We've just returned from a trip out of town, where I ran across gobs of lost things. Of course, I took pictures. Glad to be home. More to come!
Jone Rush MacCulloch has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!
JoAnn's Blog
National Poetry Month Day 5 & Poetry Friday!
April 5, 2024
Happy Poetry Friday! Irene Latham has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Live Your Poem. Enjoy!
Early Birds
January 19, 2024
While I wait for the coffee to steep in the morning, I look out the window to check out the world. I might see a cardinal or two, a flock of juncos scavenging under the feeders, three or four squirrels chasing each other around, or any of an assortment of other small creatures. This was my view a few days ago.
Early Birds
still too dark to tell for sure
probably a mourning dove
perched above the curlicue
on the snowy front porch rail
like a fluffy finial
staring through the glass at me
wondering what I might be
but still too dark to see
Want to check out more Poetry Friday posts? Robyn Hood Black has rounded them up for us at Life on the Deckle Edge. Enjoy!
Three Ways of Writing About Narcissus
December 29, 2023
narcissus
oniony bulb
tall, tippy stalk
pale flowerlets remind us:
spring!
I might be late to the party, but here I am, slipping in one more Poetry Friday post before the end of the year. I made three attempts to write about the narcissus bulb forced to bloom on my desk. The first is an elfchen, a new form to me, introduced by the #PoetrySisters. It didn't really say all I wanted to say, but I will try the form again. As I kept scribbling, I fell into the more familiar haiku.
from tall, tippy stalk,
small burst of pale flowerlets--
spring in December
Finally, I tried free verse, which gave me a little more leeway.
Narcissus sprouts
from oniony bulb.
Glistening white roots
sink to drink.
Tippy stalk stretches
in daily increments.
Pale flowerlet sunburst
helps us remember:
spring circles back.
And now I want to say Happy New Year to all! May it be filled with all kinds of hope, joy, and love!
Michelle Kogan has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Be sure the check out the other Poetry Friday posts.
Notes from the File Cabinet
November 3, 2023
Autumn has arrived, and it kinda feels like winter. I spent much of the summer with my hands in dirt, but I'm back inside now.
We had some work done on our house (New windows! New paint!) that required emptying out the room where I write and sew. I was determined not to cram everything back in, so I emptied out the file cabinet and gave it away. Now I'm sorting through piles of paper. I've made some progress, but there's much more to read and revise or recycle. Here's a poem I found and updated, started in July 2019.
Workmates
I am not the only one
who works from dawn to setting sun.
Robin builds a sturdy nest,
never stops to take a rest,
then lays eggs! That must be hard.
Squirrel digs up half the yard.
Rabbit nibbles on the flowers
that I tend for countless hours.
Whether weather's hot or cold,
bees fill up their sacks with gold.
Beaver dams a rushing stream!
Compared to them, my life's a dream.
Buffy Silverman has the Poetry Friday Roundup. Be sure to visit!
Jump-Starting Spring
December 29, 2022
Happy Poetry Friday! I'm joining the #PoetryPals this month with a poem that includes a box. Mine holds seeds I collected over late summer and fall. Today was that one bright winter day mentioned in the poem, so I planted some little greenhouses, hoping to give the seeds a head start. The containers you see in the photo include everything listed in the poem and more. Now I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see lots of healthy sprouts in spring.
In case the poem above is hard to read, here it is again:
Jump-Starting Spring
I squirrel away autumn's treasures
in junk mail return envelopes
in a plastic spinach box in the cold garage:
turtleheads, touch-me-nots, penstemon,
columbine, cup plants, coneflowers (purple and prairie),
milkweed (common, swamp, and whorled).
One bright winter day,
at our picnic table-turned-lab bench,
I slice empty milk jugs to hinge open like hope chests,
pour in soil, plant seeds, sprinkle water,
add labels on stakes,
close and fasten,
and mark the outsides for good measure.
With groundless optimism,
I line up the jugs in the snow,
counting on nature and miracles.
© 2022 JoAnn Early Macken
Patricia Franz is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup on her Reverie blog. Enjoy!
What Do You See?
December 22, 2022
When I started thinking about this post, Southeastern Wisconsin was expecting an enormous blizzard. I saw predictions of 14-18" of snow, then 4-8," and then 1-3." As of Thursday evening, winds are howling and the temperature is dangerously low, but all we see here is a dusting of snow. We'll keep looking out the window.
No doubt, climate change is making weather forecasting more difficult. I feel sorry for meteorologists!
Be sure to check out all the Poetry Friday goodness at Live Your Poem with Irene Latham. Enjoy!
Tomatoes Take Over Autumn--and Poetry Friday!
October 13, 2022
I will remember this summer as The Year the Tomatoes Took Over. We have eaten them straight from the garden, passed them around the neighborhood, cooked them in every way possible, and almost filled up the freezer. This poem is the result of an assignment in the delightful Fall Poetry Writing Workshop with Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich through The Poet's Studio.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Enjoy!
What Burger? A THINGS WE EAT Poem
March 10, 2022
Today's poem is from THINGS WE EAT - A BOOK OF ALPHABET POEMS FEATURING FOOD, a Children's Book Council "Hot Off the Press" Selection by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. It's a collection of ekphrastic poems written to photo prompts of diverse children eating, cooking, picking, growing, or (in one case) warning about foods. All profits from the book go to the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Children in Crisis fund. It's available now on amazon.
Hamburger
What burger? Hamburger,
nutburger, yamburger,
mushroom-and-beanburger,
biggest-you've-seen burger.
Burger with pickles
and onions and cheese,
ketchup and mustard
and lettuce? Yes, please!
© 2022 by JoAnn Early Macken
A hamburger is an odd topic choice for me. I quit eating meat when I was 16, and I've been a vegan for more than five years. But when I started thinking about all the different kinds of burgers available, I gave myself a challenge to include a variety of plant-based options. I found the rhythm as I walked the dog, and then the challenge became fun!
My favorite burger is adapted from this recipe for "BEEFY" VEGAN BLACK BEAN WALNUT BURGERS. I try to keep a stockpile in the freezer.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to submit a poem after I took Janet and Sylvia's Anthology 101 and Anthology 201 classes. You can find out more about this anthology in today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Sylvia's Poetry for Children blog. And you can find out more about Janet and Sylvia's poetry anthology classes, too. I found them comprehensive, well organized, and inspiring!
JoAnn
Wordplay Poems for Poetry Friday
October 28, 2021
Happy Poetry Friday! I'm participating in the wordplay challenge presented by the Poetry Sisters. Today's poem is based on the exercise suggested by poet Nikki Grimes in this interview with Michelle Heidenrich Barnes.
RAIN (a wordplay poem)
RAIN is a vertical word.
Its letters are streaks down a window—
except for proud R with its chest puffed out.
RAIN hangs out with CLOUDY and GRAY,
TORRENTS and BUCKETS,
CATS and DOGS.
RAIN is a glittery word.
It glimmers. It glistens.
It gussies up TREES and UMBRELLAS.
(c) 2021 JoAnn Early Macken
These wordplay poems remind me of the brilliant animal poem collection Words with Wrinkled Knees by Barbara Juster Esbensen. Twenty years ago, I received the Barbara Juster Esbensen Poetry Teaching Award for my work with a third grade class using Esbensen's book A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children to Write Poetry. With the prize money, I was able to buy a copy of Words with Wrinkled Knees for each student in the class. I have such fond memories of the experience that it's hard for me to pick a favorite poem, but here's one:
What a moonstruck
word. O W L !
Such round yellow lamps
for eyes and the hoot
built into the name
Beaked and taloned
it leaves the page
at dusk When blue light
turns to shadow
and wind moves
the empty paper this word
O W L
opens soundless wings
s a i l s o u t
to where the smallest letters
cower in the dark
--Barbara Juster Esbensen, Words with Wrinkled Knees
Linda has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at TeacherDance. Enjoy!
