Buffy Silverman: Let Your Camera Inspire Poetry

"Camera" by Paul Hammerton

Ahhh, November!
The clenched fist of Florida heat has finally begun to loosen.

It's the perfect time to get outdoors with a notepad or camera—preferably both. Buffy Silverman is our tour guide today as we explore how photography can be used to harness the power of observation in our poetry.

Lead on, Buffy . . .

LET YOUR CAMERA INSPIRE POETRY

I have been enamored with photography since I was a teen.  I was lucky enough to attend a public school with a fine arts program that included a photography/dark room course.  In recent years I’ve revived that interest. A digital camera often accompanies me outside, whether I’m exploring new places or my own backyard. I find that photography helps me focus and notice the small details of life, and remember where I’ve been and what I’ve seen.  I’ve no doubt that a notebook or sketchpad could also accomplish this and perhaps spark observations that a camera lens might overlook. But for me photography helps me slow down and see sights that I might otherwise fail to observe. It allows me to reflect on the seasonal changes and the world that I see through my lens.

An added bonus is that I have an ever-growing file of poetry prompts! As someone who can be obsessed with the lives of insects and other backyard critters, my photographs often send me searching to learn more about the natural history of my subjects. Those details can inspire my writing as much or more than the photograph that led me on my chase.  But they can’t replace the connection that I feel after observing my subject and “capturing” it with my lens.

Consider this photograph of a spring peeper that I recently chased down in my front garden.

© Buffy Silverman (click to enlarge)

I was initially surprised to find a peeper out in late October and was mainly trying to get close enough for a good view. The photograph reminds me of that day and reveals other details that I did not notice at the time. I see the gold rim around the frog’s unblinking eye. I notice the small circular pads at the end of each toe that let it cling to almost any surface.  I see the rough texture of the frog’s skin, especially compared to the smooth, brittle oak leaf. The muted colors of the photograph speak of the growing silence of autumn to me, which contrasts with the new spring greens and loud peeps that I most often associate with this frog.

When I briefly captured the peeper I focused on the feel of its cool skin, its squirminess, and trying to take a photo with one hand.

© Buffy Silverman (click to enlarge)

But now that I look at the photograph, I consider how tiny this creature is compared to my hand.  I see the speckles of dirt on my palm and under my nail and compare them to the peeper’s unblemished skin. The rough texture of the frog’s skin is much closer to the weathered look of my skin, than of the oak leaf! The frog looks momentarily content in its hand cave, but I recall how it leaped away when I loosened my grip.

My observations and experience could lead me in many directions. I might write of this experience from the frog’s point of view, focusing on the challenges of surviving as a small creature in a world of giants. I might write a poem that links the frog’s preparations for winter with the seasonal changes happening around it. Perhaps I could imagine its winter slumber and its dreams of spring. Or I might take on the depressing question of why a spring peeper is hopping about on a day in late October that feels like the end of summer, or the mystery of why male peepers make a futile attempt at love by calling in the fall.

A photograph can lead in an unexpected direction, as happened with this photograph of a Black-eyed Susan with unopened petals in my yard this summer.

© Buffy Silverman (click to enlarge)

I loved the way the petals curl and cross, seeming to protect the center of the flower. I liked the sharp focus on the flower and the blurred green in the background. But when I looked at the photograph, my only ideas for a poem seemed trite and unoriginal. I kept it on my cluttered desktop, waiting for inspiration. When I was considering a poem for a teacher friend for the summer poetry swap, it occurred to me that this could be a metaphor for students in a classroom and that a teacher can tend her budding students like a gardener.

For me, an unexpected connection like this makes for good poetry inspiration. Help yourself to one of my photographs and look for a poem in it.

© Buffy Silverman (click to enlarge)

© Buffy Silverman (click to enlarge)

Or better still, take your camera for a walk and see where it will lead you!


Thank you for leading so many of us to inspiration, Buffy!


Check out Buffy's other contributor posts on Today's Little Ditty:

• Overheard at Highlights
• Making Connections
• It Takes a Thief (Part 1 and Part 2), and
• Giving Nature Its Say

Buffy Silverman is the author of 80 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also written poems and stories for popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources. Visit Buffy at her website, www.BuffySilverman.com.

