Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.18

Ansel Adams [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

ANSEL ADAMS IN CANYON DE CHELLY

meandering 

eroding

grain by grain

rising

towering 

from the plain

lighting

shadowing

changeable sky

framing 

shooting

artistic eye

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013


From Carol (Carol's Corner):

"Canyon"

Great canyon,

shaped

by the crushing,

grinding 

wearing

constancy

of movement.

you

who have learned 

the secret

of bending,

circumnavigating

and pressing

forward

you

who so clearly 

comprehend

pattern and layer

shadow and light

clarity and cloud

You

who know

great beauty

derived

from great adversity

teach me the secrets

of your

rock canyon

endurance.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

You're out of breath,
chasing sunspots around this mountain
as if you were lighter on your feet
than a rainbow,
or faster than the fingers of clouds
casting shadows.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.16

via Wikimedia Commons

FENCES

I've been climbing fences

(and being hurt by them)

since I was a kid.

Broke my arm on one.

Snagged my right knee on barbed wire.

I have the scar to show for it.

I don't much like fences.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

Wrought-iron strong knots
twined to hold tight, day and night;
We stand, hand in hand.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

From Carol (Carol's Corner):

"A Poem About Barbed Wire"

I might have a poem about barley
or barges or barrels or bards
I might have a poem about barbeques
But I don't have a poem about barbed wire.

I might have a poem about Barbados
or maybe the Barbary Coast,
Those places with beaches and barnacles
where barbed wire's usually a ghost.

I might write a poem about bargains
or barbells or Barbie or Ken
Perhaps I've a poem about Bar-Bar-bara-Ann
But those barbed wire poems ain't no gems.

I might have a poem about barn burners,
barnstormers, barnyards, or barn doors,
But those poems about barbed wire fences
Are wadded-up trash on the floor.

Poems about barbed wire fences
are poignant or raunchy or wise,
I've written me poems about many ol' things
But barbed wire's one I ain't tried!

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2013

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.13

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Frank Douwes on Wikimedia Commons

I will be spending the day at The Literacy Connection's culminating event in the year-long Back to Books! series -- a day with Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child and the upcoming (Nov. 2013) Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits

I poked around Wikimedia Commons for pictures of children reading, and I almost went with a 1900's picture of 30+ children, seated in rows, probably reading primers. It would have matched the historic picture of the woman fly fisher from last Saturday. But it didn't make me wonder and imagine like this girl in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania did. I'll hold her in my mind all day while we learn from Donalyn and each other about best practices in the teaching of reading, and I'll post my poem later in the day, or tonight.

Linda (TeacherDance) was the first to leave a poem today:

It’s market day.
I needed to find
a treasure to sell,
a piece of metal,
a toy to mend.
Instead I found
my own kind of gold,
and sat down
right then
to look.

©Linda Baie, 2013

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) left this:

His fingers trace the fragile bones
of words;
an archeologist of meaning deepened
by pictures,
his mind now humming with the voice
of writers,
from some faraway place he may never visit
but once,
here in the stories unfolding inside
this book.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

After a day filled with books and book-talk, I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than a book spine poem! Which version do you like better?

That Little Something

Stories that could be true,

mirror of the heart:

a gift of days

A Gift of Days

That little something. 

Stories that could be true:

mirror of the heart.

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.17

By exfordy (Brian Snelson) via Wikimedia Commons

CRAZY

It's a crazy life --

I'm stuck in a zoo.

What else can I do --

I'll laugh!

It's a crazy life --

I have no real choice, but

I've still got my voice, so

I'll laugh!

It's a crazy life -- 

I can't spread my wings,

I've no freedom: that stings.

I laugh?

It's a crazy life --

look me right in the eye.

Can't you see that I cry?

It's no laugh.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

Don't laugh

this could be you

stuck here with me

inside this zoo

where all we do

is prance and wait

for someone else

to navigate

we situate

ourselves, here,

while dreaming only

to disappear

I fear, though,

we're here for ages

tossing words

across our cages.

- the podcast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1nv8LMwFVET

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

From Carol (Carol's Corner):

Some things 

are not 

supposed to be.

Parrots,

even laughing parrots,

are not 

supposed to be

trapped

in wire cages.

Moviegoers

are not 

supposed to be 

trapped 

in theaters

hiding as 

their worlds implode.

Six-year-olds

are not supposed

to be trapped

in school bathrooms

"waiting 

for the good people

to come."

Celebrants

are not supposed

to be trapped

in a rain

of bb's and broken glass

blood pooling around them.

And none of us

are supposed 

to be trapped 

in a world

where we are

the audience

always waiting

for the next act 

in an

endless tragedy. 

Some things

are not 

supposed to be.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013 

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.8

Wikimedia Commons photo by Alchemist-hp

This is the Wikimedia Commons photo of the year for 2011. It is "a view of the lake Bondhus in Norway. In the background a view of the Bondhus Glacier as a part of the Folgefonna Glacier."


ROWBOAT'S LAMENT

I'm moored
both fore
and aft,

tethered
to prevent
my escape across the lake.

Or is it to protect me from
the coming
storm?

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013


From Kevin (Meandering Minds)


I hunger for the clouds
heavy with rain
hovering over the lake
where we used to swim under the full moon.

If I could,
I would reach up and grab us both a handful
so that we could once again chew on the past,
letting memories dribble down our chins
as raindrops falling in spring
before flowers bloom ...

instead, we worry about the rumble of thunder
in the distance
and find ourselves fretting
about what the clouds might bring.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

The podcast of his poem is here.

And this: "I took some lines from the poems I have been writing here, and over with Bud the Teacher, and created this found poem: ReDiscovered Lines." (A bit of his process for creating this video is here.)


From Linda (TeacherDance):

The reflections
soon to be muddied
in his mind.
Storm coming!

I look for answers
in the rhyme;
there is no time.
The storm is coming.

Mirror in the water-
clear, now churning.
Still, in this moment
I am yearning.

Storm is here.

From Carol (Carol's Corner):

"Closer"

skymeetswatermeetssky

in bluegraygreenwhiteworld

wherecliffmeetslakemeetscliff

andlightmeetsshadowmeets

darkmeetslightmeetsdark

thelinesbetween

heavenandearth

areblurred

andperhaps

wearecloser

toheaven

thanwewillever

know.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

This week, I think I'll follow the same pattern of media I choose as last week -- Monday: Picture of the Year, Tuesday: Featured Picture (new category), Wednesday: Video, Thursday: Famous Art, Friday: Audio, Saturday: Potluck, Sunday: Animation.

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.29

Photo by Sara&Joachim, from Wikimedia Commons

MEERKAT JUMP ROPE RHYME

eenie

meenie

miney

mo

three little meerkats

all in a row

one looks left

and one looks right

and the third won't 

let you out of his sight

three little meerkats

all in a row

eenie

meenie

miney 

mo

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

Wait!

Did you hear that?

Stand still;

Hesitate.

Become the world -

Become the landscape -

Become a statue

and do nothing but

wait.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

The podcast of this poem is here. 


From Carol (Carol's Corner):

"Meerkat"

Me?

Meerkat.

You think I'm kinda funny looking?

Those stripes

on my back?

unique.

none of the other

fifty fellows

in my large mob

(or some people call it a gang or clan)

look exactly like me.

That hairless patch on my belly?

The place

where my black skin shows through?

That absorbs heat while I'm standing

on my rear legs,

early in the morning

after cold Kalahari desert nights.

And those big eyes

on the front of my face?

For watching.

African tribesmen

trust me to

protect their villages

from werewolves

that attack stray cattle

And I gotta take my turn at sentry duty

while others are foraging.

We forage for food

every day

Meerkats don't carry around

any stored body fat. 

That long curved claw?

That little hummer

can dig my weight

in sand in only seconds. 

Mostly, I'm foraging for insects

but if I'm really hungry

I might dig up a scorpion.

Not to brag,

but did I mention

that unlike you humans

I'm immune to

the venom of scorpions.

And those black crescent-shaped ears?

they close.

keep out soil

when I'm digging

pretty handy

a fella's gotta be able to hear

to protect himself

from brothers

who might want to kill him

to up their status

in our meerkat mob.

My long tapering tail?

Yeah, it's different

from my bushy-tailed

mongoose relatives.

That tail helps me balance when I stand upright,

And I use it

for signaling.

The Dutch didn't call me

stick tail

for nothing.

Me?

Sun angel.

You still think I'm kinda funny looking?

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013 

From Linda (TeacherDance):

Mom says:

“Look at the camera, children.

Smile for Daddy!”

But I keep thinking that something’s up,

and Billy and Jake need to keep their eyes open

for 

jackals on the left

lions on the right

and I need to look up

for the eagles.

They call us merely-cats

but we’re always lookin’.

Okay Mom,

we’re going to smile now.

Oops, where’s Billy!

©Linda Baie, 2013

From Cathy (Merely Day by Day):

Sentries

together

we listen for

hawks,

jackals,

eagles.

we watch

tirelessly.

together

we stand

while others

hunt

for lizards,

insects,

birds.

foraging

for food.

we are

ready

at a moment's

notice

to bark

our call,

warning all

to take cover,

to hide

deep

in our tunnels.

together

we stand

strong,

we protect,

we are

the lookouts,

guarding

our mob.

together

we are

one. 

©Cathy Mere, 2013

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.5

Wikimedia Commons Photo by The National Park Service

Along with pictures, there are sound files on Wikimedia Commons. I can't figure out how to download and embed them here, so you 'll have to click on this link to listen to wolves howling.

The photo above is of an eleven-member wolf pack in winter, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, taken by the National Park Service.

I won't share my process for this poem. It was wordy and officious and moralistic. At some point, I told myself to live up to my reputation for writing sparsely.

US AND THEM

divide

plow

whack

pave

build 

mine

pollute

wild

howl

pack

brave

single

file

commute

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) left this beauty in the comments:

I ride the back of the pack -
my paws wobbly along the edge of the path,
as I raise up my voice
to harmonize and synchronize
and synthesize the tones of the leaders,
our echoing songs shifting among the hills
as winter arrives, and I vow, once again,
to survive.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

Listen to Kevin read his poem with the sound of the wolves in the background on Vocaroo.

Carol (Carol's Corner) takes the idea of the wolf pack to the playground at recess:

"Middle School Recess Duty"

Full-coated
eighth grade
he wolves
point noses skyward
and howl passion
at shapely
she wolf
beauties
preening themselves
in the sun
by the jungle gym

while sixth and seventh grade wolves
crawl on their bellies
whimpering
acquiescence.

(c) Carol Wilcox

If you have a minute, go back to yesterday's post and check out the poems Carol and Kevin wrote based on the image of the sculpture "Le Silence."

All of the posts so far can be found here. At some point I'm going to have to write a post or an article for Choice Literacy about how this project has already impacted my classroom.

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.



Robyn has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.7

By ru:user:NikolayS (ru:Файл:Lockstitch.gif) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0, GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The very last category in the Featured Pictures section of Wikimedia Commons is Animations. This animation of a sewing machine completing a lockstitch opened the door on a flood of memories of my mother, her little black Singer sewing machine, and all of the clothes she made for me and my dolls.

In my notebook, I jotted:

me by the front door

Easter Dress

daisies, yellow sash, folded socks, white patent leather shoes

eighth inch buttons on Barbie's clothes

patterns--tissue--pins--pinking shears

(It was at about this point that I started crying, and I didn't stop until my poem was done. Who knew that the animation of a sewing machine's stitch could unleash such a flood of memories?)

precision, measured

constant

love

And here's my poem:

A MOTHER'S LOVE

A mother's love:

measured in yards

of fabric on the dining room table

and rows of eighth inch 

doll clothes buttons.

A mother's love:

tissue-patterned

with traditions and rituals,

lockstitching the seams

of son-daughter-husband-family.

A mother's love:

made from scratch,

sturdy and functional, but embellished

with rick rack and sequins

and pearl head snaps.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

We work in conjunction,

you and I,

collaborators on this intricate design.

As you step up,

I move down;

as you dance in,

I shuffle out.

We shift gears in lock-step,

sewing together this family

with threads from the tapestry

of our own parents' history ...

genetics as the glue that binds.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

From Carol (Carol's Corner)

"Sewing Lesson"
Grandma Grace
detrains
in a stunning
cardinal red wool coat.
"She made it herself,"
my mother says.
"I didn't inherit the sewing gene,
But she can teach you to sew."

At the fabric store
we sit on high stools
perusing the willowy brunette models
in wide swirling skirts
that spin across the pages
of the Butterick and Simplicity catalogues.
I imagine twirling through the halls
at James Madison Elementary School
my own wide spinning skirt.

Grandma Grace commandeers
the dining room table
and we pin rustling paper patterns
to colorful cotton cloth.
My grandmother exhorts me
to cut carefully
makes me re-pin
more than once.
I draw blood and
Grandma Grace
dabs my finger
with a tissue wadded
from her apron pocket.

And then we are ready for the machine.
I practice on scraps of cloth
until my grandmother declares
me ready to assemble the pieces
of my gorgeous swirling skirt.
It is hard to make straight seams
and I become well-acquainted
with the seam ripper.
Zippers are harder still.

And then my dress is done.
I model from my runway
on the dining room table
disappointed that
the chubby little girl
in the straight cotton shift
with the resewn seams
and crooked zipper
looks nothing like
those willowy brunette models
in their beautiful swirling skirts.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.11

A Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.
This painting is in the Public Domain in the United States.

CHAOS

This is the monkey the pug surprised
that resulted in panic and chaos.

This is the lady the monkey climbed
when surprised by the pug
that resulted in panic and chaos.

These are the parasols that flew here and there
when the scream pierced the air
from the lady the monkey climbed (now in her hair)
when surprised by the pug
that resulted in panic and chaos.

These are the people in Sunday best
pushing and shoving into the lake
battered by parasols
alarmed by the scream
from the lady the monkey climbed (now down her back)
when surprised by the pug

who escaped from his owner
who looks on in horror

at the resulting panic and chaos.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



We needed some comic relief after yesterday, didn't we? (Please click back and read the amazing poem Carol sent late last night.) I started by trying to write about the idyllic Sunday scene, but I kept looking at that little brown dog bursting in from the bottom right, and the monkey that seems to have its back arched in surprise. This poem makes me laugh every time I read over it, and I'll never look at this Seurat the same way!


From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind)

Why do they just stare as I drown out here
in this river of expectations,
caught up in currents too strong to resist?
Is it my clothes, too ragged to believe?
My heart? Too jagged to see?
My ambition? It's what drives me so
I watch as the cultural elite stand motionless,
the dogs barking at the monkey squealing
at the women shading the men
just lounging around with crumbs on their tongues
as if they don't quite know their whole world is changing
and their Empire is crumbling,
yet, still, they won't lend a hand to the man
on his way up.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

Kevin's podcast of this poem is here.


From Carol (Carol's Corner)

“Maggie”

You come to me
During a cold November rain
I do not recognize you
But you kiss my face frantically,
Insist that we have
known each other
For a very long time.
Leave muddy pawprints
Down the front of my purple raincoat

I am sure
Someone must be searching
for such a fine young yellow lab
clearly purebred.
But no one claims you.
And so you,
Sixty pounds of
frantic
tail wagging
joy
claim us.

You love many things-
Naps on the living room couch
Doggie bags
snatched from my hand
before they ever make it to the fridge.
Car rides,
not next to Ramsey
in the back of the SUV
but rather perched on the edge
of the front seat
where you pant
and drool happily
on the dashboard.

Most of all
you love Washington Park
dog heaven on earth-
endless squirrels
geese to chase
a myriad of four-legged friends.
You are the Houdini of dogs
Regularly freeing yourself
From the confines of the leash
to race through soccer games
and gobble hot dogs at birthday parties
and company picnics.

You name yourself
an honorary member
of taekwondo and folk dancing classes.
The ladies in the Thursday afternoon art class
are especially unappreciative
of your talent
issuing a lifetime ban
After you knock over an easel.

Your favorite place, though,
Is the slimy, duck-poopy,
algae-ridden lake
And you paddle gleefully
Back and forth
For hours on end
As Ramsey and I glumly wonder
Whether you will ever come out.

Your carefree existence ends
The rainy May evening
when the boys move in.
Now you have a job.
You are therapy girl.
All summer
My two broken boys
Rage and scream and rail
against a life
that has been far from kind
And you lean against them,
Gently licking
the hurt away.

© Carol Wilcox, 2013

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.6

I'm going to be in the fly fishing shop at our new Cabela's store today for the Ladies' Spring Day Out event from 9-1:00 talking to folks about Casting for Recovery. I have been involved with Casting for Recovery since 2005, when I was a participant. I have written about it many times here on the blog. Use the search box ("Casting for Recovery") to find these posts, if the spirit moves you. And if you want, you can even "like" the Ohio CFR Facebook Page!

One of my favorite fishing memories happened in Maine when I treated myself to a trip to L.L. Bean's Women's Fly Fishing School. After I completed the classes, I fished on several rivers in Maine before returning home. One was much like the picture above, and although I wasn't dressed like that pre-1920's fisherwoman, I was standing on a large boulder, fishing alone. Alone, but not alone. A flock of cedar waxwings crowded the bank, chasing after the fly I was casting. I was having no luck with the fish, so I just stood quietly to enjoy the birds. When I had been still for a few minutes, one of the birds perched on the tip of my fly rod! My favorite fly fishing catch of all time!! Here's a haiku about that day:


RIVERBANK IN MAINE

Cedar waxwings flocked,
curious about my casts.
Calm fly rod: bird perch.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013


From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):

"There's some metaphor at work here,"
the first whispered to the other,
who lounged against the rotting log,
watching, waiting, wondering.
"Oh," the second replied, handing the first
a sandwich she had made for them to savor
while she fished solo from the rock,
"and what is that?"
The first took a thoughtful bite, and leaned back,
eyes scanning the sky
as the sound of the line from her pole
zinged its way into his mind.
"I don't rightly know," he admitted,
"but surely there is a metaphor swimming in that river."
The second nodded,
"And if anyone will catch it,
it will be her."
The two men sat up now, dazzled by her expertise
as she pulled and twisted the pole,
the lure sliding and slinking along the water's surface,
guiding the fish towards her
through some unspoken magic that neither the fish
nor the men,
nor even the father who had once taught her,
could even begin to fathom,
and then, as was her want, she let them all go,
set them loose,
so she could walk home alone, and free,
without their thoughts and talk crowding her head.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013

Podcast of Kevin's poem here

From Cathy Mere (Merely Day by Day):

THE DESTINATION

Tiny stones
reach across the water,
spaced close enough
to see the possibility
of the unexplored,
yet distanced,
to make the crossing
difficult.

I poise myself
upon the first,
trying desperately
to balance,
extend,
step,
hoping to cross,
safely.

For a time I steady myself
between the two rocks,
finally pushing
to the next,
it wiggles
back and forth,
I am unsure I will stand
strong.

Water rushes,
reminding me to be
cautious,
vigilant,
stone after stone
I slowly cross the water,
until I reach my
destination.

©Cathy Mere, 2013


From Carol (at Carol's Corner...and be sure you click on the link to her blog to read about her process for this poem):

"Cathedral"
Sunday.
Not for her
a steepled sanctuary
hard wooden pews
raging orations
Hymns from the burgundy
robed choir
mixing in a smoky haze
with yesterday's gossip.

Instead
she hikes her skirt
and climbs a rock pulpit
to worship
in a cathedral
of rushing water.
River choir
sings glory hallelujah
As she casts her line
And lifts her heart
heavenward.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

From Steve (inside the dog):

Fly Fishing: a haibun
Balanced upon a cold rock, she considers her options. Surrounding her, the rush of meltwater, the balm of balsams, the persistence of granite, and the fullness of time. Perched starkly above the translucent surface, she imagines the murky world of trout below -- their hungers, their desires. Each moment contains a lingering delight and a plunge. The door opens through the deep eddy of understanding, and an unsteady step into the swirling waters.


a hand-tied midge arcs
toward icy trout-waters --
craving of ripples

© Steve Peterson





You might have noticed that there is no attribution for this picture. That's because it's in the Public Domain. Here's what Wikimedia Commons had to say about public domain as it relates to this photo:

"This Canadian work is in the public domain in Canada because its copyright has expired due to one of the following:

1. it was subject to Crown copyright and was first published more than 50 years ago, or

it was not subject to Crown copyright, and

2. it is a photograph that was created prior to January 1, 1949, or

3. the creator died more than 50 years ago.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.

Public domain works must be out of copyright in both the United States and in the source country of the work in order to be hosted on the Commons. If the work is not a U.S. work, the file must have an additional copyright tag indicating the copyright status in the source country."

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.12

This "Short Composition for Two Harps" by Tudor Tulok is 1 minute, 53 seconds long. In my mind, I saw daffodils blowing in the wind. But this is what I wound up writing:

THE GLORY OF SPRING

Flowers aren't the only ones
who bloom in spring.

In classrooms everywhere
children are opening
as suddenly as tulips,
waving their hands in eager confidence
like daffodils in the breeze.
Stubborn and tenacious as dandelions,
they have mastered
subtraction or sentences or similes.

They have arrived
and they know it.

