I already mentioned that the second book in my 30 Painless Classroom Poems series is going to be Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading. You might remember that I shared these poems here during National Poetry Month earlier this year. What was cool as I went through editing the riddle-ku to be part of this book was getting to share a little of my revision/thinking process with students and teachers through the Note from the Poet feature. Every poem in every 30 Painless Classroom Poems book has a Note from the Poet with it. The Notes are short, just a few sentences, but they give readers a peek into my brain. Here’s an example of one poem in the book and how it changed. Lots of times, it was comments from you that helped me know when a riddle-ku was too hard or could be interpreted too many ways, so thank you!
My tail wags my nose
when I lie round as a dime
I wish you were home
?HINT 1:
?
?
HINT 2:
Photos by Laura Purdie Salas (model: Captain Jack Sparrow:>)
TITLE (AND ANSWER):
DOG
A Note from the Poet:
My first line used to be ?My tail whisks my nose.? I love the verb ?whisks.? But I realized there was nothing in the poem to give you a hint about whether this was a dog or a cat. So I (somewhat sadly) changed ?whisks? to ?wags.? There are a lot of things to think about when choosing words in poems!
16 Responses
I remember this this poem I like both words
I was reading some of your books today
I’m going to see about getting the new one you wrote
Thanks, Jessica. I really liked “whisk” better, but I think clarity was more important than word love in a riddle poem. Dang it. :>)
whisk seams as if the tail becomes a magic wand tapping his nose lightly with stars
Yes! That does capture why I liked “whisk” better!
I remember this this poem I like both words
I was reading some of your books today
I’m going to see about getting the new one you wrote
Thanks, Jessica. I really liked “whisk” better, but I think clarity was more important than word love in a riddle poem. Dang it. :>)
whisk seams as if the tail becomes a magic wand tapping his nose lightly with stars
Yes! That does capture why I liked “whisk” better!
I know I should make a pithy comment about your facility with language, but all I can think about is how cute your dog is 🙂
Hehehe. Jack (Capt. Jack Sparrow) is pretty cute, sometimes:>)
I know I should make a pithy comment about your facility with language, but all I can think about is how cute your dog is 🙂
Hehehe. Jack (Capt. Jack Sparrow) is pretty cute, sometimes:>)
Wags is really so much better! You can use “whisks” somewhere else someday. But a dog’s tail wagging does extend from one end to the other…wagging his nose is so appropriate — even when not curled up round as a dime!
Thanks, Donna–that makes me feel a little better:>)
Wags is really so much better! You can use “whisks” somewhere else someday. But a dog’s tail wagging does extend from one end to the other…wagging his nose is so appropriate — even when not curled up round as a dime!
Thanks, Donna–that makes me feel a little better:>)