Book of the Week

Though National Poetry Month is officially over, I have one last book of poems that I'd like to profile before we move on to the latest and greatest in Young Adult Lit. This week's book is not a novel told in poems, but a collection of poems that work together to tell a story. What's this story about? Love. All its phases. The pretty and fun. The ugly and yucky. It's all about love.

In Love Poems for Real Life, editors Mary Esselman and Elizabeth Ash Velez bring together a huge variety of poems and poets to show the different phases and stages of relationships. There are classical Shakespearean sonnets, modern e.e. cummings free verse poems, and all sorts of amazing poems in between. The book is divided into seven sections: ecstasy, stability, monotony, uncertainty, misery, and clarity. And, if you've ever been in love, chances are that you've experienced some of these phases firsthand.

Here are a couple of my favorite poems from this collection (I'm in a lovey mood today, so I chose poems from the "ecstasy" and "stability" sections):

My favorite love poem EVER is this one:

And this one is a new favorite. I read it aloud to my husband and he loved it!

Today is Poem In Your Pocket Day!

Today is Poem In Your Pocket Day. On this day, you are encouraged to keep a poem in your pocket, ready to share with someone special or to keep to yourself. Your poem can be an old favorite or a newly discovered gem. You can copy a poem out on paper or print one that's already in the shape of a pocket.

I also have many collections of poetry from which you may choose a poem to rewrite and carry in your pocket. Or, you might have a favorite poem in mind from your childhood or your own writing. Either way, look for a

Whatever your choice, find a poem that you plan to keep in your pocket today. Share it with me and explain why you've chosen to carry this poem. Whatever you choose for a poem, make sure to explore and have fun! (And, as you can see, we had an awesome time! Good work all!)

Book of the Week

I love reading a novel written in verse. I think that these novels tend to be creative and open themselves to more readers than traditional prose novels. Also, it's wonderful to sit and read a novel for thirty or forty minutes and finish the entire books.

This week's book, Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland is one that I was able to sit and read in less than an hour. What I love about books like this is that, though it only took me a short while to read, the poems and images and the voice of the character will stay with me for weeks and months.

This book follows its speaker through a year of school. I couldn't exactly tell which year of school the speaker was entering, but I'd guess that it was either an 8th or 9th grade experience. Even more than the poems, which are pretty amazing, I enjoyed discovering the artwork contained in this novel. It's a collection of mixed-media drawings, collages, and prints, but it all works together to add to the meaning of the poems.

I almost want to show this book to my freshman and sophomore students as they work to develop their own writing collections with the multigenre and vignette projects. I love the way that poems mingle with images, and the way that media is used to enhance the presentation of the writing.

This book is no longer in print; I bought it a long time ago and have not yet reviewed it. I reread it and re-enjoyed it for this review. It can be found used (hardcover version) on amazon for a penny, plus shipping. A serious bargain!

Book of the Week

Naomi Shihab Nye is one of my favorite poets. She has a way of making the complex more simple and the simple more complex. Her free verse is flawless and intriguing and her imagery brings allows you to see and feel the world.

Her newest collection of poems is titled A Maze Me: Poems for Girls. This group of poems covers every subject from relationships to war to nature to human nature to love to random every day crazy/ beautiful-ness. I received this book as part of a generous donation of books to our classroom. I absolutely know that there are several of you who would love to read it. This collection is probably best for teen girls, but this author has other collections of poems that would pique the interest of the male members of our classroom.

Here is a poem from this collection:

Life is a tangle of
twisting paths.
Some short.
Some long.
There are dead ends.
And there are choices.
And wrong turns,
and detours,
and yield signs,
and instruction booklets,
and star maps,
and happiness,
and loneliness.
And friends.
And sisters.
And love.
And poetry.

Life is a maze.
You are a maze.
Amazed.
And amazing.

Poem of the Week

In honor of our brand-new spring season, I've chosen the poem "Spring is like a perhaps hand" by e. e. cummings as our poem of the week. When I read this poem, I think about the delicateness of new life pushing up through the ground. Every year, I worry about my early-blooming daffodils, but year year they survive and thrive despite the chaos of early spring weather. I guess I should have more faith!

Here's our Poem of the Week:

Poem of the Week

This week's poem was written by one of my favorite poets of all time, Emily Dickinson. I found this poem in my email inbox from a site called Your Daily Poem. If you sign up, you too can receive a delightful poem in your email every day! It's a slice of awesomeness among all of the craziness that it my inbox!

Without further ado, here is our poem of the week:

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.

Poems for Ornaments

Today we decorated our classroom for the holidays with some Poetic Ornaments. I got this idea from the poets.org site, and decided that this lesson would lend itself to some creativity, cheer, and expose you (and me) to some new poets and poems. Boy, was I right! Everyone who has walked into the room has mentioned how much they love the ornaments we have hanging around the room. Some students even asked me if they were "allowed" to make some. My answer: "OF COURSE!"

Here are a couple of links for you to browse for your lines:


Christmas Poems

Winter Poems

Here are some sample finished products:

Poem for a Snowy Snow Day

It is no secret that I enjoy a good poem now and again. So, while appreciating our first snow day of this school year, I decided that I could not let is pass without acknowledging it formally with a beautiful poem. Here is one of my favorites:

Winter Twilight by Anne Porter

On a clear winter's evening
The crescent moon

And the round squirrels' nest
In the bare oak

Are equal planets.

*  *  *

I hope that you all enjoyed the simple beauty of this snowy day.
See you tomorrow!

Who's On Your Team?

I recently discovered a site where you can buy baseball-themed tees with the names of famous authors and poets. This is a super cool idea, and it has me thinking that maybe we need one of our graphic arts students to help us create some shirts. Maybe we could do this for this year's National Poetry Month? Be thinking of authors you'd like to have on your team!

Fernando Perez: Player and Poet

It was cool to hear that Fernando Perez, an outfielder for the Tampa Rays baseball team, has a deep love for poetry. I guess that it should not surprise me so much, since I have many male and female students who love sports and are always reading when they're not on the field.

If you have a few spare moments, take a listen to this interesting interview.

All About Poe

For those of you who love the dark, haunting rhymes of Edgar Allan Poe, it's your lucky day. Or, rather, this is your lucky semester. That's right. Local UMF professor Michael Johnson has teamed up with Poe scholars and Devaney Doak and Garrett Booksellers (right downtown Farmington) to bring you months of Poe-related activities! Why all of the sudden hoopla over a poet who's been dead for 160 years? Because this year is the bicentennial of his birth. That means that if he were alive today, he'd be two hundred years old.

To participate, you may join in on some of the creepy-eepy readings or just surf through Dr. Michael Johnson's site. I'll update you about events that are happening in town and at UMF. Check with me if'd you'd like to learn more about these events and/ or about Poe.

For those of you who are new to Poe, check out one of his most famous poems, "Annabel Lee".

April is National Poetry Month!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the onset of spring than with a poem. In fact, April is National Poetry Month, so we're going to have thirty days of poems! Every day for the entire month of April, www.poets.org is going to email a poem to me and to you, if you choose to sig up for this awesome program. The great thing about this is that we'll all be exposed to a variety of authors, topics, and styles through the poems I receive. I know that I tend to read from the same authors over and over. This way, whether I enjoy the poem or not, I'll be exposed to all kinds of new stuff!

Here's our first poem (April 1st) from www.poets.org:

Secret History
by Charles Simic

Of the light in my room:
Its mood swings,
Dark-morning glooms,
Summer ecstasies.

Spider on the wall,
Lamp burning late,
Shoes left by the bed,
I'm your humble scribe.

Dust balls, simple souls
Conferring in the corner.
The pearl earring she lost,
Still to be found.

Silence of falling snow,
Night vanishing without trace,
Only to return.
I'm your humble scribe.

Spring Poem for a Snowy Day

Tumbling-hair
picker of buttercups
violets
dandelions
And the big bullying daisies
through the field wonderful
with eyes a little sorry
Another comes
also picking flowers

This is a poem by ee cummings, an unconventional American poet who played with form, words, punctuation, capitalization, and anything else that could possibly be altered to make a more meaningful, expressive poem.