Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Day 4 of the 2018 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem




Happy National Poetry Month!

Since April's ditty challenge won't be revealed until Friday, I'm sneaking in one of my favorite National Poetry Month activities before things get too topsy-turvy around here.

Welcome to Day 4 of the 2018 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem! 

This is the fifth year I've participated in this annual event—the brain child of poet and novelist Irene Latham. The Progressive Poem has always been one of my favorite National Poetry Month activities because it's exciting, spontaneous, fun, and because it's a community writing experience. From April 1-30, a poem travels from blog to blog, each host adding a new line daily, allowing the poem to take on a life of its own. The results are always richly layered, with a piece of every poet who takes part and the collected anticipation of everyone who has been following its journey.

If you read Heidi Mordhorst's discussion with Irene Latham and Elizabeth Steinglass about the history of the Progressive Poem, you'll know that a small twist was suggested for this year's contributors. In addition to describing our thought process for coming up with the next line, they would like us to record our initial impressions of the first line. When it's our turn to add a line, we should speak to how the trajectory of the poem, and our expectations, have adjusted over time.

Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.
What struck me right away when I read Liz's opening line were the feelings of comfort and coziness, and the relaxed way the words lolled on my tongue. The line has a lovely sense of musicality, but the rhythm is not predictable like you might expect from a rhyming poem—this will likely end up being a free verse poem. I also love the personification. It opens up all sorts of possibilities about who or what this seed could be. It might be a flower in a spring garden, but it could also be a child, a seed of an idea, a seed of a poem... perhaps some combination of all of the above!

The next two lines take us away from the action of waking up, and the anticipation of *doing* something else. Instead, it seems this little seed is not a morning person and would like to stay in her dreaming reverie a while longer.
Oh, what wonderful dreams she had had!
Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with 

Although one might think that Laura Purdie Salas handed me a gift, giving me clear direction for the next line, I actually found it to be more of a challenge. I wasn't ready to introduce a new character yet, so I needed to to find a line that would accommodate her lead-in as well as my own feelings about what information I want to provide to move the poem forward.

While I didn't want this dream recollection to become a distraction and go on for too long, I also didn't want to cut the dream state off too abruptly. (No one likes to be woken that way!)  As I saw it, my task was to complete Laura's thought from line 3 and maybe also focus on WHO this character is. If she's dreaming of blooming at midnight, one might presume she's hard-wired to be a night blooming flower. Not a gardener myself, I turned to Google.

There are several night blooming varieties to choose from, all with distinctive characteristics. I wanted to choose one with a personality that matched the feeling I get from this character—small like a child, sweet and fragrant, filled with wonder. I also thought about that "midnight moonlight" which led me to imagine a sky filled with stars. Given her excitement about dreams, I think our character would be star-wisher, so why not have those stars be physically represented as well? That's why I chose night blooming jasmine. Plus Jasmine is a girl's name. Bonus!

Nestled in her cozy bed, a seed stretched.
Oh, what wonderful dreams she had had!
Blooming in midnight moonlight, dancing with
the pulse of a thousand stars, sweet Jasmine

Night Blooming Jasmine, photo by Eran Finkle

Although I might like to have more of a say about what happens next (wouldn't we all?), my time is up. Jan Godown Annino now holds the magic wand at Bookseedstudio.


April
2 Jane at Raincity Librarian
4 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
Jan at bookseedstudio
6 Irene at Live Your Poem
7 Linda at TeacherDance
Janet F. at Live Your Poem
11 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
12 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
13 Linda at A Word Edgewise
15 Donna at Mainely Write
16 Sarah at Sarah Grace Tuttle
18 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
19 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
20 Linda at Write Time
21 April at Teaching Authors
23 Amy at The Poem Farm
24 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
25 Kiesha at Whispers from the Ridge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
28 Kat at Kat’s Whiskers
30 Doraine at Dori Reads


If you enjoyed this post about the Progressive Poem, you'll probably like many of the other kidlit events taking place during National Poetry Month as well. Peruse the Kidlit Events Roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.



28 comments:

  1. Oh, Michelle, I absolutely ADORE your line! It is perfection. That pulse... *sighs* And sweet Jasmine; so enchanting.

    And yes, I love your thinking in making her small and childlike in her wonder. And your sensitivity to night-bloomers and reluctant wake-ups... #whatmorecanisay #nightowl #somuchtolovehere

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  2. Delightful! I love that the seed has a pulse....it goes with dance so well.

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  3. Really good call not to rush on to a new character, a dancing partner, but to develop Jasmine herself! I had amused myself with "dancing with naked abandon," but "the pulse of a thousand stars" is astronomically better!

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  4. Michelle! This is beautiful! A thousand times better than any thoughts I had in my head...lovelovelove!

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  5. Ah, Michelle, I have night blooming jasmine in my yard and the smell is glorious. I love that you've included her in the poem.

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  6. Thank you for the extended back story via your research!

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  7. Oh, bravo, Michelle! You accomplished much in those eight magical words. Welcome to the world, Jasmine! I can't wait to see where she'll be on April 18, my day to join her on her journey. xx

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  8. Now you've got me wanting to experience night blooming jasmine. I guess I'll have to visit Margaret on the teche.

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  9. Awww, sweet Jasmine and her stars! LOVE your thought process, Michelle! Great character building. :) Beautiful! xo

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  10. I love seeing the thought process for your line. It fits perfectly. I look forward to the rest.

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  11. I've only smelled night jasmine at a nursery and envy you, Margaret; it is heavenly. Thus, Michelle, you've connected that night sky so beautifully with another wonder in the night. I enjoyed reading your thoughts, too. It's a wonderful line to add to the story of ?.

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  12. What wonderful words! So often the words we hear to describe music in relation to the stars connotes high pitch. The word "pulse" makes me think of a drum or bass beat. Thanks for your wonderful addition!

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  13. Such a strong line - visually and emotionally. It's also possible the seed is "with" sweet Jasmine, and could be another type of seed, so I'm eager to see where this goes.

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    1. That was how I read it, Matt; 'with'. I was feeling a silly that I'd read it wrong - so I'm glad you can see it, too. :)

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  14. I purposely have not looked at the other comments yet! I absolutely love your line and how you explained your thinking, your prediction (twist) etc. Brava, Michelle. Jasmine, terrific choice. And dancing with those pulsing stars glittering above. I would aim to write such a line, but worry that I would not come close....brilliant like the stars, your line.
    Janet Clare F.

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  15. Wow! I am so inspired by where this is going! Dancing in the moonlight, to the beat of the stars, filling the air with the scent of jasmine, what a luscious scene we are creating!

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  16. Oh that Jasmine--dancing with stars! Love the start of this poem, which is still open to so many possibilities, and eager to see where it turns next.

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  17. Very clever! Your sweet Jasmine is made of stars herself. Serendipity!

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  18. Michelle, you have provided the poem with another sense, the scent of Jasmine along with another evening movement in the sky. I can imagine the stars pulsating to a beat of midnight twinkle. This poem is now turning into a visual delight and I can't wait to see what comes next.

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  19. We think alike . . . I also thought about night blooming flowers when I read Laura's line. And not a gardener myself, I would have turned to google too. Maybe we all need to visit Margaret so smell her jasmine. I can't wait to see what happens next. Just a few more lines and it will be turn.

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  20. I was pondering the night blooming flowers also–I've grown evening primrose and Moon flowers, which actually are very similar to Jasmine but they are huge like the Moon–and they look like stars too. But with Jasmine you've a double bonus a name and a lovely scent. Thanks for your choice of night bloom Jasmine! Your rhythmic "pulse of a thousand stars," reminds me of the aurora borealis, I wonder if any one will go there…

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  21. Love this! The poem, the thought process, your line! What a treat!

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  22. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your wandering thought process that led you to your line. I think you struck the perfect note, somewhere between dream and waking, that will hopefully get this seed up and at 'em and into some adventure. :D

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  23. You!
    Dear Michelle, I don't know what I would have done with the Day 5 line, without your naming our seed. And Jasmine! You have know way of knowing that is the very beloved vine entwined around our mailbox & back yard. With the opening gift line of Liz, through Jane & Laura's lilting words,
    & now yours, this poem is birthed in beauty & promise.
    Here is the URL to Day 5, for following readers: https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com/2018/04/05/2018-april-poetry-month-progressive-poem-day-5/

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  24. GORGEOUS. Gorgeous. Did I mention, Gorgeous? And the underlying scent of jasmine gives it even more richness... Now off to see where Jan has taken everything!

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  25. Love following this, love reading this...hate waiting...

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  26. I am coming around quite late, and it is actually such fun to be able to read more than one line! Your clever use of flower/girl name is generous and fun and adds a sweet scent to our setting. xx

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