DMC: "Teach Us" by Robyn Campbell

TEACH US

With one step
from darkness
into the light,
you can teach us. You
can make us see why. You
left your country
riding on your
daddy's shoulders
through gloomy days
and darker nights
to live beside us.
How long did it take?
And how did you sleep?
Was there food to eat?
When did your daddy grow too tired to carry you?
And when did your feet grow too tired to bring you
through?
You can help us see
Teach us.

We want to learn.

© 2019 Robyn Campbell. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Karen Boss, Editor at Charlesbridge. Her challenge this month is to write a poem in second person, speaking directly to a kid or kids about something that you think is important for them to know.

Post your poem on our June 2019 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, June 28th. One lucky participant will win a copy of I Am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending, collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Chris Hsu, available online for preorder, and coming to a bookstore near you on July 2, 2019.

DMC: "Questions, Questions" by Robyn Campbell

Questions, Questions

curious questions.
Can I really love so much
as the sky is big?
To eternity and back?
Around the world a million
times?
Can I touch with the same
sensation as a brand new babe?
A new wife?
Can I see love the same as two
mockingbirds?
Two doves?
A wife who has just lost her mate?
I will ask these things
for the rest of my days.
Are there really answers? I don't know.
I only see that I have truly loved and
truly lived and
truly tried to do my best.
Questions, questions beautiful questions.

© 2018 Robyn Campbell. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Naomi Shihab Nye. Her DMC challenge is to write a letter to yourself in which you ask some questions that you don't have to answer. (Please keep in mind that your poem does not need to be in standard letter form.)

Post your poem on our September 2018 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up presentation on Friday, September 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her latest collection of poetry from Greenwillow Books:

DMC: "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" by Robyn Campbell

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Your eyes see me, and they detect
pain. Search deeper; you will find beauty,
splendor, love, and majesty.
I am a thorn, and I hold a thistle,
I am a thorn, and I house a rose,
I am a thorn, and I am joined with the Great Barrier Reef.
I live on crisp fresh Christmas trees and on sea urchins 
called flowers, I am anteaters and spiders.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
What do you behold?
When you look my way remember this,
there is no rose without a thorn.
Now look again, what do you see when you see me?

© 2017 Robyn Campbell. 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: "Children's Writer" by Robyn Campbell

CHILDREN'S WRITER

My mind paints pictures in words.

Scattered images soaring,

traveling through my backdrop.



I sketch syllables and verbs,

rhyme schemes, rhythm and meter.

They twirl and bop, cavorting.
 
Winking at me with spirit,
they scintillate with ditty,
title me writer, poet.



The words give children a voice,
speaking a kids melody—

music, euphony, friendship.

© 2016 Robyn Campbell. 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 this Friday, September 30th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:

DMC: "Life's Echo" by Robyn Campbell

LIFE'S ECHO

Life's echo
of things removed
and yet to come
imitation
reverberation
repetition
reflection
My life
a mirror image
year after
year
ringing
in my
ear
mistakes
bungles
slip of tongue
chaos
Will I learn
probably not
Life's echo
rumbles on

© 2016 Robyn Campbell. 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 on Friday, April 29th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of her fantastic new collection of reverso poems based on Greek myths: