Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

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[poetry friday] Mortimer Minute Blog Hop

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OK, I usually don’t take part in memes and blog hops and such. It’s not because I’m anti-social (although I am) (oops, did I type that out loud?)?or because I have an aversion to chain letters (although I do)–it’s because I’m having enough trouble keeping up with blog posts and social media without having to follow a specific format and find other people to tag! But…this one’s poetry! And it’s short! And Renee La Tulippe of No Water River asked me, and how could I’refuse. And…well, look at Mortimer up there. Seriously, could you say no??

So, here I am, hopping along in’the Children’s Poetry Blog Hop and happy to be here.

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Here’s how to hop ?Mortimer Minute? style!

  • Answer 3 questions. Pick one question from the previous Hopper. Add two of your own. Keep it short, please! This is a Blog Hop, not a Blog Long Jump. This is The Mortimer Minute?not The Mortimer Millennium!
  • Invite friends. Invite 1-3 bloggers who love children’s poetry to follow you. They can be writers, teachers, librarians, or just plain old poetry lovers.
  • Say thank you. In your own post, link to The Previous Hopper. Then keep The Mortimer Minute going ? let us know who your Hoppers are and when they plan to post their own Mortimer Minute.

Ready??

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Mortimer: Is there a children’s poem that you wish you had written?

Oh, Mortimer. There are hundreds–most from poets I admire who are writing today. But I’m going to share one I wish I had written (and feel like it’s almost within the realm of possibility that I could write a poem like this on one of my best days). It’s by the late Barbara Juster Esbensen, an amazing poet, and it’s from Swing Around the Sun (Carolrhoda/Lerner, 1965, 2003 — beautiful re-issue with stunning art from four artists, one for each season).

October Alchemy

Empty garden,
Withered flower,
Elm leaves fall
In a golden shower.

Wind runs howling,
Rain slants cold;
Elm leaves pave
The streets with gold.

–Barbara Juster Esbensen, all rights reserved

Mortimer:?Who inspired you to start writing children’s poetry?

Barbara Juster Esbensen, speaking at an SCBWI conference not too long before her death.

Mortimer: What poetic skill/technique do you struggle most with?

I find whimsy almost impossible to do, and varying/breaking meter to good effect is really difficult, too. Sometimes I’m just too regimented! Maybe I was in the military in a former life.

And that’s my Mortimer Minute!

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Now let me introduce you to the Hopper who will bound down The Mortimer Minute path at her blog in two weeks. I just finished writing poems in a group with this fabulous blogger, educator, and poet (more to come on that next week!), and I’m excited to hand off the carrot to Tricia Stohr-Hunt of The Miss Rumphius Effect!
Tricia Stohr-Hunt
My first poem was published at the age of 7 in the kids pull-out section of the local newspaper. Since then, all my publishing has been academic. In an interview with J. Patrick Lewis he said “I had been writing for many years in my field of economics (groan), which requires a mind at odds with the universe and one that conveys itself in prose of lead.” I feel much the same way about my writing for work. ?

I’ve been a teacher for most of my life, though I’ve also worked as a boat hand on a private yacht, assembled physics equipment in a factory, taught (and survived!) middle school, and even tested dog biscuits for fat content. In my current position I serve on the faculty at the University of Richmond where I have the distinct honor and pleasure of preparing future teachers in the areas of math and science. Children’s books and poetry are part of my daily life and have an honored place in my classroom.

 

Doraine Bennett at Dori Reads has the Poetry Friday Roundup today! Enjoy!

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Comments

  3. That last stanza just packs a punch! Thanks for introducing us to Barbara Juster Esbensen. Can’t wait for Trisha’s choice!

  4. That last stanza just packs a punch! Thanks for introducing us to Barbara Juster Esbensen. Can’t wait for Trisha’s choice!

  9. Where has Barbara Juster Esbensen been all my life? Must find more of her work. Thanks for posting this, Laura. I had fun with my questions today for the Mortimer Minute, too, over at The Drift Record.

  10. Where has Barbara Juster Esbensen been all my life? Must find more of her work. Thanks for posting this, Laura. I had fun with my questions today for the Mortimer Minute, too, over at The Drift Record.

  11. Beautiful Mortimer Minute post. I love these lines most of all:
    “Elm leaves pave
    The streets with gold.”
    How beautiful autumn is. We miss that here in our neverending tropical summer in Southeast Asia.

    • So glad you like it, Myra:>) We moved from Florida up to Minnesota 23 years ago to get away from neverending heat. Fall is my favorite season!

  12. Beautiful Mortimer Minute post. I love these lines most of all:
    “Elm leaves pave
    The streets with gold.”
    How beautiful autumn is. We miss that here in our neverending tropical summer in Southeast Asia.

    • So glad you like it, Myra:>) We moved from Florida up to Minnesota 23 years ago to get away from neverending heat. Fall is my favorite season!

  13. Hooray! You really kept the Mortimer Minute to a minute — could it be that regimentation you speak of? 🙂 Having read your poetry, I can really see why you are drawn to Esbensen’s poem – you seem like two peas in a pod! It’s just lovely, especially those last two lines.

    I’m curious about your comment on “whimsy” because my client at AALP has said the same thing about herself. You don’t think A LEAF CAN BE and BOOKSPEAK are whimsical?

    • Well, I am flattered! I’d love to be a pea in a pod with Esbensen:>) I think I come up with whimsical concepts sometimes, but within individual poems, I struggle with whimsy. I often come up with good words, “right” words, but lots of times the best words in poems are the unexpected ones, the whimsical ones, the “wrong” ones that work perfectly. That’s what I want more of!

      • Ah, I understand! Like “wrong” or inventive words, the kind someone like Douglas Florian comes up with, or Amy LV, the whimsy queen. I try for those, too, but they often seem forced. I think they just have to happen!

        • Yeah, you’re probably right. I hate that. Not your being right, but the whimsy having to just happen. You can’t force it, but I think there are ways to encourage it…

  14. Hooray! You really kept the Mortimer Minute to a minute — could it be that regimentation you speak of? 🙂 Having read your poetry, I can really see why you are drawn to Esbensen’s poem – you seem like two peas in a pod! It’s just lovely, especially those last two lines.

    I’m curious about your comment on “whimsy” because my client at AALP has said the same thing about herself. You don’t think A LEAF CAN BE and BOOKSPEAK are whimsical?

    • Well, I am flattered! I’d love to be a pea in a pod with Esbensen:>) I think I come up with whimsical concepts sometimes, but within individual poems, I struggle with whimsy. I often come up with good words, “right” words, but lots of times the best words in poems are the unexpected ones, the whimsical ones, the “wrong” ones that work perfectly. That’s what I want more of!

      • Ah, I understand! Like “wrong” or inventive words, the kind someone like Douglas Florian comes up with, or Amy LV, the whimsy queen. I try for those, too, but they often seem forced. I think they just have to happen!

        • Yeah, you’re probably right. I hate that. Not your being right, but the whimsy having to just happen. You can’t force it, but I think there are ways to encourage it…

    • Thanks, Heidi–I’ve been meaning to do it for a while! I need to do some streamlining on my actual site now, but I’m happy to have everything under one roof now…

    • Thanks, Heidi–I’ve been meaning to do it for a while! I need to do some streamlining on my actual site now, but I’m happy to have everything under one roof now…

  25. How wonderful that you got to hear Barbara Juster Esbensen, Laura – she left us with such gorgeous writing, and I’m glad that encounter helped to inspire your own career.

    And, yay for Tricia! We shared a rocky, almost-stormy ride on a small plane after my first Highlights Poetry workshop up in PA a few years ago. Talk about bonding in that brief shared airspace!

    • Thanks, Robyn. And oh, lord! That is definitely a QUICK bond there! So nice to have the distraction of a fellow writer on a terrifying plane ride.

  26. How wonderful that you got to hear Barbara Juster Esbensen, Laura – she left us with such gorgeous writing, and I’m glad that encounter helped to inspire your own career.

    And, yay for Tricia! We shared a rocky, almost-stormy ride on a small plane after my first Highlights Poetry workshop up in PA a few years ago. Talk about bonding in that brief shared airspace!

    • Thanks, Robyn. And oh, lord! That is definitely a QUICK bond there! So nice to have the distraction of a fellow writer on a terrifying plane ride.

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