Poetry Friday: The Roundup is HERE!

Flickr Creative Commons photo by kristin

A TIME TO TALK

by Robert Frost

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk, 

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am, "What is it?"

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

Thanks, y'all, for stopping by for a friendly visit!

Jan at Book Seed Studio is collecting a list of books that feature young poets as characters. She shares one today.

Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme has a NH Rock Garden for us today -- could be the one the speaker in my Robert Frost poem is working in!

Mrs. Bennett at Used Books In Class had her students write the narratives behind Shakespeare's sonnets. The results are brilliant!

Michelle at Today's Little Ditty celebrates spring with e.e. cummings.

Laura Salas comes to us from Teaching Authors today with a water poem by Christina Rossetti.

Buffy at Buffy's Blog shares her March Madness Poetry Sweet Sixteen poem. There's still time to vote all day today at Think Kid, Think!

Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge workshops a haiku for us today.

Beth at Tiny Readers and Writers shares one of her four year-old daughter's original poems.

Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup is hosting a vintage tea party. She's also the official collector of our Poetry Month 2014 projects and celebrations. Be sure to let her (and us) know what you'll be up to in April!

Diane has three offerings: at Random Noodling, a poem by Tess Gallagher; at Kurious Kitty's Kurio Cabinet, a trip to the circus; and at K.K.'s Kwotes, a poetry quote by Edmond de Goncourt.

Tara at A Teaching Life has a Mary Oliver tribute to her dog Sophie, who makes her pause.

B.J. at Blue Window also has a third round poem in March Madness. Good luck, Authletes!

Irene at Live Your Poem has a Poetry Friday gift for us -- a group SoundCloud page where we can record our poems! How cool is that?!? (As soon as I'm caught up with the roundup, I'll definitely check it out!)

Linda at TeacherDance shares a sweet alphabet poem.

Keri at Keri Recommends ends her celebration of Laura Purdie Salas' Water Can Be... with her favorite spread and a give-away.

Bridget at Wee Words for Wee Ones has a pithy comment on the seemingly endless (snow forecast here YET AGAIN for tomorrow) winter.

Jone at Check It Out is playing with pantoums.

Margaret at Reflections on the Teche writes about her student-voters in the March Madness competition. She took it to another level when she had her students use one of the Authlete's words in their own poems!

Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference has poetry from the herbary today.

Carol at Carol's Corner shares her favorite spring daffodils with us.

Donna at Mainely Write has bedtime stories and grandparenting on her mind today.

Travis at 100 Scope Notes is back at it with Book Spine Poems! Dump your shelves and make one to submit for his gallery!

Crystal at Reading Through Life shares spoken word poetry, poetry in music, and a few poetry book recommendations.

Dori at Dori Reads has a cinquain from Myra Cohn Livingston.

Charles at Charles Waters Poetry has a smorgasbord of offerings today!

Lorie Ann at readertotz shares a Jane Yolen book of poetry for your little ones, and a haiku at On Point.

Supratentorial recommends a book with poetic text that explores the concept of memory.

City Muse Country Muse shares a poem by Peter Everwine.

Shannon at Van Meter Library Voice tells about a fabulous project two schools created that incorporates Rainbow Loom research and Joyce Sidman's poetry!

Kathleen at What's Next? weaves a Louis Armstrong song with her own words.

Amy at The Poem Farm shares a poem of address, a school visit, and a Poetry Month Project announcement.

Jeannine at Views from a Window Seat shares her thoughts about the new verse novel Miss Emily by Burleigh Mutén, and remembers a conversation about poetry with the author.

Sylvia at Poetry for Children shares the line-up for the Texas Library Association Poetry Roundup session. What an amazing 10-year legacy AND a great line-up for this year!

Little Willow plants seeds of hope with a line or two by Gertrude Stein.

Sherry at Semicolon Blog features Dante Gabriel  Rossetti.

Myra at Gathering Books has a Maya Angelou poem for us today.

Cathy at Merely Day by Day is wandering today.

Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town is thinking about the life of words (thanks to a student and Emily Dickinson).

Becky at Tapestry of Words is gearing up for National Poetry Month AND celebrating her 100th post!

Greg at GottaBook announces his plans for 30 Poets/30 Days this year, and shares an original poem from earlier in the week.

