To date, 14 states (Alabama, Alaska, Hawai'i, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin), the District of Columbia, more than 130 cities, and growing numbers of school districts celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of or in addition to Columbus Day. Here are five ideas for celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
SURF'S UP! It’s a foam-splashing, wave-crashing, sea-thrashing day. It’s a cold-battling, board-straddling, arm-paddling day. So grab your wet-suit and be on your way. Hurl in the curl cuz the surf’s up today!
Buffy Silverman has challenged us to write a poem that uses combined or invented words. Click HERE for more details and to read this month's Spotlight ON interview.
Post your poem on our February 2020 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her nonfiction poetry picture book from Millbrook Press:
KRAKEN FEARS NOTHING Christopher McKraken here and there is nothing that I fear. I’m bigger, stronger, tougher, faster. One might say – the Ocean Master!
Hurricane or dumb tsunami? I’m not cryin’ for my mommy. Fear no whale, or snarling shark, creepy trenches dank and dark.
Sneaky, snarky mermaid queen, torpedo blasting submarine. Pirate with a sharp harpoon, creature from the black lagoon.
Calving glacier, serpent swarm, turny-churny lightning storm. Lava flow, Poseidon's spear. All things that I’ll never fear.
TLD reader Rebecca Herzog has challenged us to write a poem about
something a monster is afraid of. Read my interview with Becky HERE and add your poem about a monster fear to the padlet.
While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties leading up to Halloween,
all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, October 25th.
ODE TO A SEASHELL I see you hiding there—a shimmer in the waves beneath my feet I wriggle my fingers deep into the wet sand and feel the whole of you Deep ridges—smooth curves—A spiral of mystery waiting to be discovered I lift you to my ear and hear the rushing song of the sea that lives within you I breathe in your briny goodness taste the salt spray on my lips I wonder—Who will call you home? Toss me back and we shall see.
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 this Friday,
March 31st, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-poems from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/Macmillan:
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 this Friday,
March 31st, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-poems from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/Macmillan:
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 on Friday, September 30th, and one lucky
participant will win a personalized copy of her fabulous new collection of science poetry:
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.
Last call to join in! Send
your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact
form in the sidebar to the right. Visit our wrap-up celebration to read all of this month's contributions. One lucky
participant will win a personalized copy of her delightful nonfiction picture book:
Curious humpback inspecting diver, NOAA, public domain
Tabatha Yeatts has been sharing poem-song match-ups at her blog, The Opposite of Indifference. She's posted quite a few already (click HERE to take a look) and has invited others to join in the fun.
The only thing that gives me as much pleasure as posting my favorite poetry is posting music that I love, sooo....
Grab your scuba gear. It's Music Monday and we're going in.
Today I'll be showcasing one of my most favorite poems that Tabatha's written, and coupling it with the incomparable Kate Bush.
I awake, my head in my arms, and draw in the wet air. Still alive. Beyond my tangled cocoon, sounds collide and crash -- the endless pounding of his heart, rivers of blood roaring past.
I stand, pressing my callused palms against the vast wall -- and feel the vibrations of his breath: the entrance, the exit, a circle of wind.
My fingers run across his smooth, slippery sides; fingers which have pried shapes from wood, daubed on eyes and prayed for sight, trying to craft this undulating pulse of life.
Listening to the whale's ferocious orchestra, I believe if I were granted wood, I could devise a puppet right there, in the dark. I could clothe it with my own jacket, fill it with story, give it life with my own two hands.
After deliberating far too long about which of two Kate Bush songs to pair with Tabatha's poem, I finally decided to match it with both.
Go ahead, call me a rebel– I dare ya!
I do think you'll agree, however, listening to these songs sequentially presents a more accurate reflection of Tabatha's poem than either song would by itself. Besides which, two vintage 1978 Kate Bush videos are always better than one!
The first song, "Moving," picks up on the fluidity of Tabatha's poem as well as her references to wetness and the "undulating pulse of life," both echoed in Kate Bush's lyrics:
Moving liquid
Yes, you are just as water.
You flow around all that comes in your way.
Don't think it over,
It always takes you over,
And sets your spirit dancing.
Oh, and did I mention the use of whale song in the recording? Well there's a no-brainer.
The second song, "The Kick Inside," pairs beautifully with Tabatha's last stanza in particular. Besides the obvious connection between pregnancy and Geppetto engulfed by the whale, you can also interpret "the kick inside" as a metaphor for creativity and Geppetto's urgent desire to craft a puppet right then and there, "fill it with story" and "give it life." My goodness, that gives me chills.
Both of these songs, by the way, are from Kate Bush's debut album, also titled THE KICK INSIDE.
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.
Last call to join in! Send
your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact
form in the sidebar to the right. Visit our wrap-up celebration to read all of this month's contributions. One lucky
participant will win an autographed copy of Lee's gorgeous new
anthology:
For a video of a giant squid, click HERE; for more info, click HERE
Tamera Will Wissinger has challenged us to come up with a parody or
tribute poem this month. (Click HERE for details.) There are only two more days to
join in the fun! Send your poem no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT on July 31st to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot)
com or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right.
All participants will be entered to win a copy of Tamera's
I'm not sure if my fascination with the deep ocean is inspired more by awe or dread. This undersea world both attracts and repels me in equal parts, and as a result, I am left hypnotized.
Creatively, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks for stopping by... I hope you enjoy today's little ditty.
