Each day during April, I will write a poem-ish piece inspired by a word or phrase mined from the pages of Henry David Thoreau’s jewel-laden journals. I have left my challenge open so that the poems may take any form — haiku, free verse, borrowed line, blackout –and who knows which direction they will go in.
Day #29: Place Names
A peek at my process —
On April 29, 1856, Thoreau wrote in his journal, “To Cedar Swamp…Do not sail well till I reach Dove Rock, then glide swiftly up the stream…scared a small dark-brown hawk from an apple tree, which flew off low to another apple tree beside Barrett’s Pond.” (The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, Journal VIII: November 1, 1855 – August 15, 1856, Chapter V!. 1856, p. 316-317)
Place names were clearly important to Thoreau. Thank goodness they were, because he left behind a trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow in his footsteps. Today’s list poem is made up of place names scattered through his journal entries, many of which I am able to visit today.
And now for…
Our Poetry Friday family has launched the 8th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche is taking over this year as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2020 poem, and Friday was my turn.
Here’s where the poem stands with just a day to go!
Today it’s Fran Haley’s turn to provide a line choice for Michelle Kogan to choose from and bring it home. You can find Fran’s lines on her blog, Lit Bits and Pieces. An extra special welcome to Fran who is joining the Progressive Poem, Poetry Friday, and NPM family of poets for the first time!
Here’s the itinerary for the final days of the Progressive Poem. I really don’t want it to end! Does it have to?
1 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
2 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem
3 Jone MacCulloch, deowriter
4 Liz Steinglass
5 Buffy Silverman
6 Kay McGriff at https://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/
7 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
8 Tara Smith at Going to Walden
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme
11 Janet Fagel hosted at Reflections on the Teche
12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
13 Kat Apel at Kat Whiskers
14 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
15 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
16 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
17 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
18 Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading
19 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
20 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
21 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
22 Julieanne Harmatz at To Read, To Write, To Be
23 Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
24 Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering
25 Amy at The Poem Farm
26 Dani Burtsfield at Doing the Work That Matters
27 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
28 Jessica Bigi at Mainely Write
29 Fran Haley at lit bits and pieces
30 Michelle Kogan
And lastly, I am also excited to share that I have joined the Teach Write blogging team and will be writing a Poetry Ponderings blog post for them every month. My first offering, Finding Your Poetry Secret Decoder Ring, is now live and May’s post, about inviting poetry into your classroom, will be up soon. And my blogging teammate, Paula Bourque, offers up Quick Write Sparks to Kindle the Poet In All of Us for her first Think & Ink post in honor of National Poetry Month. I hope you will take a peek at all of the posts by the Teach Write team!
Wondering and Wandering 
