DMC: "Instructions for a Lawn Sprinkler" by Rosi Hollinbeck

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A LAWN SPRINKLER

Keep your head down
and perfectly still.

Patience.

When you feel the pressure,
hold your head up high and

Squirt! Squirt! Squirt! to the left.

Turn back.

Squirt! Squirt! Squirt! to the left.

Turn Back.

A perfect arc.
Every time.

Squirt! Squirt! Squirt! to the left.

Turn back.

Head down.
Rest until tomorrow.

© 2019 Rosi Hollinbeck. 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: "Sickle Moon" by Rosi Hollinbeck

SICKLE MOON

Crooked grin in the night sky,

are you the Cheshire Cat 

or a waxing crescent moon

teasing the stars to twinkle? 

© 2018 Rosi Hollinbeck. 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: "Cancer, Love & Hope" by Rosi Hollinbeck

CANCER, LOVE & HOPE

Appalling breast cancer diagnosis
Daughter edgy, frightened.
Ghastly, harrowing information.
Just knowing love
means new optimism, promise.
Quintessential romance,
supportive templar.
Uttering veritable wish —
X-rays yield
zero additional beastly cells.

© 2017 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.


A PERSONAL NOTE FROM ROSI:

My daughter is battling breast cancer and has had to start a crowdfunding campaign to help with medical bills. If your readers could share the link through twitter or other social media, I would be so grateful.  https://www.youcaring.com/maggiehollinbeck-946234

Click HERE to read this month's interview with Carole Boston Weatherford. She has challenged us to write an abecedarian poem.

Generally each line (or word) of an abecedarian poem begins with A and continues in alphabetical order until you reach Z. For this challenge, you may start and end with whichever letters you choose, as long as they are sequential.

Post your poem on our September 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, September 29th. One lucky participant will win a copy of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick Press, 2017).

"Deep In the Forest" by Rosi Hollinbeck

DEEP IN THE FOREST

Deep in the forest,
        Musty and dark,
Gray and green lichen
        Grow on the bark.
Moss coats the tree trunks
        On the north side.
Brown mushrooms rise up,
        Puffy and wide.
Slender pine needles
        Carpet the ground.
Deep in the forest
        There’s not a sound. 

© 2016 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.


Ann Rider has challenged us to write poems about places of refuge and solace this month. Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, November 25th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of BEFORE MORNING by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.

DMC: "Old Man of the Olympics" by Rosi Hollinbeck

OLD MAN OF THE OLYMPICS

 

He walks quite slow, his bones all creak,
He has gray hair, a wrinkled cheek.

How can it be that he’ll compete?
He’s never quit, this great athlete.

But can he win? He says, “Of course,
I have the most fantastic horse.”

Perhaps now this equestrian
will, at last, have his first win.

© 2016 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.


Diana Murray has challenged us to write a poem about an unlikely hero this month. Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our August 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, August 26th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fun new picture book from Roaring Brook Press:

DMC: "Bird Notes" by Rosi Hollinbeck

BIRD NOTES

Black birds settle on telephone wires
        like notes on a musical stave.
They shift and flutter and what transpires
   is a magical bird conclave.
My fingers dance on ivory keys
        playing music bird by bird.
As they stir, I play new melodies
   as sweet as I’ve ever heard.

© 2016 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoM4ZZJ2UrM

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has challenged us to write poems about small things— animals or objects you see everyday and don't give much thought. 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, March 25th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her delightful nonfiction picture book:

DMC: "Man in the Moon" by Rosi Hollinbeck

MAN IN THE MOON

I’m Man in the Moon,
not some bad cartoon!
My crescent
is a shimmery pearlescent.

© 2015 Rosi Hollinbeck. 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 on Friday, 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.

DMC: "Autumn Tanka" by Rosi Hollinbeck

Autumn Tanka

chilled winds chase summer
horsetail clouds etch azure skies
showy leaves float free
chevrons of geese sail above
winter knocks at the window

© 2015 Rosi Hollinbeck. All rights reserved.


Margarita Engle has challenged us to write a tanka this month. She suggests we think of it as a five-line travel diary about a subject of our choice. Click HERE for more details.

Send your tanka 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, March 27th. One lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Margarita's delightful new picture book: