Filling the Well: Marcus Aurelius, Odilon Redon, Garip Ay, and Vincent van Gogh

 

Violette Heymann (1910) by Odilon Redon, The Cleveland Museum of Art

 

The soul becomes dyed 

with the color of its thoughts.

 

– Marcus Aurelius

 

Van Gogh's Starry Night painted on dark water by Garip Ay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1eS3ChsQAM

April 1: Michelle H. Barnes and Cosmo Sheldrake

April 2: Hans Christian Andersen

April 3: Guy Finley, Anneke van Giersbergen and Árstíðir 

April 4: Joseph Campbell and Fabien Weibel

April 5: Salvador Dalí and Pilobolus

April 6: Jacob Nordby and Talking Animals

April 7: Aileen Fisher, XTC, and Takarazuka Ballet

April 8: Amit Ray and Yehuda Amichai

April 9: Frances Hodgson Burnett

April 10: Frank Lloyd Wright, Stéphane Grappelli, and Django Reinhardt

April 11: John Burroughs and Stunts Amazing 

April 12: Beverly Cleary

April 13: Lee Bennett Hopkins and Judy Collins

April 14: X. J. Kennedy, Godfrey Reggio, Philip Glass, and Ron Fricke

April 15: Lucille Clifton, Anthony Howe, and Akeboshi

April 16: Donna Tartt and Micah

April 17: Kobayashi Issa (International Haiku Poetry Day)

April 18: Yasunari Kawabata and Alexander Mercks

 

 

DMC: "Water's Meditation" by Lynn Vieira

WATER'S MEDITATION

still lake, reflecting
drop a pebble in, witness
thoughts, rippling outward

© 2020 Lynn Vieira. All rights reserved.

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 tomorrow, Friday, May 29th.

DMC: "Instructions for a River" by Cheriee Weichel

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A RIVER

Acquiesce to the seasons.
Satiate yourself on snow melt and spring rain.
Rescue runoff from rivulets and streams.
Tumble white and wild over boulders and rocks.
Careen screaming over cliffs, and then
Ease off and etch oxbows onto plains.
Keep within your banks.
Flood only when necessary.
Slow down in summer, even rivers need a rest.
Gorge yourself on autumn storms and then,
Come winter, rest, encased in ice.

Acknowledge your importance, but
Remember, you are part of a larger cycle.
Share some of your cargo with the sun.
Hydrate the plants that grow near your shores.
Vanquish the thirst of animals congregating there.
Replenish oceans and lakes.

Be mindful of your responsibilities.
Harbour insects of all kinds.
Calm your whirlpools around nesting fowl.
Be gentle with amphibians and reptiles.
Mind your manners around mammals,
but keep those beavers in check.
Nurture fish of all species.
Guard their eggs til they hatch.
Tend the fry till they are ready and then,
Show them the way to ocean and lake.
Welcome them home when they return.

Provide for your people.
Cradle canoes and kayaks.
Float flies and fishing lines downstream.
Scrape out swimming holes.
Rehabilitate yourself when you are desecrated.
Be kind to us, even when we are undeserving.
And fierce when you must, but
Please don’t take our loved ones from us.
Let the rumble of your passing be a persistent lullaby.

© 2019 Cheriee Weichel (draft). 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 this Friday, May 31st, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fantastic debut poetry collection from WordSong:

DMC: "Standing on a Dock in the Lake" by Juanita Havill

Standing on a Dock in the Lake

If I can’t see the bottom of the lake,
should I jump in?

If once a moss-slick snag poked my leg when I plunged
deep below the surface . . .

If a long, thin murky creature slips into the water
(Is that a snake?) . . .

If a hungry pike big enough to eat a child is cruising
the depths . . .

If that log floating near shore is a ravenous snapping turtle
ready to snap . . .

If the lake right here off the end of the dock is deeper
than the deep  I think I know . . .

If the water is so cold that it cramps my stomach . . .

If powerful hidden currents twirl and swirl
me far out to the middle of the lake . . .

If I am all alone with no one to hear me scream,
“HELP!” . . .

Should I jump in the lake?

Do I have to answer these questions?

Or do I close my eyes and jump?

© 2018 Juanita Havill. All rights reserved.


Click HERE to read this month's interview with Naomi Shihab Nye. Her DMC challenge is to write a letter to yourself in which you ask some questions that you don't have to answer. (Please keep in mind that your poem does not need to be in standard letter form.)

