DMC: "In a White Kingdom" by Cindy Breedlove

IN A WHITE KINGDOM

A tree-sparkling palace
was built overnight.
So armed with my camera
I took in the sight.
Booted and bundled,
snow-crunching my way,
I captured the beauty
God sent me that day.

© 2020 by Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.

Cindy Breedlove

Buffy Silverman has challenged us to write a poem that uses combined or invented words. Click HERE for more details and to read this month's Spotlight ON interview.

Post your poem on our February 2020 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, February 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her nonfiction poetry picture book from Millbrook Press:

DMC: "Talking Turkey" by Cindy Breedlove

Ihave3kids

TALKING TURKEY

Turkeys are jumpy and nervous this season.
They're feeling on edge but not sure of the reason.
They strut and act brave but I know they are bluffing.
On Thanksgiving Day they will be full of stuffing.
Their gobble is just a loud noise that they make.
Our gobble is how many bites we will take.

© 2019 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.

TLD reader Kate O'Neil has challenged us to write a poem with words at play—malapropisms, ambiguities, unintended meanings, puns, clichés, etc. Read my interview with Kate HERE and add your wordplay poem to the padlet.

While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, November 29th.

A Grab Bag of Monster Fears

"Monster" by Lars Plougmann

October is a super fun month at Today's Little Ditty. When the spirit of Halloween knocks at the door, we've always done our best to greet her with a generous plate of poetry.

"Yoohoo!" by Ruth Hartnup

In past years we've featured an unfolding story of insomnia, a mummy and zombie pas-de-deux, a fanciful animal tale, a fine example of Halloween trickery, a magical rhyming picture book by Carrie Clickard, a collection of delightfully frightful poems by Calef Brown, a HalloZENO party, and several other hair-raising celebrations involving monsters, beasts, spooky memories and other assorted horrors... sometimes necessitating Post Halloween Stress Disorder (PHSD) therapy.

That's quite a haul for any trick-or-treater! But we're not shutting off the porch light yet. This month we're featuring poems about monster fears—not fear of monsters, but things that a monster might be afraid of. Fun, right? Read more about our current DMC challenge in last week's interview with Rebecca Herzog.

Here are a few of the goodies on the padlet right now.

Flash! Dash!

"Torch Monster" by Michael

I hear the footsteps coming near;
I hope without the thing I fear.
I like the dark, the shadows’ gloom,
then I can scare those in this room.
The door creaks open, someone cries.
Oh no, the flashlight beam defies
my best performance filled with lies.
I slink away when it’s too bright.
Monsters cannot bear the light.

© 2019 Linda Baie. All rights reserved.


a cherita terbalik

schmutz smooths the angles
and softens her warts—she
looks almost human

oh, how she despises cleaning
but she must—shudder!

mirror on the wall

© 2019 Diane Mayr. All rights reserved.

"Pockmarked mirror" by Andrea Kirkby

"Child Imagination" by Cesar Mascarenhas

Monster's Panic Attack

I'm crouched in the closet,
my eyes on the door.
I hear little footsteps
on her bedroom floor.
The tension is rising—
a sliver of light!
The closet door opens
and I scream in fright!

© 2019 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.


Five Fearful Monsters

Five little monsters prowling in the park.
“Yikes!” said the first. “I’m scared of the dark!”
“Yow!” said the second. “Something’s creeping near!”
“Hush!” said the third. “It’s the wind you hear.”
“No!” said the fourth. “There’s a frightful noise!”
“Look!” said the fifth. “Little girls and boys!
Just a bunch of kids running down the street...
dressed for Halloween, shouting “Trick-or-treat!”

© 2019 Dianne Moritz. All rights reserved.

"TricK or TreaT" by Kylie_Jaxxon

Speaking of trick-or-treating, have I got a treat for you next week! You'll just have to wait to find out what it is though. Hope you can stand the suspense.

"He's seen better days...." by melfoody

Leave your poem about something a monster is afraid of HERE.

Catherine Flynn writes about gratefulness at Reading to the Core, where she's hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup.

A DMC Meet and Greet

"Shadow meets Mirror" by Markus Koller

The wise and illustrious ditty master, Dr. Seuss, once wrote, "There is no one alive who is youer than you."  So true! And thanks to Jane Whittingham's DMC challenge for September, I've been having the best time hobnobbing with the "all-about-me" acrostics that have found their way onto the padlet so far. All back-to-school open houses and PTA meet and greets should be this much fun! Wouldn't it be great to see what a classroom of students might come up with?

I've learned about your dreams—

CONTRADICTION 

Cheriee is an aging dreamer
Hoping for a healthy planet
Even when the news is dire, she
Resists despair, revelling in nature, but
Is afraid of spiders,
Entrancing as they may seem to
Everyone else 

                    © Cheriee Weichel, 2019

and aspirations,

NAME GAME

Lost in thoughts
Imagination whirling
Next poem, book, task
Determines the days
Accomplishments appreciated

Sometimes
Undecided, but always
Enthusiastic!

                     © Linda Baie, 2019

your writing strategies—

LIMERICK MAKER

Linda likes to pen poetry

Iambic and non-rhyming schemes

Noting word syllable counts
Drafts and revisions – look out!

