DMC: "Peer Review" by Lana Wayne Koehler

PEER REVIEW

Squirrels
With their
Chattering, climbing, jumping,
The way they leave hickory nut shells
On the previously white railing
Scampering up to my window
To peer into my life
Like I peer into theirs
Waiting for me
To watch them
Again. 

© 2018 Lana Wayne Koehler. 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: "Ode to a Piano" by Lana Wayne Koehler

ODE TO A PIANO

It was love at first sight: Watching fingers tickle the ivories as

the sound tickles my ears;

Tasting joy,

While the fragrance of the music

Lingers, waiting to embrace 

Me. 

© 2017 Lana Wayne Koehler. 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: "Get Well Cards" by Lana Wayne Koehler

Get Well Cards

The card read, “Sincerely, William Walters”
I met him briefly
At the skate park
I was twelve.

The card read, “Sincerely, William”
He couldn’t visit
Me in the hospital
I was sick

The card read, “William”
It was many weeks
Since I’d seen him
I was lonely

The card read, “Will”
I knew who he was
By the cards he sent
He was my friend.

© 2015 Lana Wayne Koehler. All rights reserved.


Rebecca M. Davis has challenged us to write poems about acts of kindness this month– the more specific and vivid the better.  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, November 27th, and one lucky participant will win copies of two delightful picture books published by Boyds Mills Press: THIS ORQ. (HE CAVE BOY.) and THIS ORQ. (HE SAY "UGH!") by David Elliott, illustrated by Lori Nichols.

DMC: "Summer Love" by Lana Wayne Koehler

Summer Love

It was aqua and not blue
But for all I knew it was the finest,
Most beautiful,
Two wheels in the world.

Daily I would streak through town
Boldly going up and down the streets until
The lights came on.
Silent happiness.

© 2015 Lana Wayne Koehler. 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 on Friday, September 25th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Lee's gorgeous new anthology:

DMC: "Blanket" by Lana Wayne Koehler

BLANKET

As the snow blankets the earth in winter,
As the rain blankets the grass in spring 
           and makes the flowers grow,
As the sunshine blankets the sidewalk in summer 
           making it hard to walk barefoot,
As each leaf blankets my yard in fall 
           with the promise of bonfires and cider,
So am I blanketed in love.

© 2015 Lana Wayne Koehler. 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:

DMC: "Edgar Allan Poe" by Lana Wayne Koehler

EDGAR ALLAN POE

Edgar Allan Poe
His mysterious death apropos
He wrote of a Raven and wrote about crime
And totally rhymed sublime

© 2015 Lana Wayne Koehler. All rights reserved.


Kwame Alexander has challenged us to write a clerihew this month. What's a clerihew, you ask? Click HERE for details.

Send your funny four-liner 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, April 24th. One lucky participant will win an autographed copy of THE CROSSOVER, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.