It’s Poetry Friday, and I’m hosting the Roundup! (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!
Friends, it’s almost publication day (Tuesday) for Flurry, Float, and Fly! I hope you’ll check out Carol Labuzzetta’s thoughtful, lovely review of my book here. Thank you, Carol! ETA: And Jama Rattigan included Flurry in a delightful Nine Cool Things on a Tuesday post, along with a raft of Cotswold cozy charm!
Now, it’s early November, and I haven’t even gotten out the winter coat yet. I’m a bit worried we won’t see snow this year in Minnesota! Surely that’s not true, but I’m longing for that peaceful silence that a snowfall brings. 2025 has felt like a blizzard of losses, medical appointments, and comings and goings. There’s been plenty of joy, too. But the year just feels overwhelming. Snow has a way of grounding and calming me, and I can’t wait for it!
Several things before I share a winter poem:
- I’m in Florida right now gathering with my sisters, scattering my parents’ ashes, and going through Mom and Dad’s various belongings that still need sorting. I WILL make it around to everyone’s posts, but it’s likely to take me all week to do that. I apologize in advance!
- Please share this casual lesson plan with your teaching friends so they can spend a day around Flurry, Float, and Fly! It’s perfect for those days just before school breaks.
- Don’t forget to enter my drawing for a free virtual author visit!
- Finally, will I see you at NCTE? Here’s my schedule. I have a dinner at 7pm on Friday, so I’ll likely miss the Poetry Peeps Meetup. :>( I might go to that spot and hang out 6–6:30 in case anyone else stops by early :>)
Okay, now for a poem–ironically about the noises of winter. Ironic because the silence of winter and snowfalls is actually one of my favorite things! This is a villanelle I wrote in 2019, and it’s one of a bunch of winter-themed poems I have gathered not in a book, but on my Flurry, Float, and Fly book page.
Mr. Linky is rounding us up today, so please fill out the doohickey below to both leave your link and to check out all the other links you can explore. Thanks for being part of Poetry Friday, and thank you for being a community of friends who lets me overshare about a forthcoming book, who offers comfort when I fail at things, and who always celebrates the good news anyone in this community has. I value y’all a lot!
30 Responses
Many congrats on your forthcoming book, “Flurry, Float, and Fly!” Your winter poem is shivering-good, wonderful sounds in there, and that alternating repeating lines are very strong! Sending thoughts for you and your sisters while together in Florida. Thanks for hosting!
Thanks, Michelle–yesterday was the ash scattering, and it was a good day. <3
Well done to you, Laura on the imminent release of your new book. Such times always deliver a buzz of anticipation and joy. Your villanelle poem brims with delightful sound and rhyme. The voices of winter, indeed. I note the ebb and flow of life in your post. Life is always about ‘becoming’ and it is also about our response to what presents along that journey. May you find solace in the support of your sisters when dealing with these challanges. Thank you also for hosting.
Thank you, Alan–we four sisters were together yesterday, and that was a very good thing. :>)
Love your lyrical poem. Great sensory details. I’m glad that you and your sisters have each other for support during a challenging time. Congrats on Flurry, Float and Fly and thanks for hosting this week.
Thanks, Jama, and thanks again for including FLurry in your own roundup!
I love villanelles, so congratulations on yours (and the book itself!) — the repetition makes it sing! Thanks for hosting, Laura.
Hehe–a poem about sounds SHOULD sing, but that’s never my strongest part of a poem :>)
Dear Laura, it seems to be a time of goodness with your sisters, and a bittersweet time saying goodbye to your parents. I hope the sorting brings some fun and special memories. You are a busy woman, and now also bringing everyone a new, I’m sure, wonderful book. It feels as if your older poem is an excellent introduction to the book, so full of sights and grand sounds. We in Colorado have not had winter yet either. The leaves are flying and I am perspiring while raking, not a memory of the past! Thanks for hosting!
Thanks, Linda. It’s truly bittersweet. We four sisters gathered yesterday and had a very good day. And the ash scattering, with all our spouses, was exactly right. But it was also bittersweet knowing this could likely be the last time all four of us are together in person, with medical conditions, scattered locations, etc. We tried to make the most of it. When we left Minnesota Thursday morning, winter hadn’t arrived, but I think we might have snow back home this weekend. My two front step plants will probably finally hit the dust! <3
Congratulations on your latest book, Laura! I love “The Voice of Winter,” which will have me listening around here, too. Today the second graders I read to voted to include your book “Finding Family” on our Gold Medal Books list; together we’re keeping track of this year’s favorite reads.