Our DMC challenge for November is from Carol Hinz, Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books: write a poem that finds beauty in something that is not usually considered beautiful. Click HERE to read Carol's spotlight interview, then post your poem on our November 2017 padlet. There are quite a few there already! This week's featured poems were by Robyn Campbell, Dianne Moritz, and Rebekah Hoeft.

Now follow your creative wanderings to the Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup. (Did I mention she's got donuts?)

Buffy Silverman: Overheard at Highlights

The Highlights Foundation

Attending a workshop at the Highlights Foundation is something I've wanted to do for some time. 

But until that day comes, I'm grateful for whatever I can glean from others. Today Buffy Silverman is here with a glimpse of a spectacular workshop led by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard. If you like what you read, the same workshop is scheduled in 2017 from October 15-19.

OVERHEARD AT HIGHLIGHTS

In September I had the good fortune of attending The Craft and Heart of Writing Poetry for Children, a Highlights Foundation workshop led by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard.

The Craft and Heart of Writing Poetry for Children, September 11-15, 2016

Lucky me, you’re thinking. Well lucky you too, because I’m willing to share a bit of what I learned. Much of the workshop focused on craft. Rebecca offered this advice: 

You’ve got to start somewhere. Put your poem in a place that speaks to you and then let it meander from place to place. 

With that in mind, our fearless leaders wrote two poems in front of us, starting with a word we tossed out: starfish. It was interesting to watch them meander along, crossing out lines, asking questions of their subject and then landing independently on the same final line! Watching them gave us permission to meander, falter and start again in our own attempts. We each chose a word from the group’s random word list: spoon, tenacity, lantern, pluck, sieve, and tarnish. I had recently finished a manuscript on angel sharks (who spend many motionless days waiting for food to wander near) and wrote a poem entitled “The Tenacity of Angels.” 

We also focused on observation, carefully listing the properties of a rock that a scientist might notice, and then bringing in emotion as we observed as poets. My little rock transformed from a list that included rough, warm, cracked with glints of silver to the start of this poem:

Old stone wears wisps of white,
grizzled as Grandpa’s beard.
A twinkle and glint
speckles its sandpaper skin.

For me the most important part of the workshop focused on the heart of poetry. Rebecca told us, Poetry books are your community, and we studied the words of other poets to learn how they connect with a reader. We considered how poets opened the door to invite a reader into a poem, and encourage them to stay until the poem ends. For example, the following poem by Nan Fry starts with a concrete image and circles back to that image as it ends:

Apple
   by Nan Fry

At the center, a dark star
wrapped in white.
When you bite, listen
for the crunch of boots on snow,
snow that has ripened. Over it
Stretches the red, starry sky.

When I read that poem, I hear the crunch on snow. As Georgia said, 

the sounds in your poem are like when you weave on a loom. [Sound] is the invisible stitch.

We were treated to a Skype visit with Lee Bennett Hopkins, who shared his process of putting together an anthology. Lee starts with a concept before selecting poets for a book. He carefully considers the opening and closing of an anthology and the order of each poem, aiming for a book that reads as if it is a novel, not just a collection of individual poems. Lee also talked about how to put heart in a poem:  

I’m interested in giving children beauty. I want kids to feel something, to have emotion…. As a poet you want to expand their view, to get them to look up.

Rebecca Davis, Senior Editor for Boyds Mills Press and Wordsong also spoke to our group. She gave us some insight into how she selects a manuscript, and the revision process that she and an author share. I think these words from Rebecca summed up the workshop:  

The most important thing is that you’re writing from your heart, that you’re writing what you’re passionate about, and the writing is very strong.  

A tall order—but one that I’m inspired to achieve after attending the workshop!

Poetry Friday attendees (from L-R): Buffy Silverman, Linda Kulp Trout,
Charles Waters, Robyn Hood Black, Catherine Flynn, and Linda Baie.

Thank you, Buffy, for sharing the heart of this wonderful workshop!

Be sure to check out Buffy's other contributor posts on Today's Little Ditty:

• Making Connections
• It Takes a Thief (Part 1 and Part 2), and
• Giving Nature Its Say

Buffy Silverman is the author of 80 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also written poems and stories for popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources. Visit Buffy at her website, www.BuffySilverman.com.