Post your poem on our September 2018 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up presentation tomorrow, Friday, September 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her latest collection of poetry from Greenwillow Books:

DMC: "Lake Reflections" by Mindy Gars Dolandis

LAKE REFLECTIONS

Sky welcomes morning
Cornflower and cumulus
Mirrored down below

Afternoon sparkles
Dance upon charcoal water
Sunshiny diamonds

Sunset upon glass
A brilliant double image
Coral rose lilac

Deepening twilight
Horizon disappearing
Ochre indigo

Midnight ebony
Crescent moon a tilted smile
Twinkling Polaris

© 2018 Mindy Gars Dolandis. 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 this Friday, May 25th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her stunning new picture book from Roaring Brook Press:

Two Line Tuesday: Rumi

"The Water Book" by WhiteBook

Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others.

Unfold your own myth.

 

                                          – Rumi

DMC: "After the Water" by Ellen Leventhal

Today we're marking a one-year anniversary. On May 25, 2015, the first of two devastating storms hit Texas, with floods that turned Ellen Leventhal's world upside down. The second flood hit just last month, on April 18th. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ellen, her family, and her entire community.


AFTER THE WATER

My fur feels sticky
like when Jack dropped me
in his bath.
Everyone laughed then.
The bubbles tickled and warmed me.
But now I shiver and shake.
No Jack, no laughter.
Nana lifts me high, high, onto a shelf.
The noises over, under, and around me
are loud and scary.
Except for Nana’s sigh.
It’s soft and sad.
I look around from my high perch.
and wrinkle my nose.
No sweet soapy smell.
Something different.
The room fills with water
brown and cold.
Big hands covered in plastic
scoop me up.
Nana looks at the man
and shakes her head.
Sorrow spills from her eyes,
dotting the white mask covering her face.
With a whoosh, I am thrown outside.
I fly through the air,
touch down on a pile of memories,
and become one myself.

© 2016 Ellen Leventhal. All rights reserved.


Laura Shovan has challenged us to write persona poems this month. Click HERE for more details. You don't need to include the artwork that inspired your poem, but you are welcome to as long as I can properly attribute the artist/photographer.

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, May 27th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her fantastic new verse novel for middle grade readers:

DMC: "Alter Echo" by M. H. Barnes + the Poetry Friday Roundup

Reflecting Pool, by pinoldy

  

Hello, hello, hello... and welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup!

I'm grateful to be hosting smack dab in the middle of National Poetry Month. With so many wonderful poetry projects to delight, amuse, inspire, and entertain, thanks to Jama Rattigan for her 2016 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup to keep track of them all. If you're new in these parts, Renée LaTulippe has everything you need to know about Poetry Friday HERE.


"Alter Echo" is my contribution to April's Ditty of the Month Club (DMC) challenge, courtesy of Marilyn Singer. She encouraged us to write poems inspired by the word "echo." If you missed my spotlight interview with Marilyn, you can find it HERE. Other poems featured this week were by Jessica Bigi, Linda Baie, and Robyn Campbell. Thanks also to cbhanek, Liz Steinglass, Violet Nesdoly, and Amy Rudd for posting "echo"-inspired poems at their own blogs. I hope you will consider writing one yourself!


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 on Friday, April 29th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of Marilyn Singer's ECHO ECHO (Dial Books, 2016)— a fantastic new collection of reverso poems based on Greek Myths, gorgeously illustrated by Josée Masse.



While I like being stretched and inspired by these challenges as much as anyone, what probably gives me the biggest buzz is presenting the incredible array of poetry in each wrap-up celebration. Not only is the quantity and variety of the work impressive, but the quality as well. Over the months I've heard comments like:

"This collection really ought to be made into a book." 
"Wouldn't it make a nice anthology?" 
"I want to keep them all in a notebook for savoring." 
"You've posted a whole, beautiful anthology here."  

Well, guess what...
          I've been listening.

Why should my blog be the only place to enjoy the Ditty of the Month Club?  It's time to share the joy! That's why I'm planning to put together an annual "Best Of Today's Little Ditty" ebook collection, with the option of print on demand for those who would like to keep a copy on their shelf or bedside table. In order to do this, however, I need help. Lots of help. If you're interested in being on a committee—we'll call it a "ditty committee"—to help shape the anthology and decide which poems should be included, please contact me via email, contact form, or in the comments (and include your email address if I don't already have it). I'm really excited about this new undertaking and the opportunity to work closely with several members of the TLD community!

Now who's ready for a roundup? Please leave your link below. I look forward to making the rounds of this week's offerings!

THE POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP

An InLinkz Link-up

Before you go...  don't miss these late additions from Jone MacCulloch: 

celebrating student work and a sunflower fib.

