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Lyrics as Poetry: You’re My Home (Billy Joel)
Today is my husband’s birthday! Since I love many song lyrics as poetry, I wanted to share an old-school Billy Joel song that we almost chose to have sung at our wedding (we went with Onward, by Yes, instead). Happy birthday, Randy. You’re my home. YOU’RE MY HOME (Billy Joel) When you look into my
Quotation Motivation: Glittering Eyes
Today’s quotation comes to you courtesy of author/blogger Susan Taylor Brown. She has gathered some of her favorite writing quotations here, and there are many there that speak to me. This morning, this one is calling the loudest: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are
Poetry Friday: Wounded (an original villanelle)
Last Friday, a group of seven of us, led by Liz Garton Scanlon of Liz in Ink, posted original villanelles. I had wanted to do something other than a nature poem, because those feel like home, and I wanted to push myself out of the comforts of home. So I tried a war poem, written
Poetry Friday: The Villanelle People
OK, you know Liz Garton Scanlon, of Liz in Ink? You know how she’s always so enthusiastic and passionate about stuff? Well, a month or so ago, she emailed our group that wrote the crown sonnet a year and a half ago (that long?). And she proposed that we each write a villanelle, all seven
A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins
Maybe you’ve heard that Lee Bennett Hopkins, gifted poet and anthologist, was officially awarded NCTE’s Excellence in Poetry for Children Award the weekend before Thanksgiving? I couldn’t attend the Philadelphia conference because I was in Atlanta for a joyful family wedding, and it sounds like I missed a fantastic event. You can read Sylvia
Do You Have Your Suitcase?
Well, we almost didn’t get to Atlanta. At least not the day we were supposed to. Some of you may remember my “knife at the airport” story. Ack. Then there was our family trip to Washington, D.C., when my husband left his driver’s license in the scanner at home, so my brother-in-law Dack drove all
Poetry Friday Right Here!
Happy Poetry Friday! I’ve been re-reading Words with Wrinkled Knees: Animal Poems, an old collection by Barbara Juster Esbensen (who also wrote one of my favorite poetry collections ever, Swing Around the Sun). Here’s one poem I love: You must read this word under water under wavering nets of cool light A vertical word
On the Road: A Red Balloon Author Event
On Saturday, I did an event for Stampede at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some of you might have seen on Facebook that I was freaking out because I saw online that they ordered a ton of books. A ton. Most bookstore signings (my own and other much better-known authors than me)
Poetry Friday: Picnic, Lightning (Billy Collins)
I felt like sharing a Billy Collins poem this morning, and “Picnic, Lightning” won the Poetry Friday lottery. I really love the tiny dark unmoored ship and the ending images of immersing yourself in the now, the ordinary moments that make live so vivid. Picnic, Lightning “My very photogenic mother died in a freak
Quotation Motivation: Plain and Simple
“There is more, not less intensity in plainness, because simple stuff operates without the safety net of the poetical.” –Hugo Williams, Strong Words, 2000 I’ve been reading many quotations about obscurity, vagueness, mystery, accessibility, etc., and how they relate to poetry. I love poems that I can understand. I want rhythm, imagery, and perfect word
Poetry Friday: Without (an original poem)
Today, I have a poem and a question to share with you. First, the question. I’m looking for recommendations of poetry journals for adults featuring accessible, mainstream poetry. I love Billy Collins, Kay Ryan, Jane Kenyon…so you can see I don’t really go too much for the experimental stuff. Anyway, I’d like to possibly
Poetry Friday: Without Rancor (an original poem)
I took a wonderful poetry class at the Loft in Minneapolis last spring. One of our exercises was to write a poem with the word “rancor” in the title. Most of my poems are NOT actually about my personal experiences, though people often think they are. But for this assignment, I thought of my childhood,
What if 9th Grade Is a Disaster?: An Original Poem and My Bad News
I received some terrible news a couple of weeks ago–my editor is leaving Clarion. In fact, Friday was her last day. She resigned because of a family move away from NYC, and I don’t even know if she’ll be able to remain in children’s publishing at all. This is devastating news–she has been such a
I Was a Saint This Weekend (Only Temporarily)
Yesterday, I was the guest author for the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball game in St. Paul, MN. I read Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, of course. I was invited to participate by the Red Balloon Bookshop, a lovely children’s bookstore who partners with the team to promote reading. Sudden downpours, spilled drinks
Poetry Friday: The Poems We Wear (original poems)
LJ’s giving me fits this morning, so I’ll try this super quick to see if it works! The Poetry Stretch at the Miss Rumphius Effect this week was to write poems about articles of clothing. Early in the week, I wrote two for my daily poems–totally different moods and styles. The Tie That Binds A
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Are You Looking For?
Go to my Poetry page for:
- National Poetry Month projects through the years
- Small Reads Roundups (poems grouped by topic)
- Introductions to several favorite poetry forms