National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.23 and Poetry Friday

car changes color

maroon with a glaze of gold

oak pollen season

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Catherine has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at Reading to the Core.

 

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.18

suddenly there's shade

branches with buds subitize

shadows gain substance

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

 

nature carries on

nature carries on

hyacinths are gone

viburnum is swarmed by bees

daisies will bloom next 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

It Never Grows Old

It Never Grows Old

Redbud
blooms burst from bark,
fleck the tree with color,
then open into a haze of
purple.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Some Glad Morning

Some Glad Morning

by Joyce Sutphen

One day, something very old
happened again. The green
came back to the branches,
settling like leafy birds
on the highest twigs;
the ground broke open
as dark as coffee beans.

The clouds took up their
positions in the deep stadium
of the sky, gloving the
bright orb of the sun
before they pitched it
over the horizon.

It was as good as ever:
the air was filled
with the scent of lilacs
and cherry blossoms
sounded their long
whistle down the track.
It was some glad morning.

Spring has finally arrived in our neck of the woods. It's as shocking and glorious as ever to see life erupt again. Never mind that in three months it will all be past its prime and in another three more after that we'll be raking up the mess again. Never you mind! Gather some rosebuds, check out the cherry hung with snow, glory in nature's first golden-green. All the rest can wait.

Brenda has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at Friendly Fairy Tales.

Springtime

Life is short. Make it amazing.  ~Hugh MacLeod 

Springtime

Springtime, and life

returns in a green haze of leafbuds. The seasonal burst of life is

short-

lived, but the surprise of the splashy daffodils will make

it

all the more amazing.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Poetry Friday -- Hidden Miracles

Jack in the Pulpit:

unrecognized miracle

pokes up amongst ferns

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016

How many miracles do we walk by every day, not acknowledging them or perhaps not even recognizing them?

May you go through your day today with wide open eyes. What miracles might you witness?

Margaret has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Reflections on the Teche.

And if you're curious, here's what the Jack in the Pulpit will look like in a couple of days (photo from last year):

March Mosaic

Spring Break in Chicago. Lovely skies, eh?

For a bigger view of the pictures, click on the mosaic, or you can visit this set on Flickr.

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

Hyacinth Pulls the Covers Over Her Head 
and Goes Back to Sleep

The cues of light are right:

half day, half night.

But it's too cold to be bold:

to open, unfold.

Spring delights?

I withhold.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

Charles Ghinga at The Father Goose Blog shares the poem "Pet Names" from his book Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud.

Bridget at wee words for wee ones chronicles her children's spring break with "Spring Break -- Day by Day."

Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup has a (self-proclaimed, but I agree) Good Friday Feast. Come ready to drool. Over the French Toast, too!

Buffy Silverman, of Buffy's Blog, shares her process and final poem in the MM2013 Tournament. I was rooting for you, Buffy!

Renee, haven't you been a little busy writing poems these last few weeks? When did you have time for another installment at No Water River in the "Poetry Is..." series (...with guest poster Elizabeth Stevens Omlor and a little Emerson)?

Joyce Ray at Musings shares some really cool ideas for writing poetry with children from her Build a Poem workshop. Cupcake poems anyone? Heidi? Jama?

Tamara Will Wissinger shares her (big) plans for Poetry Month.

Heidi at my juicy little universe has come up with a fun Poetry Month project -- 30words30days: a poem for busy people.

Robyn Hood Black is urging spring along with some e.e. cummings and Poetry Month news.

Laura Purdie Salas is focusing on colors today in another of her excellent Poem Starter videos.

Laura Shovan, at Author Amok, has a fabulous interview with Christy Hale, author of DREAMING UP.

Diane Mayr has a trio of offerings: At Random Noodling, an Easter senryu (like a haiku, but about human nature instead of Nature). Kurious Kitty shares William Blake's "Spring." KK's Kwotes has a quote by Jane Hirshfield.

Linda at TeacherDance has found the perfect William Stafford poem for two online communities -- Poetry Friday regulars and Slice of Life participants.

Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme has an original crocus poem for this last Friday of March. (His fight with snow, mine just had to contend with oak leaves the year I snapped this shot!)

Lori Ann Grover has "Plumeria" at On Point, and World Rat Day at readertotz.

At NC Teacher Stuff, Matt Barger shares "Just Before April Came" by Carl Sandburg. (The first line is not true where I live!)

Donna, at Mainely Write, shares a poem that grew out of a GoogleChat with her daughter.

Tabatha Yeatts, at The Opposite of Indifference, shines a spotlight on the Little Patuxent Review and poet Elizabeth Dahl.

J. Patrick Lewis is making a rock-and-roll appearance at Greg Pincus' GottaBook.

I'm so glad that Catherine, at Reading to the Core, found Mary Ann Hoberman's THE TREE THAT TIME BUILT! She shares "You and I" from this excellent collection.

