognition, but as time goes on, those moments become brief.

My grandmother-in-law wrote pages and pages of her life stories before she died. I treasure them although they belong to my husband. My mother has early dementia, and I gave her a notebook for Christmas urging her to write her stories. I don't want her pages to be blank. I want my children to know stories and to treasure them, too.

These times are heavy on my heart, and this poem is a result.

The Blank Page

Each day the sun rises,

the morning’s page

beckons for a story,

                a memory.

The sun shines, and

your eyes light up

until the words, like dried ink

fail to come

                once again.

Throughout the day

I see you searching

reaching to grasp a memory,

like a child trying to catch fireflies

blinking on and off

                in the dark.

Each day the sun sets

and the page remains blank

held together by words

                unwritten.

Picture at Pixabay

Edited:  Mary Lee pointed out how the last line of each stanza was a poem within the poem. I bolded the words using her noticings.

Love is a Drum #NationalPoetryMonth #PoetryFriday

It is April, and I am joining many others in celebrating National Poetry Month. This month many people turn to their gardens and landscapes and play in the dirt. I'd rather do a little playing with words. This month I will be creating found poems by taking words, phrases, and lines from other texts and rearranging them into a "literary collage" with a whole new meaning.

Heidi has the Poetry Friday Round-Up this week. Check out My Juicy Little Universe for this week's poetry offerings. 

Today I used a combination of Tali Mali's metaphor dice and an extended metaphor "lesson" from Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher's Day 10 Video to create a found poem.

I "rolled the dice" and chose a tangible and intangible word. Using the extend metaphor example from Kelly and Penny's video, I made a list of how love is a drum. This one went through many revisions during my Teach Write writing time, but here is how it turned out.

And the progressive poem continues with Jone MacCulloch.

This week also marks the beginning of 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. For the first time, I am participating and will be adding line 15 (yes, that scares me just a little!). You find the poem's trail below.

1.   Donna Smith at Mainely Write

2.   Irene Latham at Live Your Poem

3.   Jone MacCulloch at deowriter

4.   Liz Steinglass

5.   Buffy Silverman

6.   Kay McGriff at A Journey Through the Pages

7.   Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core

8.   Tara Smith at Going to Walden

9.   Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link

10. Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme

11. Janet Fagel hosted at Reflections on the Teche

12. Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise

13. Kat Apel at Kat Whiskers

14. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche

15. Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life

16. Linda Baie at Teacher Dance

17. Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe

18. Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading

19. Tabitha at Opposite of Indifference

20. Rose Capelli at Imagine the Possibilities

21. Janice Scully at Salt City Verse

22. Julieanne Harmatz at To Read, To Write, To Be

23. Ruth at There is no such thing at a God-forsaken town

24. Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering

25. Amy at The Poet Farm

26. Dani Burtsfield at Doing the Work that Matters

27. Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge

28.

29. Fran at lit bits and pieces

20. Michelle Kogan

Song of the Daffodils #PoetryFriday

With April just around the corner, I have been trying to get my poetry muscles in shape...again! This week I am participating in the Poetry Friday Round-up to get a jump start.  Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference has the round-up this week. T

I have been writing in my notebook with my students this week before we "go live" with e-learning next week. I have given them a prompt/spark/idea to write about each day. One of those was "tell me about green." 

I wrote a Tanka poem - not really about green, but I think it will work.

Song of the Daffodils

a fall-planted bulb

buried just beneath the snow

welcome mat unrolled

with your golden corona 

trumpeting spring's arrival

©Leigh Anne Eck, 2020

Middle School Love Note #PoetryFriday

My one little word for 2020 is commit. I have made "10 Commitments" and one of them includes participating, supporting and engaging with my social media communities. Poetry Friday is one I have participated in, yet not very consistently. When I saw that Linda's round-up post was all about hearts and love and Valentine's Day, I decided to share the poem that I wrote for Sarah Donovan's 5-Day Poetry Challenge.

The poem prompt was from "Twenty Questions" by Jim Moore. I wrote about the innocent yet anxious time of middle school love. 

Middle School Love Note

Do you like me?

Do the butterflies begin to flutter the minute the bell rings?

Or does your stomach rumble because your breakfast is already gone?

Do you quickly glance to see if I am looking as we pass each other in the hall?

