POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP

Sorry to be so, so slow with the Poetry Roundup this week. My computer died on Thursday, I thought it was the power cord and ran to Apple to buy a new one. That worked on Friday but the computer started being fritzy again yesterday. Took it to the repair shop and it turns out the problem is not with the power cord, it's with the plug. I am currently sitting at Kinko's trying to finish the Roundup which should have been done on Friday. I apologize!

P.S. The computers at Kinko's or Blogspot are wreaking havoc on the spacing and fonts. I have been sitting here for two hours formatting and reformatting and I am finally giving up! So sorry!

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Sometimes I think God, or the Universe, or whatever Higher Power works for you, is trying to send me a message. It sure seemed that way as I read through this week's postings. There seemed to be an inordinately high number about gratitude, savoring each moment, and slowing down....

Thoughts on Gratitude...

• Liz Gartan Scanlan shares an absolutely gorgeous ten minute video and reminds us that "the only appropriate response is gratitude."


• At "Across the Page," Janet captures her foray into an early winter afternoon. Beautiful


• Laura Shovan combines beautiful nature photography with tanka, and gives those of us who are teachers a tanka lesson to use on Monday. Thanks, Laura!


• Teaching Authors is finishing a series on thankfulness. Such richness here!



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There were lots of lovely poems by students...

• The Write Sisters have two student poems from TINY ROADS INSIDE CABBAGE, a collection of poetry written between 1972 and 1982. I'm salivating over these young poets' perfect detail.


• Tara shared "eco-literacy" poems from RIVER OF WORDS. This organization hosts a yearly student poetry contest.


• Wander by the Poem Farm to read the work of a terrific second grade poet.


• And of course there was some lovely original poetry by adults...
  Donna at Mainely Write, wrote a poem for her three-month-old grandson. I can't think of anything cooler than writing poetry for my grandchildren (although I do hope I don't get the opportunity for quite a while!).


• At Fomagrams, David Elzey ponders the mid-century mark.



• Mandy shares three different types of cinquain she wrote in a college writing class.


• The amazing Jone McCulloch (Deowriter).is not only chairing the CYBILS poetry committee, she also wrote a poem a day for thirty days.



• Laura Purdie Salas has two offerings this week. At her blog, she shares "If A Tree Falls" from her newest book, BOOKSPEAK. Then in her "15 words or less" post, she shares "Levitate" (and who can't remember the fun of jumping on a bed?) Congratulations onhaving a poem accepted on YOUR DAILY POEM.

There were lots of super thought provoking posts about poetry this week...

• Sylvia Vardell's post features J. Patrick Lewis, who was awarded the 2011 NCTE Award for Excellence in Children's Poetry. Sylvia's graduate students created a J. Patrick Lewis Toolbox, complete with book trailers and other interesting resources. Great poetry minds think alike, because Elaine Magliaro (Wild Rose Reader, also shared this poem.

• Adrienne shares Billy Collins "Workshop," which, for those of us who have ever been part of a writing workshop, is hilarious. Talking about her own experiences in Writing Workshops, she says, "You can improve your writing through workshopping, but in the beginning and the end, it's you and your brain and your words. In the middle, it's a comfort to know other writers though, people who understand your weird lifestyle, why you devote so much time to this solitary pursuit, and what you are trying to accomplish." So, so true!



• Irene Latham ponders truth in poetry. Definitely worth a read!

• At Poetry Advocates, Steven Withrow analyzes Ted Hughes' use of sound.
  Tabatha Yeats has a post about poetry and movies. Something I had never thought about, hmmmm....
  

And of course there lots of lovely single poems by much-loved authors....

• The folks at Stenhouse posted the same Kate Messner poem as I did, reminding us to "read it, share it with our students, and most important of all: live it."


• My fourth graders have been talking about poems that teach life lessons. At Year of Reading, Mary Lee has "Building Bridges."This would be a great one to read at a meeting of literacy coaches or veteran teachers!



• Despite suffering from a "cold colossal", Katya managed to translate a poem about the ritual of drinking tea from Russian to English. I'm a coffee girl all the way, but this poem made me think about hunting up a samovar.



• You can find another "Hall of Fame" poet, Rita Dove, at Ruth's "There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Place."



• And for a little Shakespeare, check out Maria's post from the George Hall Free Library.



• And on a cold and snowy Saturday in Denver, I appreciated reading Emerson's "Snow" on Robyn Hood Black's blog.




• Also loved Dori's Robert Louis Stevenson poem.



• At Drift Record, Julie celebrates the life of Ruth Stone, who won the National Book Award for poetry at age 86. Julie also reminds us that she has a poem in the Gift Tag collection (I am so going to have to get that book!)


• Karissa brings what she describes as Mary Oliver's "unique take on motherhood" I love the last few lines of this poem:
  "…and I want to live my life all over again, to begin again to be utterly wild."

And then a few lovely poetry picture books....

• At Father Goose, Charles Ghigna brings us I SEE WINTER a new book for some of our youngest poetry loving friends.



• Just reading three lines makes me think I want to own WHEN I LOVE YOU AT CHRISTMAS. Thanks for sharing this one at Picture Book of the Day, Anastasia.
  


• And while we are on the subject of young poetry readers, at Readertotz, Lorie Ann Grover reviews THE MICE OF NIBBLING VILLAGE, a book of 14 poems that celebrate life in a "mouse town." It seems like it might be a great companion volume to Kate Messner's new picture book, OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW, which Lorrie reviewed for Poetry Friday two weeks ago. And at another blog, On Point, Lorrie presents an original haiku for a friend who has recently had a double mastectomy.



• Fellow Coloradoan Linda at Teacher Dance reviews two new-to-me novels in verse INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN and ALEUTIAN SPARROW . I can hear Donalyn Miller's book-a-day calling my name. In less than two weeks …

There were several interesting poetry collections.....

• At Paper Tigers, Sara and Marjorie host a really interesting interview of lawyer turned poet Janet Wong. In the last year, Janet and Sylvia Vardell have coauthored PoetryTagTime, a series of ebooks. The third and most recent book is a holiday collection that sounds like big fun. Lots of folks (Laura Purdie Salas, Laura Shovan, Heidi Mordhorst) that participate in Poetry Friday have poems in this collection. It sounds like one all of us ought to head over to Amazon and check out! I definitely am!




• Jeannine Atkinson 's poem "Surprise," which she shares on her blog today is a part of the Gift Tag collection. The cookie dough photo that accompanies the poem is so real that I want to pick one up and pop it into my mouth.




• Janet Squires reminds us about BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE. I have never seen this book, and thought it was brand new, but it was actually written in 2008. My students love silly poems and this one sounds like a book I definitely have to have.

Happy new week!