JoAnn
Chimney Swifts Drop In!
September 10, 2021
Chimney swifts roost together in fall before beginning their long migration.
Dusk. Look up. Listen:
whirling, chippering bird cloud.
Chimney swifts drop in.
You can find out more about chimney swifts from All About Birds or Audubon.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Enjoy!
These Days
September 3, 2021
These Days
Six in the morning
my neighbor's radio
interrupts dove's soft coo,
crickets' bright chirps.
I once had
obligations.
These days I just putter,
hands plunged in holy soil,
heart full of birdsong,
believing in miracles,
watching them grow.
© 2021 JoAnn Early Macken
It's been a summer, hasn't it? I took a step back from writing and spent more time gardening, reading, and sewing, hoping that a bit of a break would help me refocus and the annual back-to-school hubbub would invite me back to work.
The night before our neighborhood school started, we spotted nighthawks flying over as they do at the start of every school year. In the morning, excited kids and parents walked past our house to the elementary school down the block just like they used to. And I woke up excited about writing again.
Just what I needed, I guess. Lucky me!
Be sure to visit the Poetry Friday Roundup with Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!
April 30 Poems & Poetry Friday!
April 30, 2021
Happy Poetry Friday! In honor of the final day of National Poetry Month 2021, I'm posting three gardening haiku. Alas, this blog format allows only one photo per post; trust that they are all based on my personal experience.
annual promise
I will pick my own tulips
before squirrels do
before it's too late
cage erupting peonies
corral the glory
whatever we plant
in our homemade compost
tomatoes come up
I'm happy to report that I've written and posted a poem each day for National Poetry Month. Please read on to see more!
I also wrote a guest post for Rochelle Melander's Write Now Coach blog about how you might turn a poem into a picture book.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Enjoy!
April 16 Poem
April 16, 2021
skull-and-crossbones signs
would give a clearer warning
of the danger here
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Visit, read, enjoy!
Read on--more National Poetry Month poems below!
#SaferAtHomePoem No. 11 (April 3, 2020) & Poetry Friday!
April 2, 2020
How to Help: Stay Home!
Everybody on the street,
stay at home. Please stay at home!
It's not safe for friends to meet.
Stay at home. Please stay at home!
Be a hero. Don't go out.
Don't go frolicking about.
Seriously, must I shout?
STAY AT HOME! STAY HOME!
I've been posting a #SaferAtHomePoem each day on Facebook and Twitter since our governor issued the alert for Wisconsin. This one has been rattling around in my head all week as I walk through our busy neighborhood. I've also gathered the others on this blog. (Please keep reading!)
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!
xox,
JoAnn
For You
March 5, 2020
Here is a wagon of flowers for you
to thank you for all the good work you do.
In terrible times, you still pull through.
You inspire me to do all that I can, too.
While the world lurches from one crisis to another, I'm tempted to curl up in a blanket and hope everything will quietly improve on its own.
But no.
When I look for silver linings, I see people pitching in all over the place, largely unrecognized, trying to make the world safer and cleaner and fairer.
This tiny token of appreciation is for everyone who feeds hungry people, registers voters, sews for sustainability, picks up trash, studies and educates, contacts legislators, marches for justice, knocks doors for trustworthy political candidates, does anything and everything to help. Thank you!
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Sloth Reads. Enjoy!
Cooking a Poem, Poetry Friday, & Valentine's Day!
February 13, 2020
Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a pie for you.
Cooking a Poem
You never know how long a poem will take.
The act of writing's not like baking cake.
It might resemble cooking tasty stew
with spicy words emerging from the blue,
a cup of images, a dash of rhyme—
the one essential thing to add is time.
Age improves a draft. Don't watch the clock!
Just think of pickles crisping in a crock.
You could try marinating overnight.
