Welcome to Poetry Friday (and happy Halloween)! Joyce Sidman has a new poetry collection coming out Tuesday, and it is glorious. It’s a companion book for Dark Emperor called Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold (HMH, 2014). I love Joyce’s work, nature, and winter, so this is a triple-threat collection! The poems are lovely, presented in a variety of styles and moods and voices. From the surreal elegance of tundra swans to the ancient voice calling snakes to their winter home to the whimsical moose calf, you will love every animal and plant here (and learn more about each in every poem’s accompanying prose sidebar). While you’re deep in the enchantment of Joyce’s language and Rick Allen’s art, you might not even notice until you’re finished that you’ve learned an awful lot about the various ways animals and plants survive–or even thrive during–the winter.
I just realized I chose the only poem about a non-living thing to share here. Oh well–I tasted our first winter flurry on Tuesday, and I just had to pick this poem about snow!
Snowflake Wakes
Snowflake wakes,
whirling,
arms outstretched,
lace sprouting from fingertips
Leaps, laughing
in a dizzy cloud,
a pinwheel gathering glitter
Drops into air,
suddenly soft
and full, a lattice
of stars spinning
silently
Drifts down,
touching
and tickling,
clinging
and clumping
Hugs earth,
sighs and settles
Sleeps,
tucked in its own blanket
–Joyce Sidman, all rights reserved
Isn’t that gorgeous? “lattice / of stars spinning / silently” Sigh. Here I am giving it a read.
For more Poetry Friday fun, go visit Linda at Teacher Dance, where she’ll have the Poetry Friday Roundup. Linda always has the best things to share!
Oh, the magic of Miss Sidman’s words. Thank you for alerting us to a new sampling of her terrificness, Laura! :0)
Oh, the magic of Miss Sidman’s words. Thank you for alerting us to a new sampling of her terrificness, Laura! :0)
Beautiful imagery! Joyce does such great work.
She does!
Beautiful imagery! Joyce does such great work.
She does!
Oh my! That is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing, Laura!
Glad you enjoyed it, Penny!
Oh my! That is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing, Laura!
Glad you enjoyed it, Penny!
I HATE winter, but this book could certainly make me appreciate certain aspects of it! Thanks for sharing this, Laura. I can’t wait to get my own copy!
That’s how I feel about summer poems, Jane. I don’t really care for summer, but Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s LEMONADE SUN makes me fall in love with it a little bit:>)
🙂
I HATE winter, but this book could certainly make me appreciate certain aspects of it! Thanks for sharing this, Laura. I can’t wait to get my own copy!
That’s how I feel about summer poems, Jane. I don’t really care for summer, but Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s LEMONADE SUN makes me fall in love with it a little bit:>)
🙂
Exciting to hear about the book, Laura. Can’t wait to read it. Joyce Sidman’s poems are wonderful. Love “a lattice of stars” and “tucked in its own blanket”. Ah, yes! We still don’t have snow-lovely, but the longest fall/warm weather in a long, long time.
Yes, that lattice. Ahhhh…We have had the most gorgeous fall, too. Barely a flurry last week, then back to fall. So no real winter here yet. I’m loving our extended autumn–my favorite season!
Exciting to hear about the book, Laura. Can’t wait to read it. Joyce Sidman’s poems are wonderful. Love “a lattice of stars” and “tucked in its own blanket”. Ah, yes! We still don’t have snow-lovely, but the longest fall/warm weather in a long, long time.
Yes, that lattice. Ahhhh…We have had the most gorgeous fall, too. Barely a flurry last week, then back to fall. So no real winter here yet. I’m loving our extended autumn–my favorite season!
this is wonderful I cant what to read this this book you did a wonderful at reading this poem
I love Joyce’s poetry
Thanks, Jessica–me, too!
this is wonderful I cant what to read this this book you did a wonderful at reading this poem
I love Joyce’s poetry
Thanks, Jessica–me, too!
Gorgeous poem! Love that playful fox on the cover. Also, it has a great title — whoever gave any thought to “winter bees”?
Tabatha, that fox, or evidence of it (paw print, etc.) is on almost every spread–something fun for kids and grownups to look for:>) The bee poem is one of my favorites, too–like you, I had never given any thoughts to bees in winter, though I have written poems comparing a blizzard to a swarm of bees.
Gorgeous poem! Love that playful fox on the cover. Also, it has a great title — whoever gave any thought to “winter bees”?
Tabatha, that fox, or evidence of it (paw print, etc.) is on almost every spread–something fun for kids and grownups to look for:>) The bee poem is one of my favorites, too–like you, I had never given any thoughts to bees in winter, though I have written poems comparing a blizzard to a swarm of bees.
I particularly love this poem and can pair it with a number I use for snowflakes!! The words and the fragility of their lacy cold is perfect. Thanks, Laura and Joyce. Magnificent. Kids will love this.
So will adults;>)
I particularly love this poem and can pair it with a number I use for snowflakes!! The words and the fragility of their lacy cold is perfect. Thanks, Laura and Joyce. Magnificent. Kids will love this.
So will adults;>)
Beautiful and exquisite poem! Can’t wait to see the new book. 🙂
It is wonderful, Jama!
Beautiful and exquisite poem! Can’t wait to see the new book. 🙂
It is wonderful, Jama!
Wow! Gorgeous poem and what looks like a gorgeous book. “First winter flurry”?! Seems way too early for you folks – especially after last winter. Must put this book on hold at the library. Happy Halloween, Laura! =)
It was just a barely 15-minute flurry. It’s been warmer again since then:>) Hope you had a great Halloween–and enjoy WINTER BEES!
Wow! Gorgeous poem and what looks like a gorgeous book. “First winter flurry”?! Seems way too early for you folks – especially after last winter. Must put this book on hold at the library. Happy Halloween, Laura! =)
It was just a barely 15-minute flurry. It’s been warmer again since then:>) Hope you had a great Halloween–and enjoy WINTER BEES!
I love the music of this poem? I can not only see, but hear the snow flakes forming, falling around me, and then settling in to rest. Joyce’s work is outstanding and this book is a delight. Thanks for sharing, Laura. Stay warm!
Thanks, Michelle–you, too!
I love the music of this poem? I can not only see, but hear the snow flakes forming, falling around me, and then settling in to rest. Joyce’s work is outstanding and this book is a delight. Thanks for sharing, Laura. Stay warm!
Thanks, Michelle–you, too!