It’s almost National Poetry Month! Check out how the Kidlitosphere is celebrating with this list of bloggers’ projects. I hesitate to commit to anything because my schedule is so unpredictable and chaotic right now, but I think I’m going to jump on Liz Garton Scanlon‘s bandwagon and try to do a haiku per day for April. I do not have high hopes for the quality of these haikus. But, I haven’t been writing any poetry recently, and this will force me back into it, which I know will be a terrific thing.
Meanwhile…
The poem I’m sharing today is from Janet Wong’s sensational ebook, Once Upon a Tiger: New Beginnings for Endangered Animals.
POLAR BEAR
The glacier calved.
Polar Bear was carved? from ice.
Fuzzy snowflakes floated
down on the floe.
Polar Bear now
had shaggy fur.
A seal splashed the frozen bear
with her tail, laughing.
A wild wave of warm blood
flooded Bear’s icy veins
and sent Seal swimming fast
AWAY!–Janet Wong, all rights reserved, Kindle Edition (also available in other electronic formats).
I love the idea of a polar bear being a chunk of glacier–and that wild wave of warm blood. Don’t tease, Seal!
Heidi Mordhorst has the Poetry Friday roundup today?at My Juicy Little Universe, and even shares one of my poems there! Go check out this week’s posts and get ready for Poetry Month!
This is timely subject matter for a book of poems. The image of warm blood in the polar bear’s veins is powerful.
Yeah, that contrast of cold/heat is great!
This is timely subject matter for a book of poems. The image of warm blood in the polar bear’s veins is powerful.
Yeah, that contrast of cold/heat is great!
Ooh, this paints such a vivid picture. I, too, love the image of a polar bear as a glacier. Love Janet’s poems.
That image is what really gripped me!
Ooh, this paints such a vivid picture. I, too, love the image of a polar bear as a glacier. Love Janet’s poems.
That image is what really gripped me!
Ooh…I really like this one. “Book Speak” is making an appearance on my blog today…
Thanks, Tara!
Ooh…I really like this one. “Book Speak” is making an appearance on my blog today…
Thanks, Tara!
Thanks for posting this, Laura! I really enjoyed doing research about polar bears for that book. One of my favorite facts: while seals are indeed a polar bear’s favorite food, if the hunting is good, the polar bear will eat only the seal fat–leaving the lower-calorie meat for foxes and other animals. (I guess I’m just demonstrating “top of the food chain” behavior when I slather butter on my toast…)
Hehe–I never knew that. I do know that Iditarod racers eat sticks of butter, which I guess is similar. And my kind of diet. I really enjoyed this collection. I could get used to reading e-collections on my iPhone!
Thanks for posting this, Laura! I really enjoyed doing research about polar bears for that book. One of my favorite facts: while seals are indeed a polar bear’s favorite food, if the hunting is good, the polar bear will eat only the seal fat–leaving the lower-calorie meat for foxes and other animals. (I guess I’m just demonstrating “top of the food chain” behavior when I slather butter on my toast…)
Hehe–I never knew that. I do know that Iditarod racers eat sticks of butter, which I guess is similar. And my kind of diet. I really enjoyed this collection. I could get used to reading e-collections on my iPhone!
Even in this brief poem, so many clever images! The fuzzy snowflakes falling, creating the shaggy fur. I’m prepping for a non-fiction poetry lesson, so this is a perfect intro. Thanks Laura, and for all the links too!
Exactly–those images are so wonderful. Having kids write non-fiction poetry is so cool. When they can choose a couple of their favorite facts to hide inside a beautiful poem, the facts are like the chocolate chips in a cookie:>)
Even in this brief poem, so many clever images! The fuzzy snowflakes falling, creating the shaggy fur. I’m prepping for a non-fiction poetry lesson, so this is a perfect intro. Thanks Laura, and for all the links too!
Exactly–those images are so wonderful. Having kids write non-fiction poetry is so cool. When they can choose a couple of their favorite facts to hide inside a beautiful poem, the facts are like the chocolate chips in a cookie:>)