Joy at Poetry For Kids' Joy shares a bus ride poem.

Janet at All About the Books shares the rhyming book Animal Snackers.

Catherine at Reading to the Core offers an original poem filled with wonder.

Poetry Friday -- the roundup is here!

It's the last Poetry Friday of the year, and I celebrate our community! What a blessing to spend the 52nd Friday of the year with YOU, and with POETRY!

Leave your link in the comments, and I'll round you up into the post in between cooking for Mom so that she has leftovers in the freezer for the months to come (and making a pan of Browned Butter and Sea Salt Rice Crispy Treats in spite of all of the other holiday goodies that beg to be nibbled), playing hours-long games of Sequence at the kitchen table while chatting about nothing in particular, long walks in the ol' hometown while listening to my current audiobook, The Goldfinch, and other assorted thises and thats Mom finds for me to do.

But first, let's give thanks for a three-hour plane trip home. (Translation: time to read!)

After the River the Sun
by Dia Calhoun
illustrated by Kate Slater
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, July 2013

review copy provided by the author

Last summer, Eva of the Farm (also by Dia Calhoun) made a brief Poetry Friday appearance with a whole group of other verse novels. I love the spunky character of Eva, who saves her family's farm -- an apple orchard in north central Washington -- with her art and poetry.

In this companion verse novel, Eva helps Eckhart Lyon to heal his heart. Eckhart's parents were killed in a white water rafting accident and he has come to live with his curmudgeonly Uncle Albert whose orchards are next to Eva's family's. Eckhart's passion for the story of King Arthur frames his quest for a permanent home and redemption for his parents' deaths, and helps to forge a connection between him and Eva. In a satisfying conclusion, even Uncle Albert finds a much-needed peace.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Without further ado, here's the roundup:

Keri, at Keri Recommends, is in first with the villanelle that Robyn wrote for her for the Winter Poem Swap...

...and Robyn shares the Winter Poem Swap Keri wrote for her at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Jone has a poetry pairing at Check it Out.

Myra, at Gathering Books, shares a poem to fill a hungry soul.

Charles, at Father Goose, has his eye on snowflakes.

Diane has another winter poem swap poem to share at Random Noodling -- the one Margaret wrote for her.

Kurious Kitty shares a Denise Levertov poem for the new year.

At KK's Kwotes, there's a quote from Douglas Kornfeld.

At Today's Little Ditty, Michelle has a Five for Friday Celebration for the new year.

Dia Calhoun, author of the verse novel After the River the Sun (reviewed above), shares an excerpt to further tempt you to read this fabulous book!

Julie, at The Drift Record, has images by the Finnish painter, Elin Kleopatra Danielson-Gambogi, and a poem by Jane Kenyon.

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha shares two poems by Emily Dickinson.

Margaret is sharing one of the poems from her "10 Poems Over Break" personal challenge at Reflections on the Teche.

At The Drawer, MM Socks has a poem about crows.

Donna give Spiny Pine his own poem over at Mainely Write.

Betsy has some "little bits" for us today at I Think in Poems.

Lori is flying high with her haiku at On Point.

It was a quiet roundup this week. If you've got something to add tomorrow or Sunday, the roundup offer does not expire.

Later this weekend, I'll update the roundup calendar. Stay tuned.

To inspire your next poems, I'll leave you with this:

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.

#NCTE12--Roundup

Before I even left NCTE this year, there were blog posts up reflecting on all of the learning and thinking that was part of the week. I was amazed that people could get their thoughts together so quickly. I am not there yet. I am still catching up on laundry, trying to transition back to school, enjoying the holiday weekend, etc. I have not had time to reflect on the amazing experience that #ncte was. But I knew that there were blog posts  going up faster than I could read them. Each was something I'd want to revisit once I caught my breath and could think again.  So I offered this roundup on Twitter. If I missed your post and you'd like it added, just let me know!