A week, a year, or more might be just right.
You open up an oven door too soon;
souffles collapse like craters on the moon.
A poem rarely pops into your head
like some kind neighbor's gift of fresh-baked bread.
Unlike a pie or cookies or a cake,
a poem takes as long as it will take.
—© JoAnn Early Macken 2020
Today's poem was inspired by David Harrison's Word of the Month challenge. (February's word is "age.")
Follow David's #AfterDarkBlogTour to find out about his new poetry collection, AFTER DARK, POEMS ABOUT NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. His 97th book, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis, it features creatures that stir about their business after the sun goes down and makes its debut on Tuesday, February 25.
Linda has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Teacherdance. Enjoy!
Fog Magic
January 17, 2020
Fog makes the bridge disappear,
disguises the bayou,
conceals the buildings beyond it.
Fog muffles traffic noise,
hushes gulls' calls,
shushes barking dogs.
Fog spangles spiderwebs,
plays tic-tac-toe on window screens,
softens the view through my glasses.
--JoAnn Early Macken
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Reading to the Core. Enjoy!
JoAnn
They Say
January 9, 2020
I've fallen out of a habit that
I used to think defined me.
I hope to find more joyful moments
ahead, not only behind me.
I don't really want to write today,
but I want to want to again.
I miss the surprise of finding out
what secrets flow from my pen.
They say if you act like you're doing a thing,
then it might come back to you.
Could I jump into a new stanza?
Well, here's what I'm going to do:
Gather my pens and good luck charms.
Endeavor to put an end to
this slump. I might not write today,
but I can surely pretend to.
My sister Eileen gave me the idea for this one. ("I want to want to paint, but I don't really want to.") We'll get there together, I hope!
Sally Murphy has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!
Recycle Your Unused Ideas!
January 2, 2020
From notebooks and desk drawers,
from folders and files,
from pockets and teetering tabletop piles,
gather your scribbles,
your notes and your jots—
ideas that don't fit your poems or plots.
Shred if you must,
or just toss them in
the helpful, convenient
recycling bin.
In bins, in trucks, in recycling plants,
snippets combine, completely by chance.
They'll evaporate into the bountiful air,
ready for someone to notice and care.
Ready for someone awaiting a muse.
Ready for someone to snatch up and use.
Every idea deserves its own spot—
a real home in somebody's poem or plot.
So make room. Set yours free!
They'll be wondrously new
to someone who's paying attention
like you.
—JoAnn Early Macken
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Carol's Corner. Enjoy!
JoAnn
Peering Ahead
October 18, 2019
Peering Ahead
There's a light at the end of this tunnel.
It's still faint, but it's starting to glow.
If I squint, I can just barely see it,
and it's so reassuring to know
that persistence is always the answer
and if I keep plugging away,
that light will grow brighter and brighter.
I'll burst through to sunlight one day.
I'm awfully excited about the middle grade nonfiction manuscript I'm writing, Turn This Earth Around: Everyday Ways to Help Our Planet. Although I have a long way to go (and I don't have a publisher yet), I'm beginning to find a rhythm in the work. Everything takes time.
As I research, I'm experimenting. I've been sewing reusable shopping bags for several years. Lately, I've tried making my own toothpaste, tortillas, and beeswax wraps. I'm learning.
I'm also accumulating tons of information. Some of it keeps changing. So I'm creating a companion web site where I'll post some of the most helpful tidbits. I hope to reveal it soon.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Enjoy!
JoAnn
Winter Poems & Poetry Friday!
February 27, 2019
melting snow + rusted gutter = icicle cascade
Imagine the view from inside that window!
Snowman – Cold = Puddle by Laura Purdie Salas is a clever combination of poetry, math, and science. Spring equation poems, poetic informative explanations, and lively collage illustrations by Micha Archer make this book a joy to discover and reread. I was inspired to write a few equation poems of my own, including the one above. I'm limited to one photo per post, so I can't show you the cover, but do look for the book—it's delightful.
I've been trying to walk the dog outside as much as possible between unbearable weather events. We both need it! Here's a haiku from yesterday's icy walk:
sunlit snowbanks sparkle
frozen camera balks
battery exhausted
This year for the first time, I'll be one of 64 authletes taking part in the Madness Poetry Tournament, in which a word is assigned to be included in each poem. To warm up, I've been writing short poems that include a random word that pops into my head. Here's one from this morning, based on ascertain:
Dog Walk Intermission
While the dog sniffs a snowbank,
I try to ascertain
where the cardinal is tweeting
its lonely refrain.
Polls open March 5th for Round 1. Please stop by, read the poems, and vote!
Monday is my favorite date of the year, March 4th. For me, it's the beginning of spring—a chance to take stock, clear out clutter, and start fresh. I'll be celebrating all day. In fact, I've already started. Join me, won't you? March forth!
Linda has today's Poetry Friday Roundup and an ingenious spring anagram poem at TeacherDance. Enjoy!
Snowshoe Surprise & Poetry Friday!
February 7, 2019
My doctor says I need more exercise.
Cholesterol, you know... heredity....
Begrudgingly, I strap my snowshoes on
to trudge beside a frozen riverbank
with traffic roaring on my other side
and robins cheering me from overhead.
I stop to catch my breath above the spot
where freeway runoff keeps a channel clear
and beavers built their lodge across the way.
Beside the aging concrete ledge, I see
a wide, flat tail extended on the ice.
I hold my breath and watch the beaver chew.
Thin saplings rustle when it rounds the bend.
My doctor says I need more exercise.
So this is my prescription?
Lucky me!
Laura Purdie Salas has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Writing the World for Kids. Enjoy!
Ungrumping Yourself & Poetry Friday!
January 31, 2019
How to Ungrump Yourself
Are you overwhelmed by news?
Is it giving you the blues?
Here's a tip that you might use:
Read some poetry.
If you wake up feeling grumpy
'cause the road ahead looks bumpy,
don't you fidget. Don't get jumpy.
Read some poetry.
If you feel like you could cry
(even if you don't know why),
I say give it one good try.
Read some poetry.
Though there is no guarantee,
poetry could be the key.
It worked well today for me.
Read some poetry!
Oh, what a week! Between the Polar Vortex, family health questions, and people doing heartless things, it's a wonder anyone stays positive these days. I reached my limit this morning, and something made me stop, take a break, and go back to look at last week's Poetry Friday posts, which I had missed.
Gorgeous language! Perfect metaphors! Helpful explanations! My whole day—my whole outlook—turned around. Next time I feel myself slipping into Grump Mode, I will try to remember to do that again. What a gift this Poetry Friday community is! Thank you to everyone involved!
Tabatha Yeatts has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. If you haven't checked it out yet, here's your chance!
List Poems & Poetry Friday!
January 10, 2019
A helpful commenter on last week's post (scroll down to read it) suggested writing list poems as a way to get back into writing after drifting away for a while. So I tried a few. Here are three new ones from this week.
Oh, notebook, my confidante,
I've missed the comforting opaqueness of your cover,
the predictable curve of your spiral,
your straightforward guiding lines,
the way you keep my secrets,
and how they whisper to me as your pages turn.
On Mom's Windowsill
orchids whose flower stalks stretch toward glass
Christmas cactus, hopefully budded
plump aloe with companion stained glass dragonfly
chick in Easter basket, dancing to sunshine
reminder to staff: Always use gait belt for transfers!
chair alarm, flashing to show that the battery works,
labeled "wireless fall management"
as if it could maintain her balance
or temper her urge to get up and go somewhere—
like home,
if she could just remember how to get there
What She Remembers
She remembers the lyrics to songs she sang decades ago.
She remembers the punchlines to jokes she repeats with a smirk.
She remembers to put on her long, double-strand
pearly necklace.
