TLD reader Margaret Simon has challenged us to write a mindful poem about the present moment. Click HERE
for more details and to add your poem to the padlet. While some poems
will be shared as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be
included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, May 29th.
One of the silver linings of quarantine life has been the community spirit of reading and writing #PoemsofPresence together. Thanks to Margaret Simon's DMC challenge, keeping up with these "mindful poems about the present moment" on the padlet and on Twitter has not only kept me busy, it's helped to make me feel less isolated. My own focus has been on writing haiku because it makes the daily habit seem less daunting. Not that I haven't missed a few days anyway... but if you can't cut yourself some slack during a global pandemic, when can you??? I'll continue adding to my #PoemsofPresence diary over the coming week if you'd like to stop by again when the month is over.
M. H. Barnes
May 2
no presents
just presence
quarantine birthday
May 3
morning walk
I count my steps
to the next patch of shade
If you missed last week's Classroom Connections interview with Laura Purdie Salas, you'll find it HERE. Random.org has determined that the winner of a copy of Secrets of the Loon, courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society Press, is...
JAMA RATTIGAN
Congratulations, Jama!
I wish we could extend our #PoemsofPresence challenge into June to feature more daily ditties—there are so many wonderful poems on the padlet, I can't possible share them all! But this is it, folks, only one week left to contribute your mindful poem about the present moment. (Next week we celebrate.) Featured ditties this week were by Sarah Grace Tuttle, Breighlynn, Mary Lee Hahn, and Michelle Kogan.
Carol Varsalona is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond LiteracyLink. She's also sharing a sneak peek of her beautiful Nature Nurtures 2020 Gallery that I think you'll enjoy.
TLD reader Margaret Simon has challenged us to write a mindful poem about the present moment. Click HERE
for more details and to add your poem to the padlet. While some poems
will be shared as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be
included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, May 29th.
This month we featured three challenges from My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth
by Patrice Vecchione:
"These are the Hands": Write
about the place that empathy has in your life—a time you offered
compassion to another or a time it was freely given to you.
"Lost and Found":Write about a time you lost something or somebody.
Click on the challenge titles above for more details about each one and/or visit our end-of-month celebration to read other poems contributed. Submit your poem by 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 30th, to be entered in a random drawing for a copy of this outstanding guide to writing poetry, courtesy of Seven Stories Press.
TLD reader Tabatha Yeatts has challenged us to write a poem about a game (any kind). Click HERE
for more details and to add your poem to the padlet. While some poems
will be shared as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be
included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, March 27th.
In 1994, nine months into a blossoming relationship with my future husband, I took my first trip down under to meet two of his
greatest loves—his mother and his home country.
Given the devastating fires in southeastern Australia, I’ve been thinking a lot about that
trip lately. Aussies live in a sunburned country—they are well aware of the dangers and consequences. Bush fires, although savage and crippling, are an
expected, natural occurrence... just not on this order of magnitude.
As part of my welcome package, Peter took me on a tour around the countryside
of New South Wales—up the Central Coast, over to the Hunter Valley
vineyards, and back down through Yengo National Park to the Blue
Mountains. Yengo National Park had endured a major bush fire just six weeks
before and it
was striking to see such bright green new growth set against scorched, blackened
trunks. (My photo doesn't do it justice!) Evidently, eucalyptus
are perfectly suited for the harsh Australian climate because they carry buds
deep beneath their bark to help them be more fire-resistant and re-sprout—proof that left to its
own
devices (and without too much human meddling), nature will find a
way to regenerate and flourish! I only wish I had as much confidence in the resilience of humankind as I do in the resilience of eucalyptus trees.
A somewhat more surprising recollection from that drive through Yengo National Park was my introduction to the word chiaroscuro. (I have Peter to thank for that, as well.) Typically used in a
visual art context, chiaroscuro is an Italian word that describes the interplay of light and shadow when light falls unevenly or from a particular direction.
As Peter and I drove, wonderstruck, with the sun streaming down through that sylvan setting, the word took root and did not let go. Twenty-six years later, it's rising up from the shadows to be my One Little Word for 2020.
More than merely a stunning visualeffect, for me, chiaroscuro reflects a Taoist sensibility—you can’t have light without darkness, good without bad, yin without yang. As I considered various words to accompany me on my personal journey this year, I wanted one that would recognize the way things are, but in a way that is quiet, balanced, and mindful. On Tuesday I shared a quote from Og Mandino that expresses this perspective beautifully:
I will love the light for it shows me the way;
yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.
In the past, my chosen words have been more assertive, more goal-driven, but chiaroscuro is a word that I can look to for hope and inspiration without the pressure to do more than I can to change things that are out of my control. Now more than ever, life is complicated, divisive, difficult, sometimes downright incomprehensible. I'm not suggesting apathy or blind acceptance, but perhaps instead of casting blame, I can be more patient with myself and more open-minded with others. Can't we all? It's become too easy to react to daily life with criticism or combativeness rather than a deeper understanding that things are the way they are for a reason... usually more than one. And maybe if we look closely enough, we will find that, even in the darkest circumstances, there's something there to appreciate—a starting place, a moment of compassion, a poem.
Having been under the weather several days last week, I had the opportunity to dive into Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe (Sarah Crighton Books/FSG, 2017)—376 densely packed pages of astute insights, sprawling connections, and unexpected revelations.
I'm always a bit cautious about reading biographies of artistic role models and being spoon fed secrets that will mar my rose-colored outlook. This one was no exception. On the other hand, I'm not as impressionable as I used to be. With more than a few years under my belt, I understand that our personality flaws are as important as our strengths—that the friction between the two is what makes us who we are. It has the potential to drive us to better ourselves, maybe even lend a hand to others, and, in some cases, make us... I hesitate to say "better," but at least more impactful as artists.
I've written about Joni Mitchell before (HERE). One thing I've always loved about her, aside from her musical genius, is that as a songwriter, she's a true poet. She wields metaphor with the best of them and wears her heart on her sleeve—not because she needs to confess, but because she wants to reveal. It's no wonder that her albums have kept fans hanging on every word. It's because they see themselves in her songs. That's what poets do. They open eyes and minds, they bring people together, they provide comfort and a sense of belonging, and they promote self-discovery.
Reading this biography has prompted a personal "roadtrip" of self-discovery.
It's one of Joni Mitchell's many songs about travel and self-discovery.
(Read the lyrics without playing the video HERE.)
Listening and reminiscing through all of her albums, from Song to a Seagull (1968) to Shine (2007), I've been filling in the gaps, making connections based on recent reading, and sharing as much as possible of her artistic legacy with my daughter who I hope will appreciate her role as an artistic trailblazer and a strong, independent woman as much as I did (and still do).
in time, I would learn— those tender cellophane years when I was fifteen
found poem by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes from Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe (Preface: Nothing Lasts for Long)
This little three-liner is like a house of mirrors. Found in the preface, the haiku reflects author David Yaffe's words and viewpoint, but it also reflects Joni, herself, since the cellophane reference is hers:
Years later Joni would tell me that when she made that album [Blue] she was totally without defenses, as vulnerable as "a cellophane wrapper on a packet of cigarettes," as she once put it.
– David Yaffe, Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Michell
Beyond that, the poem casts an image of my own younger days (and the many lessons I learned in the interim between then and now) and catches a glimmer of my daughter who, at sixteen, is occasionally startled by the crackle of her own tender, cellophane years.
There are a few other haiku on this month's padlet that seem to reflect a similar sentiment, especially after I've picked them out and presented them in sequence. Based on the articles they originated from, the creators of these haiku may not have intended that result, but that's how I am choosing to interpret them. As reader, don't let me stop you from interpreting them otherwise.
in time, I would learn— those tender cellophane years when I was fifteen
found poem by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes from Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe
knowing what to do when unsettling feelings come up is the next step
rise into wonder life, reckless and opulent bestows profound gifts
found haiku by Molly Hogan from "So Reckless and Opulent a Thing", a blog post by Marion Dane Bauer responding to a quote by Susan Glaspell
empowered women no longer push anyone out the moment of lift
found haiku by Sandie Vaisnoras
from The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
Thank you to Bridget, Molly, and Sandie for allowing me to take their haiku out of context and play with them in a new way!
There are many other wonderful haiku finding their way to our padlet, including new ones this week by Dianne Moritz, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, Angelique Pacheco, Lana Wayne Koehler, Catherine Flynn, Mindy Gars Dolandis, and Mary Lee Hahn.
Fair warning: they are addictive!
I look forward to reading yours. :)
You'll find this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Carol's Corner. She's sharing a sweet poem about the puppy she's been raising paired with photos that will steal your heart.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
– Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
I've certainly been enjoying losing myself in the "found haiku" that folks have been submitting for Linda Mitchell's July ditty challenge! Read last week's interview with Linda HERE.
To give you a taste of what's been contributed so far, here's one by Kathleen Mazurowski that speaks to one of my favorite qualities in a person—being a good listener.
habits of the heart chutzpah and humility listen with respect
found poem by Kathleen Mazurowski
from Five Habits to Heal the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer
I'm also quite taken with this one by Tabatha Yeatts that weaves together science and story.
we beings whose brains are memory and foresight time is our story
found poem by Tabatha Yeatts
from "This physicist's ideas of time will blow your mind" by Ephrat Livni
As of the writing of this blog post, you'll also find haiku about children, learning, and pushing the limits by Dianne Moritz, Rebekah Hoeft, and Kay Jernigan McGriff, respectively. I think I'll try to add to our "found haiku" padlet this week. How about you?
Jone Rush MacCulloch is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Deowriter. She shares a trio of poems inspired by a poetry prompt fortune teller!
Linda Mitchell is a school librarian in a public middle school in Northern Virginia. She plans lessons, teaches, and makes sure books and reading material are available to the students and adults in her community. She also enjoys presenting at librarian conferences, discussing best practices with colleagues, swapping teaching ideas, and chatting about great reading. Outside of work, Linda spends most of her time taking care of her family—her husband, four high school and college aged children, a dog and a cat. One of the things she loves most is sitting around the kitchen table with all of them, eating something delicious and talking.
Linda is exhaustively curious. Her superpower is identifying feelings. A natural born networker, she is passionate about learning, sharing information, and making connections. She is also passionate about travel—going anywhere in the world with hiking shoes, a backpack, and a water bottle. She traveled a lot before children, and then, by way of international adoption, travel became a part of building her family. She loves writing about relationships and often starts out with a question. She also enjoys taking photos of words in places that she travels to and arranging snippets of the words into little poems.
When asked to recommend a book everyone should read, Linda responded that she has literally thousands of books that she could recommend, but she believes that any book that makes a person forget to stop reading for a while is the book every person should read. Browse Linda's featured poetry at Today's Little Ditty HERE or read much more of her work at her blog A Word Edgewise. She was a joy to interview and the perfect subject for our debut reader spotlight!
Courtesy Linda Mitchell
Linda's five favorites:
Favorite word: poetry
Favorite color: green
Favorite food: chocolate
Favorite sound: laughing children
Favorite vacation spot: My uncle and aunt’s “land” where there is a cabin, pond and family memories. Every time I visit, I walk to the old campfire ring to visit my favorite ghosts.
What is poetry?
Poetry is life represented in words.
How did you come to poetry?
I think the first poem I wrote was in about fourth grade or so…after Mrs. Simon asked my class to find and copy poems into a collection. I loved writing the poems with my newly acquired cursive writing skill. After that I wrote poems about God. My parents were intrigued. When I was about thirteen I attended a poetry workshop at my tiny rural library. I remember the poet leading the workshop responded to my efforts with comment about me being a “tired old soul.” I would have loved studying more poetry as a child. This is what pleases me about Naomi Shihab Nye’s mission as Young People’s Poet Laureate—to take poetry to young people in rural areas.
Why do you write?
I feel good when I’m writing. I enjoy sharing my writing and trying to make it better. I enjoy being part of the Poetry Friday community of writers.
Describe three of your writing habits.
I write in the early mornings before the rest of my family is awake. On school days, I write from about 6-7 am. On weekends I write from about 6-9. In the summer, when I don’t have to get up for school, I like to write late at night too.
I meet with my online critique group every other week. They help me keep writing.
In the past several months I’ve been “paper crafting.” I make collages with different papers as a means of "creative cross-training." Somehow, the paper crafting helps my writing. I think it has to do with layering. It's also super fun and helps me create without overthinking what I'm doing.
Trust the process. I tend to want to micromanage…even my own creative process. Whenever I remember to trust the process, things go smoother.
What is the best advice you can give?
Write every day that you can. If you cannot write, read. If you cannot write or read because of life events, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just start up again when you can.
What have you chosen as this month's ditty challenge?
Create a "found haiku."
Find an interesting article on a topic that fascinates you. As you read the article highlight phrases with the right syllable counts for traditional haiku (5-7-5). It’s true that haiku is not strictly 5-7-5. However, for this exercise, keep to the “rule.” Once you have found several phrases, place them into the form of a haiku. I’ve shared several of these on my blog A Word Edgewise. (Seeexamples here, here, and here.)
What do you say, writers? This sounds like fun! The only thing I might add to Linda's instructions is don't forget to give credit to the article where you "find" your haiku.
For reader spotlights, I won't be sending you to an external link to post your poem. I've embedded the padlet below. Add your poem(s) at any point during the month, or scroll through to check out what others are contributing.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
By posting on the padlet, you are also granting me permission to feature your poem on Today's Little Ditty. I'm not sure how often I'll be featuring poems from reader challenges, but I want to keep my options open. :)
If you have not participated in a challenge before, please send me an email at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com so that I can contact you, if necessary.
HOW TO POST YOUR POEM
In the lower right corner of the padlet you'll see a pink dot with a plus sign. Click on it to open a text box. I find it works best to type your title on the title line and paste the rest of your poem where it says "Write something...". Single click outside the text box when finished. This board is moderated to prevent spam. Once your poem is approved, it will appear publicly.
PROTECT YOUR COPYRIGHT Remember to include your name as author of any work that you post!
TEACHERS, it's great when students get involved! Ditty of the
Month Club challenges are wonderful opportunities to learn about working
poets and authors while having fun with poetry prompts. Thank you for
spreading the word! For children under 13, please read my COPPA
compliance statement in the sidebar to the right.
BLOGGERS, thank you for publishing your poems on your own blogs–I
love that! Please let me know about it so I can share your post. Also remember to include your poem (or a direct link
to your post) on the padlet.
If you prefer to open this padlet in a new tab, click HERE.
Thinking of Linda Mitchell, words that come to mind are creative, supportive, innovative, enthusiastic, and on-the-ball. Turns out she's also brave! It takes guts to be the first reader spotlight, and I hope that you'll join me in thanking her for sharing herself with us today!
If you would like to be featured in a future reader spotlight, I invite you to complete this form.
Thanks once again to everyone who participated in last month's DMC
challenge from Karen Boss! If you missed our collection of advice poems for children, you'll find it HERE.
Random.org has determined that the winner of a copy of I AM SOMEONE ELSE: POEMS ABOUT PRETENDING, collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Chris Hsu will go to . . .
ANGELIQUE PACHECO
Congratulations, Angelique!
Patricia Stohr-Hunt shares a wonderful triolet inspired by the memory of her grandmother and a letter she wrote during WWII. Please join her for this week's Poetry Friday roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
