Filling the Well: Michelle H. Barnes and Cosmo Sheldrake

 

 

 

Happy National Poetry Month!

 

How bold of me to begin this month of well-filling with my own poem! In part, it's to celebrate today's arrival of IMPERFECT II: poems about perspective, an anthology for middle schoolers, where this poem has found a home.  But I also thought it was a good choice for imagining where this month's inspirational journey might lead us. Take my hand. Let's go.

 

 

Cosmo Sheldrake

"Come Along" from The Much Much How How and I

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIyl9bCp6W4

Turn on closed captions while viewing or read the lyrics HERE.

 

 

There's much to celebrate at my juicy little universe today! Join poet, teacher, and climate activist, Heidi Mordhorst, as she celebrates two birthdays, shares an impassioned original poem, welcomes several exciting National Poetry Month projects and traditions, and hosts this week's Poetry Friday roundup. You'll find the NPM kidlit events roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

A Home Run for HOP TO IT (Giveaway!)

Sean Winters

No one was sure it would happen this year, but here we are, two games into the 116th World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tamba Bay Rays, tied one game a piece. While I don't have an allegiance to either team, I do love the excitement of it all!

 

It's a great opportunity to share a baseball poem, don't you think? Not any ol' baseball poem, mind you—my baseball poem, published in HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong (Pomelo Books, 2020).

 

When it comes to children's poetry anthologies, one of the things Pomelo Books does best is meet the needs of educators and home schooling parents by giving them exactly what they need, exactly when they need it. HOP TO IT was originally intended as a book to get students out of their seats and moving because, let's be honest, we all have become way too sedentary. When the pandemic struck, the need for this book became even greater with the onset of remote learning. Who doesn't need occasional "brain breaks" after being stuck to a computer screen for too long? Poetry to the rescue! 

 

But COVID-19 introduced new real-world concerns, as well. Never ones to duck from a challenge, Sylvia and Janet decided to expand their anthology to include poems about life during a pandemic, wearing masks, virtual learning, staying connected with friends, and social justice issues like standing up for what you believe in. In true Vardell-Wong style, the fun, kid-friendly poems (all 100 of them) are matched with practical tips, connections across learning areas—science, social studies, language arts, etc—and supplemented with extensive back matter. For just-in-time learning or just-for-fun reading, HOP TO IT is a home run!

"Home Run at Yankee Stadium"

Which brings me back to baseball. :)

 

Are you wearing your favorite team jersey or cap? Snacks at the ready? You shouldn't need sunscreen since we'll be indoors, but here's some music from 1908 to help you get in the mood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0

Now, maybe just a few arm stretches and knee bends to warm up. I wouldn't want anyone in this bookish poetry crowd to overdo it! Your role is the home team crowd.

 

Play ball!

 

Click on image to enlarge or read below.

 

 

ALL TIED, BASES LOADED

          by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

 

The crowd is hyped. 

They do the wave.

Next batter up is looking brave.

 

But I'm brave too.

I stare him down

from here, atop my pitcher's mound.

 

He swings—a miss!

Strike one! Crowd cheers.

The roar is music to my ears.

Fast ball. He swings—

and hits a foul.

Clapping, stomping home fans howl!

Can I do this 

one more time?

He wants a hit—pride's on the line.

I throw a curve, 

then start to doubt.

He swings—

          (can't watch)

                    Strike three! YOU'RE OUT!

Nice job, y'all—I heard you howling from here! It was sure fun to write this poem with all the actions of the players and crowd. It's easy to imagine a whole classroom getting into the act. (Who doesn't like clapping, stomping, cheering, and doing the wave?) As it turns out, I will be reading my poem aloud this afternoon (Friday, 10/23) at a Pomelo Books Zoom Poetry Party and would LOVE some folks to take on the roles of the adoring home team fans. If you're available, please join us at 4 pm Eastern Time. Email me at TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com for the zoom link.

 

HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving is available at QEP Books (currently at a discount), at Amazon.com, or . . .

 

 

WIN YOUR VERY OWN COPY RIGHT HERE! 

(Is that cheering I hear again?)

