National Poetry Month Roundup Plus More!

Welcome, and happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m so happy you’ve dropped by. Whether you’re a regular participant in the Poetry Friday world, or you ended up here from a search or a link, please know that we’re a welcoming community! Read, comment, think, share, and enjoy!

Lovely news! Finding Family was named an Honor Book for the Star of the North Award! This award, administered by Minnesota Youth Reading Awards, is a children’s choice award. Librarians choose a list of 10 finalists (which come from any published picture books, not just Minnesota-created ones). Then the following school year, schools around Minnesota read the finalist books, and students vote on their favorites. I am SO thrilled!

And I wanted to do a round-up of my April skinny poems. A few folks have asked, so here was my process. I ordered some blank bookmarks and did little ink splashes on them. Then I put together a little Zentangle kit, and a template for skinny poems (printed out a bunch of copies). I knew I’d be traveling one week in April, and I ended up unexpectedly traveling another week. Thank goodness I’d done some prep work to make this project as simple and portable as possible.

During April, some days, I wrote several skinny poems. Other days, I wrote none. Some days, I decorated one ink splash with Zentangle doodling. Other days, I did two, or three, or none. Same for the actual blog posts too. My vision of writing a poem and decorating the bookmark for it and creating a post each day did NOT become a reality! And usually, the doodling was done on a few and I’d look through the poems I had and just match them up somehow. So the doodles were not inspired by the individual poems. Also, some days, I brainstormed thoughts and words and such–other days, I just went straight in for the poem.

It was somewhat random, and yet…I did create 30 poems and 30 (minimally) Zentangled bookmarks. Here they are. Oh, I had some bigger papers too, but I only used one of them. While it was tough to make the first and last longer lines of a skinny fit on the bookmark, the bigger papers were too intimidating to fill.

 

You can see all my poems for this month here.

And a few reflections upon reading these all once again.

  • Most of them are pretty terrible–a true practice, not a finished creation. And that’s okay. I often spent only 5 minutes on the skinny.
  • There are a few I really like! And, 3/30 isn’t a bad ratio.
  • The skinny is a great form for a reversal…a surprise ending. I only managed this a couple of times. Something to shoot for.
  • The form can’t hold narrative very well. It’s just too abbreviated for that. Descriptions and ponderings were more successful.
  • I’m tired of daily posting and am glad the month is done!
  • I’m really glad that I did this. I feel like the practice and consistency of creating, even when it was on the fly, in random order, or whatever, was good for my poetry muscles.
  • It’ll be a while before I write a skinny again :>D

Okay, those are my insights, such as they are. Happy May! And for loads of terrific poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with the multi-talented Mary Lee Hahn, poetry wrangler, stitcher, poet, and art adventurer. Yes, this is a last-minute switch to the hosting line-up :>)

Thanks for reading! I love comments and/or shares, because they let me know what you like.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,562 other subscribers

Are You Looking For?

Poetry Friday posts

Classroom Connections posts

All my poetryactions

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
Tags
#waterpoemproject15 Words or Less Poems20for2030 Painless Classroom Poems50 State Poemsacrosticsactivity pagesactivity sheeta home like thisALAA Leaf Can Be...Amy Ludwig VanDerwaterA Need to FeedanthologiesanthologyA Rock Can Be...art projectsaudiopoemsawardsbad newsBarbara Juster EsbensenBilly Collinsbiopoemsblog tourbookalikesbook festivalsBookSpeak!book spine poemsbook trailersbop poembyr a thoddaidcafepresscalendar poemsCamp Read-a-LotCan Be... bookscan be... poemsCapstoneCarol Varsalonacascade poemsCatherine FlynnccbcCCRA.W.3CCRA.W.4CCRA.W.5centoschapter booksCharles Waterschoral compositionschristina rossetticinquainsCLAclassified ad poemsclassroom connectionclassroom connectionsClover Kittyconferences and conventionscrown sonnetscybilsdansaDare to DreamDavid ElliottDavid L. Harrisondeeper wisdom poemdefinitosdiamantesdiversitydizaindodoitsuDot DayDouglas Floriandownloadablesdrum corpse.e. cummingsekphrastic poemsepistolary poemsequation poemsessentialethereeseventsexquisite corpseFairy Tale Garage Salefamilyfibonaccifiction picture booksfinding familyfirefightersFlurry Float and Flyforeign editionsfound poemsfree author zoomsfree versefrom studentsgeesegeorgia heardghazalGift Taggiveawaygolden shovelgoldilocksgratitudehaibunhaikuheart of aheart of a teacherHeidi MordhorstHelen FrostHighlightshow-to poemshow to make a rainbowI Am FromI Am poemsidiomsif you want to knit some mittensIf You Were the MoonILAimagepoemsinterviewin the middle of the nightIRAIrelandIrene LathamJ. Patrick LewisJanet WongJoyce SidmanKendraKerlanKidlit Comboslailaura's board booksLaura's booksLaura's poemsLaura's readingsLaura ShovanLee Bennett HopkinsLilian MoorelimericksLinda Booth SweeneyLine Leads the WayLion of the Skylist poemslittle free librarylive writingLullaby and Kisses Sweetlyricsmadness poetrymagnipoemsmargaret simonMarilyn Singermary lee hahnmask poemsMatt Forrest EsenwineMeet My FamilyMelissa StewartMentors for Rentmentor textsmetaphorMichelle Myers LacknerMillbrookMinnesota Book Awardsmoneymoonmy reading lifemy writing processN+7naaninarrative poemsNational Month 2025 (skinny poem a day)National Poetry Month 2012 (haiku a day)National Poetry Month 2014 (riddle-ku)National Poetry Month 2015National Poetry Month 2016National Poetry Month 2017 (#wonderbreak)national poetry month 2018 (haiku a day)National Poetry Month 2020National Poetry Month 2021 (#EquationPoem)national poetry month 2022 (sticky-note poems)National Poetry Month 2023 (Digging for Poems)National Poetry Month 2024 (magnipoems)National Poetry Month 2025 (skinny poem a day)ncteNerdy Book Clubnifty newsnifty stuffNikki Grimesnonfictionnonfiction booksNonfiction Writers Dig Deepnovelsnovels in verseodesOne Minute Till BedtimeoppositifyOskar's VoyagepadletpantoumsparodiesPatreonpeacepersonalpet poemsphotopoetryphrase acrosticspicture booksplagiarismpoempicspoemspoems for two voicespoemsketchpoetic pursuitsPoetry 7poetryactionspoetry activitiesPoetry Blastpoetry booksPoetry FridayPoetry Friday AnthologiesPoetry Princessespoetry promptspoetry sistersPoetry Tips for Teachersprogressive poempublishing processpuddle songPutridquotationsraccontinosRandy Salasread-aloudreadaloudreading poetry in the classroomRebecca Kai Dotlichrecipe poemsrefugeesresearchreview copiesreviewsrevisionrhyming booksrhyming nonfictionrhyming picture booksRhyming Picture Books the Write Wayrhyming poemsRiddle-kuriddle poemsRock Can Be...Rock the Blogrondeau redoublesRudyard Kiplingsalas snippetsSCBWIschool visitsScotlandseasonssecrets of the loonSELsestinasshrinking daysskinnyskypeslice of lifesmall readssnack snooze skedaddlesnowman-coldsonnetsStampede!storm poemstorytimestorywalkstudent poemsstudent workSylvia VardellTanita Davistankatankutautogramteachableteacher resourcesteen/adult poemsterza rimasthankfulthank yous and referencesthe business sidethings to do iftracy nelson maurertrioletstunie munson-bensonuniverse of rainbowsvideosVikram MadanvillanellevillanellesWater Can Be...wealthy elementaryWe BelongWhat's Insidewhen a butterfly goes to schoolWhy-kuwinterwonderwonderbreakword of the yearwordplaywordsmithswork for hirewritingwriting bookswriting processwriting promptswriting the life poeticyoung authors conferencesYouTubeZapZap Clap Boomzenozentangle
Show More Show Less

Discover more from Laura Purdie Salas

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Join Laura's monthly newsletter for educators

Get three of Laura's favorite poetry activities when you subscribe to "Small Reads."