Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: Poetry Project Update

April 11, 2025 / 18 Comments

Irene is hosting over at Live Your Poem. Check out the roundup there.

Poetry Month Project Update

I’m 11 days in to my April Poetry Project. This project is a collection of poems I started at Highlights last summer. When I was there, I mostly tried to figure out the theme and possible ways I could approach the collection. My commitment for this month is to work on the project for 30 minutes (minimum) per day. There is no expectation that I write a poem per day because some days I’ll have to work on research or organizing.

So far, I have 14 poems written. I know that there are several that probably won’t work. I’m playing with form and topics. I’m also thinking about how I might want to organize the poems within the collection.

I’m doing most of my work in an dotted Moleskine notebook. I love writing poetry by hand first. All of my brainstorming notes from last summer are in there. It’s a little bit messy. Every 3-4 days, I go through and type up what I have so far.

So far, so good! 

 

Writing Retreat

Last weekend, I was mostly off the grid for a writing retreat on the Shenandoah River.

There were fields and fields of blooming Virginia bluebells. I got to spend a lot of time outside writing.

 

I made daily progress on my poetry collection. I also worked on completely rewriting a picture book from informational fiction to rhyming nonfiction. I also worked on my first school visit presentation for ONE STEP FORWARD.

 

One Step Forward

I received great news this week! The audiobook of One Step Forward is the recipient of an AudioFile Earphones award. “The Earphones Award is given by AudioFile to truly exceptional titles that excel in narrative voice and style, characterizations, suitability to audio, and enhancement of the text.”

My thanks to Chanté McCormick and the team at HarperAudio for doing such a great job with the audiobook!

 

School Visits

I went to my first school visit for One Step Forward this week. I visited a school in Washington, DC for their Poetry Month Assembly. Students and teachers read their poems, or translations of poems in the language they are studying. I was the invited poet for the event. What an honor it was to be in this poetry-loving community.

 

Progressive Poem

I was one of the stops for the Progressive Poem this week. You can see my line here. You can also stop by for the latest in the poem at Rose’s blog.

 

Haiku of the Week

fireworks

witch hazel bursts

into the gray day

 

Photo Taken: March 15, 2025 at Green Spring Gardens

Haiku Written: March 27, 2025

 

25 New-to-Me Poets in 2025

In her essay “Ten Things About Poetry,” Patricia Smith challenges the reader to “discover one new poet every week.” (in The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics edited by Diane Lockward). I’m setting out to discover 25 New-to-Me poets in 2025. Join me as I read at least 5 poems by a new-to-me poet.

 

  1. Francis Ponge
  2. Cynthia Manick
  3. Mattie Quesenberry Smith
  4. Janine Joseph
  5. Gyorgyi Voros
  6. Elani Spencer
  7. Harryette Mullen

 

8. Robert Wood Lynn

I have a list of poets I’m interested in exploring, and I’ve been keeping a list of poets that are local or from my state. Robert Wood Lynn lives near where I used to live in Virginia. I haven’t been able to get ahold of any of his books, but he has a pretty big list of published poems on his website.

I loved “Tick Season” which appeared in the Atlantic because I feel like that ticks (and sunscreen) are what I think about most often when I go outside in Virginia. He says about the tick: “I ferry / the little liar to the fireplace.”

I’m also very fascinated with the titles of some of his poems. I remember Irene Latham teaching me how much work titles can do for a poet, and some of Lynn’s poems are great examples of that in practice.

I also have noticed many of his poems utilize apostrophe—talking to someone or something that doesn’t talk back. It’s one of my favorite things to use in poetry (and picture books).

RECREATE 

 

See the aforementioned writing retreat where I recreated (relaxed, walked, took photos) and recreated (revised a project).





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