NCTE's annual convention is always a great energizer for me.  It seems to come at the perfect time in the school year and I always come back reenergized and I am always rethinking something.  But it is always tricky when someone asks me what I learned...because it isn't so much what I learned but what I came away thinking about.  Years ago, I'd go to NCTE's annual convention (I think I've been going for about 20+ years now, skipping only one--the year we adopted Ana :-) and I'd try to get caught up on everyone's thinking.  It was really my only chance to hear what my heroes like Ralph Fletcher, Lucy Calkins, Georgia Heard, Stephanie Harvey, Shelley Harwayne, Sharon Taberski, etc. had been thinking about all year.  But now, with social networking, I no longer have to wait until NCTE's Annual Convention to catch up on everyone's thinking. I have Twitter and blogs and Facebook and more to help me connect to people all year long. So, I realized that the NCTE experience has changed a bit for me. Instead of "learning something new," it has become more than that.  NCTE's annual convention is the time that we connect in person with all those people we learn with throughout the year. We continue conversations we've been having over Twitter and we start new ones.  We meet old friends for the first time and we make new friends who we immediately follow on Twitter. It is a time to connect and reconnect, a time to refocus our conversations.

I love love love when my friends meet my other friends. I love when all of my friends become friends.  I am always amazed that my friends don't know each other and I am always confident that they will love each other when they do meet. How could they not? I have great friends.  And NCTE networks all of our friends with each other and we get to meet our friends' friends.  What could be better? And what could energize conversations for the year to come any more than that?

Kudos to Sandy Hayes,  NCTE President and NCTE12 Convention Chair.  She did an amazing job putting this year's convention together. We learned and we laughed.  So, whether you attended NCTE12 or not, there is a lot of thinking being shared on blogs about new learning and thinking (and fun)! Below are some of the blog posts about the convention. Learn from them. Follow the bloggers on Twitter. Subscribe to their blogs.  Connect in some way so that you can continue to learn with them until NCTE13 and beyond :-)

Katherine Sokolowski has 2 reflections about the convention--NCTE 2012 and Lessons from NCTE 2012. I am always amazed at how quickly and thoughtfully Katherine can reflect on her learning. She may win the prize for first one to blog after the convention!

And if you missed the amazing Nerdy Book Club party in Vegas, you can read about it on the Nerdy Book Club Blog! Definitely a fun time!

Tony Ramono reflected in his post Vegas, NCTE12, and Sir Ken Robinson. I didn't get out of the hotel/conference center much at all so I was laughing at his section on what you might see in Vegas.

Kate and Maggie share some thinking on notetaking from an amazing session I was able to attend on Sunday. Smart thinking--lots to reflect on--In Which Our Hero Uses Colored Pencils to Save the World (of Note-Taking).  

Katie at Catching Readers Before They Fall shared her thinking in a post called Be the Change--Reflections on #NCTE12. (Just so you know, Katie ran 9 miles every morning before starting her NCTE days...impressive, very impressive).

And Pat at Catching Readers Before They Fall reflected on a session she presented (one that I couldn't get to so am so happy to be able to learn from her here!) Her post Storytelling Part 1-includes her own storytelling!  And Storytelling Part 2 shares another! Thanks, Pat!

And if you missed it, Monday night's #engchat was focused on reflections from #ncte12.  You can find the archives here. It was an amazing conversation and lucky for me, I participated from the airplane--thanks to Southwest for offering $5 Wifi!

Troy Hicks reflected on NWP and NCTE in his post Mentoring Matters.  I so love the key theme that Troy pulled from the weekend.

And Rose focused on the Important Things about #NCTE12 in her post at Mentor Texts with Lynne and Rose.

And Joanne Levy from The Class of 2K12 reflected --again another powerful theme of Books and Community in her post.

And at THEDIRIGIBLEPLUM, the NCTE12 reflections are in the form of 17 Word Reviews. Such fun and so much power in so few words!

Karen at Literate Lives shared her NCTE12 learning complete with How to Make a Braided Scarf!  Great pictures show the energy of the convention.

Mr. Wyzlic shares his whirlwind days at NCTE12 and ALAN.  Brian gives us fun and thoughtful read complete with photos!

Kellee shares her experience at Teach Mentor Texts--Kellee's exclamation points and smiles make it clear how much she enjoyed NCTE12 and ALAN!

Jen (also at Teach Mentor Texts) has included 2 videos in her NCTE12 Recap post. I would highly suggest you follow everyone featured in her first video and make sure to take time to watch her ending video (#notmyhat).
And at Always a First year Teacher, the post How The NCTE Conference Helped Me Get Past My Manufactured Fears, is both reflective and empowering.

