Thursday, July 14, 2011

Poetry Friday -- Roundup is HERE!


A Warm Summer in San Francisco
by Carolyn Miller


Although I watched and waited for it every day,
somehow I missed it, the moment when everything reached
the peak of ripeness. It wasn't at the solstice; that was only
the time of the longest light. It was sometime after that, when
the plants had absorbed all that sun, had taken it into themselves
for food and swelled to the height of fullness. It was in July,
in a dizzy blaze of heat and fog, when on some nights
it was too hot to sleep...

(read the rest of the poem at The Writer's Almanac)


I know the feeling: 

"...I felt tears 
come into my eyes, absurdly, because I knew
that summer had peaked and was already passing
away."

I mark the passing of summer by the length of the vines in the baskets along High Street in Worthington,



and in the march of blooming things -- the Queen Anne's lace has joined the chicory, which will soon be replaced by goldenrod and tall purple ironweed; and I saw my first mimosa tree blooming this week. 

As the seasons turn and the pages on the calendar flip, let's take a minute to slow down and enjoy a variety of poetry. Leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the posts throughout the day. Happy Friday! Happy Poetry Friday!

*    *    *    *

Father Goose starts us off today with his Cozy Morning Cats. (Mine is watching the morning come to life from the windowsill!)

Kelly Polark returns to Poetry Friday (welcome back, Kelly!) with a poem inspired by a reunion.

Myra at Gathering Books shares a moving tribute to a Philippine poet.

Diane has a quartet of Poetry Friday posts: at Random Noodling, she's thinking about what gets in the way of writing poetry; she continues her poetic story of WWII at Kids of the Homefront Army; Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet highlights a book of camping poems by Kristine O'Connell George; and at Kurious K's Kwotes, she has a quote about the efficient use of language in poetry.

David Elzey visits us from camp -- Vermont College of Fine Arts "camp" where he is a "counselor" this year. He created a writer's toolbox version of The Quartermaster's Store. (Here's a bit of the original for reference.)

Gregory K. at Gottabook has a poem after my procrastinatin' heart -- an original, of course!

Tanita reminds us of a great truth today: we are not our bodies. (Welcome back to PF, Cuz!)

At The Poem Farm, Amy has an original about a cherry tree (and a post that will make your mouth water!)

Steven Withrow's original story/riddle poem will get you thinking...and unthinking!

Madigan at Madigan Reads reviews Margarita Engle's newest verse novel, HURRICANE DANCERS. She's thinking possible Newbery contender!

Nancy shares one of her student's poems today -- about clouds.

Carlie wrote an original summer poem -- about the laundry on her clothesline!

Laura Salas links us in to Sylvia Vardell's video clips of the ALA Poetry Blast, and it's not too late to take part in this week's 15 Words or Less poetry.

Katie at Secrets & Sharing Soda reviews Hot Potato: Mealtime Rhymes.

Pentimento shares Bedtime Story For My Son by Peter Redgrove.

Tara is having a Chelsea Morning with Joni Mitchell today.

Maria at Teaching in the 21st Century advocates for Poetry Friday in the classroom. I second that!

The Write Sisters are on the same wavelength as Tanita (see above) with Homage to My Hips and the advice to get over it and "Just. Jump. In!!!!"

The Stenhouse Blog is sharing a poem about...SNOW?!?!?

Rasco From RIF tells about a very famous Swiss story (told in verse)...that I've never heard about until now!

Elaine is toasting marshmallows over at Wild Rose Reader today! YUM!!

At Blue Rose Girls, Elaine shares an original poem about swimming that doesn't require baring one's "mighty hips" (see The Write Sisters, above) or otherwise worrying about body image (see Tanita's post way up above).

Tricia has a poem for her mom.

Tabatha pops in from her blog vacation with a bit of Harry Potter-ness.

Janet highlights MIRROR MIRROR by Marilyn Singer.

Heidi's forgiven her lateness -- she took the whole family to the midnight showing of HP 7.2 last night. Her post is a meditation on incantations -- one in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Professor McGonagall's in HP.

And something that feels like saving the best for last -- Karissa, at the Iris Chronicles, introduces us to the poet Pamela Johnson Parker, who "finds so many connections between literature, art, poetry, and life. If you are a Wizard of Oz fan, you will enjoy this poem."

27 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting
    and letting us share this
    picture and poem of our
    "Cozy Morning Cats" at
    The FATHER GOOSE Blog

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, we need to savor summer!!!

    Thanks so much for hosting!
    I have a poem titled "Home from Afghanistan" at my blog http://www.kpolark.blogspot.com .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi! Thank you for hosting. I'm enjoying looking at all your other posts as well.

    Here's our contribution for Poetry Friday:
    http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/the-poets-sanctum-a-twist-to-our-poetry-fridays/

    Tita Lacambra Ayala is a celebrated and highly respected poet in the Philippines - we are proud to feature her for our "The Poet's Sanctum" over at GatheringBooks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for letting us post our links early! Perhaps I'll get to work on time tomorrow morning! (Probably not...) My posts will be up after midnight:

    At Random Noodling I have a poem by Grace Paley and one of my own.

    Kids of the Homefront Army continues with "Infinity."

    Kurious Kitty looks at Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems.

    Kurious K's Kwotes' P.F. quote is by Ed Ochester.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for hosting!

    i'm up late and posting early a modified camp song for a bunch of writers at an MFA program. i call it "the writer's toolbox"

    http://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/poetryfriday-the-writers-toolbox/

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  6. Thanks for hosting!

    I'm up with an original - I'll Name This Poem Someday... - that I'm just happy I managed to post :-)

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  7. A rare moment of me participating again - but I felt the need for Not My Bones from Marilyn Nelson's The Manumission Requiem. Even in the summer, with its emphasis on appearance and being "season-ready," we are not our bodies. (Thank goodness.)

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  8. Yes! I understand this feeling of ripeness, heaviness. This poem really got me.

    Today I speak to summer's bounty too, with a poem about a birthday tree.

    http://poemfarm.blogspot.com/2011/07/poetry-friday-birthday-tree.html

    Thank you for posting!

    A.

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  9. Thanks for hosting!

    Today I have an original poem that is part story and part riddle at Crackles of Speech.

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  10. Thank for hosting this week. I'm back for the summer with a poem from one of my 10 year old students - There They Go - Inspiring

    From Maine Mornings Blog
    http://mainemornings.blogspot.com

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  11. I have a summer clothesline poem on my site:

    Thanks for hosting! Hooray for feeling summer deeply and really eating it up.

    http://twinklingalong.blogspot.com/2011/07/poetry-friday-clothesline-poem.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a beautiful post, Mary Lee! I love that dizzy blaze of heat and fog (in the poem--I hate heat in my actual life!).

    I'm in with links to three of Sylvia Vardell's video clips from ALA POetry Blast--Stephanie Calmenson, Kristine O'Connell George, and Joyce Sidman. Triple treat! http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/283938.html

    And this week's 15 Words or Less poems (not too late to join in!) are at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/283852.html

    Thanks for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for hosting! My post is a review of a children's poetry collection called Hot Potato: Mealtime Rhymes.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for hosting. I have Peter Redgrove up at

    http://pentiment.blogspot.com/2011/07/poetry-friday-bedtime-story-for-my-son.html

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  15. Thanks for hosting, Mary Lee! Summer, and wanting to "live in the lavender" is on my mind, too, through Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning":
    http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/

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  16. I am delighted to share with you today a book I brought my grandson from Switzerland, a revered folktale in verse and illustrated by a renowned artist of Switzerland. My post on A Bell for Ursli can be found at http://bit.ly/nKpc0D.

    Thank you for hosting us!
    Carol

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  17. The Write Sisters are splashing about in their swimming togs, along with few notable writers.

    Check it out at: http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com/2011/07/poetry-friday-its-that-time-of-year.html

    Thanks for hosting!

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  18. Thanks for hosting today and letting me share my thoughts about Poetry Friday. http://teachingin21.blogspot.com/2011/07/have-you-ever-considered-poetry-friday.html

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  19. Mary Lee,

    I love the poem you posted today. It brings back memories of my grandfather's garden.

    At Wild Rose Reader, I'm posting "Toasting Marshmallows," another poem from my unpublished poetry collection about candy.

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2011/07/toasting-marshmallows-original-poem.html

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  20. Mary Lee,

    Thanks for doing the roundup this week!

    At Blue Rose Girls, I have an original poem titled "Cool Pool."

    http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2011/07/cool-pool-original-poem.html

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  21. Hi Mary Lee!
    I'm leaving town in a few short minutes to spend a week with my mom. I have a poem for her today.

    http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2011/07/poetry-friday-what-i-learned-from-my.html

    Thanks for hosting!
    Tricia

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  22. Hi Mary Lee!

    I'm actually still on my blog vacation until next Friday, but I couldn't help popping in with some Harry Potter this morning:

    http://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2011/07/dead-flies-and-bits-of-fluff.html

    Happy Poetry Friday!

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  23. Thanks for hosting.
    My selection is "Mirror mirror : a book of reversible verse" written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josee Masse.

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  24. Hi Mary Lee - I'm writing today so nothing in particular to add to roundup but did want to pop in and say hello and thanks for the summer poem and yes, it goes too too quickly. My kids go back to school in just 3 weeks! Thanks, as ever, for hosting.

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  25. Cor blimey I'm late in today! There are good midnight reasons; see my post on Harry Potter, spells and incantations, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
    we interrupt this blog

    Thanks for hosting, Mary Lee.

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  26. Thanks for hosting. I have a poem about the Wizard of Oz at http://theirischronicles.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/poetry-friday-2/

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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