DMC: "Water" by Mindy Gars Dolandis

Water

Tuesday morning in July
Another scorching day
As I jog I yearn for you
The burn won’t go away
water…water…water…

Tongue and lips Sahara dry
Sweat sets my eyes on fire
Every pounding pavement step
Thumps out my keen desire
wa-ter wa-ter wa-ter wa-ter

Tiny drops fly through the air
Descend on blades of grass     
Staccato sprinkler rhythm
Relentless as I pass 
wa-a-ter-r wa-a-ter-r wa-a-ter-r wa-a-ter-r

Almost home, around the bend
Rec center, pool, and lake
Neighbor’s yellow motor boat
Spluttering, carves its wake
wa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ter-r-r-r-r-r-r-r

Huffing, puffing, panting hard
I fumble with the key
Racing through the living room
The voice inside me screams
WATER! WATER! WATER! WATER! WATER!

Sprinting past the stove and fridge
Right to the kitchen sink
I shove my mouth beneath the tap
And open for a drink
WATERWATERWATERWATERWATERWATERWATER

Gushing like Niagara Falls
You cool my inner hell
Bathing every molecule
Refreshing every cell
Waaaaaaaaaterrrrrrrrr
Ahhhhhhhh

© 2015 Mindy Gars Dolandis. All rights reserved.


Marcus Ewert has challenged us to write love poems this month– about relationships that seem unrequited, but which end up being requited after all. 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, October 30th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of his fabulous new picture book:

DMC: "As if I could knock out the Ocean" by Ed DeCaria

As if I could knock out the Ocean

I punched wave after wave —
Punched them! As if
I could knock out
the Ocean
with one

slow

wet

swing

© 2015 Ed DeCaria. All rights reserved.

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:

DMC: "Summer Tradition" by Kristi Dee Veitenheimer

SUMMER TRADITION 

Six flags-
summer.

Waiting-
snaking lines.

Log flume-
straddle the seat.

Squealing-
splashing every turn.

Uh Oh-
chains pulling up incline.

Grabbing-
frightened knowing what comes next.

Tensing-
anticipating the freefall.

Screaming-
losing my stomach racing downhill.

Soaking-
running, getting back in line one more time!

© 2015 Kristi Dee Veitenheimer. All rights reserved.

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.

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 on Friday, September 25th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Lee's gorgeous new anthology:

May DMC Wrap-Up + Giveaway!

At the beginning of this month, Laura Purdie Salas, our inaugural Spotlight ON author, chose the cinquain as this month's ditty challenge.  Besides adhering to the 5-line, 2-4-6-8-2 syllable count, she encouraged us to write about a specific water-related memory.

THANK YOU to everyone who took on this challenge.  You guys ROCK... I mean, seriously.  What a month it's been– so many outstanding cinquains!  So much fun!

Here they are:

                                  Log flume   

                            Straddle the seat

                         Splashing every turn
                      Anticipating the freefall...
                                    Soaked!  

                    © 2014 Kristi Veitenheimer

                                                                            Rubber Pod

                                                                              Blow-up

                                                                        Killer Whale toy

                                                                       rolly as the ocean

                                                     kids get toppled, dunked, Mom and Dad

                                                                           whale watch.

                                                                      © 2014 V. Nesdoly

 

Fountain

Splashes shimmer

I wonder if coins

Hide, waiting for a hand to hold

Treasure

© 2014 Margaret Simon

HOSTESS OF THE CANAL

Oar-length

Barracuda

Hunkered low in shadows

Considers if she might like me

For lunch.

© 2014 Tamera Will Wissinger

© 2014 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

            Lake Champlain Summer Storm

                               The rain
                      Crashes and whips.
                Our boat rolls side to side.
       We watch as dad wrestle the waves...
                               saves us.

                     © 2014 Janet Fagal

Drought Life

These times,

our spring, when roots

and ducks cry for darkened

clouds that give showers and puddles,

we pray.

Can't wait

for God, but grab

sprinklers, snaking the hose

to geographic corners of

the lawn.

Washing

the grass and trees

and plants down, down to roots,

They glisten in gratitude, prayers

answered. 

© 2014 Linda Baie

                        Canal

           Drawbridge halts boat.
       Keeper swings fishing pole
   with wooden shoe to collect toll.
                      Fun fare!


                       Pushing
                   a boat off the
              canal bank entails a
swift jump or sudden waist-deep plunge.
                     Quick dip!

            © 2014 Sarah Monsma

                                                                                                            Peepers,

                                                                                                   from vernal pools

                                                                                              with pure ancient voices,

                                                                                             joyously herald the season

                                                                                                          with song.

                                                                                                              Water

                                                                                                     cumulus clouds

                                                                                           forming dark mounds in sky

                                                                                       startled by thunder and lightning

                                                                                                            they cry.

                                                                                               © 2014 Mayra Donnell

© 2014 Amanda Boyarshinov

         

                    Metamorphosis

                          Waiting.
            White snow; gray; black
           Brings unrest to my heart.
Soft rain and breeze, buds turn to leaves --
                       Yea! Spring!

