Woods Walk and a young poet’s debut #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth #PoetryFriday

It’s Poetry Friday! Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme is our host for this the third Friday of National Poetry Month. He’s got a super interview with one of my favorite all-things-nature poets/ authors, Leslie Bulion. Her new collection Serengeti: Plains of Grass sounds terrific!

During the month of April, I will write poem-ish pieces inspired by my frequent walks in the natural world. Trails, paths, signs, and views always intrigue and inspire me. 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 or how often they will appear.

Woods Walk

A peek at my process —

Today’s poetic technique, which I learned from one of my poetic mentors, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, is letting your title open the door. As Amy notes, the words in the title need not appear again in the text, but (hopefully) guide the reader in to take a closer look. My subject is, once again, vernal pools. (A bigger future project will, fingers crossed, put my vp collection to good use!) Vernal Pools experience quite a journey throughout the year before they spring back to life in late March.

Before I go, I would also like to introduce you to another of my budding Kindergarten poets, D. Here is his tennis haiku.

tennis racquet swing

hit the ball over the net

get a point you win

To truly appreciate the fabulousness of this poem, you must understand D. School is tricky for him. In addition, his fine motor skills are still developing, so writing is labored and hard. When he looks at his handwriting in comparison to that of his peers, he feels frustrated. He loves sports and decided upon the topic — tennis — all by himself. He loves math, so the appeal of a word “puzzle” of sorts, requiring a specific syllable count, intrigued him. He absolutely nailed this and was celebrated for all his efforts.

And introducing…

This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Today, Carol Labuzzetta takes over at her blog, The Apples in My Orchard. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I’m excited to provide the 19th line on April 19th. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens. An adventure has begun! Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem
2 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
5 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
6 Linda at A Word Edgewise
7 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
11 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch
13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
15 Carol Labuzzetta @ The Apples in my Orchard
16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town
18 Patricia at Reverie
19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Kevin at Dog Trax
22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life
24 Marcie Atkins
25 Marilyn Garcia
26 JoAnn Early Macken
27 Janice at Salt City Verse
28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog
30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing

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