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Thursday, October 29, 2020

A Halloween Hootenanny

 

Greetings, Friends!
           Welcome to my humble, haunted abode—
 
 
HAUNTED HOUSE
     by Valerie Worth
 
Its echoes,
Its aching stairs,
Its doors gone stiff
At the hinges,
 
Remind us of its
Owners, who
Grew old, who
Died, but
 
Who are still
Here: leaning . . .
 
                   Read the rest HERE.
 
 
We're all feeling a bit exhausted these days, aren't we? 
 
So, please, rest your weary bones at Today's Little Ditty's Halloween Hootenanny!
 
There will be singing,
 
 
 
there will be dancing,


 
and there will be storytelling— oh yes, there will be storytelling!
 
Today I'm serving up a selection of Halloween-flavored treats from the last seven years. Think of it as a haunted open house—spend as much time as you like sampling what's on offer. There's something for everyone (you never know what you'll die for), but rest assured, it's all good, light-hearted, spooky fun.
 
 
MUSIC AND DANCING:
 
  •  a pas de deux performed by a zombie ballerina and her mummy dance partner.
  • a song for voice and piano, based on a poem by the French poet Henri Cazalis.  Also a cartoon aired by PBS in 1980.
 
MY ORIGINAL POEMS:

  • an unfolding story in limericks
  •  a poem about an unlikely friendship
  •  a zombie zeno (Read more Halloween-themed zenos HERE.)
 
TLD COMMUNITY COLLECTIONS:
 




 
QUOTATIONS:
 
 
 
PICTURE BOOKS:
 
 
Magic For Sale, by Carrie Clickard (Spotlight ON interview)
 
 
 


And now, an extra special treat for five lucky TLD trick-or-treaters! The winners of last week's giveaway for one copy each of HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving (Pomelo Books), courtesy of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, are:

Linda Baie
Shannon Gebhart  
Mary Lee Hahn
Kathleen Mazurowski, and
Carol Varsalona
 
Congratulations! 
 Please email your postal addresses to me at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com.
 

For more Halloween fun and an extra large grab bag of bite-sized poetry goodies, join Linda Baie for this week's Poetry Friday roundup at TeacherDance.


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14 comments:

  1. jan godown anninoOctober 30, 2020 at 7:19 AM

    Happy Halloween dear Michelle! I love your links to Memory Lane October poem treats - the Mortimer pumpkin, the Godot quote, the adorable cats from your "The Witching Hour" and the Eunice and Andrew art with that are what I've visited so far . Such a sweetly stuffed scary treat bag.

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  2. Linda BOctober 30, 2020 at 9:59 AM

    Oh my, Michelle, now I have my "treat" for Halloween! Thank you for this giveaway. I feel like it makes a strange week more like it used to be! And thanks for all the goodies you've given us, a super spooky treat for our Halloween bags. I'll read along through today & tomorrow! Valerie Worth started it off very creepily indeed!

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  3. jamaOctober 30, 2020 at 11:48 AM

    Hoot Hoot to the Halloween Hootenanny! Thanks for all the seasonal goodness. This year I am less afraid of ghosts, goblins, vampires and werewolves. The scariest, most unimaginable thing is in the White House.

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  4. Bridget MageeOctober 30, 2020 at 11:57 AM

    So many terrific Halloween treats in this post, Michelle. I especially like revisiting the Five for Friday: PHSD post. The opening cartoon - hee hee, it still tickles my funny bone: "I feel hallow inside," says Jack of the O'Lantern clan. :)

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  5. Linda MitchellOctober 30, 2020 at 3:16 PM

    Oh, my gosh, how fun! Of course, reading Carrie Clickhard's name made me a little weepy...she had SUCH a writing heart for kids. Your insomnia poem and 'Thoughtless' and monster haiku. It's like a reunion to read all the poems and names from over the years. What a community builder you are. That is a special talent. When is YOUR book coming out? I know you have several in you.

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  6. David McMullinOctober 30, 2020 at 5:57 PM

    Now I'm in the perfect mood for Halloween! Such fun.

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  7. michelle koganOctober 30, 2020 at 6:40 PM

    Thanks for conjuring up such a fantastic spooky-filled post Michelle–with many familiar haunts… I liked revisiting your INSOMNIA limerick and all the Halloween tricks in accompaniment there… And the Macabre video was a nice escape too. BTW you've some great friends keeping you company over the Halloween weekend–all are spooktacular!

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  8. RosiOctober 30, 2020 at 7:18 PM

    This post is a lot of fun. Thanks for it. I especially love The Witching Hour. I can hardly sit still reading it. It makes me want to dance. Have a happy Halloween.

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  9. Carol VarsalonaOctober 30, 2020 at 7:42 PM

    Michelle, your decorations could also be part of my neighborhood gathering. I just heard on GMA that skeletons are the big winners for decorations this year so you are trendy for sure. What a chock-full post of Halloween goodies for every classroom pre-, during, post-Halloween. And Yeah, I won a prize of just the book that will make me happy.I look forward to devouring every last bite of poetry fun in Janet and Sylvia's book. Thank you!

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  10. Buffy SilvermanOctober 30, 2020 at 11:11 PM

    What a fun hootenanny! Any party that starts with Valerie Worth is guaranteed to be a success.

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  11. RuthOctober 31, 2020 at 3:11 PM

    Wonderful collection!

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  12. Mary LeeOctober 31, 2020 at 5:04 PM

    What a delightful buffet of Halloween goodies! All treats, no tricks!!

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  13. Janice ScullyOctober 31, 2020 at 7:45 PM

    Thank you for the poems, the quotes and the wonderful music. Especially the Dance Macabre, perfect for tonight, which happens to be Halloween.

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  14. Mary LeeNovember 1, 2020 at 4:20 PM

    Well, YAY! I totally missed the best part of the post...my win! THANK YOU Michelle and Janet/Sylvia!!

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