Poetry Friday: Thanks

THANKS by W.S. Merwin
This poem starts out easy, but it gets complicated real quick. Kind of like life. In her commentary, Tracy K. Smith says of the poem,"It insists upon a fierce form of moral reckoning."

Nonetheless, I'm giving thanks for YOU, as well as for every bit of this complicated messy achingly beautiful world. Listen to the podcast and read the whole poem here.

Thanks, also, for Michelle Kogan's POWER filled Poetry Friday Roundup. The last roundup of the year. I almost missed this one...what day is it today? Lookie there! It's Friday!!

The January - June 2020 roundup list is in our sidebar for the grabbing (or message me and I'll send you the code) and on the Kidlitosphere website.

Giving Thanks for Poetry Friday!

Thanku: Poems of Gratitude inspired my Thanku/Haiku-a-Day this month. I managed to get November 1-15 onto Twitter, and I'm back on Twitter with November 26-30. Here are the ones that were written, but never made it to Twitter!

11/16
Deer in the headlights.
Same spot: hawk swoops low with prey.
Blessings from the wild.

11/17
Step, step...mind elsewhere...
suddenly...no step...PANIC!
Floor, meet hands and knees.

11/18
Irresponsible.
Antiques Roadshow was a splurge
and I'll pay for it.

11/19
Final Prep Thanku
two days of sub plans
hours and hours and hours of work
then just walk away

11/20
Travel Day Thanku
For the traffic jam
NOT on our side of the road --
relieved gratitude.

11/21
Award Selection Day Thanku
A day of hard work:
laughter, talk, perspectives shared.
Not just the books won.

11/22
Presentation Day Thanku
Bad sleep, up early,
back-to-back schedule ready.
Right now--calm. Quiet.

11/23
Almost the End of Conference Thanku
complete exhaustion
sleep wraps you in its blanket
cradles you gently

11/24
Driving Home Thanku
Ridge top silhouette--
bare November trees, silo.
Evening sky--one star.

11/25
Words Spoken Upon Releasing Into the Garden the Spider I Captured on My Office Wall
Dear Tiny Spider,
Life has infinite value.
For yours, I give thanks.


Bridget Magee at Wee Words For Wee Ones has the Poetry Friday Roundup all the way from Switzerland this week! I'm EXTRA glad to be back after my longest absence ever.

The call for roundup hosts for Poetry Fridays January 2020-June 2020 is also ready for dates to be claimed!

Poetry Friday Roundup is HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Welcome to the feast of Poetry Friday Posts:
(leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the old-fashioned way)

April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors is thankful for a whole host of angels.

Renee LaTulippe at No Water River is hosting a poet-a-palooza with an interview and FIVE poetry videos from around the world.

Snow is falling and Robert Frost is evoked at Charles Ghinga's Father Goose blog.

Steve Peterson at inside the dog... shares a poem about change.

Winter is on its way in Matt Forrest's poem at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme.

Linda Kulp at Write Time took the Teaching Authors' challenge and wrote a "Thanku."

Just for a change of pace, Myra Garces-Bacsal shares a book of pirate poems at Gathering Books.

Carmela Martino at Teaching Authors is thankful for her colleague and friend Esther Hershenhorn.

Laura Purdie Salas spotlights Michael Hall's CAT TALE and brings us this week's 15 Words or Less Poems inspired by pumpkins.

Linda Baie at Teacher Dance is in the midst of change -- specifically, a move to a new house -- and finds a deep connection to Ralph Fletcher's book MOVING DAY.

Yum. Jama's sharing some more peanut butter poems at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I'm not quite caught up with the first round of linkers, but Jama mentioned the peanut clusters so it seems appropriate to stop here and describe the disaster that is my kitchen right now. (This by way of apology for the lack of inspiration in this roundup post.)

We'll start with the counter, then, where there are 25 candy bags, loaded with peanut clusters, awaiting the graham cracker toffee that is chilling on the card table in the garage. These 25 bags will join the 25 that are complete, and that will mark about the halfway point of the yearly candy making craziness/fun.

The rest of the counter, sink and stove areas bear the evidence that I very nearly spent too much time yesterday afternoon trying to find inspiration for this roundup post and came dangerously close to not having the roasted brussel sprouts (with bacon and toasted pecans) ready to take to our evening feast. Lordy, what a mess!

And now let's consider the kitchen table before me. The cornucopia flower arrangement was delivered last Wednesday, just before I left for the airport to go to NCTE. It is a bit past its prime here and there, but by golly, I'm going to pretend it's fresh for a few more days. Just about the entire rest of the table is covered with piles -- a couple are AJ's, but most are mine: NCTE pile, CYBILS pile, school pile, TBR pile, to-do pile...and the button that needs to be sewn on my jacket sleeve.

Behind me are the bags full of books from NCTE, plus a school bag filled with papers to grade and lessons to plan.

Thanksgiving is a time when every one of my plates is too full...and for this bounty of food, I give thanks. And for this bounty of work that I love, I give thanks. And for a table and a counter to hold my messes, I give thanks. For too much to read, I give thanks. For the tradition of Poetry Friday and for the community of bloggers who join the weekly party, I give thanks.

Now then. Back to the roundup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Joy Acey imagines "Thanksgiving in the Barn" at Poetry for Kids Joy.

Black Friday, anyone? Violet Nesdoly has a shopping list for poets!

Laura Shovan at Author Amok gives thanks for yoga, football (and the halftime show!), words, and time.

Random acts of poetry epitomizes The Opposite of Indifference. Brought to you by Tabatha.

Matt Goodfellow at Poems and things! has two poems for us today, a chestnutty one and rain snake one.

Diane Mayr has posts up at Random Noodling (a rant I agree with COMPLETELY), KK's Kwotes (a cautionary quote for poets who are tempted to rush), and The Write Sisters (art that dances on our heads and holds our PJs).

At Growing Wild, Liz Steinglass serves up three dishes and a delicious-looking pumpkin pie.

Sylvia shares a Week 13 poem from The Poetry Friday Anthology at the PFA Blog, and information about a 12/12/12 e-book give-away.

Carol is contemplating necessity and wealth at Carol's Corner. She's raking leaves and letting Black Friday pass her by.

Thank you, Ruth (at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town), for Neruda and Cold Play in the same post. For a beach and stars and a fugitive ode to laziness. I think I'll let the rest of today's work go untouched and instead get some sand in my shoes.

Gregory K. at GottaBook has a timely poem -- "The Day After Thanksgiving."

Author Susan Taylor Brown shares her debut as an illustrator of Haiku Diem.

Lori Ann Glover at On Point has an original haiku today.

Lucky Jone! She got to attend a writing workshop led by Oregon's Poet Laureate! Two of the poems Jone wrote that day are shared at Check it Out.

Dorothy Parker is waiting for you at Douglas Florian's Florian Cafe.

Julie Larios at The Drift Record shares a poem by Jack Gilbert titled "Horses at Midnight Without a Moon."

Little Willow shares Emily Dickinson's "The Cricket Sang" at Bildungsroman.

Ramona at Pleasures from the Page has written a trio of "thankus," inspired by the bloggers at Teaching Authors.

Poetry Friday -- YAM

YAM

by David Guernsey

The potato that ate all its carrots,
can see in the dark like a mole,

(the whole poem is at The Poetry Foundation)

I don't know about you, but my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the side dishes. Yams? Green bean casserole? Mom's cranberry jello salad? BRING THEM ON!!

Happy Thanksgiving a week early! See you back here next week for the roundup. This week, head on over to Anastasia's Booktalking blog.

Riches

Flickr Creative Commons photo by simpologist

Time has slowed,
stopped flowing
like sand or water or air
between my fingers.

The clock's ticks were
a blur.
Now I feel space
between each beat.

