POEM #5- MIDDLE SCHOOL RECESS DUTY

 Wikimedia Commons

Today Mary Lee posted this picture, and also some audio of wolves, all found on Wikimedia Commons. You need to go to Year of Reading and check out their poems. I really am serious about writing a poem every day this month, but I also wanted to review DESTINY REWRITTEN, a middle grade novel with poetry at its center. This, then, is a quick ten minute write. But it counts, right?

"Middle School Recess Duty"

Handsome
Eighth grade
he wolves
point noses skyward
and howl
passion
at gorgeous she wolves
preening themselves
in the sun
by the jungle gym

while
sixth and seventh grade
wolves
crawl on their bellies
whimpering
acquiescence.

POETRY FRIDAY- DESTINY REWRITTEN by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

HAPPY POETRY FRIDAY!

Head over to Robyn Hood Black's place for lots of terrific poetry!

I interrupt this month of poetry (and I figure it's ok to interrupt it, since I actually have been writing poetry all week and am totally exhausted by writing poetry, because it's very hard work, kind of like trying to line up spaghetti and don't know how all of you real poets do it every single day) to bring you a novel. And no, it's not a novel in verse. It is a novel, however, where poetry features prominently. I haven't seen many reviews (and it's possible I just haven't been looking in the right places) and really want my poet friends to know about Kathryn Fitzmaurice's DESTINY REWRITTEN.

Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis is the daughter of Isabelle, an English literature professor. Shortly before Isabelle is born, her mother finds a first edition of Emily Dickinson's poetry in a used bookstore. She buys it for Emily, and writes this inscription.

"Emily Dickinson is one of the great poets.

The same will be said of you one day."

Isabelle uses the poetry book in place of a baby book. Every time something important happens, she selects a poem and writes a note in the margin. She describes the book as "the roadmap of Emily's life."

Emily and her mother are very different. Isabelle is a free spirit. Emily is an over-the-top organizational goddess. Isabelle believes in waiting on one's destiny and tells Emily that if she "forces things, it will take longer to get to the truth." Emily believes in grabbing hold of life and creating one's destiny. 

Isabelle imagines her daughter growing up to be a poet, but Emily really wants to be a romance novel writer. She has read more than half of Danielle Steel's novels and copied down the happy endings of each of them. She attends meetings of the local romance writers' club at the local library. The chapters about the romance club meetings are guaranteed to make you laugh. Danielle shows up again at the end of the book, "And then, just like one of those endings of a Danielle Steel book, he stood up and he reached over, and he took my mom's hand in his."

Emily has never met her father and wants desperately to know him. One day, Isabelle tells Emily that her father's name is written somewhere in the poetry/baby book. Unfortunately, that same day, Emily's cousin, Mortie, accidentally donates the precious book to the Goodwill. And so a frantic search of used book stores all over the city ensues.

Poetry figures prominently throughout Destiny Rewritten. Early in the book, Emily's English teacher asks her students to write a "wonderful, elegant haiku." Connor, Emily's secret crush, raises his hand and says, "So when you say wonderful and elegant, you mean it can't be about sports?" (Why does this remind me of my life!?) And then Cecily Ann, who is a poet, raises her hand and suggests that when she is trying to write in a particular form, it helps her to think in the five-seven-five form.

"Pick up your pencil.

What will be written? Perhaps

an elegant poem.

Mrs. Mendoza thinks this is a great idea, and a two-page conversation between Emily and Connor, all done in haiku, ensues. Another day, Emily misses school and Cecily Ann writes the homework assignments in a poem. At still another point Emily, thinking that perhaps a poet might have bought the missing book, attends a poetry reading with Cecily Ann reads a list poem about a tree and then "some man reads about a garden he used to have, all in rhyming words." And most of us can relate to Emily, who says, "Sometimes you just want to slip out the back door."

Destiny Rewritten is full of twists and turns and surprises and funny lines lots of poetry. I don't know that it has universal appeal, I'm not sure I'd use it as a read aloud, but it's a definitely a book that I know lots of upper intermediate and middle grade readers, probably mostly girls, are going to love.  And I think it's a perfect read for National Poetry Month.

(A side note: I don't especially love the cover of this novel.  I really doesn't feel like it matches the book all that well and I am a little worried that people might miss the book because of that).