At YA Love, Sarah shared her learning as well as a link to her presentation.

Kristin at Children's Literature Crossroads reflected at NCTE 2012: Friends, Books, Networking and Nerdybooklovers --she had a ball and learned lots.

Sherry at Library Fanatic shared her first experience at NCTE/ALAN! I'm guessing by all she shared she will definitely be at NCTE and ALAN every year!

Mrs. Heise at Heise Reads and Recommends shares her highlights (and she has lots of them!) of NCTE and ALAN.  Another post that captures the pace and fun of this year's convention!

Sarah at The Reading Zone reflected on her trip, complete with Tweets from some sessions she attended!

Kristin (@FirstGradeThinks) shared slides from her session, Integrating Technology with Thoughtful Comprehension Instruction in the Elementary and Middle Grade Classroom.

Leslie at Healigan's Second Home shares her experience in two posts, Teacher Finds Home at NCTE 2012 and Teaching is art, learning is personal.  One powerful line in Leslie's post said exactly what I've been thinking about this year's convention: "I will trust my instincts with more confidence than I have allowed myself before."

Tony at atychiphobia shares the awesomeness that was NCTE12 for him in his post NCTE12 > Vegas.

Gail at Blogwalker posted her reflections at Back from NCTE 2012 Convention. She summarizes great learning from several sessions.

Gary at What's Not Wrong posted his reflection in a post called "Glimpsing the Future". He says, "It's an exciting time to be in this profession!"

Noel at Passion Tea Lemonade starts off her recap in a nonlinear way in her post A Series of Fortunate Events (ncte2012). She has a few good conference tips along the way!

Cathy at Reflect and Refine writes English Teachers in Vegas? She reflects on connections as well as powerful things she is thinking about after convention.

Chris at Thinking about Learning and Teaching shares Part 1 of her NCTE/ALAN reflection here. Lots of great learning and big ideas to ponder!

Cynthia at Teaching in Cute Shoes shares in NCTE: My (Incomplete) Recap. This post is complete with key leanings from great people as well as (of course) cute shoes!

Beth at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust posts Bookish Teachers Invaded Las Vega for NCTE--filled with photos and fun!

Mrs. Bennett at Used Books in Class posted You shall know us by our shoes and Meeting Jon Scieszka, Rock Star. Both are fun reads packed with NCTE learning!

Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning posts NCTE 2012--Post, Ignite Style--great title and packed with top 20 things about her NCTE experience!

Ann Marie at AM Literacy Learning Log not only shares her NCTE learning but we also get to watch while she cashes in her big winnings!

Cindy at Charting by the Stars posts My Big Vegas Winnings shares her highlights:-)

Mary Lee here at A Year of Reading tells about NCTE the way she explained it to her students. Her November Mosaic of photos is comprised entirely of pictures from NCTE and Las Vegas.

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 ROUNDUP IS HERE

Nothing fancy. I'm just going to throw a blanket down under the tree. Come and join me! I bought some snickerdoodles at the farmer's market after this morning's hike that I'll share. Here's some poetry to savor while we sit in the shade and chat:

Sylvia at Poetry For Children

Lori Ann Grover at On Point

Iphigene at Gathering Books

The Dodge Blog

Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

Maria at Teaching in the 21st Century

Through the Looking Glass

The Write Sisters

Readertotz

Katie Ford Hall at Uneasy Pink

Carol at Carol's Corner

Diane at Random Noodling

Julie at The Drift Record

Jason at JMK

Kerry at Picture Books and Pirouettes

Ben at The Small Nouns

Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy

Debbie at A Journey in Learning

Jone at Check it Out

Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet

David L. Harrison

The Slow-Dripped Life

Dori at Dori Reads

Laura at Author Amok

Amy at The Poem Farm

Ruth at No Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town

Charles at Bald Ego and The Father Goose Blog

Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

Laura at Writing the World for Kids and 15 Words or Less

Irene at Live Your Poem

Linda at Teacher Dance

Robyn at Read, Write, Howl

Jama at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup

April at Teaching Authors

Little Willow at Bildungsroman

Liz at Growing Wild

Douglas at Florian Cafe

Oh, yeah. My post is here.

