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I Don’t Know Art, But I Know What I Don’t Like [Poetry Friday]
Happy Poetry Friday! Last month, we Poetry 7 shared our crown sonnet about the Periodic Table–that was such a fun project to be part of! Now the good news is that we have renewed our vow to continue monthly poems through 2016. Yay! The bad news is that we’re doing a LOT of ekphrastic poems.
Garden Snake? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture my friend Vida posted on Facebook and offered up for 15 Words or Less (thank you, Vida!). At first glance, I assumed it was a snake, but then saw
A Plea from the Invisible–a Diversity Acrostic by Laura Purdie Salas
I was honored to have a poem in Dragon Lode not too long ago. Janet Wong wrote a great piece about diversity, and she included poems by both Margarita Engle and me. I keep some pretty great company, right? Here’s my poem–in one of my favorite forms, the acrostic! I was just an average middle-class
Things To Do If… Student Poems
Last Friday, I was part of a literacy event in Stewartville, MN, called Hot Reads for Cold Nights. Wow. There were 500 or so people there, and organizer Renita Irvin had so many things going on: book exchanges, food, storytellers, silent auctions, and a ton of other stuff. What a logistical accomplishment! All these elementary
Froggy? [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture of a stuffed frog. It’s one of Jackie’s toys, and it’s pretty nasty. This image makes me think of:
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for P. Zonka Lays an Egg
Here’s one more poetryaction! I am feeling more like a dreamer lately, wanting (but not having) more time for writing just for the heck of it—that’s a rare luxury for me. P. Zonka’s daydreaming and its randomly beautiful results really touched me in this book. I wanted to capture a taste of that randomness—the serendipity
Poetryaction for The Secret Life of Squirrels
Here’s today’s poetryaction! I’ve had this poetryaction for The Secret Life of Squirrels for a long time and am finally getting around to sharing it! I didn’t expect to like this book because, well, the cover looks a little cheesy to me. Then I read it and was totally charmed by the art, the artist’s
Poetryaction for The Harvey Milk Story
While I try to catch up this week, I’m going to share a few poetryactions. Hope you like them! The flap copy of The Harvey Milk Story says, “In making history that day, Minnie Milk’s intelligent, energetic and courageous son showed the world that…” so I assumed the story would involve Milk’s mother. Nope.
A Poetryaction for Poetry Friday
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) This week, I’ve talked about writing about hard topics, worrying about manuscripts turned in, and reading things twice. Since I’m in technology chaos right now, I think I’m just going to share a poetryaction I’ve shared before that seems to tie in with the themes
Pipe Cleaners [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture from my basement clean-out. I’m gathering lots of arts & craft supplies into a pile to give to my daughter and/or niece. This image makes me think of:
Writing & Reading About Hard Topics
[Hi, educators–I’m in the middle of a technology crisis! Please forgive me for possibly not responding to comments the rest of this week. I will be reading them! In fact, they will cheer me up. But it’s likely I might not be able to respond. :>( ] I definitely have a melancholy side, an awareness
The Buzz of Self-Doubt for Writers (Not Just Students)
I’m a fairly confident writer. But even though I know I can write, I never know if any particular person will like it. So, when I turn in a piece of writing to an editor, I hold my breath. It’s like turning in a school assignment and waiting for a grade. I just turned in
A Skeleton for Poetry Friday
Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) In thinking about my word of the year–essential–I realized I had written a poem not too long ago that connected with that. This was part of Carol Varsalona’s Autumn Palette Gallery–a collection of lovely images and words/poems from autumn. Here’s my piece in the gallery.
Trunk [15 Words or Less Poems]
Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s one last picture from the Bell Museum of Natural History . This is a cross-section of a tree from a fig-tree display (the curator of the museum is doing some kind
Poetryaction and Bookalikes for Marilyn’s Monster
I’ve been working (for many years, off and on!) on a poetry project with a main character who feels rejected in many areas of her life. She tries so hard to not want things like friends and invitations to birthday parties, because she doesn’t have them. So it hurts less if she tells herself she
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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