Sweet wishes (and plans) for the new year!

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"         Arol Lightfoot

These last few weeks (months, really) have been a whirlwind for me.

And miles to go before I sleep. 
And miles to go before I sleep.

                     – Robert Frost, read the entire poem HERE

It's been a struggle at times, but here I am! I've arrived at the end of year! And it's all the more special because I have so many friends who have been surrounding me with love and gratitude, helping me celebrate the release of The Best of Today's Little Ditty 2017-2018. Thank you for sharing Volume 3 in blog posts and on websites, spreading the word on social media, and purchasing copies for yourself or for poetry-loving friends and family for the holidays!

Thanks to Jan Godown Annino for this great photo to brighten my holiday season!

Christmas is coming!
The stockings are hung—
a ditty collection
tucked into each one.

If you already have a copy and can take a minute or two to leave a review on Amazon, it would help to get the book seen by more poetry fans like yourselves. (For that matter, did you know you can use the same, or similar, review for the other two TLD anthology volumes?)

If you have poems in any of the volumes and an Amazon author page, don't forget to add yourself as an author as well!

I recently received a beautiful gift from Donna JT Smith in the mail. She's given me permission to share it here. I love the way she so thoughtfully expresses her appreciation for these books and for the poets whose work is contained. She pretty much took the words right out of my mouth.


SWEET

Sweet the poems
        Bound with string
Sweet the spirit
        Fresh as spring
Sweet the poets'
        Voices ring
Sweet the songs
        Given to sing
                Sweet the birds
                        Sweet the air
                Sweet the flowers
                        fresh and fair
Sweet the sentiment and thought
Sweet the peace these words have brought.
Sweet the sounds
Sweet the pen
Sweet the visiting again
Thanks to writer
Thanks to all
Thanks to those
        who hear the call.

© 2019 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.

Thanks right backatcha, Donna! Thanks to ALL of you who hear the call to take part in Ditty of the Month Club challenges.

This time of year is when I start thinking about what shape Today's Little Ditty is going to take for the coming year. I'd love to interview a few more of you for 2020 Reader Spotlights. If you ask Linda Mitchell, Jesse Anna Bornemann, Jane Whittingham, Rebecca Herzog, or Kate O'Neil, I think they'll tell you the process is easy, fun, and rewarding to read all the poems in response to your very own ditty challenge. Don't be shy! Complete this brief form to start the ball rolling.



I also plan to share more author/editor Spotlight ON interviews next year, more classroom connections posts, and... who knows what else!

An exciting bit of news for me is that I've been shortlisted for the position of Alachua County Poet Laureate here in North Central Florida. I interviewed with our local arts council earlier this week. The competition is stiff, but just to have been given the opportunity to speak about why poetry is important to me feels like a win all by itself. I'm proud of my local government for initiating this new position and, regardless of the outcome, I hope that it might lead to new poetry-related events and opportunities.

So I guess that's it from me for a while. I look forward to returning in late January. If you get a hankering to write some ditties in the meantime, don't forget that you can access links to all of the TLD spotlight interviews HERE and links to all of the final wrap-up celebrations HERE.

Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie

May your holiday season be festive and bright—

and filled with love, laughter, and poetry!

Tanita has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at [fiction, instead of lies].

 

DMC: "Instructions to Nail Clippers" by Donna JT Smith

INSTRUCTIONS TO NAIL CLIPPERS

Be shiny and sharp,
Be quick,
But not on it.
Be smallish to
Carry around in
a pocket.
Hang around feet,
Hang around hands,
Where toesies and fingers
Have trimming demands.
Make a snippy-ish sound,
Remain cool under pressure.
Cut pointy, or round,
Then file for good measure.
And when you are done,
Slip back in the deep
Of pocket or purse,
For that’s where you’ll sleep
Until the next need
To clip and make neat
An ugly hangnail
Or unpedicured feet.