Oh, what delightful news, Susan–thank you!
“The Voice of Winter” is wonderful. Rich with sounds. Thinking of you as you navigate your current challenges. *hugs*
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks, Tabatha! <3
Laura, my thoughts are with you this weekend as you gather with your sisters. I hope traveling through the emotional ups and downs together helps bring you peace. And congratulations on Flurry, Float, and Fly! — lovely and lyrical as always.
Laura, Thanks for rounding us up and congrats on the release of Flurry, Float, and Fly! I feel so lucky to have a copy. Your poem puts me in the mood for winter. I’m rarely in the mood for winter because ours is usually wet, not snowy. I’ll dream of having another snow like last year. I can imagine the notebook page that you wrote this out on, with rhymes in the margins. This is master crafting of the form.
Laurie, congrats on your new book! I just requested FURRY,FLOAT, AND FLY to be added to the Dobbs Ferry Library! Love your lesson plan and your villanelle, especially that gorgeous winter soundscape! Thanks for hosting!
Lara, I’m looking forward to getting a copy for Flurry—congratulations. Best of luck with the difficult task you have this week. Poetry will carry you through…
Laura, my thoughts are with you and your family as you say goodbye to your parents.
I love the villanelle with its moans, groans and creaks and congratulations on your new book. I appreciate your commenting on my post.
I think my favorite aspect of winter is its voice, Laura. And you captured it beautifully in your villanelle –the moans and groans and creaks, the skitter-skatter, though our bare aspen are mute by now! Thank you for hosting.
Laura, Congrats, again on Flurry, Float, and Fly. I was honored to be a reviewer and I know my copy will be read again and again. Hug your sisters tight. How fortunate you’ve all been able to gather together. I have just one sibling — a sister. This year’s holidays will be tough for us — as we both spent those special days with my Dad. I’m so glad we were able to do that. I wish you peace and healing.
Laura, your villanelle is lovely, and congratulations on Flurry, Float, and Fly! Yet another book birthday!
I didn’t get a post up this week (I think last week’s burning haibun took it out of me! :)) but wanted to stop in here and comment. May your time in Florida with your sisters, though hard, also be good and healing. It all takes so much time.
I’m so looking forward to your Zoom visit with my class next week (and crossing my fingers that they behave!). Congratulations, again, on Flurry, Float and Fly! It’s such a lovely book and really captures the magic of winter and snow. Your villanelle is beautiful–I, too, cherish the hush of winter, but am also entranced by how the river creaks and groans as the ice shifts.
It’s all good for Friday–very casual. So don’t worry! It will be what it will be :>D If you have any specific things you want me to be prepared to discuss or read, just let me know. Otherwise, it will be very freeform and Q&A. Can’t wait!
I hope you and your sisters have a productive time together. Be gentle with yourself. You’ve got a lot of emotion to juggle. Hooray for NCTE. I am not going but I know you’ll have a good time. At my librarian’s conference I saw a video of you introducing a book at a vendor’s station. It was just a tiny clip…but nice to see you all the same. The repetition of “groans and creak” and, “this is the way that winter speaks” gives the poem a wonderful structure with lots of room to play. Lovely!
Laura, Happy Soon To Be-Your Newest Book! on Tuesday. I will try to have a book review of it ready for educators, poets, and students to enjoy on Publication Day. The Voice of Winter is a wonderful poem filled with sensory imagery, sounds, alliteration, and a flowing rhyme scheme. My thoughts and prayers are with you this weekend as you honor your parents and sort through their memorabilia and other belongings. Thank you for hosting PF today.
I liked your winter poem. It seems odd to put out a winter poem while in Florida with 6–7 weeks of Fall left. I’m going to put off winter as long as I can. It’s not that I dislike winter. I actually like it very much. I like all the seasons and like to enjoy them all and keep them as long as possible.
Dave, I think your Mr. Linky link is back to Laura’s blog.
Laura, thank you for hosting. Your villanelle is going to be a mento poem for me. I hope this weekend with family was healing.