 

Janet and Sylvia have generously offered to send a copy of HOP TO IT to *FIVE* lucky Today's Little Ditty readers! (Domestic U.S. addresses only, please.) To enter, leave a comment on this blog post or send an email to the same address above with the subject "HOP TO IT giveaway." Comments and emails must be received by the end of the day on Tuesday, October 27, 2020. Winners will be selected randomly and announced on Friday, October 30th. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Before I shuffle off to the locker room, since I haven't been around much, I'd like to take a moment to mention two other recent anthologies that I'm honored to have poems in. 

 

A World Full of Poems, also released this month, is a gorgeously illustrated introduction to children's poetry featuring a diverse selection of contemporary and historical poets. The poems, selected by Sylvia Vardell (busy lady!), are about everything from science, sports, and space, to friendship, family, and feelings. They are complemented by interesting, topical facts; prompts and activities that inspire children to create their own poetry; and introductions to poetic devices which are fun and accessible. Published by DK Children, A World Full of Poems is available for purchase at Amazon.com or an independent bookstore near you.

Behind the mask: haiku in the time of Covid-19, edited by Margaret Dornaus, is a collection of more than 250 pandemic-themed haiku from more than 140 internationally acclaimed haiku poets. Published last July by Singing Moon Press, at the present time it is only available for purchase at lulu.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jama Rattigan is known for her excellent batters—in the kitchen, that is, not on the baseball field. ;) Give a cheer for Jama and this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

 

 

DMC: My #PoemsofPresence Diary

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


May 4

sorting my thoughts
into boxes
midday sudoku

Tom Lee

     May 5

     morning news
     a lively debate
     of birdsong

Sarah Laval

May 6

quarantine life
eyeing the grass
get its hair cut


May 7

afternoon tea
I welcome the sun
like an old friend

Richard Hurd

        
     May 9

     rush hour
     I mistake a cardinal
     for a stop sign

           
     May 10

     avoiding the sidewalk cracks
     six feet apart
     mother's day




  

 

Steve Schroeder

May 11

long afternoon
postponing my fresh start
one more day

May 12

florida spring
the shadow of the ceiling fan
lengthens

Margaret Simon

 
 
     May 14

     no more
     or less that she can handle
     open window

Rene Rivers

May 17

hawk king
the white pickets stand
at attention


May 19

a poem stuck
to the roof of my mouth
morning breath

M. H. Barnes

     May 20

     day's end
     my mask and armor
     laid to rest


                         May 21

                         day 59
                         the moss holds on
                         by a thread

yoppy

May 23

anthill
the lump in my throat
I can't swallow


May 24

a crowd of clover
congregates
sunday mass

ihave3kids

          May 25

          home workout

          coaxing my muscles

          out of lockdown

          May 26

          the scenic route

          an empty nest

          around the next bend

         

M. H. Barnes

May 28

high school graduation

doomsday

takes a back seat

May 29

clouds

exploded into shrapnel

days like these

Tomáš Píšek, "The end will bring beginning"

               May 30

               afternoon nap

               resting my mind

               and expectations

                         May 31

                         saying goodbye

                         in search of an ending that isn't

                         the end

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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.

Let the Games Begin!

Bill Selak

Welcome to this month's game-a-thon, inspired by Tabatha Yeatts.

Earlier this week, I posted a quote from philosopher and psychologist Karl Groos to start the ball rolling. It was paired with a photo of "Timeline: Literary Edition"—a card game made by Tabatha and her daughter Elena. (Kudos to Elena for her amazing box design and card layout!)

You might be relieved to know that Tabatha is not asking us to create a new game this month, just a poem about a game—a board game, a card game, a party game, an outdoor game, a video game... even a poem about playing with a toy would be acceptable. We already have a few ditties by Cindy Breedlove, Kathleen Mazurowski, Sydey O'Neill, and Margaret Simon on the padlet, and today I'll be sharing mine.

My first idea for this challenge was to cleverly incorporate the names of popular games into a familiar story line. It was fun to begin with, but zany soon turned to wacko and spiraled out of control from there. Perhaps someone else might have more success with that approach. Instead, I found my poem sitting quietly off to one side, trying not to be noticed. It's not at all what I expected to write for this challenge, but it is about a game... sort of.


Notes from the Front Step

A kick-the-can newbie,
          Do you want to play?

I was expert in the rules of invisibility—
          No, thanks. I’ll watch.

spending my childhood
behind an imaginary camera,
          No, really. I like to watch.

clicking each awkward moment,
capturing each missed opportunity—

trophies inside my glass case.