          © 2014 George A. Heidenrich

                                                                                                                              Ducklings

                                                                                                                      paddle webbed feet,
                                                                                                                pitching like fishing floats--
                                                                                                        Mama's quacks reel them to her safe
                                                                                                                                harbor.

                                                                                                                 © 2014 Buffy Silverman

Wading

in the small bay,

then suddenly caught up

in a starry silver current -

minnows.

© 2014 Monica Gudlewski

                                                    

Dear Pop,

Drip drop, drip drop

The faucet will not stop.

The plumber's truck is in the shop.

Please mop.

               Icee

               Frozen water

               Flavored like a cola

               Eaten too fast will give you a 

               Brain freeze

                              Dewdrops

                              Prisms glisten

                              Clinging to wildflowers

                              Capture morning light, emitting 

                              Rainbows

                                             Ocean

                                             Waves crashing on

                                             Distant shorelines become

                                             Tides of the future, tomorrow's 

                                             Daydreams

                                                            Lochness

                                                            A monster's realm.

                                                            Lurking in the shadows

                                                            The giant water dragon swims 

                                                            Beneath

                                                                           Water

                                                                           Cool, wet

                                                                           Pouring, splashing, quenching

                                                                           From a glass pitcher

                                                                           H2O

          

                                                                                             I wish

                                                                                             I were a fish,

                                                                                             Swimming in the ocean

                                                                                             With dolphins and mermaids.

                                                                                             I wish...

                                                                                                            © 2014 Jan Gars 

                 great blue

              heron soaring
        and spearing tiny fish
       on the Columbia River
               one glimpse

© 2014 Jone Rush MacCulloch

yellow

crowned night heron

hunches into itself

shy fisherman of the evening

waters

© 2014 B. J. Lee

                            Poodle

                        On a noodle

                Floats around the water.

     Don't jump in! Oh, there she goes! We

                             Poodle

             © 2014 Barbara Bockman

(Bonus points for taking the poodle-noodle challenge!)         

                                                                                                                       Underwater Nests

                                                                                                                              Fish beds

                                                                                                                    don't look like mine –

                                                                                                             dotting the stream edge, these

                                                                                                       circles of small stones nudge in place

                                                                                                                             hold spawn.

                                                                                                               © 2014 Keri Collins Lewis

The Politics of Water

As if

endowed, we take

faucet, pipe, disease-free

for granted. All of this, our right.

Not theirs?

 © 2014 Mary Lee Hahn

                                                                                                        And You Thought It Was Just Yucky

                                                                                                                             Drooling--
                                                                                                                            continuous
                                                                                                                 stream of protein-laden
                                                                                                            water ensures germ-protected
                                                                                                                               babies.

                                                                                                                    © 2014 Diane Mayr

                 A Morning Plea

                        Thirsty

                wilting leaves say
"Drip, drop, pour, splash, soak, spray--
   send me life, sweet blessed wetness
                        my way."
         

             © 2014 Damon Dean

Float. Sink.

The rise and fall

of nations preserved here

though discarded as meaningless

rubbish.

Our creek

coughs up the past:

tricycle, flip phone, cans --

then an arrowhead surfaces.

Progress?

© 2014 Keri Collins Lewis

                                                                                                                          Evening Snow

                                                                                                                              The field

                                                                                                                          across the road

                                                                                                                once green with grassy hay

                                                                                                       now snuggles sound asleep, tucked in

                                                                                                                              with stars.

                                                                                                             © 2014 Matt Forrest Esenwine

                       Park ride 

               splishing, splashing 

             atop large inner tubes 

down, down, down, jetty black tunnel

                       I'm here

         © 2014 Jenifer McNamara

      Smooth stones . . .

flickicty-flick

skippity-skip-skip-skip

skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip-skip

ker-splash!

Marco.
Polo. Marco.
Polo. Stroke, stoke, stroke, stop.
Reach. Nothing. Marco. Polo. Tag!
Marco.

© 2014 Penny Klostermann

             Water Confinement

                       Droplets
             Trickle down, picks
       Up tempo, cascades through
My water spout screaming, “Please let
                       Me out!”

         © 2014 Charles Waters

Everyone who sent in one or more cinquains this month will automatically be entered to win a personalized copy of WATER CAN BE.... (One entry per participant, not per poem.)   You still have until tomorrow, May 31st, to send me your cinquain.  For those who may be too bashful or bogged down to send in a cinquain, you may also enter to win Laura's book by leaving a comment below.  If you contributed a cinquain and comment below you will earn two entries in total.  Comments must be received no later than Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014.

The winner will be determined by Random.org and announced next Friday, June 6th, when we feature our new Spotlight ON interview and ditty challenge.  

Good luck!

It's strawberry season over at Random Noodling.  

Be sure to sample all the sweet treats Diane has collected in today's Poetry Friday roundup.