Anyone’s fair game for her themes

                    © Linda Mitchell, 2019

FOREVER WRITER

Just a writer and a poet

Always  jotting notes and such.

Never tires of seeking whimsy

In kind words that move and touch.

Ever writing, ever writing, ever writing.

                    © Janie Lazo, 2019

and culinary preferences,

TASTE

Joyce adores 

Olives, roti, miso soup and 

Yearns to taste

Cultural meals that don’t include

Eels

                    © Joyce Ray, 2019

WHO I AM

Cindy eats handfuls of cherry tomatoes.

In her garden she digs up potatoes.

Never resists a good mystery book.

Doesn't ever desire to cook.

Yearns for dark chocolate to be totally calorie free.

                    © Cindy Breedlove, 2019

your inclinations toward travel—

THE TRAVELER

Doing whatever I can to

Accrue more funds to

Venture forward again and again

In a quest to explore

Distant (and not so distant) lands.

                    © David McMullin, 2019

NOW

Kathleen is

A lady who likes to

Travel to different countries 

Having already been to all 50 states.

Loves reading and writing poetry,

Especially haiku,

Even if she doesn’t quite get all the 

Nuances.

                    © Kathleen Mazurowski, 2019

and the ways you find your bliss at home,

CORY'S WAY

Can perch for hours in her backyard

Oasis―observing, listening, communing―picture taking;

Reveling in the buzziness of bees and antics of squirrels, all

Yielding as much joy as flowers of sun and glories of morning.

Can perch for hours in her backyard

Oasis, oblivious of time―totally immersed.

Re-energized. Inspired. Amused . . . by

Robins sparring for equal time at the bath. 

And bunny rabbits nibbling greens they should not.

Daily wonders, weaving joy into poems-pics-books

One-of-a-kind      spun the Cory-can way.

                    © Cory Corrado, 2019

and I can't wait to be introduced to many more of your all-about-me acrostics over the coming days! Post 'em HERE.

Laura Purdie Salas is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Writing the World for Kids. Congratulations are in order for the release of her latest nonfiction rhyming picture book—Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle! Be sure to enter her giveaway for a signed, personalized copy.

DMC: "Binoculars" by Cindy Breedlove

BINOCULARS

Hang light around my neck,
ready always on my trek.

Zoom quick, and stabilize.
Focus sharp before it flies.

Don't fog, so I can see
that flighty little chickadee.

© 2019 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.


Elizabeth Steinglass has challenged us to write a poem giving instructions to an inanimate object about how to do its job. Click HERE for more details and to read this month's Spotlight ON interview.

Post your poem on our May 2019 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, May 31st, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fantastic debut poetry collection from WordSong:

DMC: "One Life to Live" by Cindy Breedlove

ONE LIFE TO LIVE
          ~with a line from "Truth, by Tyrone Bittings"

Hey, turn your life on
and live now, this moment, this instant.
There will be no replay.

© 2018 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.

"Truth, by Tyrone Bittings" © 2018 Nikki Grimes, from BETWEEN THE LINES.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Nikki Grimes. She has challenged us to write a golden shovel poem using a line from one of the poems in the post.

Leave your golden shovel on our March 2018 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, March 30th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of her new companion novel to Bronx Masquerade:

DMC: "Beauty in Disguise" by Cindy Breedlove

BEAUTY IN DISGUISE

Brown and dry,
they look like weeds.
But there is promise
in their seeds.
Wrapped up tight
to take the cold—
next year's flowers
now on hold.

© 2017 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carol Hinz, Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books, divisions of Lerner Publishing Group. Her challenge this month is to write a poem that finds beauty in something that is not usually considered beautiful.

Post your poems on our November 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, November 24th. One lucky participant will win a copy of The Sun Played Hide-and-Seek: A Personification Story by Brian P. Cleary, illustrated by Carol Crimmins, and published by Millbrook Press earlier this year.

DMC: "Ode to Grapefruit!" by Cindy Breedlove

ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT!
 

I picked you for your pinkish tone
but pucker at your taste, and groan,
wiping juice off of my face,
inhaling tartness, but embrace
the whispered promise in my ear:
two sizes smaller in a year.

© 2017 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.

Helen Frost has challenged us to write an ode poem this month, following these instructions: 

Choose an object (a seashell, a hairbrush, a bird nest, a rolling pin). It should not be anything symbolic (such as a doll, a wedding ring, or a flag). Write five lines about the object, using a different sense in each line (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). Then ask the object a question, listen for its answer, and write the question, the answer, or both. 

Click HERE to read her sample poem, "Ode to a River."

Post your poem on our March 2017 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, March 31st, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her latest novel-in-poems from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/Macmillan:

DMC: "Concern" by Cindy Breedlove

CONCERN

Concern wrinkles its forehead.
It silently whispers a prayer.
Giving a hug and listening,
it’s helping me fight Despair.

© 2017 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.


Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE. Jeannine offers the following guidance to those feeling stuck: 

"Maybe start with a character in motion and think of her main feeling. Then let her or him speak to Joy, Anxiety, Peaceful Nature, Curiosity, Grief, etc to set a dialog back and forth. Or here's a prompt: Happiness, where are you? — let Happiness answer."

Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.  All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster: