National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.22

 

nature teaches us

expect the unexpected

snow in late April

©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

Poetry Friday -- The Lost Words

The Lost Words

by Robert Macfarlane

illustrated by Jackie Morris

I saw this book in Maria Popova's Brain Pickings newsletter last weekend and immediately reserved a copy from the library. Take a minute to follow the newsletter link. Gorgeous, right? I just picked it up yesterday, and I wasn't at all prepared for the size and heft of the book. It's 15" x 11" and weighs about 3 lbs. Every poem I've read so far is amazing -- I will learn lots from Robert Macfarlane about the art of the acrostic poem. Every illustration is amazing -- begging to be pored over. Yup. I'll probably need to buy my own copy of this book!

The introduction to The Lost Words is what inspired my poem for Karen Boss' challenge at Today's Little Ditty to "write a poem in second person, speaking directly to a kid or kids about something that you think is important for them to know."

"Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. they disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed -- fading away like water on stone. The words were those that children used to name the natural world around them: acorn, adder, bluebell, bramble, conker -- gone! Fern, heather, kingfisher, otter, raven, willow, wren...all of them gone! The words were becoming lost: no longer vivid in children's voices, no longer alive in their stories."

How can we expect these words to remain in children's language if children spend no time outdoors, or if all the wild places are tamed or removed?

Learn their names:

rocks, trees, flowers, birds, clouds, stars.

Know your home.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019

Buffy Silverman has the Poetry Friday roundup this week, and she, too, has written a nature-themed poem for the June TLD challenge!

To the Daisy

To the Daisy That Has Survived Even Though the Grounds Crew Mowed Down the School Land Lab Two Years Ago

Bloom!
No matter how low they mow you,
Bloom!
Show the world you won't be stopped:
Bloom!
Keep the memory of your former glory alive--
Bloom!
Send roots deep and runners long--
Bloom!
Bring joy to those who see your smiling face:
Bloom!


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019



I wrote this poem for the Ditty of the Month challenge that Liz Steinglass offered up at Today's Little Ditty. I couldn't believe my eyes this week when I saw that one of the daisies that had followed the daffodils and previewed the cone flowers in my school's (only barely tamed) wild space known as the Land Lab had survived...and BLOOMED! Like dandelions, it has adapted to the mower and was right down at ground level instead of waving around in the breezes, but there it was. Its spirit spoke right to my heart. This poem is for all the "daisies" who have to stay low, either below the mower or under the radar, but who refuse to stop blooming.

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

Keen Observer

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keen Observer

Unless

you

bother to watch for hawks, unless you try

to

find a preying mantis hiding in the garden, you do

not know that there is something

beyond

what

is obvious and easy. You

have

to stop assuming that you have already

seen it all, mastered

it all. You

must become a keen observer or you will

never

grow.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Poetry Friday -- Bike Ride Blessing, 2.0

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by stevep2008

ducks on the path

feet slap, slap, slap

I glide past

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Two bike rides in a row inspire poetry. It's starting to feel like a pattern, like a thing. We'll see what happens this coming weekend!

Matt has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme.

This World

For the second half of National Poetry Month 2017, 

Malvina will Sing It, and I'll write a poem in response.

What Scientists Know That We All Should Remember

This world values diversity
over singularity

adaptation
over stasis

the many
over the few

balance 

over imbalance.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I saved this song for last because, as you can hear, it is simultaneously a goodbye song and a love song to the world. The world she sings about in this song is the natural world, but it is also the world of humanity. 

Malvina loved this world (these worlds) enough to fight for all she found to be right and true, using her musical and writing talents. Her name needs to be added to our list of women heroes who 

Persist (like Elizabeth) 

Inspire (like Malala)

Speak (like Maya)

Influence (like Sonia)

Defy (like Rosa)

Fight (like Hillary)

Empower (like Gloria)

Focus (like Michelle)

Rule (like Ruth)

Sing (like Malvina)

My poem today was doubly inspired by a month spent with Malvina and the book I'm currently listening to, The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History by Thor Hanson. My wish for the future of the human race would be that we could come to know about ourselves the things that scientists know about life in general on this planet. Maybe if we could build our human society to be in tune with the scientific principles of life, we could keep the whole planet alive.