© 2020 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.

Orin Zebest

Click HERE for more information about this month's challenge or to add your poem to the padlet.

It's time once again for Madness! Poetry. Round one is underway and Matt Forrest Esenwine fills us in on the details. Join him for this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme.

DMC: "A Springtime Affair" by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

T.Kiya

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I might try a love poem for Buffy Silverman's challenge. It's not a typical love poem, perhaps, but I've learned it's best to let my muse have her way.


A SPRINGTIME AFFAIR

Nature and I have an understanding.
She goes about her day—
          bees pollen-bobbing for their deliveries
          clouds sky-surfing at high tide
          roses petal-kissing on the bush I neglected to trim last season
And I pretend to go about mine—
          words clinging to the page
          like Spanish moss on blossom-ready branches
          holding on to hope despite a stiff, chilling breeze.

© 2020 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.


I shared another poem about a chance springtime rendezvous this past Monday. It's well worth a read if you missed it.

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. Our featured daily ditties this week included poems by 4th grader Breighlynn, Tabatha Yeatts, and Janice Scully. All poems on our February 2020 padlet will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, February 28th. One lucky participant will win a personalized copy of On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring (Millbrook Press, 2020).

Linda Baie is our Poetry Friday roundup matchmaker today. You'll find love poems (and other offerings) at TeacherDance—take one home that touches your heart.

Welcome to the Fun Factory!

Luna Park, Sydney, Australia, photo: Sascha Grant

Calling all punsters, all witty-quippers, all wordspinners— 
the fun factory is open for business! 

Last week, Kate O'Neil challenged us to write a poem with words at play. (Read her TLD reader spotlight HERE.)

Someone very wise once said—

duncan c

(Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Jefferson, Babe Ruth, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and any number of others, including Anonymous.)

Kudos to whoever it was. I wholeheartedly agree! 

So in an effort to counter the process of aging (beauty sleep be damned), I've been thinking a lot about this challenge over the past several days. On Tuesday, I shared a playful couplet from Ogden Nash that fits the bill. I could have just as easily shared these two clever lines from Douglas Florian. The humorous and imaginative verse of Jack Prelutsky comes to mind for this challenge, Calef Brown's mash-ups, and several zany poems by J. Patrick Lewis, including this one. In a comment to last week's interview, Tabatha Yeatts mentioned Brian Bilston and Greg Pincus. While Kate suggested malapropisms, ambiguities, unintended meanings, puns, and cliches as sources of inspiration, it occurred to me that wordplay can also be expressed visually—by playing with word sequence or layout, like these examples from Bob Racska's Wet Cement. I like that some of you on the padlet are going in that direction.

The early onset of Black Friday sales this month reminded me of a wordplay poem I wrote back in 2013. It's about the relentless Internet ads that pop up during this season of retail holiday cheer.  Indulge me as I repost it six years later—a brief little affair I call "Cyber Seduction."

Cyber

Seduction

It all began

with cookies. Now

and then, you popped up

unexpectedly.   It was cute,

you were sweet, and before long

you fell into step with my digital footprint.

Just a fling, I told myself, but you wanted more:

my time, attention, undying devotion, a credit card number

and personal security code.  And then it happened.  Black Friday.

It was late. There on my lap in the bedroom, aura glowing, you

told me I was glamorous, well-to-do, elite, and that XL or XS

didn’t matter. “2-for-1,” you said, “a limited-time offer.”

So I gave you my IP address, my credit card, the

works.  Who could resist those promises,

now as empty as my bank account? 

For a time I thought we clicked,

but now I realize I did all

the clicking. And what

once was 2-for-1,

is now just me,

50% off.

© 2013 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.

...storrao...

Our fun factory is waiting for your wordplay poem! While there, enjoy the ditties already posted by Michelle Kogan, Linda Trott Dickman, Janie Lazo, Dianne Moritz, Linda Baie, Diane Mayr, and Cindy Breedlove.

Thanks to Irene Latham, our "still and steady" host of this week's Poetry Friday roundup. You'll find her and this week's offerings at Live Your Poem. Join me here for next week's roundup and a big announcement!

DMC: "Bigfoot's Lament" by M. H. Barnes

Screen capture from the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin footage.*

BIGFOOT'S LAMENT

Before you start assessing the fear that I'm repressing,
there’s something we should lay out on the table—
     call me Sasquatch, call me Yeti,
     but Bigfoot's much too petty.
I’m REAL, not merely legend, lore, or fable.