Here's a Poetry Friday poem that came to me from the parent of a child I taught more than 18 years ago (don't you LOVE the connections that LAST?!?!) Powerful.




Here's the video response. Equally powerful:

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here

HOW TO BE A POET

by Wendell Berry


    (to remind myself)

i

Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.

ii

Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

iii

Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.




We'll have to delay our practice of the middle part of Mr. Berry's poem as we share and enjoy our poems via electric wire, communicating quickly, gazing at screens.

Leave your links in the comments. I'll round up periodically, and in between times, I'll find some silence and write some poems.

If you're interested in hosting a Poetry Friday roundup in June-December 2012, the place to sign up is here. There are only six dates left, so don't delay! (Yes, I'll go back later today and add the blogs and links for some of the ones that are incomplete. Bad planning to do the roundup and the call for hosts on the same Friday...)

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Steven Withrow, at Crackles of Speech, shares an original poem about his Maine Coon Calico, Muffin.

Lucky for us, Tara, at A Teaching Life, continues to investigate and explore the new Poet Laureate's poetry.

Meandering is the mode of the day with Robyn Hood Black, at Read, Write, Howl.

Violet, at Violet Nesdoly / Poems, meditates on the meaning of a metronome.

Charles Ghinga (Father Goose) has an original moon poem for us this week.

Book lovers and independent bookstore lovers, head over to Jama's Alphabet Soup for a wistful remembrance of bookstores and booksellers.

Julie Larios, at The Drift Record, shares a poet with us, rather than a poem. Check out his rakish pose. (Some whimsical eye candy for Jama's blog?) And definitely follow the link to the new book on Frost and his poems. I'm predicting that sales will jump today.

Douglas Florian, at Florian Cafe, treats us to another poem from his baseball collection POEM RUNS.

Iphigene, at Gathering Books, has a "remembering home" poem that reminds me a bit of Jama's. Just a bit.

Check it Out. That's Jone's blog and what you should do. On Wednesday, Jone interviewed Susan Taylor Brown. ( I have serious office envy.) Today, Jone is sharing an original "Lily" poem by Susan.

Linda, at TeacherDance, has written an original Father's Day poem for her husband, a great father and grandfather.

We have another meandering post from Renee, at No Water River. She takes us from bales of hay, to a dairy farm in Iowa, to a "plowboy" farmer who loves cowboy poetry, to a silly rendition of a classic poem about a dairy cow. MOO!

Laura, at Author Amok, writes in response to current events in Syria.

Tabatha, at The Opposite of Indifference, shows us a different side of the Boogieman.

Katya, at Write. Sketch. Repeat., found a fascinating book/poem connection.

Ed DeCaria has a new gig writing baseball poetry for The Hardball Times. He uses one by Marianne Moore to convince readers that baseball and poetry can harmonize, and he follows that with an original sudoku haiku.

Diane triples with her Poetry Friday posts every week! She has FOUR offerings this week:
At Random Noodling I have Rita Dove's poem "Daystar." Kurious Kitty celebrates Father's Day with a poem by Peter Markus from the anthology, Fathers. And, over at Kurious K's Kwotes' is a quote by Peter Markus. The Write Sisters has a father poem by Seamus Heaney, "Digging."

Doraine, at Dori Reads, has a post full of laughter and joy.

At Writing the World for Kids, Laura has some thought-provoking lyrics, and lots of people took part in her 15 Words or Less prompt for this week. (I need to get back in the habit of participating...)

Debbie shares a J. Patrick Lewis cat poem with fun plays on words this week at her blog Debbie Diller: A Journey in Learning.

Amy, at The Poem Farm, says goodbye to a beloved pet bunny.

Donna, at Write Time, wrote a Father's Day poem for her sons (about their father) that will bring tears to your eyes.

At Mainley Write, Donna feels the tug of tides in her original poem.

Andi, at A Wrung Sponge, had an urban fox sighting just after reading a poem about urban foxes in a new book by Marilyn Singer.

Marjorie, at Paper Tigers, shares a poem from Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con Madre Tierra, a collection of poems by Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta.

Liz, at Growing Wild, has an original poem about the summer swimming pool that is simply PERFECT!!

Anastasia shares THE CONSTRUCTION CREW by Lynn Meltzer (Author) and Carrie Eko-Burgess (Illustrator) at Booktalking.

Need a poem for Father's Day? Sylvia has a list of poetry books about fathers at Poetry For Children.

Carol, at Carol's Corner, is trying hard to savor the last year before both of her boys leave the nest. Her poem choice today is perfect for savoring and noticing small moments.

Elaine is sharing an original memoir poem at Wild Rose Reader today. More savoring!

Pentimento shares a poem about the long healing that comes after the loss of an infant.

Rena, who is On the Way to Somewhere, shares an original poem about a sock monster.

(Now it's time for lunch, and then I'm going to make the birthday cake for my mom's 85th birthday tomorrow. I'll be back to round up a few more posts when the three chocolately layers are cooling!)

Ruth has arrived at her motel after a day of traveling and shares with us a poem about having two homes. Even her blog's name seems to be a comment on the theme of place -- There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.

Janet, at All About the Books with Janet Squires, shares a Lee Bennett Hopkins anthology about the wonders of museums.

Lorie Ann Grover writes, "At On Point I have Memory's Shimmer, and at readertotz we have How Doth the Little Crocodile."

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE A REDBUD IN SPRING
by Mary Lee Hahn

Burst
first.

Amaze
with the cavalier way
you explode whole constellations of purple stars
from your smooth grey bark.

Add glory
to the understory.

This is my 2nd round poem from the Madness! 2012 kids' poetry writing tournament, along with the redbud in our backyard that saved me from writing a poem about dandelions. A tip of my poet's hat to Elaine Magliaro, champion of the List Poem form. You're still a great teacher!

Voting for the First Flight of the Regional Semifinals has closed! Regional Semifinals, Flight One

Voting for the Second Flight of the Regional Semifinals remains open through today!
Regional Semifinals, Flight Two

Add your Poetry Friday links in the comments. I'll start rounding them up as soon as you start sending them in!

Jone is looking for recipients for her students' Poetry Postcard project in April. Go to Check it Out and sign up! It's fun!

Robyn has cherry blossoms -- and A.E. Houseman -- on her mind at Read, Write, Howl.

Julie shares all three of the poems she's written for the Madness! 2012 poetry tournament over at The Drift Record. We "shook hands" via email before we got our words and agreed that no matter which poem won, we would have fun. Julie is an amazing (Capital-P) Poet and I am honored to have played a round with her!

April continues the Teaching Authors tribute that this blogging group has been giving in honor of team member Jo Ann Macken.

Charles shares his collection of poetry books for adults at Bald Ego.

Linda is combining Slice of Life and Poetry Friday today at Write Time with a poem she's written for her DARLING granddaughter, who just turned two.

Here are Diane's posts for this week:
At Random Noodling I have Donald Hall's "O Cheese."
Kids of the Homefront Army continues with "Selective Service."
Kurious Kitty has Richard Wilbur's "The Writer." And, Kurious K's Kwotes' P.F. quote is by Rita Dove from the introduction to the The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry.
At The Write Sisters we have a delightful poem called "Shadow Dance" by Ivy O. Eastwick.

Tara, at A Teaching Life, is also combining her Slice of Life with Poetry Friday. Like Robyn, she has cherry blossoms on her mind, but she brings us some Billy Collins to enjoy while the petals flutter down.

The bloggers at Gathering Books are celebrating Women's History month. Myra brings us a poem and a song that have her thinking about women's voices and women's silences.

Linda at TeacherDance is writing a series of poems of goodbye. Her poems say goodbye to different stages of growing up, and are written for her grandchildren. Linda is also a Slice of Lifer.

Violet shares an original "grandma" poem titled "To Liam when he asks, What's green?" It's at Violet Nesdoly / Poems.

Oh, YAY! David Elliot has a new book of poems, this time about the sea. Mary Ann, at Great Kid Books, gives it (and Holly Meade's illustrations) a glowing review.

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha is linking poems with favorite book characters. She starts things off with poems that Hagrid, Calvin, and Hobbes each might have chosen. My fourth graders are her first guest contributors. They chose poems for the main characters from A Wrinkle in Time. Watch for more in this series, and if you want, you can play along, too!