Poem #4- Shhh…

 Wikimedia Commons: Le Silence by Antoine-Augustin Préault

Still trying to participate in Mary Lee's Common Inspiration- Uncommon Creations. This is poem #4.

"Shhhh…"

Shhhhh…

Let us not speak 

of  pools at summer's end

dropped ice cream cones

jeans that used to fit.

                                         

Neither will we speak of

birthday cards not mailed

library books overdue

friendships left untended.

And of course there will be no talk of

toddlers now adults

nests that echo emptiness

forgetful parents

And please do not bring up

Bubbles burst

Broken promises

Dashed dreams.

We will not speak of these.

Shhhhh…

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

POEM #3- ABC'S OF COLLABORATION

This morning, at Year of Reading,  Mary Lee posted the thinking behind her Common Uncommon Month of Poetry. In that post, she shared her four rules for collaboration: 

• Share ideas
• Create with joy
• Work  together
• Don't destroy

And she said I could take a day off from writing poetry. Phew!  But then I kept thinking about the four rules. And I kept thinking that I had committed to writing a poem every day. So tonight, when I got home, after fourteen hours of giving makeup tests, and going to a district class, I dragged out something I had started this morning. Don't know that I would necessarily call it  a poem, but at least I tried to write something…

"ABC's of Collaboration"

Avail yourself of every opportunity

Because you never know when

         Coming together could lead to creation.

Delight in differences

            Engage in each other’s possibilities

Feel free to make mistakes.

Give up the need to be right and           

            Humble yourself to others’

                    Intelligence and imagination.

Just be ready for surprises.

            Know that there will be conflict

Laugh a lot.

Make miracles together

Never quit listening asking sharing believing

Open your eyes and your heart

Plan a little, play more.

 Quiet the inner doubter

Resist the need to be right

Stay open to surprises

Take time to laugh.

Up the ante.

View the world through new eyes

Wonder at what might be possible

Excite yourself about others’ ideas

You never know when your
zeal might reap rewards.

Poetry #2- Slice of Life/Poem

From Wikimedia Commons, by Lilly_M

Many years ago, I read Ralph Fletcher's novel, Fig Pudding. The book is based loosely on Fletcher's own life, growing up in a large Catholic family, and losing a brother in a car accident when they were teenagers. In that book, Fletcher says, "When someone you love dies, you get a big bowl of sadness put down in front of you, steaming hot. You can start eating now, or you can let it cool and eat it bit by bit later on. Either way, you end up eating the whole thing. There's really no way around it."

I think the same is true of children who grow up in the foster care system. Children love their parents, no matter how inadequate or unworthy those adults may be. When those people that they love are removed from their lives, there is a deep grief that colors every relationship and every experience.

And there is also anger-- at being unloved, uncared for, and abandoned by the people who are supposed to care for them. That comes out too, in many different ways. This morning, on Year of Reading, Mary Lee posted a picture of a flame thrower. I looked at that picture, and the thing that immediately came to mind was how the anger that smolders within some people erupts in surprising ways.

I messed around with that idea for a while this morning, then all day in my head. Tonight I revised and reordered and reworked. I even used a thesaurus, which I hardly ever do, to find synonyms for burn. And here is poem #2. Which will also have to be my Slice for today, because I have way too much school work to write any more.

************

"Rage"

The flame
that smolders
deep within
sparks
then blazes

Your words
red-hot irons
that singe
char
incinerate
my heart

And I wonder

Does 
the rage
that burns within
scorch your soul
like it does mine?

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2013

Dabbling in Poetry

From Wikipedia Commons

So I just finished slicing for 31 days straight. And trying to keep up with writing every day, and commenting on other people's writing, well, I'm just a teeny bit tired. Nevertheless, April IS National Poetry Month.  And I really do love poetry. I'm definitely more of a reader of poetry than a writer. When I do write, it's almost always free verse, quickly written, with little crafting or shaping of language. 

But I have this crazy friend, Mary Lee. And she is a real poet. If you don't believe me, go to Gotta Book and read her "Green Door" which Greg Pincus chose as the opening poem for his 30 poems in 30 days. Or read "On the Eve of the Equinox" that she wrote for March Madness.  That gal can write her some poems. 

