Genevieve Jones clerihew #AvianAllusions #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth #ProgressivePoem #Poetry Friday

Each day during April, I will write a poem-ish piece inspired by the avian world. 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.

It’s Poetry Friday and the amazing Jama Rattigan is hosting this third roundup of National Poetry Month on her blog, Jama’s Alphabet Soup. Jama is sharing a celebration of the work of poet Carol Ann Duffy and her poem about…poems! I hope you will stop by her site to read her poem, and offer one up yourself! Thanks for hosting, Jama! As always, your posts bring such joy into our lives.

NPM Day #16: Genevieve Jones (clerihew)

A peek at my process — Ok…this was fun! I had never heard of a clerihew before, but was instantly intrigued by this description — a short comic or nonsensical verse, typically in two rhyming couplets with lines of unequal length and referring to a famous person. I instantly knew who I wanted my clerihew to be about, but how to make it comic was tricky.

Last year, knowing how much I love birds, a student gifted me with the most exquisite book, America’s Other Audubon by Joy M. Kiser. This “coffee table”-ish book shares the sad, but remarkable story of Genevieve Jones, an amateur naturalist and artist, who died in 1879 of typhoid fever at the age of 32, just as she was embarking on a tremendous task — illustrating the eggs and nests of birds native to her home state of Ohio.

Wood Thrush illustrated by Genevieve Jones.

Upon seeing J. J. Audubon’s paintings from his The Birds of America, she was struck that he rarely included the nests and eggs of the birds, which she found to be of great interest. I’m going to leave her story and the incredible uncovering of her story a mystery for now. To read more of Genevieve’s story, here is Ms. Kiser’s website. Don’t miss it!

And now for…

Participants in the Poetry Friday community have launched the 9th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over last year as the organizer. This years poem is a lovely blend of kindness, friendship, and nature. Heidi Mordhorst takes over today, choosing a line from two gifted to her by Wendy Taleo. You may read her lines on her blog, My Juicy Little Universe. I’m excited to provide the 29th and penultimate line on Thursday, April 29th. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens! Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2021 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

1 Kat Apel at katswhiskers
2 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
3 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
4 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
5 Irene Latham at Live your Poem
6 Jan Godown Annino at BookseedStudio
7 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
8 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
10 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
11 Buffy Silverman
12 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
13 Jone Rush MacCulloch
14 Susan Bruck at Soul Blossom Living
15 Wendy Taleo at Tales in eLearning
16 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
17 Tricia Stohr Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
19 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
22 Ruth Hersey at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town
23 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
24 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
25 Shari Daniels at Islands of my Soul
26 Tim Gels at Yet There is Method at https://timgels.com
27 Rebecca Newman
28 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
29 Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wondering
30 Michelle Kogan at More Art 4 All