She remembers how to apply her red lipstick
without a glance in a mirror.
She remembers a day with our dad in a field by the water.
She remembers my face, though she's not always sure who I am,
and I don't have the heart to remind her because
I am struggling with memories of my own.
Kathryn Apel has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!
Morning Observations & Poetry Friday!
January 4, 2019
daylight lengthening
minute reasons to rejoice
winter's turning point
next door cat follows
squirrel between our houses
window to window
singing overhead
sunlit branches block my view
hope for a robin
I never intend to stop writing every day, but when I fall out of the habit, I sometimes find it easier to slide back into haiku--not because they are short but because using the traditional 5-7-5 form gives me a structure to hang my words on. What works for you?
Sylvia Vardell has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Poetry for Children. Enjoy!
Politics & Poetry Friday
December 6, 2018
Protesters packed the hallways and three overflow rooms outside the Joint Committee on Finance's "public hearing" on Monday. They closed the doors.
I rarely write for adults, but recent political events have provoked me to pick up my pen. In November, Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Treasurer. Then, in an all-night lame duck session, the Republican-controlled legislature passed an unprecedented power grab, as detailed in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. You can also read about it in the New York Times (scroll down to see my husband and me—with my sister and brother-in-law behind us—in the photo of the gallery just before they cleared it). Yes, Wisconsin is getting national attention, none of it good. And we are not alone. Similar power grabs are in process in Michigan and North Carolina.
Despite winning all four statewide elections, Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly remain outnumbered—thanks to gerrymandered districts that maintain the current party's hold on power. We await the Supreme Court's decision. Here's my take on the sorry situation:
The Power of the Map
by JoAnn Early Macken
If you're a savvy politician
with a race to win,
sophisticated software is
the best way to begin.
Divvy up your districts so
your rivals always lose,
and then it really doesn't matter
whom the voters choose.
If you don't like the odds, just rig them
by redistricting.
No wave or wall can overcome
gerrymandering.
After working to register voters and get out the vote, we spent two days in the Capitol in Madison watching the shameful events unfold. Now, unless the outgoing Republican governor vetoes the legislation, we will see our taxes go to law firms while the whole mess is tied up in legal battles instead of funding education, infrastructure, environmental issues, and a raft of other problems that desperately need attention. It's heartbreaking. But we've done what we can—for now.
I'm returning to my Work In Progress, a collection of humorous middle grade poems, and my sewing project with Bring Your Bag Shorewood, making Boomerang Bags reusable shopping bags for people to borrow when they forget to bring their own. Wish me luck!
Elizabeth Steinglass has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!
Small Seed Scrounger & Poetry Friday!
November 22, 2018
Scrounging Around
I'm a brown field mouse,
and I live outside your house.
From my burrow underground,
I can scurry all around,
finding everything I need.
I flourish on the seed
that falls from your feeders.
Birds are very messy eaters.
We try to remember our feathery and furry friends with extra treats when the temperature drops like it has around here lately. It's a pleasure to watch the birds on the feeders and the creatures that clean up around them. I hope you find a moment to stop and look, too.
Happy Poetry Friday! Irene has today's Roundup at Live Your Poem! Enjoy!
A Pep Talk for Poets & Poetry Friday!
November 15, 2018
The Poem I Threw Away
Chickens are chuckling. Cows guffaw.
Donkeys hee-haw and bray.
What are the animals laughing about?
A poem I threw away.
A goat pulled it from the recycling.
Now horses rear up and neigh
as a rooster reads aloud to the crowd
the poem I threw away.
So don't you give up too quickly.
Ruminate for another day.
Someone might find hilarious
the poem you throw away.
I've been working on a collection of silly middle grade poems, many of which got their start on this blog last April for National Poetry Month. As I dig way down into old computer files and notebooks, I sometimes unearth a draft I still like. This is one from summer (ohh...summer!) that doesn't fit the theme of the collection. I'm posting it because I need pep talks from time to time. Maybe you do, too.
