Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: Learning Roundup

Ruth at There’s No Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town is our host for the week. Hop on over there for the roundup.
 
 

News and Links

It’s been a busy few weeks, and I thought I’d share about things I’ve enjoyed doing.
 
  • Listening—I stumbled on a great interview with Austin Kleon on creativity. I’m a big fan of his books and his newsletter. If you also enjoy his work, be sure to catch this podcast episode.
  • Reading—I’ve been following Grant Snider’s Substack and his absorbing his new book, Poetry Comics. I highly recommend the book and all of his word nerdiness and how-to’s on his Substack.
  • Learning—I took Laura Shovan’s recent 2-part mini from Highlights on “Breaks, Blank Space, and Gaps: Poetic Gutters in Novels in Verse and Poetry.” I learned so much and now have many next steps I’m excited to trip in my current WIP. I really appreciate workshops that help me think about my work really deeply and give me concrete things to try. If you ever get a chance to listen to Laura teach this class again, I’d really encourage you to. Here’s some information about the class.
  • Teaching—I got to do a mini-haiku workshop with some of Margaret Simon’s students last week. What a delight to chat with students and hear their ideas! Many thanks to Margaret for having me. She wrote about it here.
  • Upcoming Events—I recently heard that I’ll be presenting on two NCTE panels in Boston in November.
    • “The Poetry of Nature: Instilling Awe, Wonder, and the Gift of Language for Sharing and Exploring Our World” with Teresa Robeson, Debra Shumaker, and Tanya Konerman, and me!
    • “Finding Hope in Harsh Times: Using Verse Novels to Explore Challenging Topics in History” with Kip Wilson, Jeannine Atkins, Nadine Pinede, Barbara Krasner, and me!
 
 

Poetry Month Project

I’m in the home stretch of the poem-a-day for my Poetry Month Project.
 
Science inspiration for this poem: Why Save Bats? and Amazing Facts about Bats
 
In Praise of Bats
 
Praise the bat
as it wings through night—
noisy without annoying humans
echoes that that guide its way to food.
 
Praise the dark
embracing the nocturnal—
lighting the night garden
mimicking the moon.
 
Praise the flowers
shy in the sun
unfurling in moonshine
luring in bats.
 
Praise the bat
gulping its weight in insects
gorging on fruit
and seed-spreading by moonlight. 
 
©Draft 2024 Marcie Flinchum Atkins 
 
 

Haiku of the Week

 
Easter Sunday
even the trees dress
in new outfits
 
 
Photo Taken: March 31, 2024 in our neighborhood
Haiku Written: April 3, 2024
 
 
 

Poem as Picture Book

Written and Illustrated by Maciek Albrecht
Cameron Kids, 2021
 

This is a 235-word picture book that is told from the point of view of the river.

Poetry Connections

  • Personification
  • Mask/Persona Poem
  • Vivid Verbs

Links

 
 

Grow

This week has been full of lots of learning for me. It’s been fun to learn new things and see how that might impact my writing.

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