Our DMC challenge for November is from Ann Rider, Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: write a poem, in any style, about a place of refuge and solace that is important to you. Click HERE to read Ann's Spotlight interview, then post your poem on our November 2016 padlet. This week's featured poems were by Lisa Albert, Mary York, Angelique Pacheco, and Jessica Bigi.

Follow your creative wanderings to the Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Buffy Silverman: Making Connections

"Bat" by Gunnvor Karita

As a writer, Buffy Silverman wears many hats—
my favorite is the one she wears as TLD's resident science sleuth.

Please help me welcome Buffy Silverman back to Today's Little Ditty!

Buffy's previous posts

• Giving Nature Its Say,

• It Takes a Thief (part 1), and

• It Takes a Thief (part 2)

shed light on how to give voice to the natural world through poetry. Today's post takes that voice one step further, from the page to the classroom. It's all about making connections.

Thank you for connecting with us here, Buffy.

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MAKING CONNECTIONS

I’ve had a busy March, crisscrossing Michigan and driving to school visits.  Many schools invite authors as part of their March-is-Reading month celebrations. For someone who spends much of her time alone in her basement office, the rock-star treatment I’ve gotten when visiting schools is a treat. It’s especially enjoyable (and obvious!) when schools prepare their students for a visit.  Those are the schools where banners greet me, doors are decorated with themes from my books, and kids wave and cheer and ask me if I’m really Buffy Silverman! Best of all, teachers tell me that students have been clamoring to read my books.

When Michelle reminded me that I was scheduled to write a blog post, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on school visits. The schools that invite me are usually looking for a nonfiction author. I’m thrilled when teachers tell me how they’ve used my books in their classrooms.  During my large-group presentations I share some of the different hats that a writer wears (yes, I wear funny hats.) And I share a few different ways that I write about one topic: an informational book, a narrative nonfiction story and/or a poem.

Perhaps what matters most when speaking with kids is making connections. 

• Do I connect with students so that each one takes away something positive from my presentation? 

• Do I support teachers and encourage students by connecting with what they are learning in their classrooms? 

• Do I inspire kids to connect and wonder about the world around them? And do I connect them to the world of reading and writing?

I ask a lot of questions during my talks, and help kids see what they already know about finding out and communicating about the world. As a group we brainstorm questions that they might ask on a given nonfiction topic. But it’s impossible when speaking to 100 or more students in a large assembly to call on each student (or when speaking to kindergartners who are often interested in sharing random stories and thoughts!)

So I try to involve students in large-group activities. With younger students, after reading an informational book, I help them act out a story about the same topic. I “volunteer” a couple of teachers to lead the actors, and give the remaining teachers supporting roles.  The kids usually love seeing their teachers in these roles. And hopefully, when students participate in a story that I’ve written, we are making a meaningful connection!

I’ve also found that my presentations help me make new connections about my writing.  In a presentation with upper elementary students that focuses on bats, I share an informational and a narrative book on bats, and a poem for two voices about bats and moths.

Lepidopter: Noctuidae: Heliothinae
courtesy of New Zealand Biosecurity

The moth in the poem is a noctuid moth, which has evolved to hear and evade the bat that shares its habitat. I divide the kids in two groups, and we practice our bat and moth voices. While explaining to students that the moth in the poem echoes the bat, it occurred to me that the echoes of the poem reflect the bat’s echolocation (wow, is there anything better than surprising yourself with your own unintended brilliance?)

Bat echolocation, courtesy of askabiologist.asu.edu

 












And here’s another connection: the poem also fits Marilyn Singer’s challenge this month to write about echoes! I will close with my poem, which I hope you will imagine being read by a large crowd of squeaky fourth-grade bats and whispery third-grade moths.

BAT             and            MOTH  (a poem for two voices)


I flit I fly
                                          I flit I fly
beating wings
                                          beating wings
in the moonlight.
                                          in the moonlight.


I beep I listen
                                          You beep I hear
echoes bounce
                                          warning sounds
in the moonlight.
                                          in the moonlight.


I dive I chase
                                          I dive I flee
hungry still
                                          safe for now
in the moonlight.
                                          in the moonlight.


© Buffy Silverman, all rights reserved.

Buffy Silverman is the author of 80 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also written poems and stories for popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources.

