Poetry Friday: Love after Love

October 18, 2013October 18, 2013 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

Kate Roberts and Chris Lehman have just written a new book, Falling in Love With Close Reading. For the past seven weeks, they have been hosting a blog-a-thon to celebrate their book’s publication. Last week, Kate’s contribution on her blog, Indent, was about closely reading her life. She shared a few the insights and revelations she gained by spending one day being truly observant of her actions and reactions. One of her statements resonated with me:

“Chris and I believe that the skill of reading our world closely allows us to live richer, more beautiful lives.”

This line made me think of an episode of Krista Tippett’s On Being which featured an interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn about the science of mindfulness. At the end of the interview, Zinn shared this poem.

“Love after Love”

by Derek Walcott

The time will come

when, with elation,

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other’s

welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was

your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life…

Read the rest of the poem and learn more about Jon Kabat-Zinn here.

Only through knowing ourselves can we be open to the love of others and fully love them in return. Thank you, Kate and Chris, for reminding me of this. Thank you for helping me find my way back to this poem. For poetry is all about reading our world closely. Poetry allows us to live richer, more beautiful lives.

Be sure to visit Cathy Mere at Merely Day by Day for more enriching poetry.

Poetry Friday: Happy Birthday, First Lady of the World

October 11, 2013 Catherine Flynn6 Comments

“We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us.”

Eleanor Roosevelt was born on this day in 1884 and the United Nations has declared October 11 International Day of the Girl. No date could be more appropriate. After an unhappy childhood, Eleanor Roosevelt became a passionate, dedicated advocate for human rights around the world.

public domain image from http://www.whitehouse.gov

J. Patrick Lewis honored Roosevelt and her spirit in this poem, from his 2005 collection, Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women (Creative Editions).

You Learn by Living

for Eleanor Roosevelt

Who showed the world the world itself

Was awkward, shy and plain.

A high-born leader in a long,

Low decade full of pain.

…

A lady first, the great first lady

Looked fear in the face,

And said, There is no room for fear

When courage take its place

Read the entire poem here.

Many books have been written about Eleanor and her remarkable life. Russell Freedman’s Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery is featured today at Anita Silvey’s Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac. Eleanor, Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt (Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009) is Doreen Rappaport’s picture book biography for younger readers. A list of more titles about Eleanor is available at Through the Looking Glass.

Roosevelt once said “It is better to light candles than curse the darkness.” Eleanor Roosevelt’s inspiring life story is certain to spark the imagination of readers everywhere.

Don’t forget to visit Laurie Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids for the weekly round up. Happy Friday, everyone!

Poetry Friday: To Autumn

October 4, 2013 Catherine Flynn6 Comments

The weather has been spectacular in western Connecticut this week. The leaves have started to turn and the late afternoons have that distinctive glow of autumn, but the temperature has been in the seventies. All these summer-like days reminded me of these lines: “Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o’er-brimmed their clammy cells.”

Unfortunately, these days will soon come to an end. In the meantime, I’m going to savor every warm, sunny day that comes my way.

To Autumn

John Keats

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’er-brimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Though watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Aye, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too–

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river swallows, born aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hill bourn;

Hedge crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Don’t forget to visit Dori at Dori Reads for the weekly round up. Happy Friday, everyone!

Poetry Friday: Shel Silvertein’s “Sick”

September 27, 2013 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

Beloved children’s poet Shel Silverstein would have celebrated his 83rd birthday earlier this week. Born on Sept. 25, 1930, Silverstein is best known for his poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. But did you know he began his career as a cartoonist for Playboy?

My favorite Silverstein poem is “Sick”

“I cannot go to school today,”

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

“I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash, and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I’m going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox…”

Read the rest of the poem here.

Be sure to visit Amy at The Poetry Farm for the weekly round up. Happy Friday, everyone!

Poetry Friday: A Red, Red Rose

September 20, 2013 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

I’ve been thinking about my grandmother lately. Born in 1904, she passed away thirteen years ago this week. She grew up on a farm, had a garden until she was in her 70s and a tomato plant by her back door after that. Having lived through the Depression, she saved EVERYTHING. I loved spending time at her house because I never knew what treasure would turn up. Her father’s family emigrated from Scotland in the 1870s, and she was fiercely proud of her Scottish heritage. Robert Burns was one her favorite poets, so I thought it would be fitting today to share one of the “national poet of Scotland’s” most famous poems.

Alexander Nasmyth [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel awhile!

And I will come again my luve,

Though it were ten thousand mile.

Please be sure to visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for the Poetry Friday Round Up.

