Diane Mayr: How to Get to Carnegie Hall

  "Inside Carnegie Hall" by Troy Tolley

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Diane Mayr is in the building! 

Following up on her last post in the Ask a Librarian series, today Diane encourages us to maintain a poetry practice routine with some useful resources to loosen the imagination.

How to Get to Carnegie Hall

The joke has been around for an eternity: A man is walking the streets of NYC, looking a little lost. He stops a stranger to ask,

"Hey, Mister, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?"

Jodi Marr

The stranger answers, 

  "Practice, practice, practice!"

Fortunately, the answer to many questions can be answered with, "practice, practice, practice." How do you walk the length of the Appalachian Trail? You start with practice trips carrying a backpack. How do you publish a book of poetry? You start by reading and writing poems. Lots of poems. Perhaps write one a day or several a week. You must practice, practice, practice writing poetry!

So here's the rub: what do you write about? Where do you get your ideas? I addressed this question in my February post at Today's Little Ditty, “Be Curious.” In it I recommended several online newsletters packed with writing ideas to pursue. But, if you're going to write several poems each week for practice, you don't need to dive headfirst into a topic.

What you need is a prompt. Michelle provides monthly prompts here at TLD; this month it is to write an abecedarian. Laura Salas provides a photo for a 15 Words or Less poetry challenge each Thursday. Laura Shovan, during the month of February over several years, used postcards, colors, sound files, and more to provide readers with prompts. Other bloggers provide additional starters.

If you set yourself a goal of a poem with your morning cup of coffee, or a poem before going to bed each night, you'll need something easily available to give you a nudge. And, you're going to need variety to keep your writing fresh. Let me suggest the following:


The Athenaeum. 
Here you'll find the artworks of thousands of artists across the ages. Pick a random work of art, or pick an art movement.

There are many ways to classify the history of art by time period, stylistic features, or geography. Currently The Athenaeum calls all such groupings "art movements."

I have no idea of what the "Veduta" movement is, so I might click on that, then on an artist, then on a work. Here's the point, don't think about whether or not you like the work you land on, just use it. Let it set your imagination loose. Imagine what the artist was thinking when she created it. What would the subject of that work think about you looking at him? Can you come up with a story to fit the picture? Can you do it in 15 words, or three stanzas, or in rhyme? What about the colors? What do their use reveal? How does it make YOU feel?

A painting from the Veduta movement:

"The Distribution of Milk at Saint Lazare Prison" by Hubert Robert.

The Length of an Arm

The length of an arm—
two arms—
spanning a gap.

The length of a glance—
two glances—
bridging a difference.

The lengths to which
we must go merely
to survive.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

The Museum of Bad Art. 
This site is loosely art related. It makes me laugh, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a major plus! Again, pick a picture and go!

flickr.
For a long time I've used flickr. In the drop-down menu titled "Any license" I click on "No known copyright restrictions." Then, I put in a random term such as "weathervane" or "goat" or "permanent." You never know what is going to come up—art, photos, vintage ads.

(Word of warning: some of it may be distasteful since anyone can post photos free for use, but it's generally a small portion of what is revealed. Another note: flickr is owned by Yahoo which recently entered into a deal with Verizon. Within the past few weeks I've had problems accessing the site--it started asking for Yahoo passwords. As of 9/16, everything seemed to working right again, but be aware.)

If you prefer a word-based prompt, try one of these:

The Journal.

J. Robert Lennon Random Poem Idea Generator.

Random Line Generator.

Robert Lee Brewer's Wednesday Poetry Prompts.


There are plenty more places to go for writing nudges. Perhaps you can share your favorite in the comments section? There is no excuse for not writing a poem a day when the prompts are so abundant. Start today and you'll be on the road to Carnegie Hall!

Rian Castillo

Brava, Diane! 

Thank you for sharing these fantastic resources with us!

Be sure to check out Diane's other posts in the Ask a Librarian series:

• Ekphrastic Poetry and  
• Be Curious.

Diane Mayr (a.k.a. Kurious Kitty) is a long-time public librarian and a freelance writer.  She is the author of a storyhour favorite picture book, Run, Turkey, Run! (Walker & Co., 2007).  Since 2007, she has concentrated on haiku and other short form poems, and works to improve her graphic skills by illustrating them. Find out more about Diane at her website.

I'm delighted with the turnout for Carole Boston Weatherford's abecedarian challenge. (This is not an easy poetry form!) This week's featured daily ditties included poems by Suzy Levinson, Juanita Havill, Rosi Hollinbeck, and my own, written for yesterday's International Day of Peace. Although abecedarian poems will be accepted through the end of September, next Friday will be our wrap-up celebration. To be included, post your contribution on our September 2017 padlet.

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is being hosted by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm.

#PeaceDay DMC: "A Mother's Advice" by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

"Peace Dove" by Dylan Metrano

While the world and current events can feel vast and uncontrollable, on a much smaller scale, here is an offering to my teenagers toward a more peaceful future.


A MOTHER'S ADVICE

Along the way…

     Be yourself.

     Collect wonder.

     Do good deeds
     Every day.

     Find a reason to be
     Generous—

     Help when you are able.

In life…

     Joy, Kindness, and Love
     Matter most.

     Needing Others
     Pulls us together.

     Questions
     Require listening,

     Speaking requires
     Thought, and

     Understanding, not Violence,
     Weathers the storms.

eXplore your horizons—         
     Your time has come.

                        Zig,
            zag,
                                    and zoom….


© 2017 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.


The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution. Celebrated annually on September 21, it is devoted to “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

Visit the International Day of Peace padlet for a collection of peaceful books, poems, images, activities for the classroom, and websites.

Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.



Post your poem on our September 2017 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).

DMC: "Cancer, Love & Hope" by Rosi Hollinbeck

CANCER, LOVE & HOPE

Appalling breast cancer diagnosis
Daughter edgy, frightened.
Ghastly, harrowing information.
Just knowing love
means new optimism, promise.
Quintessential romance,
supportive templar.
Uttering veritable wish —
X-rays yield
zero additional beastly cells.

© 2017 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.


A PERSONAL NOTE FROM ROSI:

My daughter is battling breast cancer and has had to start a crowdfunding campaign to help with medical bills. If your readers could share the link through twitter or other social media, I would be so grateful.  https://www.youcaring.com/maggiehollinbeck-946234

Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.

Post your poem on our September 2017 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).

DMC: "Quibbling Theories" by Juanita Havill

QUIBBLING THEORIES

Marks in the desert sand,
notations of a passerby.
Observers
puzzle,
quibbling theories, until . . .

realization:
snake
trail,
undulating across the desert sand.
Viper, perhaps.

Where is it now? 

© 2017 Juanita Havill. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.

Post your poem on our September 2017 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).

DMC: "A Beastly Combination" by Suzy Levinson

A BEASTLY COMBINATION

Angry bears +
cranky deer +
edgy ferrets +
gloomy hippos +
irritable jaguars +
knavish llamas +
moody newts +
obnoxious penguins +
quarrelsome rhinos +
slovenly toucans +
unpleasant voles +
whiny X-ray tetras =
YUCKY ZOO!

© 2017 Suzy Levinson. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.

Post your poem on our September 2017 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).

Five for Friday: Pleas for Peace, and the Poetry Friday Roundup

Reaching Out – Joining Hands
A mosaic mural by public artist Carien Quiroga, on Flickr Creative Commons.

“In joined hands there is still some token of hope, 
  in the clinched fist none.” 

                                                 – Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea

2017 Peace Day Theme:  
Together for Peace: Respect,
Safety and Dignity for All.
(Learn more HERE.)

The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") is observed around the world on September 21st.

Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.  (InternationalDayOfPeace.org)


How you can take part:

Margarita Engle, our Young People's Poet Laureate, and children's poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater have led the way by promoting an opportunity for authors, illustrators, and teachers to share writing or art projects related to peace.

1. Post peaceful books, poems, images, classroom activities, and websites on the "International Day of Peace" padlet that Amy created HERE. It's a resource for all.

2. You are invited to use this beautiful image of a peace dove, cut from paper by artist Dylan Metrano for Peace Day 2017. Share it widely and/or use it as your social media profile picture to show your support.

3. On September 21st, post a peace-related poem on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. We're hoping to saturate social media with images, words, and other positive messages of peace. (I've already written my abecedarian poem for the occasion, but you'll have to wait until next week to read it!) The UN's hashtags for this day are #peaceday and #jointogether.


Until then...

I thought we could warm up for the big day with a Five for Friday party. Here's how to play:

Come up with five words (plus title if you wish)

that express what PEACE means to you.

It might be a feeling, an image, a wish for the future... I'll contribute three ideas of my own so you can see the range of possibilities. Your participation is voluntary, of course. You can:

1. come up with 5-word ditty on the spot,
2. leave your Poetry Friday link now and come back to add your 5-word ditty,
3. choose not to participate in the Five for Friday at all, or
4. participate in the Five for Friday without a link. 

Leave your five words in a comment or email them to me at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com. I will move them to the main body of the post.

I'm deliberately posting early for the Poetry Friday roundup so you'll have time to ponder, but promise me you won't overthink it.  Like I said, this is just a warm-up for next week!


Now who's ready for a Peace party?

From Michelle at Today's Little Ditty:

Nested

In the heart,

a feather.

* * *

Eclipse

All the world goes 

quiet.

* * *

World Peace:

The unimaginable

imagined.

~ Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

From Linda at A Word Edgewise:

Peace for me
Peace to you
Morning star at Dawn
A full day's yawn
Supper at six
All of us there
Holding hands

5 words:
Star
Dawn
full
supper
hands

~ Linda Mitchell

This week I am sharing the feeling of September.

From Linda at Write Time:

connecting

us

heart to heart

~ Linda Kulp Trout

My post for this week is an original "dot"poem.

Hope's Seeds

planting Ones
Heart Enriching
Lives 

~ Jessica Bigi

From Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference: 

My 5 for peace: 

tenderly
sun coaxes
blossoms
open

~ Tabatha Yeatts 
 

I'm sharing a math-y poem for Poetry Friday.

From April at Teaching Authors:

REFUGE
 

dinner, blankets,
bear hug...
thanks

~ April Halprin Wayland 

At Teaching Authors we're writing about lessons learned from our students and/or from teaching.

From Jama at Alphabet Soup:

PEACE WISH

Reverence and love
for humanity.

~ Jama Rattigan

 

This week I have an interview with Matt Forrest Esenwine about his debut PB, Flashlight Night. Giving away a free copy to one lucky commenter. And yes, Matt's sharing a yummy recipe!

From Laura at Writing the World for Kids:

I'm in with What Is a Dot? for Dot Day.

From Diane at Random Noodling and Kurious Kitty:

peace:
everyone living
without fear

~ Diane Mayr

At Random Noodling I have a response to my response in a Spark challenge.

Kurious Kitty shares "High School Picture Re-Take Day" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

From Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town:

I have been thinking a lot lately about forgetting....

From Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme:

Today, I'm sharing a tiny little poem about a colossal subject! 

From Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge:

Getting my car serviced this morning, and I live in the South, so I have already had multiple conversations with folks I don't know. (One exchange including cell phone pictures, even.) That's how we roll around here. So here are my five words today:

— a total stranger's warm smile —

~ Robyn Hood Black 

I'm sharing the poems I swapped for the Summer Poem Swap.

From Irene at Live Your Poem:

I'm featuring an interview with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater about her newest book READ! READ! READ!

From Rebecca at Sloth Reads: 

Serenity

Both kids
Asleep in bed

* * *

Harmony

Comfortable
In each other's
Stillness

* * *

Empathy

Leading first
With the heart

 * * *

Diversity

Grasp hands
Across the line

 * * *

Humanity

It takes all
Working together

~ Rebecca Herzog

Things have been so hectic recovering from Irma that I was having a hard time coming up with something to write!

From Charles Ghigna:

I'd like to share "Quiet Days." I hope it brings a little peace to the party.

From Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink:

Kindness Dove

Soaring-
a beacon
of peace.

* * *

WANTED

only
peaceful,
quiet,
restful
serenity

~ Carol Varsalona

I got the abecedarian fever and took on another challenge of yours. At Beyond LiteracyLink you'll find both new abecedarian poems and peace poems with my kindness dove that I created. It has been sent around the globe via Twitter many times and will make its way straight to International Peace Day. 

From Michelle Kogan:

PEACE

pursue planet
dialoging
nuclear
free

~ Michelle Kogan 

I'm sharing a golden shovel poem, FREE, inspired from a Langston Hughes poem, I DREAM A WORLD–that I read on Kay McGriff's blog last week, and new I had to do something with it!

From Kathryn Apel: 

My five words for peace:

kindness from everyone, for everyone

 

For PoetryFriday I'm sharing penguins - both art (not mine!) and poetry. (Could this be the most fun I've had with shape poetry?) 

From Sylvia at Poetry for Children:

I need to get ready for next week! My post is about reading poetry aloud---- AGAIN!

From Jane at Raincity Librarian:

This week on my blog I'm sharing a little fall poem.

From Molly at Nix the comfort zone:

I'm sharing two Leonora Speyer poems.

From Catherine at Reading to the Core:

Today I'm sharing David Whyte's "What to Remember When Waking".

From Donna at Mainely Write:

PEACE Acrostic

Palpable
Enduring
Abiding
Created
Eternal

~ Donna JT Smith

My link is a followup on the line trade by Linda Mitchell a few weeks ago.