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Many thanks to Doraine Bennett for featuring my poem "The Story of Nothing" this week at Dori Reads. It appeared as part of her 2016 National Poetry Month Poem-A-Day Project, "Feet in the Creek," in which she uses others' work to inspire her own poems about the creek in her backyard. Dori's poem in response is titled "There's Nothing to Do!"

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Marilyn Singer has challenged us to write poems inspired by the word "echo." Click HERE to read last week's spotlight interview with Marilyn. This week's featured poems were by Brenda Davis Harsham and Kristi Dee Veitenheimer. Thanks also to cbhanek and Catherine Flynn for posting their "echo"-inspired poems today.

If you're looking for other creative ways to participate in National Poetry Month, Jama Rattigan is your go-to for 2016 Poetry Month festivities at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

And last but not least, this week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by the ever-effervescent Laura Purdie Salas and her less-than-lovely (though VERY funny) poetry sidekick, Louis J. Pasternak, AKA Dr. Skullstench. You'll find them at Writing the World for Kids.

Buffy Silverman– It Takes a Thief: Part 2

"Hail to the Thief" Bo Hughins

She's at it again.

Last January, Buffy Silverman shared insider tips on how to become an expert word thief.

Today our favorite TLD cat burglar is back on the prowl...

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, #120 – Adam Koford

Please help me welcome Buffy back to Today's Little Delinquent Ditty with another lesson in *safe* snatching.

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In a previous guest post on Today’s Little Ditty, I wrote about one of my favorite tricks for writing poetry: being a word thief. Alas, my thievery is not limited to words. Sometimes I lift the entire rhythm and rhyme scheme from a poem that I admire. Other times I plunder a poet’s approach to her subject.

Here’s a poem that I burgled early in my poetry-robbing career, from Barbara Juster Esbensen’s fantastic collection of poems that celebrates the seasons, Swing around the Sun:

March

Wind swooping
And howling,
Blustering, yowling,
Caught in the branches
Of skeleton trees;

Rain dripping
On bumbershoots,
Splashing on rubber boots,
Filling the sidewalks
With miniature seas.

Read the rest of the poem here.

Can you hear that howling, yowling March storm when you read this poem? Do you feel the blustery, dripping day? When I read it aloud, the rhythm seems to echo the hat-blowing winds of March. (And how could anyone resist a poem that rhymes bumbershoots and rubber boots!)

Reading this poem made me want to write my own poem with spring sounds and sights. At the time that I wrote my March-inspired poem I did not know an iamb from a dactyl or a trochee from an anapest. But by using “March” as a model, I could borrow its rhythm and rhyming pattern.

Sapsucker Rap

Bill drumming
and tapping,
ripping and rapping,
peeling the bark
of paper birch trees.

Sap oozing
and flowing,
dripping then slowing,
luring an army
of beetles and bees.

Feast crawling
and jiggling,
writhing and wriggling,
no place to escape
no path to retreat.

Tongue licking
and lapping,
prodding and slapping
sap-covered ants--
a six-legged sweet.

– Buffy Silverman

I am especially drawn to poems that capture the wonder of the natural world, whether it’s the changing of the seasons, the transformation of youngsters to adults, or the drama between predator and prey.  In Mary Ann Hoberman's award-winning anthology, The Tree That Time Built, Alice Schertle masterfully conveys that sense of wonder with the questions she asks in "Dinosaur Bone":

Dinosaur Bone

Dinosaur bone
alone, alone,
keeping a secret
old as stone

deep in the mud
asleep in the mud
tell me, tell me,
dinosaur bone.

What was the world
when the seas were new
and ferns unfurled
and strange winds blew?

Read the rest of the poem here.

When I read this poem, I wonder what other treasures I might explore in the same way that Alice Schertle addresses her dinosaur bone.  Could I ask an empty nest about the eggs and chicks it once held? Maybe a fading flower would spill the secrets of the bees and butterflies it had lured all summer. Perhaps an old spider’s web would share the life-and-death struggles that it had witnessed. 

What relic might you address in a poem inspired by “Dinosaur Bone?” And what questions and wonders will it reveal?  Take a close look at your favorite poems, and see where a little plundering will lead.

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The verdict is in...

Buffy Silverman is guilty of another terrific blog post!

Be sure to check out Buffy's other nature-inspired posts on Today's Little Ditty:

Giving Nature Its Say
It Takes a Thief (part 1)

Buffy Silverman is the author of more than 60 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also written over 100 articles, stories, and poems published in popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources.

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The Ditty of the Month Club is off to a great start this month! Lee Bennett Hopkins has challenged us to write ME poems. What's a ME poem? Click HERE for details. So far I've featured poems by Lana Wayne Koehler, B.J. Lee, and Michelle Kogan. I hope you'll send me yours!

Robyn Hood Black is rounding up the usual suspects. You can find this week's poetry stash at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Buffy Silverman: It Takes a Thief

VBC17, Flickr Creative Commons

Oh my.  I may have a bit of a problem here. 

What is one to do when their contributing science sleuth is engaged in... thievery?

Scene from the 1959 French film, The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups)

Buffy Silverman is here with a lesson in *safe* snatching.

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When I speak to students about writing poetry, I share one of my favorite tricks: learning to be a word thief! (I explain the distinction between plagiarism and lifting words—I don’t encourage students to steal entire phrases or sentences!) When reading for inspiration, I keep a pad of paper near me and write down interesting words.  Then I try to use those words in my own writing.  My thieving is not limited to poetry--often when I’m reading a novel in bed I come across words that I think will improve a poem, article, or story that I’m working on. I jot them down on a scrap of paper, and hope that I can make sense of my notes in the morning.

There are a few “word banks” that I draw on over and over.  One of my favorites is In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming. My now 23-year old daughter ordered In the Tall, Tall Grass from a Scholastic flyer when she was in kindergarten.  When I first read this treasure trove, I knew that it was not going to stay on my daughter’s shelf for long (uh oh, more thieving…) Vivid verbs! Onomatopoeia! And the book features animals that are common in a child’s backyard—subjects I particularly enjoy writing about.

Here’s how the book begins:

In the tall, tall, grass…
crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch
dart, dip, hummingbirds sip
strum, drum, bees hum
crack, snap, wings flap
pull, tug, ants lug
slip, slide, snakes glide

I so admire the simplicity and brevity of this text.  In the first 14 pages of this 32-page picture book I count 29 words.  Eighteen of those words are verbs that portray specific actions that a reader can see and/or hear (three verbs for each of six animals.) I’ve borrowed this book’s verbs many times to describe the animals that they are paired with in this text, and to describe other animals. The sounds and specificity of these words lead me to think of other strong descriptions.  They put me in a frame of mind where I’m better able to find the right words to paint my subject.

Another poem that I regularly pilfer is Joyce Sidman’s “Welcome to the Night,” the opening poem of Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Here are the first two stanzas:

Welcome to the Night

To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep:
Welcome to the night.

To you who make the forest sing,
who dip and dodge on silent wing,
who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling:
Welcome to the night. 

I love the way this poem introduces the creatures that are featured in the book with their actions, and how it invites the reader to use the senses to explore the night. And of course, I love the words that describe the action! When I’ve read this poem to students and asked them to pick out a favorite word, their hands fly up.

What are your favorite verbs from these gems? Dip, dodge, hover, cling?  Sip, hum, slip, glide? Try making a list of the verbs and nouns in these two poems, or from other favorite poems and stories.  Then see where these words lead you—you’ll be using fine marble to sculpt your masterpiece!

Pietro Magni- The Reading Girl (1856, National Gallery)

Buffy Silverman is the author of more than 60 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also written over 100 articles, stories, and poems published in popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources.

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Joyce Sidman, who Buffy graciously mentions in her post today, also happens to be our spotlight author this month.  Have you been pondering Joyce's deeper wisdom challenge? This week's daily ditties included poems by Sydney O'Neill, Loree Griffin Burns, and Jan Gars. Believe it or not, there's only one week left to send me yours! See you back here next Friday for the end-of-month wrap-up celebration.

Tara Smith is undoubtedly wrapped up in today's Poetry Friday roundup! Please join her at A Teaching Life for a listing of this week's poetry finds.

Buffy Silverman: Giving Nature Its Say

“The time has come," the Walrus said, 
   “To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
   Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot-- 
   And whether pigs have wings.”

              – From "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll

It is, in fact, the perfect time to introduce our third TLD contributor:

BUFFY SILVERMAN

Buffy Silverman is the author of more than 60 nonfiction books for children, winning awards from Science Books and Films, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, and the Society of School Librarians International.  She's also had over 100 articles, stories, and poems–mostly inspired by her love of the natural world–published in popular children's magazines, poetry anthologies, and educational resources.

I prefer to think of Buffy as a rock star of nature-inspired poetry.

On Today's Little Ditty, I've posted a limerick she wrote about a poor iced-over evergreen and, more recently, a cinquain that's just ducky.  But the first time I fell in love with her writing was when she posted about a pet axolotl on her own blog.  I still vividly recall my children's expressions of wonderment when I read it aloud.

Since then, I've been in awe of how she morphs science with poetry so seamlessly, giving voice to the natural world and making it accessible to children (and adults too). This is why I asked her to be our resident science sleuth.  Well, and also because I secretly hoped that some of her powers of observation might rub off on me.

Today she describes her beginnings and her process as a nonfiction poet.  I hope you'll find it as fascinating as I do!

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Like many aspiring children’s writers, I was first drawn to writing fiction picture books when my children were young.  After all, I read picture books morning, noon, and night to my little bookworms.  Although I didn’t find success writing picture books, I always received positive feedback for the parts of my stories that focused on the natural world. 

Eventually I found my way to writing nonfiction―I had taught biology and been a naturalist for many years―and I started to get published.  But it took many more years for me to understand that nonfiction books were just as interesting and valuable to some readers as fiction stories.  That realization came only after I started doing school visits and saw students, many of whom were reluctant readers, pore over nonfiction books.  They considered me a “real” author regardless of whether I wrote fiction or nonfiction, so I decided it was time for me to do so, too.  

In the past few years I have focused on writing nature-inspired poetry--twenty-five years after my first attempts to write for children I think I have discovered my writing path.  I’m still finding my way as a children’s poet, but since Michelle has invited me to her blog, I’ll try to offer a bit of what I’ve learned and what works for me.

In my school visits I usually share an informational text, a creative nonfiction story, and a poem on the same topic.  The poem often gets the most enthusiastic response from students.  Perhaps it’s because I’m enthusiastic about the poems I share, but I think the language and humor of nonfiction poetry speaks to students.  I especially find this true when sharing a mask poem.  If a poem shows the world through an animal’s eyes, the reader feels an instant connection to the subject, and perhaps a greater one than is possible with an informational or narrative piece.  I often choose to show a life-and-death struggle because that’s what the twelve-year old inside of me wants to imagine.

Of course to write from an animal’s point-of-view requires the same careful research as writing an informational text. Before I wrote a poem about antlions, I had done a lot of research about them for an article in Cricket Magazine. I had also observed antlions building their traps near my house and dug them up and put them in pie plates to watch more closely (if I can’t observe my subject, I try to find a YouTube video to watch the action.) Here’s how I imagined an antlion telling its tale:

From the Bottom of the Pit

I build my trap,
I  excavate,
I burrow down,   
then hide and wait

for earth to shake
and sand to slide;
so step upon
my one-way ride.

Don’t scramble out,
Don’t try to crawl,
I’ll flick some sand
to speed your fall.

Stop struggling now
my tasty guest
while I greet you
and digest.

  –Buffy Silverman, all rights reserved

BugGuide, © 2006 Cotinis

Thank you Buffy for such a splendidly horrifying tale of nature at play!  Don't get me wrong, I love a life-or-death struggle as much as the next 12-year-old, but perhaps the truest testament of my devotion to your work is that I actually posted such a creepy... er... interesting accompanying photograph.  (Do not take that act of self-sacrifice lightly.)  Looking forward to whatever handsome creature you write about next time!

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The calendar may say there are still two weeks left in July, but next Friday, the 25th, I will be posting the end-of-month wrap-up for Tamera Will Wissinger's ditty challenge.  Will your parody or tribute poem be there?  I sure hope so!  So far I've featured poems by Kristi Veitenheimer, Gayle Krouse, James Duke, and Yours Truly.  Stay tuned for some terrific ones lined up for next week as well!

To join in the parody pandemonium, please send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right.  But wait there's more! Did you know participants will all be eligible to win a copy of Tamera's delightful new picture book, THIS OLD BAND?  Get your wiggle on! 

Tabatha Yeatts and the Poetry Monster are hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup.
You can find them over at The Opposite of Indifference.