© 2019 Donna JT Smith. 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: "A Week of Windows" by Donna JT Smith

A WEEK OF WINDOWS

Sunday’s glance shows cool, a breeze,
   pine branches lift and dip;
Monday sits heavy in foggy dew,
   trees wet from root to tip;
Tuesday the mists roll back to see
   a hen and tom stroll by;
On Wednesday the view holds bits of green,
   As doe browses wary and shy;
Thursday hosts a chattering red
   Until big gray appears;
Friday’s air is full of birds,
   and dogs' excited cheers;
And Saturday, as the sun comes up
   To dart through leafless trees,
Azalea’s sweet hush has become blush,
   Saying no to winter’s freeze.

© 2018 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.

Click HERE to read this month's interview with Julie Fogliano. She has challenged us to stare out the window and write a poem about what we see. You might even consider writing something down every day for a week:

At the end of the week, read through what you wrote and write your favorite bits on a separate piece of paper. I bet there will be a poem in there somewhere… see if you can find it.  – J. F.

Leave your poem on our May 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, May 25th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her stunning new picture book from Roaring Brook Press:

DMC: "Soccer Game" by Donna JT Smith

SOCCER GAME

One day our team was one man short—
The game would not be fair;
The other team had more than us—
We needed one more player.

We fretted and bemoaned the fact,
Searched every which and where,
And finally found Sir Dino Mite—
We’d win this fair and square!

With clicking claws and sharpened teeth
He gave that team a scare!
Unfortunately, he scared us too
With his piercing, no-good glare.

He popped the ball and ate it up—
We didn’t have a prayer!
No soccer ball to score a goal—
There wasn’t any spare.

We tried to run away and hide,
But he just didn’t care.
He tossed the ref into the net
And sat in coach’s chair.

He blew the whistle fierce and loud,
Oh, he was on a tear,
Then suddenly he stopped, got up—
An egg was laid right there!

This wasn’t good Sir Dino Mite!
It was his dear Ma Chere,
And once her egg was safely laid
She grabbed said egg and chair.

She pranced them off the soccer field
With prehistoric flair.
We stopped the game and all went home—
Ma Dino to her lair.

© 2018 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Deborah Bruss and Matt Forrest Esenwine. They've challenged us to write a poem about something you would not expect a dinosaur (or another kind of animal) to do.

Leave your poem on our April 2018 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, April 27th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of their fun new rhyming picture book from POW! Kids:

DMC: "Life Like Story" by Donna JT Smith

LIFE LIKE STORY
          ~with a line from "blurred lines" by Lil Fijjii

I’m asking you to listen,
No derision, as I try to
Be true, peel off my
Life like story.
And if
I drift away from you,
So blue, you can't
Judge or rant, just
Sit in my dust, must listen
Until my mission becomes clear to
You, no fear of you, and why my
Life time has always been in rhymes.

© 2018 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


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: "Ode to a Tissue" by Donna JT Smith

ODE TO A TISSUE
                      (and an acrostic)

The faintest whiff of clean, starched sheets
In white, you lie flat, stiff, well pressed, waiting as
Shaking fingertips flounder, feeling for your straight, thin edge
Silently you caress my face, no, you are quietly humming
Unduly seasoned with salt from my tears.
Eternally crumpled, rolled up in a ball, do you have any regrets?
Shush, so happy to help.

© 2017 Donna JT Smith. 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: "Comfortable" by Donna JT Smith

COMFORTABLE

Carefree with barefeet
Overalls and a tee-shirt
Melting into a hammock
Freely swinging,
One foot dangling
Relaxed, not
Taxed
Azure eyes
Blink slowly until
Lazy lids
Extinguish the light.

© 2017 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.

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

DMC: "Nomad" by Donna JT Smith

NOMAD

Book spines stripe the wall and I
In tall, quiet word-halls sprawl
Between the shelves on belly.

Bare feet crossed, soles to ceiling,
Elbows propped, paging finger
Lingers in fantastic worlds;

I roam through Heidi’s Swiss Alps,
Skip along Dorothy’s path,
Tumble down rabbit’s deep hole,

Journey in Marty’s spaceship,
Dwell with black ants underground—
All with a flick of the page.   
          
“It’s time to lock,” tocks the clock,
Too soon for Pippi and me;
I grab her hand, she scrambles,

Dives in my bag for tonight;
Till curled up under blankets,
My flashlight as stage footlights,

Pippi reads alive again;
In my room I’m voyaging
To Villa Villekulla.

