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JoAnn's Blog

Open the Door!


In a few weeks, I'll be heading to a part of the country I've never visited before to take part in Western Washington University's Poetry Camp. I'm excited about the trip and the people I'll meet there--fellow poet/presenters whose poems are included in the Poetry Friday Anthology series compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong and the audience of teachers, librarians, and writers.

This summer has been loaded with distractions, so on a recent trip to the library, I grabbed an armload of poetry books to study so I could focus on poetry again. I started with Ted Kooser, whose work feels so comfortable, comforting, and at the same time eye-opening. I read his sweet Valentines and then his brilliant Delights and Shadows. That one made me want to write a bit, so I contributed a quick draft to Laura Purdie Salas's 15 Words or Less Poems yesterday. I felt a little bit like a poet again.

Today, I started my morning with Mary Oliver's Owls and Other Fantasies. Here's what jumped out at me:

         ...Listen, everyone has a chance.
         Is it spring, is it morning?

         Are there trees near you,
         and does your own soul need comforting?
         Quick, then--open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
         may already be drifting away.

         --from "Such Singing in the Wild Branches"

and

         ...Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,

         even in the leafless winter,
         even in the ashy city.
         I am thinking now of grief, and getting past it;

         I feel my boots
         trying to leave the ground,
         I feel my heart
         pumping hard. I want

         to think again of dangerous and noble things.
         I want to be light and frolicsome.
         I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
         as though I had wings.

         --from "Starlings in Winter"

I'm always looking for something when I read; often, I don't know what. I found something today in the poems quoted here and also in "Yes! No!"

         "To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work."

Always a good thing to remember, I think, both for writing and for life.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Poem Farm. Enjoy!

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Happy National Poetry Month!

our new puppy Rosy


It's April again--hooray! Last year, I wrote a haiku a day; you can read all thirty poems in the April 2015 Archive. This year, with deadlines and school visits claiming my attention, I decided to focus on reading more poetry. I've posted an old favorite dog poem on the Teaching Authors blog for National Poem in Your Pocket Day. Enjoy!
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Lake Michigan, Winter


                                            Bundle up. Be bold.
                                            Walk through winter's biting teeth.
                                            Your reward: this view.

Click to enlarge the photo. You'll see why this park is my favorite walking destination, even in winter.
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Peace on Earth

              

                                    silence falls from clouds
                                    hush floats past frosty windows
                                    quiet builds soft drifts

I love how snow muffles sound and makes everything still, at least for a while. Wishing everyone a moment of joyful stillness. Happy holidays!

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is at
Live Your Poem with Irene Latham. Enjoy!

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Echoing e. e. cummings


I've loved the playful, joyful poetry of e.e. cummings since as far back as I can remember—high school? College? I know that my collections of his work are all worn and tattered. So when I read that the Poetry Sisters challenged themselves to write poems in his style, I decided to try it, too. They each chose a particular poem to echo; I just wrote. Here's mine:

earlier than
     bustle
(coffee, frontporch, spiderwebs shimmering)
dog stares at passersby
     (what is she thinking?)
i fill my
     heart
with chirps, tweets, & twitters
justforthismoment
     harmony reigns
only thing
     m i s s i n g
          is You



The Poetry Sisters are Liz Garton Scanlon, Laura Purdie Salas, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Sara Lewis Holmes, Kelly Ramsdell Fineman, Andromeda Jazmon Sibley, and Tanita S. Davis.

You can hear them all reading their poems
here. Enjoy!



 
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Baby Says "Moo!" Book Giveaway!


Today's the big day! Baby Says "Moo!" (Disney-Hyperion Books) is now a padded board book, so let's have a giveaway! To enter, leave a comment here by midnight on Wednesday, June 10. The Random Number Generator will choose a winner. Good luck!
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Haiku a Day: Day 30 (4/30/15)

              thinking in haiku
              everything I say spills out
              5, 7, 5



Focusing on nature and the present to write haiku has really helped me appreciate spring this year. I've enjoyed every day of National Poetry Month. Hope you have, too!

Don't forget to enter to win an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step--today's the last day!

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Haiku a Day: Day 26 (4/26/15)

              Juncos disappear
              before chimney swifts return.
              On your way, juncos!