Or do you avoid my gaze?

Does your arm tingle when our elbows innocently touch while shutting our lockers?

Or do you think the bump was clearly an accident?

Do you write my name in the middle of your notebook so no one will see it?

Or do you even know my name?

                Or how to spell it?

Do you wish you had my scrunchie around your wrist?

Or do you wish I had short hair?

Does the teacher call on you when she catches you daydreaming about holding hands in the bleachers of the high school basketball game?

Or are you dreaming about making the last second shot?

Does your face turn red when I walk into the classroom?

Or are you too busy messing around with your friends to even see me?

Does your heart skip a beat when you read “write a poem” on the objective board?

Or do you roll your eyes disgusted with thought of writing about your feelings?

                Or do you even have feelings?

Do you like me?

Or did I already ask that?

© Leigh Anne Eck, 2020

Time #PoetryFriday

Join Tara at Going to Walden for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

After a year of academic writing and writing from my head, I still find it quite a struggle to write from my heart. My creative side may still be a little rusty, but I'm hopeful it will return.

Today, as I was visiting Margaret's space, Reflections from the Teche, I learned a new poetry form called a Skinny.  You can learn more about a Skinny at the The Skinny Poetry Journal.

Margaret challenged us to write a Skinny using a metaphor that she and her students created from her metaphor dice.  Although I didn't keep it as a metaphor, I still used the same words - Time is an impossible super hero.

Here is my first attempt at a Skinny...

Time, an impossible super hero, is
power
of
healing
hearts,
power
of
hope.
Who says
power
is time, an impossible super hero?

Kaleidoscope of Color #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday, and Sally is hosting the round-up and sharing some terse verse with us.  Check it out!

This week I wrote a poem using the 15 words or less picture prompt from Laura Purdie Salas. This image is from artwork found in an airport!

It reminded me a little of stained glass and a kaleidoscope.  Here is my rough draft.

Photo by Laura Purdie Salas

a kaleidoscope of color

stretches to the sky

perfectly placed pieces 
just beyond my reach

Morning Crystals #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday! Carol at Beyond Literacy Link has the round-up today and is sharing her invitation to the Winter Wonderland Gallery. 

January brought with it a true winter - cold temps, wind chill, snow, ice and the flu. During one winter storm a few weeks ago, ice made its debut.  I don't like traveling on ice, but it sure creates some magical moments.  

Here is one I share with you today and with Carol for her gallery.

Merry-Go-Round #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday, and I am trying to sustain the habit of writing. Today, I join Kay at A Journey Through the Pages and many others to share a bit of poetry on this once again cold weekend.

This is the time of year when my students and I read The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. This book leads us into a study of a historical time. Many discussions ensue from reading the book and the informational text that I include in the unit.

Each year, I glean the internet looking for additional resources or ways I can change things.  Last year I added "The Ballad of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall.  This year I am adding this poem by Langston Hughes.  I look forward to hearing students' thoughts on the metaphor of the merry-go-round, the voice of the narrator, and the connection to what they learn about the Jim Crow Laws.

Merry-Go-Round

Where is the Jim Crow section 
On this merry-go-round,
Mister, cause I want to ride? 
Down South where I come from 
White and colored
Can't sit side by side.
Down South on the train
There's a Jim Crow car.
On the bus we're put in the back— 
But there ain't no back

To a merry-go-round! 
Where's the horse 
For a kid that's black? 

~Langston Hughes

Talking in Black Ink #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday, and I am trying to get back into the habit of writing. Today, I join Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core and many others to share a bit of poetry on this cold Friday!

I am one of the co-moderators for the #TeachWrite chat which is a community for teacher-writers.  This month we are writing and having conversations about writing goals.  I have not written my goals down yet, but I know I want to include something about keeping a writing notebook.

I have a love/hate relationship with writer's notebooks.  I think the issue I have is that mine will never compare to those that I see out in the writing world. (And yes, I know I shouldn't do that!)

As I was looking through some drafts of blog posts, I found this poem that I had scribbled out after I read a blog post by Austin Kleon.  In this post, he says, "Notebooks are a good place to have bad ideas." 