© 2016 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Jane Yolen has challenged us to write a septercet that features reading or writing this month. What is a septercet?  Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our September 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration TOMORROW, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:

DMC: "Animal Echoes" by Donna JT Smith

ANIMAL ECHOES

I whistle two notes -
I hear in a tree
‘Feee-beee’
Sung to me.

I mimic ‘whoo-whooo’
At night to the owl
That fowl
Returns howl.

I sing to the dog
All frenzied and stout
Lifts her snout
Yaps doubt.

I say ‘hey, there, cat!’
He me-yowls a slur -
His purr -
“Pat my fur.”

Returning a nuzzle
In whinnies or neighs
Are ways
Horse replays.

I speak, they reply
I hear their echoes
Each knows
How it goes.

© 2016 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


In celebration of National Poetry Month, Marilyn Singer has challenged us to write poems inspired by the word "echo." Click HERE for more details.

Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration TOMORROW, Friday, April 29th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of her fantastic new collection of reverso poems based on Greek myths:

DMC: "A Passing Remark" by Donna JT Smith

A PASSING REMARK

I was a child
of field and truck
with fingernails
a’la dirt and mud

the neighbors had
a girlie girl
with skin so soft
and hair a’curl

pale of face
with body narrow
a shape that barely
made a shadow

rosy cheeks and
toned farm arms
should not have been
cause for alarm

but our neighbor’s visitor
said to me
as I passed by
“Hello, chubby!”

from that time on
I realized
it mattered if
you weren’t pint-sized

and that is when
my fight began
with body image
and who I am.

© 2015 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.

Lee Bennett Hopkins has challenged us to write a "ME poem" this month, based on one simple moment in your childhood that changed you in some way. Click HERE for more details.

Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, September 25th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Lee's gorgeous new anthology:

DMC: "Moldysocks and the Three Treehouses" by Donna JT Smith

Moldysocks and the Three Treehouses

One day when a girl named Miss Moldysocks
Was traipsing through woods and on river rocks,
She spied a big tree
With a house hanging free
With doors, except one, having paddylocks.

She climbed up the tree where she shouldn’t go;
She climbed it so quickly that don’t you know,
She couldn’t resist
And wouldn’t desist
Until she had left the ground far below!

The things in the house were just way to big;
The cupboards were stuffed for a hungry pig;
She slipped back outside
And slid down with pride
Without even breaking a single twig.

She skipped on her trip through the piney groves,
Then sat down to snack on some moldy loaves;
She looked up and saw
A house for MawMaw
With windows, and curtains and cooking stove.

She tiptoed some more till she spotted him:
A bear cub aloft on a pine tree limb;
He’d been sent away
To build his chalet,
However, his treehouse looked pretty grim.

Moldy called up to him, “What has happened here?
I see by your treehouse your plans aren’t clear.
To build it with flair
You must take more care.
I’ll help you this time!” Then bear gave a cheer!

With hammer, some nails and a tape measure
Construction began on this tree treasure;
They measured and nailed,
Through work quickly sailed,
“Thank you, Moldy!”
       “No, prob! It’s my pleasure!”

Now Moldysocks visits the bears a lot;
In her heart she has a big Moldy spot
For Bear’s treehouse done
By more than just one,
Where some days she naps in this Camelot.

© 2015 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Corey Rosen Schwartz has challenged us to write a stanza or two about building a treehouse, using unpredictable rhymes of more than one syllable. Click HERE for all the details.

Send your stanzas to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, June 26th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of Corey's delightful new picture book:

DMC: "Scissors" by Donna JT Smith

SCISSORS

S harp, metal, pivotal tool–
     heron’s bill, chopsticks, knitting needles, pincers –
C utting ribbon, thread, paper Valentines, the outline of a dress
I n seconds one piece becomes two, as
S napping blades chomp alligator mouth serrations by children and
S hooshing silky smooth stone skimming lines by grandmother –
O val holes house fingers together, 
     thumb alone as they open and close, open and close,
R umbling through heavy cloth on a wooden table or
S nipping fingernails and hair into the air.

© 2015 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.


