Happy Poetry Friday, and welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
I’ve not been online much this past month, and I’ve missed you. In an effort to not make this post overly long, I’ll just share one brief thing before my poem.
40 Poems for 40 Weeks, a professional book by our own David L. Harrison and literacy expert Timothy Rasinsky, is here! I’m so delighted to have a poem in this fabulous book, and I’m obsessed with the word ladders. How I love a word puzzle. Perhaps I’ll share my poem in the next week or two. Meanwhile, this is a terrific book for educators and poetry lovers of all kind, and I promise you’ll recognize many voices from Poetry Friday poets or posts! This book would make an excellent gift for someone you know!
Now, it’s the final Friday of the month, and so this is a Poetry Sisters post. This month, we tackled tanku, which is a tanka followed by a haiku. And for the entire year, we’re thinking about conversations–between people, between poems, between things in the world.…
Last Sunday morning, as I was finishing up my daily phone call/crossword puzzle with my 92-year-old dad, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to write a poem about these calls using some of the crosswords in it?” I haven’t done that :>) That afternoon, in our live writing session for our tanku, I stuck with that topic, though. I had so many thoughts swirling. How crosswords help us avoid touchy topics, like politics and his disagreements with various family members. How he does crosswords in the hopes of keeping his brain agile. How frustrating it is for him when he can’t remember words or facts he knows he knows, but can’t recall. How hard it is to do crossword puzzles by phone with someone who has really terrible hearing. How I now only do half a puzzle daily, because it takes so long just for that. How sometimes there are long pauses, and then I’ll hear a soft snore. How sad I am when I give him what I think is an easy/obvious clue, and he can’t find the word. (Dad was a NASA engineer for his career, and his intelligence is a source of pride for him.) And so much more. I couldn’t work all of that in, but I did get a draft, at least. You might see another crossword poem in the future.
We Poetry Sisters met up to make our plans for 2025–and we talked about how happy we are whenever y’all join in! For February, we’re going to write a ____ Is a Word Poem. This form was originated by Nikki Grimes. If you want to see my lesson plan from a young authors conference (along with a link to Nikki’s explanation of the form), go here. And if you go here, you’ll see several of my ______ Is a Word Poems. I love this form! We’ll be choosing words somehow related to “conversation.” Feel free to choose any word you like, though! Just post on Friday, February 28 for all to enjoy. And tag with #poetrypals if you share on social media.
Meanwhile, check out the tanku from…
Liz
Sara
Tanita
Tricia
Mary Lee
Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.
And our Poetry Friday host this week is the lovely and ever thoughtful Jan Annino. Make sure to see what she’s offering up this week and peruse the Roundup!
20 Responses
Laura, you fantastic, doting, lovely daughter. This daily word play check-in, with understandable frustration & sadness, moves me deeply.
And following your links, I’m now obsessed with your ——–is a word form, titled, “Freedom is a word.” I would like to use it on a future blog at Bookseedstudio.
It’s a great form, Jan–have fun with it! And y’all are giving me way too much credit on the crosswords. I’ll be updating next week!
What a lovely gift to be able to do crosswords with your Dad. That must be fun, to experience the grid connecting your two minds. My mom forgot so much of the past which ironically freed her up to laugh more before she passed away. It was fun being with her in her eighties. I joined the poetry sisters this week with a tanka and haiku.
Laura, your time with your father is precious. You must be so patient with him(the 1st tanku shares this). It is difficult to watch a parent slowly loose their cognitive thinking. I am definitely going to look up your write a ____ Is a Word Poem link. Thanks for this and sharing your tan-ku. I am participating this week as a one of the #poetrypals.
Crosswords, no cross words. Clever word play here, Laura. Thank you for the links and invitation for February’s challenge. I always like to join the Poetry Sisters.
That clever wordplay was all Sara’s idea :>)
You captured such tenderness in your tanku, Laura. What a lovely way to stay in close contact with your Dad.
I love the spot of humor you managed here.…“He now knows Ugg boots” which only deepens the sadness over what’s been lost. I’m so glad you’re staying in tender conversation with him, and yes, I do hope you’ll write more crossword inspired poems…and stay on the grid with all of us, too.
LOLsob (as none of the kids say anymore) — the exquisite irony of knowing the pointlessness of an Australian slipper boot while losing whole universes. And yet, the grid connects you sans cross words, across miles.
Dear friend, may you two find other ways to connect which feed you both and celebrate what you still have in lieu of what is lost.
So beautiful, even while it is so very painful. So much love in that shared crossword puzzle.
This brings me back to the final weeks I shared with my mom, doing crossword puzzles together, trying to stay engaged. I love your final line (and that your sharing this with your dad!)
You show us what love you have for your father, Laura, in your words today & for taking the time for doing a Crossword with him, maybe helping a bit, but when I do them with granddaughters, we do the same, adding a tiny clue. Your clever, “no cross words” in the poem made me smile!
All credit to Sara for the wordplay! But thanks! :>)
Laura, what a beautiful thing you do with your dad. And Iove the double meaning of cross words here.
Thanks, Marcie–and the wordplay was all Sara’s doing :>)
Love how you do this and now share it with this poem. It’s such a special way of connecting to your Dad. I wish I could connect without hearing about politics from my Dad.
And THAT is the biggest benefit of doing the crosswords!
Love your poem Laura and the way you are connecting with your dad! It flows very naturally, and holds depth of how things are. My mom is 91 an artist still painting, though sight and hearing are both issues, thanks for sharing!
Oh, Laura. This poem brings me to my knees. Thank you for sharing this tender tradition and SO MANY aspects of it in just a very few syllables… wow.
Oh, Laura, this is so touching. Daily calls and the crossword! This is love.