Greg serves up a strong cup-o-Joe at GottaBook -- one of his poems from the Madness! 2012 poetry tournament. He is "versing" Susan Taylor Brown in the regional semifinals. Their poems will be live and ready for your votes at the tournament site, Ed DeCaria's Think Kid, Think, later today.

Heidi praises the process of "the curious and wonderful phenomenon that this March Madness has become" (the poetry tournament, that is) and shares a priceless poem composed by one of her kinders. Her blog's name -- my juicy little universe -- seems particularly apt today.

At Growing Wild, Liz has an original poem that will appeal to all cat lovers!

Jama has some drool-inducing strawberry shortcake for you today...if you have enough time to read that far! Be prepared for a laugh today at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Renee shares an entomological love poem ("The Moth and the Flame") by the "pre-published" poet Cathy Mealey. Stop in at No Water River and enjoy the poem, the interview, and be sure you click through to see how Cathy met the rhyme challenge Renee offered up!

Carol's Corner is blooming with daffodils today! She's got a Ralph Fletcher poem for us, from a book with a title I adore: ORDINARY THINGS: POEMS FROM A WALK IN EARLY SPRING.

Welcome to Poetry Friday first-timer Natalie, who blogs at Wading Through Words. She discovered this fabulous community by participating in the poetry tournament at Think Kid, Think! She's got an original poem for us today, to make a monumental occasion in their household. The photo makes a great punchline!

Speaking of the poetry tournament, at Mainley Write, Donna shares an amazing grouse story that lies just behind her winning first round poem for the tournament, "Fox and Grouse."

Joy has a dream poem and a writing exercise for us at Poetry for Kids Joy.

Happy belated World Poetry Day (March 21)! Sally, at Paper Tigers, shares a site that features the seven winners of a poetry-writing contest inspired by the ancient poet Eratosthenes.

Pentimento shares a starting-over-in-Spring poem by Steven Kestenbaum.

Sherry, at Semicolon, has a great quote about form in poetry and Tennyson's "Ulysses."

Amy LV has written a poem that came from a seed planted in her writer's notebook TWELVE years ago! She also shares some happy publication news today at The Poem Farm.

Books 4 Learning reviews MIRROR, MIRROR by Marilyn Singer: "Mirror Mirror is a celebration of the vigor and potential of language." So true!

Karen Edmisten shares a different sort of starting-over-in-Spring poem by Gary Young. Compare/contrast with the one Pentimento shared (above). Turn and talk to your neighbor.

Sing along to "Gold," by Fergus O'Farrell with Little Willow over at Bildungsroman. This song can be heard in the film ONCE and the new stage adaptation of ONCE, which is now on Broadway. Little Willow shares links, in case you need some help with the tune!

At Wild Rose Reader, Elaine has an original acrostic using the word bud, and proud-grandma pictures of her family's little bud!

Laura (Author Amok) writes: "To celebrate spring, I have a gardening poem by Susan Hendrickson and an invitation to participate in my 2012 National Poetry Month Project, 30 Habits of Highly Effective Poets (odd or practical, you choose)."

Spring is bringing rain and a Sara Teasdale poem to Dori at Dori Reads.

Lori Ann Grover has two links for us today: "Little Bobby Snooks" at readertotz, and "Periscope" at On Point.

At Musings, Joyce reviews Paul Janeczko's REQUIEM: POEMS OF THE TEREZIN GHETTO. She's right -- it's not a fun book, but it's definitely an important book.

Betsy, at Teaching Young Writers, has a sidewalk chalk haiku for us today!

Thank you, Ruth (at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town) for the Billy Collins TED Talk! I missed that one and now I will not have to go any further than your blog to watch it!

15 Words or Less are accumulating at Laura Purdie Salas' Writing the World for Kids.

100 Scope Notes is gathering book spine poems again this year for Poetry Month. Start pulling books of your shelf and get your camera ready!

A slam-dunk review of Hoop Kings by Charles R. Smith can be found at All About the Books with Janet Squires.

Kelly Fineman, at Writing and Ruminating, is the interviewee, instead of the interviewer now! Congrats!!

Cathy has the perfect poem for the beginning of spring break, comparing the perceptions of eighth graders to first graders as they face a week away from school. You can find Cathy's poem on Slice of Life blog, Merely Day By Day.

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!

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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."