Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday September 2, 2022: The Sealey Challenge Reflection

This week Linda at Teacher Dance is hosting. Hop on over there for the roundup. 
 
 

Haiku of the Week

orange tangles
intertwine other vines–
wetland spaghetti
 
Haiku and Photo © 2022 Marcie Flinchum Atkins
 
Photo of dodder taken at Huntley Meadows Park. 
 

 

Playlist for Haiku Moment

Poetry Printables Page

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The Sealey Challenge Reflection

 
Dozens of poetry books stacked up high.
Full stack of completed The Sealey Challenge books
 
When I decided to do The Sealey Challenge, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I was getting ready to start school, and the start of school is time consuming–in physical time and in the mental calisthenics that it takes.
 

Things that worked well:

  • Planning to read the longer books on the weekends and before school started for me.
  • Gathering a stack that was much larger than needed so I could pick and choose based on the time I had that day.
  • An injury. This sounds weird, but two days before school started, I fell and sprained my ankle and bruised my foot. This meant that I had to sit and ice my ankle then get into the bathtub in soak. During those busy weeks of school, I was forced to be still. Instead of scrolling my phone, I read my poetry book for the day. 
 

Organizing

 
I kept a notebook during this time. It had several sections where I could keep track of things including:
 
  • What I read each week, day by day.
  • Reflections I wanted to remember as I went along
  • Notes about specific poems I wanted to return to and why
  • Books I wanted to reread for my 3-a-day poetry practice. These books were ones where I had a lot of poems marked that I wanted to slow down and learn from.
  • To Do’s–These are things that I want to follow up on–lists I want to look up, poets I want to learn more about, etc.
 
 

Time Spent

During the month, I spent 1450 minutes reading poetry. That’s about 24 hours–a whole day! It worked out to an average of 47 minutes per day.
 

Other Reflections

  • The novels-in-verse were longer and I expected them to take longer, but because they are all narratives, it actually took less time to read in some cases. Some of the collections required me to slow down more because they didn’t have a narrative to tie them together.
  • Adult poetry collections all credit where their poems were first published before they became part of the book. All of these lists are treasure troves for potential poetry markets–something that I’m not well-versed on.
 

What I’m Reading

 
August 26: Souvenir by Aimee Suzara
August 27: Self-Portrait as a Wikipedia Entry by Dean Radar
August 28: Away with Words by Mary Ann Hoberman
August 29: The Carrying by Ada Limon
August 30: The Park by John Freeman
August 31: One Thousand Good Answers by Sarah Herrin

Other Sealey Challenge Posts:

Introduction Post

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

18 Comments

  • Irene Latham

    Thank you for your dodder spaghetti, Marcie! Sorry you sprained your ankle, but I’m glad it gave you an opportunity to read more. Looks like this was a rich experience for you. xo

  • Linda Baie

    Although you wrote about a wetland, I see that “spaghetti” in my garden now, too, limp plants saying their goodbyes. I know I will look for titles among all that you read, Marcie. What a month of poetry you had! Sorry about your ankle but it gave another gift, too. Have a lovely weekend!

  • Linda Mitchell

    This post is one I’ll return to! I love your reflections. You are such a great example of a learner-sharer. I love that you accomplished the challenge. Although, I’m sorry about the foot. I hope you’re feeling better by now.

  • Heidi Mordhorst

    I’m sure it’s just a little low moment I’m experiencing, but I’m overcome by the energy and organization that pours forth from this post and I’m wondering if I’ll ever muster that again without the pressures of school upon me. I love your little Haiku Moment video–I’ll pop over for more! And–what exactly is dodder?!

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      Full disclosure–my writing life is moving at a snail’s pace and is depressing! So, I totally poured myself into this little project this month. I usually get nothing done in late August-late September because of school.

      I found out about the dodder at a vines sketching class. It’s a parasitic vine (beautiful but a pain). I think part of the morning glory family. I went back to this same spot last night and it was all gone. Fascinating! I’m curious if the park pulled it out or it died in the heat.

  • PATRICIA J FRANZ

    Congrats again, Marcie on The Sealey Challenge. I see that stack of books and think “No way I could get it done in a month” – and then when you boil it down to 47 min/day, I wonder what nonsense things I do that I could ’86 and fit in more reading! So I continue to glean poetry wisdom from you. And I think I will try to adopt the notes-in-a-jotbook approach to keep track of books, poets, poems I want to read, too. Thank you! P.S. The video is awesome!

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      Thanks, Patricia! Yes, when I realized it was only 47 minutes a day, that seems doable. Last year I did the “read 21 in 2021”–meaning I read for at least 21 minutes a day. It’s really a reasonable amount.

  • Carol J. Labuzzetta

    Marcie,
    Congratulations on completing the Sealy challenge! You did an awesome job. I started out strong and did get some photos of some of what I read (in a stack, like yours) but ended up not finishing. I did learn that I really like poetry for kids best. Some of the adult poems I read I just could not relate to. My own poetry is more celebratory and basic. But, I also wanted to say how much I love your organization. If I do the challenge again, I will model myself after you and take all kinds of notes to be able to reflect upon later. I did put a couple of books in my Amazon cart that I want to add to my collection permanently after I read them. Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Carol Varsalona

    Marcie, I hope your ankle is healing. Thanks for another notable image poem. I love the thought that a vine can look like spaghetti. I think your videos with your haiku moments plus your Poetry Printables are a treasure trove for teachers. I am including your link for the teachers I am offering professional development for this year. Have a great week.