The Good Life

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BY TRACY K. SMITH
When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back, and it makes me nostalgic
For the years I lived on coffee and bread,
Hungry all the time, walking to work on payday
Like a woman journeying for water
From a village without a well, then living
One or two nights like everyone else
On roast chicken and red wine.

You can read more about Tracy's appointment in a New York Times article here.
You can read an interview/listen to Ms. Smith on NPR here. 

Leave your link in the comments below. I have comment moderation, so you won't see your comment as soon as you post it, but I will round them up periodically throughout the day. 


EARLY MORNING ROUNDUP
  • At Life on the Deckle Edge, Robyn Hood Black's description of  David Lanoue's newest book, WRITE LIKE ISSA, had me reaching for my charge card. The book includes six lessons about haiku, and poems by 57 poets, including Robin! And the best news yet- one lucky commenter will win a copy of the book!  
  • Many are celebrating nature this week. Aileen Fisher's, "Sing of the Earth and Sky," shared by Catherine Flynn, seems a perfect prelude to all of these. 
  • Tara offers an ode to elm trees with Ruth Stone's "Before the Blight." 
  • And if Tara's poem makes me long for a cool green glade, Kiesha Shepard makes me want to dig my toes into the sand at the beach.
  • Matt Esenwine celebrates an upcoming week at the beach with an original beach poem. 
  • Diane Mayr commemorates the sighting of a brown booby, a bird never before seen in New Hampshire, with a James Tate poem, "The Blue Booby." And at Random Noodling, she continues her delightful catku series. 
  • Brenda is channeling her inner William Butler Yeats with an original poem, "Ballooning."
  • At Teacher Dance, Linda Baie glories in sweet moments with her granddaughters. 
  • Laura Purdie Salas brings a little silliness with "Keep a Pocket in Your Poem" (yes, you read that correctly) from J. Patrick Lewis' newest poetry book. 
  • Over at Year of Reading, Mary Lee uses a new picture book, IF, by Milton and Shirley Glasser, as inspiration for  a few playful if's of her own. 
  • Kathryn Apel celebrates wonderful wordplay (also awesome alliteration) with a review of GREAT GOAL! MARVELOUS MARK!, a new ABC book about the Australian Football League. 
  • Tabatha Yeatts gifts us not only with a poem and a song, but also with a beautiful quote. "It goes without saying that a fine short poem can have the resonance and depth of an entire novel." 
  • At Write Time, Linda has an original, not-your-typical Father's Day poem. I wish there were more of these. 
  • Jama reviews a brand new picture book MY DADDY RULES THE WORLD, by Hope Anita Smith. This definitely seems like one to add to classroom libraries!
  • Inspired by her visit to the Jones College Prep AP Art Class Exhibit, Michelle Kogan wrote an original cherita (is this form, which seems short and maybe even doable, new to anyone besides me?). 
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FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Back from class (after a slight flat tire delay):
  • It's a good thing that Amy Ludwig Vanderwater came by today, or I never would have known that Margarita Engle was named "Young People's Poet Laureate" for next year. I'm not sure how I heard about Tracy K. Smith, but missed the news about Margarita. This news will be fun to share at my school this fall- more than 50% of our students speak Spanish as their first language. Amy has all kinds of goodies in her post today, hop on over to check out an original poem about frogs, written in honor of a kindergarten class, as well as some original second grade poetry. 
  • Ramona is joining Robyn Hood Black to celebrate Issa's birthday, with COOL MELONS TURN TO FROGS, a book I have always loved sharing with kids. 
  • Christie Wyman "found" a poem about hummingbirds in the words of John James Audubon. 
  • Karen Edmisten is also celebrating summer with William Henry Davies, "Leisure." This topic seems to be cropping up in so many poems that I think the universe must be trying to tell me something!
  • I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry when I read JoAnn Early Macken's poem, "Summer Scheduling." I have way too many days like she described!
  • Violet Nesdoly's title, "Ghostly Visible" captured my attention. So much we see, and yet don't see. 
  • My father has been gone for over twenty years, and yet I cried this afternoon, when I read Li-Young Lee's poems, shared by Elaine Magliaro. Hauntingly beautiful memories. 
  • Margaret Gibson Simon says, "When I write poems, I connect to a deeper part of myself, one who I don’t know as well, one who reveals more of myself to me." Margaret has an original poem, "Remembering Clover," modeled after Philip Levine's Milkweed. 
  • Kay McGriff , inspired by Marilyn Singer, not only attempted reverso poetry, but chose a really tough topic, this week's shooting. So sad. 
  • When I read "See It Through" at Bildungsroman, I think of my sixth grade teacher, Ralph Meyer, who regularly recited Edgar Guest's poetry to us. 
  • Jan Goodwin Anino  says Canada's Jordan Abel is a poet we can't miss. His newest book, INJUN, sounds like a good place to start. 
  • Our final poster, Carol Varsalona, became a grandmother this week, but also somehow made time to snap pictures and write poetry about a gorgeous river sunset.
OK, I think I got everyone. If I left someone out, please let me know and I will add you when I get home from the theater tonight. Excited to see CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT, which has gotten rave reviews!