Poetry Friday -- Some Days

image via unsplash

Some Days
by Philip Terman

Some days you have to turn off the news
and listen to the bird or truck
or the neighbor screaming out her life.
You have to close all the books and open
all the windows so that whatever swirls
inside can leave and whatever flutters
against the glass can enter. Some days
you have to unplug the phone and step
out to the porch and rock all afternoon
and allow the sun to tell you what to do.
The whole day has to lie ahead of you
like railroad tracks that drift off into gravel.
Some days you have to walk down the wooden
staircase through the evening fog to the river,
where the peach roses are closing,
sit on the grassy bank and wait for the two geese.




Some days when you have to turn off the news, you write. We've been having lots of fun with #haikuforhealing. Heidi said it best:

a fine kettle of 

hawks we have here, 

rising on hot air

Outsiders have joined in. There's been a poem in Turkish, and one from @broetry.

Tabatha's recent post seems very apt: Do the stuff that only you can do -- make good art.

Hey, we set a record -- the Poetry Friday Roundup Host schedule for January-June 2017 filled up in a single week! Thanks, everyone! Here it is. If you need the code, just shout and I'll email it to you.

This week, Jone has the round up at Check it Out.

Poetry Friday -- Quite So Much

Quite So Much

If it weren't for the clouds
I wouldn't love the blue
quite so much.

If it weren't for the cold shock
of the first step into the river
I wouldn't love dry land
quite so much.

If it weren't for the surprise of bright yellow fungus
I wouldn't love dead trees
quite so much.

If it weren't for the constant chatter
and the loud enthusiasm of children
I wouldn't love silence
quite so much.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016


Our fifth graders went to Highbanks Metropark last week for a field trip put on by the Ohio River Foundation, a group that works towards "protecting and restoring the Ohio River and its watershed." The Olentangy River, which runs through Highbanks, is a part of the Ohio River watershed. Our students took part in several activities that determined the health of the Olentangy River, and that reinforced the need to conserve our fresh water resources. This poem was inspired by our field trip.


Violet is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Violet Nesdoly | Poems.

Poetry Friday -- Everyday Miracle: A Septercet

Everyday Miracle

Watching caterpillars morph
from worm into chrysalis
never grows old. Starting small

(teeny-tiny, truth be told)
they adopt a growth mindset --
after egg, it's grow, grow, grow.

They change caterpillar clothes
as they thicken and lengthen.
Then comes the ultimate change --

undigested food is purged,
silk belt is spun, anchoring
caterpillar, who lets go

and leans into the process.
Unseen to observing eyes,
parts that were caterpillar

shuffle, shift, reorganize.
What once began as all crawl
will become fluttering flight.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016



The Ditty of the Month challenge at Today's Little Ditty, issued by Madam Jane Yolen, was to write a septercet, a form she invented in which each verse (as many verses as you want) needs to have three lines, each with seven syllables. It can be rhymed or not. The challenge was also (I just realized) to make your septercet feature reading and/or writing. Oops. Maybe mine is about reading the natural world.

Michelle hosts the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Today's Little Ditty.

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):

Manatee Rescue by Nicola Davies

Manatee Rescue
by Nicola Davies
Candlewick, January 2016

I read aloud The Lion Who Stole My Arm by Nicola Davies earlier this year (see post here). In that book, an African boy who is maimed by a lion attack wants to get revenge on the lion that hurt him...until he learns about lion conservation and how much tourist money lions bring to his country.

I was thrilled to see that Nicola Davies is writing a series -- Heroes of the Wild. The newest in the series is Manatee Rescue. The manatees in this book live in the Amazon River, and the characters are indigenous people.

These are quick reads -- only about 95 pages, with an epilogue that gets them to 100. The books are illustrated with pen and ink drawings by Annabel Wright.

I can't wait for a kid reader to pick this up and give me their insights into the story!

Poetry Friday -- Surprises

AUDUBON METRO PARK

The sun -- a low-hanging smudge.
The pond -- a layer of ice over mud.

A movement under the ice -- a darker oval.
A late afternoon surprise -- a winter turtle.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015

Last Friday, we had the surprise of discovering a new metro part that's right inside the city, just south of downtown -- Scioto Audubon Metro Park. We were also surprised by this turtle sighting. I'm sure s/he is buried deep in the mud this week!

Friday kind of snuck up and surprised me this week, too. It's been an odd first week back, with school every other day M, W, F. Hard to get routines reestablished (in the classroom OR in my personal life)! Having four day weeks next week (PD day) and the next (MLKing Day) won't help either. Oh, well. Gotta do the best with what you've got, right?

Tabatha has the Poetry Friday roundup at The Opposite of Indifference today.

Nature in Poetry

On the Wing

by David Elliott

illustrated by Becca Stadtlander

Candlewick Press, 2014

As I noted last Wednesday, J. Patrick Lewis' anthology title says it all: "Everything is a Poem." On Thursday, we looked at science in poetry. Today, the focus is on nature in poetry -- specifically, birds. Upcoming posts include history, biography and imagination in poetry.

My students and I have loved David Elliott's short, pithy poems in his collections On the Farm, In the Wild, and In the Sea. In this book, the essence of seventeen species of birds, from the ordinary sparrow to the exotic Japanese Crane pictured on the cover are captured in Elliott's words and Becca Stadtlander's gorgeous and evocative illustrations.

Sadly, last June, Holly Meade, David Elliott's illustrator for the other books in this series (On the Farm, In the Wild, In the Sea) died at age 56. David Elliott dedicates this book to her.

Science in Poetry

Winter Bees: & Other Poems of the Cold
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Rick Allen
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2014

As I noted yesterday, J. Patrick Lewis' anthology title says it all: "Everything is a Poem." Today we'll look at science in poetry. Upcoming posts include nature, history, biography and imagination in poetry.

Joyce Sidman's Winter Bees is the perfect book to usher in this year's first Polar Vortex. Every day, compliments of the TV weather reporters, we are getting a science lesson in meteorology. Sidman's book will answer questions about how animals survive in the cold.

Each of the dozen poems, most about animals ranging in size from moose to springtail, but also including trees and snowflakes, is accompanied by a short sidebar of scientific information that expands the scope of this book to topics such as migration, hibernation, and the shape of water molecules, and introduces such delicious vocabulary as brumate, ectothermic, furcula, and subnivean.

The illustrations are simply gorgeous. You will want to spend as much time with them as you do savoring Joyce's poems. Watch out for that fox -- s/he wanders throughout the book!

As you and your students explore this book and Joyce's others, don't forget to check out Joyce's website. It is a treasure-trove for readers, writers, and dog lovers.


Keri has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Keri Recommends.

Poetry Friday -- Shadow

Flickr Creative Commons Photo

Shadow

The shadow before me shimmers,
then waddles,
then has a white stripe
and a tail that's lifting
as I'm backing away
hands up
not a word.

I'm just a tall shadow
that will disappear as suddenly
as it appeared.

We both walk away
more wary,
changed.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2014



Early morning walkers in our neighborhood can't afford not to be watchful.


Speaking of watching...I'll be watching for many of YOU at NCTE! I was going to try to plan an official Poetry Friday Meet-Up, but it's going to be a busy couple of days. Hopefully I'll see you at one or more of these Poetry and Poetry Friday Peeps' events:

THURSDAY: 
Elementary Section Get-Together where our very own Margaret Simon of Reflections on the Teche will be recognized as the Donald Graves writing teacher of the year!  4:30 PM - 6:00 PM in Gaylord National Resort, Maryland 1/2/3/A

SATURDAY:
NCTE Committee on Excellence in Children's Poetry is presenting a review of the 2014 Notable Poetry Books (2013 pub. date) 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM in Gaylord National Resort, National Harbor 12

Books for Children Luncheon with speaker Jacqueline Woodson. The 2014 NCTE Committee on Excellence in Children's Poetry will announce the children's poet who has been selected for the 2015 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM in Gaylord National Resort, Maryland C

CLA Master Class: Reading Poetry Across the Curriculum (roundtables hosted by Paige Bentley-Flannery, Jacqueline Jules, Heidi Mordhorst, and me; chairs/respondents include Laura Salas, Janet Wong, Sylvia Vardell, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, and Katie Button) 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM in Gaylord National Resort, Chesapeake J/K/L

SUNDAY:
Poem as Storyteller: Collaborating with Authors to Write Narrative Poetry (Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Irene Latham, Katie DiCesare, Ann Marie Corgill, Kathy Collins) 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM in Gaylord National Resort, Chesapeake 4/5



Diane has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Random Noodling this week.

Fox's Garden

Fox's Garden

Picture Book Surprises, part 3: Poetry Friday

Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole
by Irene Latham
illustrated by Anna Wadham
Millbrook Press, August 1. 2014
review copy provided by the publisher

What a surprise to visit an African Water Hole with Irene Latham!

The fifteen poems in this picture book introduce us to the importance of the water hole to the African grassland ecosystem. Each poem is accompanied by a short bit of nonfiction text that tells more about the water hole or the animal featured in the poem.

Working alone or in small groups, I can imagine students using this book (and others like it that combine poetry and nonfiction) as a mentor text for their own writing about an ecosystem, their neighborhood, or the cultures they are studying in social studies.

The other two rhyming/poetry books in this week's Picture Book Surprises series:

Picture Book Surprise #1 -- THE GREAT BIG GREEN by Peggy Gifford

Picture Book Surprise #2 -- JOY IN MUDVILLE by Bob Raczka


Jone has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Check it Out.

Poetry Friday Roundup host/hostesses are still needed in July, August, November and December. Sign up here.

New Poetry Books For a New Year, part 1

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!: Poems for Two Voices
by Carole Gerber
illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Henry Holt and Co. (February 5, 2013)

review copy provided by the publisher

This book is destined to become a favorite on Poetry Fridays in my classroom! My students have nearly worn out Mary Ann Hoberman's "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" books of poetry for two voices. Now we've got another from which to choose!

Carole Gerber, a local Central Ohio poet and a fellow The Poetry Friday Anthology (Common Core K-5 edition): Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core poet has written a collection of 18 poems about the natural world. The color-coding and the left/right alignment of the two parts will be familiar cues to readers of Hoberman's poems, but because Gerber's poems are not as formulaic as Hoberman's, this book will also make a great mentor text for students who want to try to write poetry for two voices.

These poems will be perfect for life science units on plants, animals, and food chains/webs. For example, in the poem "Seedlings," you will find the science vocabulary "coat," "germinate," "roots," and "sprouting." Told as a mask poem, from the points of view of two seedlings, this is a poem about that first moment when baby plants lift their heads above the dirt. Turn the page and the same scene is replayed with an excited seedling in conversation with a rabbit. That one doesn't end so well for the seedling!

The combination of fun poems and bright, happy illustrations by Eugene Yelchin make this one a sure deal!

Poetry Friday

THE DANCE OF LIFE

Oak,

not mobile,

chaperones,

roots tapping

the season's

beat.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

It's been an amazing poetry week for me. My poem using CAIRN is in a WON a neck-and-neck race with Lori Degman's using CLAQUE in the March Madness 2013 poetry tournament. I'll get my next word tonight, and guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!!

I was interviewed for an Education Week article about poetry in "the Common Core Era." When you share space in an article with Georgia Heard, and Joyce Sidman comments on it on FaceBook, you've got to sit back and have a little wow moment.

I'm starting to gear up for IRA in San Antonio at the end of April:

And, I'm playing a fun little line-by-line game of poetry email ping-pong with today's roundup hostess, Jone, at Check it Out. More on that when we decide it's ready to share.