And using a line from his post as my first line, a poem about a writer's notebook is born.

talking in black ink

whispering between the pages

retaining possession

of hopes

dreams

and bad ideas

©Leigh Anne Eck, 2018

Maybe there is hope for me yet.

Rise and Shine - #PoetryFriday

It's Poetry Friday!  Buffy has this week's round up so please join her at Buffy's Blog.

Welcome to my dusty little corner of the poetry world! 

When I added the title of grad student to my already overwhelming list of titles, I knew something(s) would have to go.  Blogging on a regular basis and writing for fun (academic papers are not what I call writing for fun!) seem to be the current targets of my time stealer.

This past year, I cautiously tipped my toes into the Poetry Friday waters.  You all welcomed me with open arms and hearts.  I hosted a round-up for the first time, and I signed up for the Winter Poem Swap which was organized by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference.

Several weeks ago I received my package from Mary Lee at A Year of Reading.  I couldn't wait to share her perfectly-written-for-me poem.  The first Friday went by, and no post.  Then the next Friday.

So, today I publicly apologize to Mary Lee for the delay in acknowledging her beautiful and thoughtful words and publicly share her poem.

Rise and Shine

Like the moon

as she waxes and wanes,

Like the seasons

as they flourish and rest,

Like the cup of tea

as it gathers strength before the sip,

So you rise

reclaiming your reading life,

So you rise

from writing teacher to teacher-writer,

So you rise

leading a whole community to Wonder.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Thank you, Mary Lee, for capturing my heart in your words. 

Sifter #poetryFriday

Welcome to Poetry Friday and my little corner of the world!  This is my first time hosting, and I appreciate you stopping by to share your bit of poetry with all of us.

My last Donor's Choose project was a collection of poetry books.  Some were old, some were new, but all revolved around the teenage years.  Today I share with you some thoughts and words from from Naomi Shihab Nye in her book, A Maze Me.

In the introduction to this book, Naomi shares her worry about becoming a teenager and wanting to hang on to childhood just a little bit longer.   In one part she talks about not remembering "the name of a single junior high school teacher."  Yet she could name every elementary teacher and most of her high school teachers.  She asks, "What happened in between?"

Naomi says when she turned seventeen, "I started feeling as if my soul fit my age again, or my body had grown to fit my brain.  When she was in college, she met Nellie Lucas, an eccentric women, who taught Naomi to "slow down and to pay better attention to everything" and to have faith about "growing up."

One of the best pieces of advice I found for want-to-be writers is, "If you write three lines down in a notebook every day (they don't have to be important, they don't have to relate to one another, you don't have to show them to anyone)...you will find out what you notice.  Uncanny connections will be made visible to you.  That's what I started learning when I was twelve, and I never stopped learning it."

She compares growing up as "Every year unfolds like a petal inside all the years that preceded it.  You will feel your thinking springing up and layering inside your huge mind a little differently.  Your thinking will befriend you.  Words will befriend you.  You will be given more than you could ever dream."

What follows these wise words, is a collection of 72 poems. Below is my favorite.

"Sifter"

~Naomi Shihab Nye

When our English teacher gave

our first writing assignment of the year,

become a kitchen implement

in 2 descriptive paragraphs, I did not think

butcher knife or frying pan,

I thought immediately 

of soft flour showering through the little holes

of the sifter and the sifter's pleasing circular

swishing sound, and wrote it down.

Rhoda became a teaspoon,

Roberto a funnel,

Jim a muffin tin

and Forrest a soup pot.

We read our paragraphs out loud.

Abby was a blender.  Everyone laughed

and acted giddy but the more we thought about it, 

we were all everything in the whole kitchen,

drawers and drainers,

singing teapot and and grapefruit spoon

with serrated edges, we were all the 

empty cup, the tray.

This, said our teacher, is the beauty of metaphor.

It opens doors.

What I could not know then was how being a sifter

would help me all year long.

When bad days came

I would close my eyes and feel them passing

through the tiny holes.

When good days came

I would try to contain them gently

the way flour remains

in the sifter until you turn the handle.

Time, time. I was a sweet sifter in time

and no one ever knew.

Shihab Nye, Naomi. "A Maze Me: Poems for Girls." Harper Collins Publishers:  New York, NY. 2005.

May we all become sifters.  

Thank you for visiting today, and please share your link below.