Linda has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at TeacherDance. Enjoy!
Walking Poem & Poetry Friday!
November 9, 2018
Walking
Fresh paper,
new pen,
same old thoughts
again.
Though I'd like
to hide,
I'm heading
outside.
I listen
for birds.
New thoughts form
new words.
Cold snow in
my face.
Those words start
to race.
Keep walking.
Get clear.
The rhythm
I hear
and feel in
my feet—
that regular
beat—
turns into
a poem
before I'm
back hoem.
Fresh paper,
new pen—
inspired
again.
Today's walk in the first snow of the winter was a surprise even though we had seen it in the forecast. Rosy had to fetch her flying disk instead of the whistling ball she chased all summer. She made the switch like a champ.
The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Today's Little Ditty. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday, a Poem for Travelers, & Poetry Friday!
November 2, 2018
Thanks to our thoughtful husbands, my twin sister Judy and I got to celebrate our birthday together last month. We all ate dinner at a fabulous vegan restaurant in Boston, walked along the coast in Maine, and went leaf peeping in New Hampshire. We had a wonderful time, and then we were glad to be home again.
Here's a poem I wrote for travelers and for those who wait for travelers to return.
Travel Prayer
Let those who travel have an easy flight
and chat with pleasant strangers on the way.
Let those who stay behind not feel bereft
but find some helpful task to fill each day,
to occupy their hands, their thoughts, their hearts,
not miss too terribly the ones who left.
While those who were together are apart,
let those who travel, travel without fear
and find their journeys worth the efforts made.
Let those who stay at home wait unafraid
and carry on with grace and hopeful cheer
until at last all loved ones reunite.
JoAnn Early Macken
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Enjoy! And if you haven't voted yet, please vote. If you've already voted, please help someone else vote. Our democracy depends on it!
Recycled (Poem for Two Voices, Part 2) & Poetry Friday!
October 25, 2018
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Last week's poem for two voices seemed unfinished--I hated to leave poor Blackboard and Chalk awaiting what might be a terrible fate! (Scroll down to read it if you haven't yet!) So here's some more of their story.
The voice of the blackboard is in the left column; the voice of the chalk is in the right column. Read from top to bottom, alternating voices as needed. When both columns contain text, read them together.
This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is at A Journey Through the Pages. Enjoy!
Replaced (Poem for Two Voices) & Poetry Friday!
October 18, 2018
Author/illustrator Calef Brown posed a challenge on Michelle Heidenrich Barnes's Today's Little Ditty blog: Write a poem or a story about two anthropomorphized objects. Here's mine!
The voice of the blackboard is in the left column; the voice of the chalk is in the right column. Read from top to bottom, alternating voices as needed. When both columns contain text, read them together.
Today's Poetry Friday roundup is at Friendly Fairy Tales. Enjoy!
Windy Garden & Poetry Friday!
October 5, 2018
I planted potatoes and parsley and peppers,
pumpkins and parsnips and peas.
I said to the soil, "Take good care of these seeds."
I asked the clouds to please
let down a soft rain from time to time
and the wind to slow down to a breeze.
Then all of a sudden, the wind picked up,
and it blew all my seeds away.
Somebody else's seeds blew in,
so my garden still turned out okay.
Now I eat cucumbers, corn, cauliflower,
carrots, and cabbage all day.
Tabatha Yeatts has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. Enjoy!
Morning Haiku for Poetry Friday
July 6, 2018
I don't know what this plant is. Do you? It inspired the first haiku.
frilly halos rim
delicate cone-shaped blossoms
fringe of tiny bees
mosquito seeking heat
lands to check out coffee mug
neighbor's AC hums
wren's morning circuit
clothes line, fence post, lilac branch
warble at each stop
can't ignore the crow
even when it's out of sight
ruckus in the tree
monarch leaves an egg
on one life-sustaining leaf
of each milkweed plant
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Enjoy!