Poetry Friday: For the Fallen

September 13, 2013September 13, 2013 Catherine Flynn7 Comments

Two stanzas from For The Fallen, by Laurence Binyon

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

…

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Read the entire poem here.

hc-new-fairfield-soldier-0907-20130906-001 — In Memory Of
Staff Sgt. T.J. Lobraico
November 23, 1990-September 5, 2013

Poetry Friday: Puzzling Through the Possibilities

September 6, 2013September 6, 2013 Catherine Flynn13 Comments

Puzzling Through the Possibilities

The clue seemed so simple:

“Rossini’s William Tell and others”

Overtures even fit.

But the crosses didn’t work.

What word meaning “unprepared” begins with “nu?”

As I puzzled through the possibilities,

it occurred to me that

a writer feels this same frustration

as she reaches for the right word,

the clearest meaning,

so often just beyond her grasp.

Aren’t we all really just searching for that missing piece?

The one that clicks into place?

When we find it, it’s often a surprise.

And better than we ever dreamt.

The idea for this poem came from a journal entry I wrote in response to one of Corbett Harrison’s “Sacred Writing Time” prompts. When my colleagues and I were working on our writing curriculum, we began each day by writing for ten minutes. On this particular day, the slide stated that “dreamt” is the only word in the English language that ends with “mt.” As a Scrabble player and crossword puzzle lover, this intrigued me. So I wrote about filing this tidbit away, thinking it would come in handy as I was “puzzling through the possibilities” when solving a puzzle. Right away, I noticed this phrase. I loved the alliteration and the potential it contained. So I began playing with ideas. I’m still puzzling over this draft; I’m not sure the middle flows as well as it could, but I’ve had fun working on it.

By the way, the Rossini clue is from the New York Times Sunday puzzle from August 25, 2013, constructed by Victor Barocas.

Be sure to visit Laura at Author Amok for the Poetry Friday Round Up.

Poetry Friday: Sweethearts of Rhythm

August 30, 2013January 9, 2015 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

As this week of commemoration and celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech comes to a close, I’d like to share a book of poetry that gives voice to a little-known chapter in the history of segregation and discrimination against African-Americans in the United States.

Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World, by Marilyn Nelson, is a completely original book. Nelson has created a mosaic of voices which, piece by piece, tells the story of “the first integrated all-women swing band in the world.” (Author’s Note) Rather than have each musician tell her story, Nelson lets the instruments talk. And do they have a tale to tell! Beginning with the band’s roots in the Piney Woods Country Life School, each poem shares details about the musicians and their music, as well as African-American life in the early 20th-century South.

Nelson’s poetry also illuminates the character of each instrument. In “Bugle Call Rag,” the trumpet isn’t shy about it’s status in the band:

“No trumpet has ever been tempted

Not to funambulate

On the filament of a melody.

We’re all stars; we were made for the limelight.”

Events of the wider world are also described in the poems, each one named for a popular song of the period. When war is declared against Japan, the tenor sax tells us that Twin Ione or Irene Gresham

“…bowed her head

Then lifted me and eased me into song…

It was ‘Chattanooga Choo-Choo,’ but it was a prayer for peace.

She was trying to change the world through sound.”

But, in “Jump, Jump, Jump,” the alto sax reminds us that the reality of life is never far away for these musicians.

“From ballroom to ballroom, the unsleeping eye of Jim Crow

Ever upon us, we traveled the United States

of Colored America, bouncing on back-country roads…”

Throughout the text, Jerry Pinkney’s amazing illustrations mix watercolors and collage to enhance the feeling of Nelson’s poems. Sepia tones are used to portray the desolation of the Dust Bowl, the indignity of segregated restrooms, and the injustice of Japanese internment camps. Warm, vibrant colors are used when children are jumping, couples are dancing, and victory is being celebrated.

Appropriately, in “That Man of Mine,” that show-off trumpet shares the news:

“Her pristine technique wove a shimmering texture of sound

That was shot through with joy, on the day the Armistice was declared.”

These lines could also describe Nelson’s crafting of these poems. Their “shimmering texture of sound” isn’t always shot through with joy, but it always contains the truth, a testament to the lives of these brave women and their instruments, who did bring joy to countless Americans despite the prejudices they faced.

Anna Mae Winburn and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, performing “Jump, Children

Please be sure to visit Tara at A Teaching Life for the Poetry Friday Roundup for more poetry.

Poetry Friday: Off to the Fair

August 16, 2013 Catherine Flynn10 Comments

With my mother and sister before I marched in the parade for the first time.