Nikki Grimes has challenged us to try a wordplay exercise this month and create our own free verse poems. Click HERE for all the details.

Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, May 29th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of Nikki's brand new picture book:

Finding my Heartbeat

2015...  it's here, right on time.

Are you ready?

In my absence over the last few weeks, I've had some time to think about my goals for 2015 and the "one little word" that I would like to accompany me on this year's journey.

Sometimes when life gets crazy, it takes more than one word to keep me focused and headed in the right direction.  At these times, I turn to Mentors for Rent as my compass.  Laura Purdie Salas and Lisa Bullard are my "combobulators" when I'm feeling discombobulated.  Their understanding of my situation is always spot on and their career guidance has been invaluable.

One thing they've suggested I think about is how I want others to view me as a poet and writer. What overriding quality do I want readers to associate with my work?  The essence of my voice, one might say.  I like to think of it as my heartbeat– the quiet, steady pulse of creativity that beats underneath all those layers of distraction.

         ba-boom...

                   ba-boom...

                             ba-boom...

To be honest, I've thought about this a lot and pretty much have no clue.  I can find that essence in others, but it's much harder to pinpoint in myself.  Take Donna Smith, for example. As part of  Tabatha Yeatts' Winter Poetry Swap, I received this original poem and gorgeous bookmark, harvested from treasures Donna found at the ocean's edge.

She describes the form of her poem as follows:

"I have written a Renga, meaning "linked verse," though technically, you need two people to write a Renga. It predates and is related to the Haiku. The beginning three lines have the 5-7-5 pattern of syllables followed by two lines of 7 syllables each. The first three lines are the "Hokku," and are what we now call a Haiku. One person started the Hokku, and the second two lines were traditionally supplied by another person as a response to the Hokku. I added the rhyming. It is not an element of a Renga. A true Renga is quite complex in its format requirements, but I have simply focused on one subject and the traditional syllable counts for my Renga."

Donna writes, "I have always been
curious about the stories behind
each treasure I find at the ocean.
Where did it come from? How did it
come to be here in my hand? How
will its story continue now that I
have become a part of the journey?"

Sea Glass

muted opaline
edges now smooth-worn, once keen
etched with words unseen
     traveling long miles and years
     losing shards and shedding tears

gritty sand, slipping,
shattering, scraping, chipping–
emerging dripping
     from dark reigning ocean's hold
     light of day becoming bold

sand delivery
unceremoniously
washed ashore from sea
     untold cold hidden story
     from rough to rounded glory

cupped in hands today
fingers gently smooth away
sandy disarray
     carved of sea in curve of hand
     rescued slave of salt and sand

discerning eyes peer
held to sun, or drawn in near
story still unclear
     abandoned, useless, broken
     or lost and well-loved token?

vagabond of yore
jetsam strewn on ocean floor
beached, this journey o'er
     returned, rekindling pleasure
     as worn and well-turned treasure

     by Donna JT Smith, December 2014


I cannot think of Donna without thinking of her beloved coastal home. For me, the two are intertwined.  Of course there's much more to Donna.  I think about her love of family and her grandson.  I think about the clever ways she adapts and creates new poetry forms. But what really sticks with me is her experience of "home."

There are so many moods of me, I'm not sure what people would say is the overriding quality of my work– that elusive heartbeat.  I do know I would like spend some time nurturing my self-awareness.  That's why I've chosen "heartbeat" as my one little word for 2015. By the end of this year, I hope to be a better listener.

         ba-boom...

                   ba-boom...

                             ba-boom...


It's good to be back, and I look forward to sharing my spotlight interview with Joyce Sidman next week.  In the meantime, please join Tricia Stohr-Hunt for the Poetry Friday roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

DMC: "Black Cat at Night" by Donna Smith

Black Cat at Night

fall night of shadow
chases black < cat > black chases
shadow of night fall

© 2014 Donna JT Smith. All rights reserved.

Bob Raczka has challenged us to write a monster-inspired haiku this month.  Click HERE for details.

To add your haiku to the monster mayhem, send it to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All submissions will be included in the wrap-up celebration on November 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of Bob's delightful new haiku collection: