Poem #11 -- Similies, Metaphors, and Idioms

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Graham Canny

Crafty metaphor is a sly fox,

hiding in plain sight.

Simple simile is as easy as 1, 2, 3,

as obvious as your nose on your face.

Idioms run around 

like chickens with their heads cut off,

get down to brass tacks, and

hit the hay when they get tired.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by NitroxAnyOne

Poem #10 -- Book Spine Poem, Notables Edition

KEEPER

Half upon a time

one crazy summer,

the dreamer,

spilling ink:

Zora and Me,

Lulu and the Brontosaurus...

We are in a book!

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

To make this book spine poem, I used only books from the 2011 NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts.  For an AMAZING gallery of book spine poems, check out 100 Scope Notes. Then go get a stack of books and give it a try yourself!

Poem #9 -- Politically Correct

POLITICALLY CORRECT

Stand.
And know why you stand.

Speak.
And let your passion ring out.

Listen.
And make sure that you hear.

Fight.
And prepare to compromise.

Believe.
And stay firm in the truth.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poetry Friday and Poem #8 -- Words That Give Me Hope

Flickr CreativeCommons photo by mmbooklover



WORDS THAT GIVE ME HOPE

I love you.
Delicious!
Come in!
I finished my book!
Thank you!
Don't worry, I can fix that!

How may I help?
Would you like seconds?
You want to play, too?
Is it okay to use the dictionary?
Are you feeling better?
Will you sign this petition?

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Yesterday, I was (more than) a little discouraged about words I heard that were used to put down, tear down, shut down. That made me listen extra hard all day (in my world and in my heart) for words that were being used to build up, open doors, invite conversation, nurture, heal, and include. I'm feeling more hopeful about words...and about humans.

What are your favorite words to hear? What words give you hope...for your life, or for the world?

Poetry Friday (two of my favorite words, both together and apart!!!) is at Madigan Reads today. Happy Poetry Month!

Poem #7 -- Words

THE TRUTH, AMENDED

Sticks and stones have fallen out of favor.
The weapons of choice these days are the words.
What were they thinking when they declared words harmless?
Most likely, a bully penned the childhood chant
That was meant to soothe our feelings
But which left us feeling betrayed, lied to, twice burned by words.
Words have power.
They are weapons of mass destruction and meticulous torture.
They belittle and marginalize. They slap, pummel, goad, and mock.
In a culture of competition, words are for winning, beating, challenging, conquering.
Words hurt.
And they do to leave marks. Just too deep to be seen.

Poem #6 -- Favorite Book

A Wrinkle in Time

takes me back to 6th grade --

I'm awkward and ugly and shy.

Just 75 cents

from Scholastic Book Club --

I keep my old copy close by.

Every couple of years

I revisit my old friend --

I listen or maybe re-read.

Meg Murray and I,

with the strength of our faults

battle evil with love and succeed.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #5 -- Fishing

I am standing in the river,

the current gentle against my legs.

My feet are cool in my boots

in my waders

in the water.

My head is warm in my cap

in the sun.

I have finally cast my line

with grace

and precision

and the fish believes

an insect has landed 

in the water

above its head.

The line goes tight.

I bring the fish to me,

remove the hook,

apologize,

marvel at the iridescent beauty,

kiss its nose,

and release the fish back into the river.

Then I open my eyes

and pick up the next paper to grade.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poem #4 -- Words With Friends Poem

Lemonade (And Other Poems Squeezed From a Single Word)
by Bob Raczka
illustrated by Nancy Doniger
Roaring Brook Press, 2011
review copy purchased for my classroom

You know Bob Raczka. He wrote the poems for Guyku.

In his new book, Lemonade, he uses the letters of the title word of each poem to make the words for that poem. For example, the poem "Bleachers" reads: "Ball / reaches / here / bases / clear / cheers".

Each poem is presented two ways. The first way is like a puzzle, the second way shows the poem clearly.

I tapped deep into my Words With Friends Word Making Skills and came up with this poem:

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Go ahead and try one. I know you want to. Leave yours in the comments. Triple letter score if you use a Z.

Poem #3 -- Metaphor Poem (plus a Simile Book Review)

Mosaic Metaphors 

Moments, memories, mementos

Organized optic chaos, gridlocked visual clutter

Soundless soundtrack of days

Artistic arrangement of scraps: quilt of time

Incidents. Incidental. Incremental.

Catalog with pages missing

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

It took me three tries to make this acrostic do what I wanted it to do. It started out as an acrostic about the images, even though I titled it "Metaphor Acrostic" in my writer's notebook. Not a single metaphor. It was a fairly adequate acrostic, but it didn't do what I wanted it to do. I wanted metaphors that described a mosaic. The second try got closer, but it still tried to do what I require my students' acrostics to do (at least initially) -- SAY SOMETHING. I tried to give it narrative flow, so that it could be read aloud without the listener realizing (or needing to know) it was an acrostic. I like the third try, the one above, best. It is a just a series of phrases, but I worked really hard on my word choice, and I like the way alliteration decided to join the fun. 

This is a metaphor poem, even though I never say outright, "A mosaic is...", which I think makes it a more interesting poem. I imply the "A mosaic is...", trusting that the title will alert my reader to infer the meaning in my lines as they relate to the vertical word, "MOSAIC." Hopefully my March mosaic helps the reader visualize to construct meaning, too.

Speaking of the mosaic, don't you love how it starts out all blue and blooming and ends all white and frozen? "In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion."

Now for the simile book review.

My Heart is Like a Zoo

by Michael Hall (his website is here)

Greenwillow Books, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

A metaphor is a way of comparing that says this thing IS that other thing. ("A mosaic IS a catalog with pages missing.") Similes compare by saying this thing IS AS _____ AS that other thing, or this thing IS LIKE that other thing.

My Heart is Like a Zoo is a simile poem that compares the speaker's heart to different animals in the zoo.

"My heart is like a zoo--

eager as a beaver,

steady as a yak,

hopeful as a hungry heron

fishing for a snack..."

Not only is this a delightful simile poem that compares the heart to twenty animals, all of the illustrations are composed of hearts!

Also reviewed by Katie at Creative Literacy
Betsy Bird reviews Michael Hall's new book, The Perfect Square, at A Fuse #8 Production

Poem #2 -- Out Like a Lion

OUT LIKE A LION

I thought it was
going to be
spring outside.
Things were beginning
to grow.
When I looked out the window
expecting the sun,
all I could see was
SNOW!

It snowed left to right
and covered the ground.
My lone daffodil hung its head.
I want shorts! Not more coat...
I want sun! Not more scarf...

I want to
say goodbye
to
SNOW!

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Poetry Friday -- NaPoMo and JPL

Huzzah!

Hooray!

He's on his way!

A poet is coming to school!

We've been reading 

And rhyming,

Our voices are chiming:

A poet is coming to school!

...Wait a second...

Look at the walls!

Check the displays!

I think it's fair to say:

500 poets come to our school

Every single day!

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Today is our school's author visit. Local poet, and the 16th winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, J. Patrick Lewis will be our guest. Our students have written amazing poetry in preparation for his visit. The halls of our school are alive with rhythm, rhyme, acrostics, haiku, free verse, and more.

What a great way to begin NaPoMo -- by spending the day with a poet! I am going to attempt to I am GOING TO write a poem a day again this year.

Yesterday, I also launched a NaPoMo game I'm calling PoetQRy QResponse. Details are here, and you can find some helpful information about QR codes here.

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is at The Poem Farm, hosted by the AMAZING Amy LV, who started out writing a poem a day last NaPoMo, and wound up writing a poem a day ALL YEAR LONG!

Happy National Poetry Month, everyone!