Teachers witness this glorious blooming
each spring
and it never ceases to amaze.

We know they will leave us soon,
so give us a minute
to appreciate the glory of spring.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013


Yesterday, I let my students listen to this music so they could share some of their writing here.

that sound calms

me down every

time I hear

it going past

nice and fast

just the

way I

dream 

it

--B

SOUND OF BEAUTY

The brush of a harp.

The melody.

The sound.

The feeling.

The beauty.

--No

ANGELS

It feels like

angels are flying

over me,

playing their soothing harps,

sounds relaxing.

--Na

FLOWERS AND HARPS

When I think of flowers

    I remember the

sound of harps. They are

    both peaceful and

relaxing. They make me feel

              safe.

--Jo

peace    harmony

freedom

happiness

Litmus

Lozenge

vengeance    sorrow

pain              agony

honor    courage

respect

--Re

TWOs

Two harps

play

two beautiful

sounds

like two flowers

twirling around and

around

like two friends

caring for

each other

like two blue jays

singing

sister and brother

like two people

giving gifts on special days

like two children

wanting 

to play

like two angels

watching 

for us

like two harps 

playing

two

beautiful 

sounds.

--Ra

Had to remember

A loved one.

Running my fingers on the strings making 

Peaceful music.

--M

NICE SOUNDS

That sound, what is that

it's so...peaceful.

It makes me calm down,

overjoyed, I went to where

it came from.

It was at a church

it was a girl playing 

her harp.

I walk in and 

she stops, she looks

at me then looks away

and starts playing

again.

--G

HARPS

The music from heaven

letting us know the right way

like a rainbow in the clear sky

it is quiet music that

makes us feel safe.

--Y

HARP

The music is peaceful

like crickets making music.

All the sounds come together

like every feather of a bird.

This piece had harmony

like a two instrument symphony.

Playing my harp

making beautiful music.

Plucking the strings,

playing something inspirational.

Inspiration,

that made this poem.

--J

no stopping

back and forth, forth and back.

no stopping; for there is no

time in this new world.

back and forth, forth and back.

as i lean against ellis,

i try to remember those days.

back and forth, forth and back.

one year more until

this war is out of my head.

back and forth, forth and back.

my life is full of melodies,

and i need them to live.

--S

Diane has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Random Noodling.

If you'd like to look back on the week, you can find Seurat on Thursday, Sioux Ghost Dancers on Wednesday, a surfer on Tuesday, and the Wikimedia Picture of the Year for 2011 on Monday.

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

Celebrating 10 Years of A Year of Reading: Happy 10th Birthday to Us!

Wikimedia

Happy 10th Birthday to A Year of Reading! 

Our blog began as a place to have conversations about books and make predictions about the Newbery winners. Here are all of the winners for the lifetime of our blog:

2006 Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

2007 The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

2008 Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

2009 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2010 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

2011 Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

2012 Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

2013 The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

2014 Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

2015 The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Our blog has been a place to share book reviews of children’s and profession books, classroom stories, Poetry Friday and Poetry Month, It’s Monday What Are You Reading, Math Monday, #Nerdlutions, One Little Words, #GNCelebration, #PB10for10, #cyberPD…and more in more than 3000 posts, which means we’ve averaged about 300 posts per year! WHEW!

The blog isn’t the only place we’ve shared our reading – we’re both on Goodreads, and have listed over 3000 books there. Between the two of us, we’ve tweeted over 30,000 tweets (probably not all about books and reading)!

The blog isn’t the only place we’ve been writing these past 10 years. Both of us write for Choice Literacy. Franki has published and/or co-published four books, and Mary Lee has poems in six anthologies.

It’s been a fun and productive 10 years both on and off the blog. We’re delighted that we share the Kidlitosphere with you, and look forward to what the next 10 years will bring!

Screen Free Week, Concussions and Stuff...

A Year of Reading will be taking part in Screen Free Week 2013. This is a week for turning off screens to find more time to read, play, hang out with family, etc. Our Screen Free Week will begin after Mary Lee's National Poetry Month series ends on April 30.  We will be off the blog from May 1-May 5.

Franki will have an extended Screen Free Week. Due to a never-ending concussion, she will most likely be unable blog for 4-6 weeks.  Mary Lee will cover on her own for a while (as she has been for weeks) as Franki takes time to recover.

Enjoy your time during Screen Free Week!