Three from Sylvia Vardell: at the Poetry Friday Anthology blog, a loose tooth poem by Carole Boston Weatherford; an announcement about upcoming "poem movies" at the Poetry Friday Anthology/Middle School blog; and at Poetry for Children, her own blog, an example of a "poem movie" made by 6th graders at an international school in the Netherlands.

Tara @ A Teaching Life has some Walt Whitman to help us think about the week's current events.

Margaret, at Reflections on the Teche, has ambitious form-a-day plans for herself and her students for National Poetry Month.

Ruth has a Good Friday poem-hymn for us at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.

Spring is coming to Steve's valley. His original poem is posted at inside the dog... .

Travis has a book spine poem (and an invitation to submit yours) at 100 Scope Notes. (Can't wait for the review of the book of book spine poems!!)

I love pomegranates and I love the story of Persephone. I hope Katie, at the blog a time for such a word, doesn't mind being rounded up via a Poetry Friday Google search. Maybe she'll join us every week!

MotherReader has a new installment in her "songs as poetry" series. Do you recognize it?

At Following Pullitzer, Gerard Manley Hopkins' "As kingfishers catch fire" for Good Friday.

Through the Looking Glass Book Review wraps up Women's History Month with VHERSES by J. Patrick Lewis.

Orange Marmalade shares "These Three" by X.J. Kennedy for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Andi has a "text message found poem" at a wrung sponge. If you haven't cleared out your texts, you probably have one there, too, waiting to be found!

I'm pretty sure that in real life, Amy LV is still floating after the release this week of her first book, FOREST HAS A SONG. But for today, she's got her feet on the ground with a red boots poem at The Poem Farm.

At Douglas Florian's Florian Cafe this week, [in Just-] by e.e. cummings.

Anastasia Suen has a snippet of SPRING BLOSSOMS by Carole Gerber at her blog Booktalking, and she's started a new Poetry Blog for National Poetry Month (and beyond)!!

Cactus are blooming at Joy's blog, Poetry For Kids Joy!

Janet at All About the Books With Janet Squires is featuring KEEPERS: TREASURE-HUNT POEMS by John Frank.

Violet writes from an interesting point of view in her Good Friday poem today. "Betrayer" is at Violet Nesdoly / Poems.

At The Drift Record, Julie Larios spotlights the line-up for the 2013 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem.

Samuel Kent posts 5 new poems every week at I Drew It. His favorite this week was inspired by #MM2013: "Banking on the Tooth Fairy."

Betsy at Teaching Young Writers found the seed for this week's poem in her writer's notebook.

Cathy wrote a rhyming poem to honor her card-playing mom. I hope there's a little bit of hyperbole in her poem, too! You can find it at Merely Day By Day.

Keri at Keri Recommends is late to the roundup because she and her husband were working with their bees all day. She wrote a trio of haiku in honor of the day.

Iphigene at Gathering Books shares a Good Friday poem: "Todo y Nada/All or Nothing."

Jone is in with a poem that perfectly captures the last days of school before spring break. She posted it at her blog Deo Writer.

SPRING IS A QUICK CHANGE ARTIST

SPRING IS A QUICK CHANGE ARTIST

sky

darkens

thunder

comes

rain

pounds 

down

sky

lightens

clouds

part

chirps

sound

'round

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Poem #4, National Poetry Month, 2012

Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku)...and YOU?

STREAMSIDE -- a river poem, a spring poem

STREAMSIDE

On the path
a girl is strolling,
by the path
a stream is rolling.

In the stream
the water glitters,
under water
crawdad skitters.

Path in spring
is good for going,
Stream in spring
is good for flowing.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012







Poem #3, National Poetry Month 2012

Thank goodness for my writer's notebook! The poem I thought I was going to write for today refused to be written. But I had bits and pieces of this poem in a discarded version of my SCUTTLE poem.


Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku)...and YOU?

Poetry Friday: Pop Quiz

(apologies to Robert Frost)

Nothing Gold Can Stay

1. Nature's first green is what color?
A. Blue
B. Violet
C. Gold
D. Green

2. This hue is her hardest to what?
A. Fold
B. Hold
C. Cold
D. Mold

3. Her early leaf's a what?
A. Shower
B. Bower
C. Glower
D. Flower

4. For how long?
A. An hour
B. A minute
C. A day
D. A season

5. Because of the evidence in the poem that "leaf subsides to leaf./ So Eden sank to grief,/ so dawn goes down to day./ Nothing gold can stay." would you say that this poem is
A. Optimistic
B. Pessimistic



(Answers: c, b, d, a...and the jury's out on number 5. I'll poll the audience on that one. Let me know in the comments whether you see this poem as an optimistic one or a pessimistic one. There's a story behind this question that I'll share later this weekend.)