From Margaret at Reflections on the Teche:

Combining challenges here. Jennifer Laffin is tweeting a daily word to jumpstart writing with #DWHabit. Today is Flutter.

Fluttering

hummingbird wings

pronounce peace

~ Margaret Simon

Today we are celebrating Dot Day with two collaborative class poems in response to Laura Purdie Salas's What is a Dot?

From Laura Shovan:

Speaking of PET CRAZY (congrats to the giveaway winners), I have my poet-poem from Pet Crazy today. Global Read Aloud author Victoria Coe and I partnered on a mini-poetry workshop pairing her book Fenway and Hattie (the GRA early reader selection for 2017) and my poem "Lost and Found." If you're doing GRA with students, stop by!

From Robert Schechter:

I just started a blog in the last week. Have a look, if you like. My last post shares a nursery rhyme about Mrs. Bond and her ducks.

From Amy at The Poem Farm:

At The Poem Farm, I share my latest SPARK 34 collaboration with artist Jonathan Ottke.

From Mary Lee at A Year of Reading:

My Five For Friday is inspired by being out in the country away from light pollution. There is peace in the constancy of the stars.

Darkness

Milky
Way
flows
on.

~ Mary Lee Hahn
 

At A Year of Reading I have a third Bike Ride Blessing poem--a counting out rhyme.

From Penny Parker Klostermann:

It's Basic Math

loving acceptance = tranquil coexistence

~ Penny Parker Klostermann

I have guests on A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt. Tim McCanna and his son Nate are collaborating with a poem and art. Their collaboration highlights their shared love for Dungeons & Dragons.

From Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales:

Hmm, five words on peace.... To me, war brings starvation, homelessness and poverty to a country's people. Peace is the opposite. Peace is the when things go well:

Fields planted, crops ripened, harvest.

~ Brenda Davis Harsham 

I bring a haiku this week and an excerpt of the abecedarian you featured.

From Kay at A Journey Through the Pages:

Pray
 

everywhere always—
create eternity.

~ Kay McGriff

I took up the abecedarian challenge for today's post with a Taste of Fall.

From Little Willow at Bildungsroman:

I posted Evening by H.D. (Hilda Doolittle).

From Elaine at Wild Rose Reader:

I have a memoir poem about my maternal grandfather titled SUMMER RITUAL.

From Linda at TeacherDance:

"Beginnings" 

Peace starts
with a smile 

~ Linda Baie

My post today celebrates Amy L-V's new book: Read! Read! Read! 

From Tara at A Teaching Life:

My contribution for Poetry Friday is a poem by Mary Oliver, which my cat reminded me of today. :)

From Heidi at my juicy little universe:

Peace:
seeing the pink
underneath

~ Heidi Mordhorst

I'm so laaaaaate today! My post is a work in progress but I hope to be done by 3:30! 

Christie at Wondering and Wandering:

I'm in poetry love with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Read! Read! Read!

From Buffy Silverman:

No post for me, but I'll give you Floridians five words.

kindness surges
with the storm

~ Buffy Silverman

From Jone at Deo Writer:

waves splash droplets of peace

~ Jone Rush MacCulloch

It's been a week. First full five days of school.

What the world needs

What I need

What we all need

is a little more

kindness.

~ Joy Acey 

From Rebekah at OLIO-LI-O:

BE STILL

discord
greed PEACE grief
discontent

~ Rebekah Hoeft 

A concrete-ish version can be found at my blog.

Actually understood a German word. 
(on the bus this morning!)

~ Bridget Magee (in Switzerland) 

Nurture the heart, peace within

~ Kiesha Shepard

"Peace" by Rachel Kramer

The Poetry Friday roundup is closed to links now, 

but 5-word peace-ditties are still welcome.

Click here for more information.

CONGRATULATIONS

Jesse Anna Bornemann,
Brenda Davis Harsham,
Rebekah Hoeft,
Linda Mitchell, and
Jane Whittingham!

You've won a copy of PET CRAZY: A Poetry Friday Power Book (Pomelo Books, 2017). Please send me an email at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com with your addresses.

Have you written an abecedarian poem yet for Carole Boston Weatherford's DMC challenge? To add yours, post it on our September 2017 padlet. Featured daily ditties this week included poems by Maria Marshall, Tabatha Yeatts, and Mindy Gars Dolandis.

DMC: "A Beautiful, Colorful Day..." by Mindy Gars Dolandis

Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.

Post your poem on our September 2017 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).