Between each beat
I reach
and catch the coins,
make a stack of riches:

moon's tug
eyes' blinks
Christmas cactus' bloom
heart's thumps
pencil's scratches


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

A Thanksgiving to God, For His House

Our "cell/wherin to dwell," after the Blizzard of '08

A THANKSGIVING TO GOD, FOR HIS HOUSE

by Robert Herrick
(1591-1674)

Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
Wherein to dwell,
A little house, whose humble roof
Is weather-proof:
Under the spars of which I lie
Both soft, and dry;
Where Thou my chamber for to ward
Hast set a guard
Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep
Me, while I sleep.
Low is my porch, as is my fate,
Both void of state;
And yet the threshold of my door
Is worn by th' poor,
Who thither come and freely get
Good words, or meat.
Like as my parlour, so my hall
And kitchen's small;
A little buttery, and therein
A little bin,
Which keeps my little loaf of bread
Unchipp'd, unflead;
Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar
Make me a fire,
Close by whose living coal I sit,
And glow like it.
Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
The pulse is Thine,
And all those other bits, that be
There plac'd by Thee;
The worts, the purslain, and the mess
Of water-cress,
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;
And my content
Makes those, and my beloved beet,
To be more sweet.
'Tis Thou that crown'st my glittering hearth
With guiltless mirth;
And giv'st me wassail-bowls to drink,
Spic'd to the brink.
Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
That soils my land;
And giv'st me, for my bushel sown,
Twice ten for one;
Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay
Her egg each day;
Besides my healthful ewes to bear
Me twins each year;
The while the conduits of my kine
Run cream, for wine.
All these, and better, Thou dost send
Me, to this end,
That I should render, for my part,
A thankful heart,
Which, fir'd with incense, I resign,
As wholly Thine;
But the acceptance, that must be,
My Christ, by Thee.

I'm reading and listening to ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN by Karen Cushman. (If you follow the link and listen to the sample, you'll hear a description of the house in London where Meggy Swann finds herself delivered, but, unfortunately, you won't get to hear her say,"Ye toads and vipers!") Cushman's newest book is set in London in 1573 "Under the accession of Elizabeth I to the throne of England but afore London's first theater and Shakespeare." All of this is to tell you why, when I began my search for today's poem -- after realizing with a gasp that it is FRIDAY (an aside here about how mixed up I am about what day it is: I keep calling the third day of NCTE Wednesday, even though it was Sunday, just because Monday means "the start of it all" and therefore two days after the start must be Wednesday) ... where was I? Oh. Looking for a poem. So my search turned up the poem by  Robert Herrick and it felt like it had been GIVEN to me to share. Maybe even given to me by Meggy Swann herself.

Happy Thanksgiving, from my house to yours, and Happy Poetry Friday! Let's meet at Jone's "house" -- Check It Out -- for a feast of poetry!

Giving Thanks for Some of the People Who Have Changed and Are Changing My Life

WRITING

photo from Flickr Creative Commons by tomswift46

I wouldn't be who I am today as a writer if Philippa Stratton and Bill Varner at Stenhouse hadn't believed in my ability to turn the sketchiest of proposals into a book.

I am grateful to Brenda Power for valuing my article-length thinking and writing for Choice Literacy. Thanks to her recent generosity, I now have ideas brewing for several articles about using new technologies in my classroom.

THINKING

photo from Flickr Creative Commons by karola riegler photography

Who pushes my thinking? With out a doubt, Franki does, both on the blog and off: about reading and writing and education and baking and the value of Disney in the world (just to mention a few recent topics). Time spent with Meredith always results in new thinking and learning around technology and the arts. And then there are my smart colleagues in Dublin and Central Ohio, my blogging friends from far and near, and Tweet Peeps whose 140 character thinking prods, provokes and amuses.

GROWING

photo from Flickr Creative Commons by BONGURI

For giving me a leg up and an invitation into the inner workings of NCTE via the suggestion that I apply to be on the NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Committee, I am forever thankful to Monica. My life as a professional outside the walls of my building and the boundaries of my district has been forever broadened because of this opportunity. Presenting is pretty awesome, but having the opportunity to lead is even more amazing. Thanks for believing in me, Monica.

My life as a professional within the walls of my building has forever been changed by the opportunity to work with the amazing principal, Jeff Reinhard. He leads by example with an attitude of gratitude and an unwavering belief in the teachers and children at our building. He was a gift to us from the universe at the time we most needed him, and we are thankful for every day we work together to find the path to the success we all know we can achieve.