Every August, my town is transformed by the Bridgewater Country Fair. Sponsored by the volunteer fire department, this annual event was one of the highlights of my childhood. The fair was a magical place with a merry-go-round and Ferris wheel, farm animals, flowers, and vegetables. All summer, I looked forward to eating all the food I could only get at the fair.

The fair where Wilbur and Charlotte have their final triumph has always reminded me of our fair. As a matter of fact, I think one of the reasons I loved Charlotte’s Web so much the first time I read it was because White’s description of the fair resonated so deeply with me. (I still love it, but for many other reasons.) I’ve often tried to write something about the Bridgewater Fair, but have never been happy with the results. So this year, inspired by Margaret, I decided to create a found poem using White’s own words. Drawn from chapters XVI, XVII, XVIII, and chapter XIX, this poem uses White’s language to capture my memories of the fair of my childhood.

“Off to the Fair”

The Fair only comes once a year.

Balloons aloft.

Clean straw,

new pigpen,

cattle barn,

sheep blatting,

first prize.

“Can I have some money?”

Have some fun on the midway:

Ferris wheel turning,

round and round in the sky.

Music of the merry-go-round,

steer a jet plane.

“Hold on tight!”

Spin a wheel, win a doll.

Many fine smells in the air:

Hamburgers frying,

popcorn,

candied apples,

lollypops.

Wonderful excitement!

Wonderful adventure!

~from the words of Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m “off to the fair!”

Thank you to Lisa at Steps and Staircases for hosting the Poetry Friday Round Up today. Be sure to head over and read more wonderful poetry!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

August 12, 2013 Catherine Flynn2 Comments

More Jane Yolen, of course! After highlighting just 10 (well, maybe a few more than 10) picture books by one of the most prolific authors ever for Picture Book 10 for 10, I can’t stop reading (and rereading) books by Yolen.

One of her more recent volumes is a book of poetry, co-written with Rebecca Kai Dotlich. In Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist (Wordsong, An Imprint of Highlights, 2013; illustrated by Matt Mahurin), Yolen and Dotlich use fifteen well-known fairy tales as a spring board for pairs of poems that let the characters speak for themselves. Snow White has her say, as do Gretel and Goldilocks. There are also poems that give voice to supporting characters, such as the the Wicked Fairy from Sleeping Beauty, who admits she “should’ve read/that page on tips.” While some of the poems do have a humorous tone, others reveal the dark side of the fairy tale. Beauty’s isolation is tinged with sadness as she wonders “what sounds children/might have made/running across the marble halls…”

These poems are naturals for reading after reading the original tale. Anchor Standard 9 of the CCSS states that students will “analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to compare the approaches the authors take.” At many grade levels, students are expected to use fairy tales, myths, and legends for this purpose.

In a note to their readers, Yolen and Dotlich also urge their audience to “try writing a fairy tale poem yourself [and] make a little magic.” By “juggling different perspectives,” students will develop a deeper understanding of characters who, in many retellings, are often no more than stereotypes.

Of course, there are numerous versions of these tales that do adopt the point of view of a character who doesn’t usually have a voice. Since the huge success of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka (Viking Press, 1989; illustrated by Lane Smith) these “fractured fairy-tales” have become their own sub-genre. There are also other poets who have given a voice to favorite fairy tale characters. Marilyn Singer has written two books of reversos, pairs of poems which use the same words in reversed order to present the perspective of two different characters. Singer’s poems in Mirror, Mirror (Duttons Children’s Books, 2010; illustrated by Josee Masse) and Follow, Follow (Dial Books, 2013; also illustrated by Josee Masse) are similar to Yolen and Dotlich’s as they have humor but don’t shy away from the hard lessons these characters have learned. Masse amazingly repeats this feat in her illustrations.

Grumbles from the Forest and both of Singer’s books will be best understood by students in third grade and up. Why should they have all the fun? Mary Ann Hoberman’s You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You series has a collection devoted to fairly tales, Mother Goose, and Aesop’s fables that are perfect for sharing with younger readers.

Sadly, I’m no longer surprised when students arrive at school not knowing these classic stories. My library, though, is well-stocked with classic versions of these stories, as well as many of the fractured variety. I share them with students every chance I get. I believe Yolen is absolutely correct when she wrote in Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie and Folklore in the Literature of Childhood, (August House, 2000) “that culture begins in the cradle…to do without tales and stories and books is to lose humanity’s past, is to have no map for our future.”

Be sure to visit Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers to find out what other people have been reading lately. Thanks, Jen and Kellee, for hosting!

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