Here in Wisconsin, I always see my first chimney swift of the year around April 30 or May 1. This video is from a few years ago. I'm watching the skies!

Find out from eBird when chimney swifts might arrive in your neighborhood!

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Haiku a Day: Day 29 (4/29/15)

              Strings of cormorants
              skim Lake Michigan's surface
              necks stretching northward

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Haiku a Day: Day 28 (4/28/15)

              hyacinth fragrance
              permeates the neighborhood
              trespass for a sniff

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Haiku a Day: Day 27 (4/27/15)

              Here is one good tern.
              You know what they say, don't you?
              Waiting. Watching. Where?

 

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National Poetry Month Book Giveaway!

I've posted all my National Poetry Month daily haiku on this blog--hooray! I'm up to date--let's celebrate! I'll give away an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step to a random winner. To enter, add a comment to this post by midnight on April 30, 2015. Be sure to include your contact information. Good luck!
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Haiku a Day: Day 25 (4/25/15)

              Sorry, orioles--
              no grape jelly in the fridge.
              Oranges okay?

 

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Haiku a Day: Day 21 (4/21/15)

              I'd like to lie down
              in a blue bed of scilla
              forget everything

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Haiku a Day: Day 20 (4/20/15)

              today's pond report:
              goose in threat pose guarding nest
              gnarled willow sprouting

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Haiku a Day: Day 19 (4/19/15)

              raindrops on catkins
              brighten this gray, dreary day
              okay, back to work

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Haiku a Day: Day 18 (4/18/15)

              at last, I've found you
              woodpecker rapping up high
              camouflaged on birch

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Haiku a Day: Day 17 (4/17/15)

              pulmonaria
              early blossoms on our hill
              pink and blue bee treats

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Haiku a Day: Day 12 (4/12/15)

              hush--do not disturb
              mallard under bird feeders
              yard cleanup can wait

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Haiku a Day: Day 11 (4/11/15)

              haul heavy buckets
              watch boiling sap steam windows
              tomorrow, French toast

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Haiku a Day: Day 15 (4/15/15)

              lake wind chills my ears
              pesticide smells hurt my head
              oh, but look--bloodroot

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Haiku a Day: Day 13 (4/13/15)

              swollen buds explode
              on each tree as we walk by
              firecrackers of spring

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Haiku a Day: Day 10 (4/10/15)

Oops! I missed a day. Belated post:

              yesterday's haiku
              first on today's to-do list
              O, slippery slope

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Haiku a Day: Day 9 (4/9/15)

              rain gushes down streets
              pools in backyards and basements
              brings ducks out to play

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Haiku a Day: Day 8 (4/8/15)

              stop to photograph
              daffodils in rustic frame
              lose another glove

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Haiku a Day: Day 7 (4/7/15)

              I pause, glance outside
              yellow-bellied sapsucker
              turn back to work, cheered



No photo today, but you can learn about the yellow-bellied sapsucker from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bird Guide.

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Haiku a Day: Day 4 (4/4/15)

              Spring peepers call me
              down a faint deer trail. Surprise!
              Bea must hear them, too!



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Haiku a Day: Day 2 (4/2/15)

              wrinkled foreheads touch
              two rocks kissing form a bridge
              river doesn't care

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Haiku a Day: Day 22 (4/22/15)

              April must not know
              I put away my mittens
              wind chill: 32

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Haiku a Day: Day 14 (4/14/15)


              tiny diving grebe
              disappears in quiet pond
              ripples mark the spot

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Haiku a Day: Day 5 (4/5/15)

              skunk cabbage unfurls
              under last year's leaf litter--
              stinky sign of spring

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Haiku a Day: Day 23 (4/23/15)

              flock of umbrellas
              May apples wait in April
              ready to unfurl

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Haiku a Day: Day 16 (4/16/15)

              Soon to be revealed--
              mystery spring flower buds.
              What did I plant here?

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Haiku a Day: Day 3 (4/3/15)

              binoculars poised
              we prowl the marshy pathways
              stalking whooping cranes



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National Poetry Month! Haiku a Day! Catching Up! (Day 1: 4/1/15)

I've been posting a haiku each day this month on Facebook and Twitter. Now I'm catching up by gathering them all here in one spot. Enjoy!

              Nighttime walk, strange town--
              foundry rumble, fast food glare,
              same familiar moon

 

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