Partly human, partly beast, oversized to say the least,
you ridicule or hound me as you choose.
     Of course I’m camera shy—
     I’m an introverted guy!
I’d like to see YOU wear my “monster” shoes.

Being shaggy and unkempt is no reason for contempt,
so let me make this absolutely clear—
     it’s not your bully tactics,
     your guns or camo jackets,
that cause me to degenerate in fear.

When it comes to diagnosis of my number one neurosis,
there is nothing that can possibly compare
     to my dread of soapy lather
     and the constant drone of blather
I’m subjected to when in the barber’s chair.

© 2019 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.


* Click HERE for "The 10 Most Convincing Bigfoot Sightings".

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, you can check out our entire monster menagerie HERE.

DMC: "The Show Must Go On" by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Darrell Miller

Today I'm contributing to a collective celebration of the life and work of Lee Bennett Hopkins with an original poem inspired by a line from one of Lee's poems.

Thomas Hawk

The Merry-Go-Round Horse
    by Lee Bennett Hopkins

The merry-go-round
       horse has a tear in its eye
left by the spring rain.

From The Sky is Full of Song (Harper & Row, 1983)





The Show Must Go On
          for Lee, by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

The carousel horse
has a tear in its eye.
No fairy floss wants to be spun.
Flowers are wilting,
curtains are drawn,
jugglers say they are done.

The dreamers felt helpless,
chose not to believe it—
"It's just an illusion!" they cried.
But words had collected,
trembling in corners,
afraid that The Muse had died.

They hoped for a rainbow—
a sign or a vision
of what their future might be,
when along came a child
who picked up a poem
and eagerly started to read.


My poem was also inspired by Jesse Anna Bornemann's ditty challenge to use selected words from a well-known song. And because I'm not very good at keeping secrets, here's the song that helped to inspire my words. Feel free to sing along with Kermit. It might make you feel better—it did for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awhyiBv-oQc

The winner of last week's giveaway for a signed copy of Once Upon a Twisted Tale, by Gayle C. Krause, illustrated by Caroline O'Neal (Clear Fork/Spork, 2019) is...

MARGARET SIMON — Congratulations, Margaret!

Only one week to go for this month's challenge to write a poem inspired by song lyrics. Click HERE for full instructions, and to post your poem for the challenge. Don't miss the new contributions this week by Donna JT Smith, Cory Corrado, Kathleen Mazurowski, Carol Varsalona, and Molly Hogan; and join us next Friday for a rockin' end-of-month wrap-up celebration!

For more tributes to Lee Bennett Hopkins, visit this week's celebration of his life, words, and works, hosted by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. #DearOneLBH

Book Love: "Bellies, Bones, and Paws" from I AM SOMEONE ELSE

Thanks to Karen Boss I feel like I've been celebrating this book's arrival for the last month, but today's the day it finally hits bookstore shelves! To honor the occasion, I'm excited to share my own contribution to this charming collection of poems about pretending.

Bellies, Bones, and Paws
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

I button up my lab coat,
scrub my hands with soap,
check the day's appointments,
and grab my stethoscope.

Some patients will be nervous,
legs quivering like leaves.
I'll give them treats and cuddles
to make them feel at ease.

I'll look at teeth, eyes, and ears,
listen to their hearts,
examine bellies, bones, and paws,
write details on their charts.

When the workday's over,
and my lab coat's shedding fur,
I'll remember every thank you—
every nuzzle, kiss, and purr.

From I AM SOMEONE ELSE, collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Chris Hsu (Charlesbridge, 2019).  Click to enlarge.

Isn't Chris Hsu's illustration adorable? I was touched when he told me that the girl is based on his daughter, so every time he's read the book for story time, she knows the page is coming up and says "next I'm going to be an animal doctor!"

Don't miss Matt Forrest Esenwine's wonderful interview with Chris Hsu and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. You'll find my interview with Karen Boss from Charlesbridge (who edited the book) HERE. And finally, a reminder that this is the last day to leave a comment on last Friday's post for a chance to win your very own copy. Just imagine the smiles on the faces of the children who are gifted this creative collection! The winner, selected randomly, will be announced on Friday.