On her blog, Year of Reading, she is doing a month long project "Common Inspiration, Uncommon Creations." And this morning she selected a picture of a very strange bee-eating bird, and wrote an amazing poem. And so of course I had to give it a try. I wrote the first one this morning, then messed around some more and wrote the second one tonight.

 "European Bee Eaters"
Bees?
Complainers don't like 'em
But when you pull the stingers out
They are actually
quite tasty.

*****************
"European Bee-Eaters"

Not for us
dull sparrow brown
gloss raven black
or even blue of jay.

Not for us
a shallow scrape
a rocky ledge
a woven crescent cup. 

Not for us
chill rain or breeze
a narrow range
still solitude. 

Not for us
those wriggly worms
the crunch of seeds
sweet meat of fruit.

We prefer
an adventurous life-
mixed colors bright
migration wide
deep tunnels homes
companions close
and bees
to please our palates.

Carol Wilcox
(c) 2013

***************

And then I'm still messing around with this one, that I started a week or so ago, during the Slice of Life Challenge.
 
"Daffodils"
Hey you
yellow cups
of joy juice
I swallow
big gulps
of your promise
of spring

IT'S MONDAY AND I LOVE LULU!

Have you ever found a series or an author that you are sure is brand new? And you can't wait to share your new find with other people? And then you google the author to see if you can find a little more about them? And you discover the author is not new at all, but that they are really, really famous, and have actually written a whole bunch of books? And the only reason you don't know anything about them is that they live and write in a different country?

That's exactly what happened to me this month. A publisher sent me two books in a series I thought was totally new. And then when I googled author Hilary McKay, I discovered she is very well known, and has written lots and lots of books, but they have all  been published in England. Recently two books in her Lulu series have been released in the United States. Another one will be released next fall. And I'm excited, because I love them!

Lulu is a series for beginning chapter book readers; I'm thinking of kids that like Junie B. Jones, or Clementine, or Marty McGuire. She's a spunky, animal-crazy girl with a best friend/cousin named Mellie. And, as a teacher in urban settings, with a population of 95% non Anglo students, I really love that Lulu appears to be African American. That's not part of the story,  but at the same time, it's really, really nice to be able to hand my students a book where the child on the cover looks like them.

In the first book,  Lulu and the Duck in the Park, Lulu's class goes on field trip. It's early spring, and there are lots of mama ducks sitting on nests full of eggs. While the class is at the park, two big dogs get loose and cause major chaos. Mama ducks are chased off their nests and eggs are broken.  When the chaos is over, Lulu finds an egg. She doesn't want the egg to get cold, so she shoves it into her sweater, and takes it back to school, even though her teacher has told the children repeatedly that she doesn't like pets, and is trying to get rid of the class hamster. And then the inevitable happens.

In the second book, Lulu and the Dog from the Sea, Lulu's family, along with Mellie and the family dog, Sam, have rented a cottage at the beach. Sam does not like the beach, "he isn't fond of the sand, he didn't like the chilly breezes and he hates getting wet in the salty water." I love McKay's portrayal of Sam, a kind of sweet little guy, who is just kind of set in his ways and really does not like a lot of change.

Both Sam and Mellie take a lot of luggage on the trip. Sam has a blanket, a brush, his dish, special shampoo, and a much loved beanbag. Mellie has received a "Build your Own Kite" kit for her birthday, and can't wait to build the kite and then fly it on the beach. She opens the kit in the car, then promptly loses some major pieces (As an mom who has tried to assemble many things- kites, models, etc. with my boys, this thread of the story had me laughing all the way through the book).

When the family arrives at the cottage, the owner is waiting for them. She needs to warn them about a stray dog that lives on the beach. The owner tells Lulu and her family, in no uncertain terms, that they should not feed the dog, nor should they allow it to access scraps from the garbage can. And of course, the first thing animal-loving Lulu wants to do is to befriend the stray dog.

I love this series. I'm excited, when I look at Hilary McKay's website, to see that there are at least four more books in the Lulu series (Lulu and the Hamster on the Roof, Lulu and the Cat in the Bag, Lulu and the Hedgehog in the Rain, Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door). I'm hoping those will be published in the United States very, very soon. And then there is another series, about a boy named Charlie, that looks like one our boy readers might love. And then there's McKay's Casson Family series, and the Paradise House series, and the Pudding Bag series, and the Dog Friday trilogy. And then some others for older readers.

Hilary McKay seems like an author American readers definitely need to know.