POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP

Sunset over Colorado Springs last night, taken by a friend from high school

The sun seems to be setting on Poetry Friday. Lots of great offerings today! Thanks so much to everyone who participated on this holiday weekend!

ALL THINGS HOLIDAY
Michelle Kogan experimented with the Golden Shovel form this week. Besides her original poem and panting, she is giving thanks for poetry and music this week, with a glimpse into Katherine Paterson's Thanksgiving book GIVING THANKS, as well as Aaron Copeland's rendition of "Simple Gifts."

Carol Varsalona, who is celebrating Thanksgiving holiday with her gorgeous granddaughter today, has collected Thanksgiving poems and songs for us to enjoy.

Molly Hogan's offering, "Thanksgiving for Two," is a must read for all of the empty nesters in the crowd. I probably shouldn't admit that it made me cry.

Jone's original poem about  how she'll spend Black Friday definitely matches my idea of a good time! And at her other blog, Jone's sharing some  fall haiku written by her students.

Over at The Poem Farm, Amy is enjoying the quiet celebrations of the day after a holiday. Her poem reminds me of "Introductions" by Susan Glassmeyer, that I saw on Parker J. Palmer's Facebook page earlier this week.

Dori has been busy opening a new yoga studio (and writing a little poetry besides), but now she's back with ALL CREATION WAITS, a new picture book for Advent.

Robin Hood Black has been really busy! She's not only found some poems, she's turned them into Christmas ornaments! Check them out!

Irene Latham is celebrating the choir of voices she experienced last week at NCTE. (I'm not sure NCTE is an actual holiday, but it definitely should be!)


THE NATURAL WORLD
Anyone who has ever had to cut down a big tree (I did this almost two years ago and I'm still grieving) can sympathize with Buffy Silverman , who has written a tribute to her cherry tree that had to be cut down this week.

Brenda Harsham revels in foliage in an original poem, "Goodbye Green."

At Teacher Dance, Linda Baie celebrates the season with one last autumn poem, a Golden Shovel poem based on "Loss" by Carl Adamschick.

Jane's celebration of autumn, an original haiku about the ginko tree, comes all the way from Japan.

Little Willow laments that she didn't find Ted Kooser's "A Letter in October" last month, but I think it still fits the changing seasons pretty perfectly.

Colette Bennett captures a moonlit moment in her original poem, "Pole Dancers."

Over at A Year of Reading, the ever talented Mary Lee is gearing up to write haiku every day in December! She gives us a little appetizer today. Wow, wow, wow!

Tabatha Yeatts' poem, Trees by W.S. Merwin is not an original, but it is definitely a celebration of all things autumn. I love the opening lines, "I am looking at trees/they may be one of the things/I will miss most from the earth…"


ORIGINALS
Matt Forrest Esenwine  has great news. His new book, FLASHLIGHT NIGHT, was selected by the NY Public Library as one of the best books of 2017. It's also on Amazon's life of best selling books about books and reading! You will also want to stop over at Matt's blog to check out his Poetry Cubed contest!

Kay McGriff took on Matt's challenge and wrote an original poem, "The Ghosts of Art," about some famous sculptures in her hometown. Her poem and the accompanying links made me want to visit Wilson, North Carolina!

Holly Thompson made me laugh with her own new (or at least new-to-me) genre, the insinuation poem.  And wonder how many insinuations I miss when I converse in Spanish!

My boys are past their football playing years. Nevertheless, Alan Wright's poem, "Football Dreaming" evoked a whole lot of memories for this former sports mama. (And yes, I know the poem is not about American football. Even so…)

Over at Random Noodling, Diane gives all of us sugar addicts some harsh true to think about with her new original poem, "America=The Bottom Line."

At Today's Little Ditty, Michelle is wrapping up the November Challenge, find beauty in something that is not usually seen as beautiful, and giving away a book. Be sure to make some time to read the poems, which are compiled here.

Margaret Simon not only took on the challenge of finding something that is not usually seen as beautiful, but attempted a new poetry form, the Shadorma (a Spanish cousin to the haiku). The result is stunning.

Violet Nesdoly also took on the "find something beautiful" challenge. She had previously written a shadorma about an apartment fire in her neighborhood. She's back with another poem about this building, this time it's a senryu.

Sally Murphy has written an original poem in honor of the formerly "poetry poor" Linda Mitchell. I feel much better knowing that Linda is now "poetry rich," "poetry wealthy" and "poetry wise."

AND MUCH MORE…
Speaking of Linda Mitchell, she's in this week with a review of Katherine Erskine's new picture book biography, MAMA AFRICA, about Miriam Makeba, a Grammy award winning South African singer who "uses her voice to spread awareness of apartheid, and although in exile herself, bring hope to her people in South Africa."

Ruth is in this week with her annual celebration of odes. I laughed when she said one of her eighth graders wanted to write an ode to bras!

The Younger Sun Bookshop Kids' Book Club read TOO MANY FRIENDS by Kat Appel. They had lots of great questions about this novel in verse, so Kat answers them here.

Our favorite foodie, Jama Rattigan, reviews DUMPLING DREAMS: HOW JOYCE CHEN BROUGHT THE DUMPLING FROM BEIJING TO CAMBRIDGE, a new picture book biography about Chinese cooking sensation, Joyce Chen. Jama is giving away one copy of this book. WARNING: Do not read this post unless you immediately want to run out and pick up Chinese food. Yummmm!

Tara's Poetry Friday contribution, "The Cats" by Ann Iverson, seems to have some big life truths, even for those of us who are NOT cat lovers.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.