Tag: Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: “Meditations of a Tortoise”

Catherine Flynn11 Comments

Last weekend, I found a beautiful box turtle while I was out for a walk. She was on the edge of the road, headed for a busy intersection, so I walked along beside her, ready to help her if needed. She found her way without my help, but I enjoyed our time together. Of course she was an inspiration but I haven’t had much writing time this week, so I “found” a poem by gathering lines (with a few minor alterations) from poems about turtles by a few of my favorite poets.

The turtle hides
Inside her bony dome; her mobile home
She trusts that shell.
She seems to relish solitude
In a world of glimmering green:
A turtle in July.

In order, these lines are from:

“The Turtle” in Flutter and Hum by Julie Paschkis
“The Box Turtle” in Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs, by Douglas Florian
“Desert Tortoise” by Byrd Baylor
“Three T’s” by Mary Ann Hoberman
“A Bale of Turtles” by me
“Turtle in July” in Turtle in July by Marilyn Singer

During my search, I also came across “Meditations of a Tortoise” by E.V. Rieu.

MEDITATIONS
OF A TORTOISE
DOZING UNDER A ROSETREE
NEAR A BEEHIVE
AT NOON
WHILE
A DOG
SCAMPERS ABOUT
AND A CUCKOO CALLS 
FROM A 
DISTANT WOOD

So far as I can see
There is no one like me.

Please be on the lookout for turtles as you drive! Learn how to help them here. (Thank you, Margaret Simon!) Don’t forget to visit Michelle Kogan for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Poetry Friday: Celebrating Namoi Shihab Nye

Catherine Flynn12 Comments

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poetry has informed my teaching and writing for many years. I am thrilled about her recent selection as our Young People’s Poet Laureate. Her poetry inspires, and she generously shares her wisdom in interviews, presentations, and volumes such as Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets, Rip the Page! Adventures in Creative Writing, and more. I created this sign early in my career and it still hangs in my classroom:

Here’s another bit of wisdom that I love:

I’ve been scouring my books and the web, searching for just the right poem to share today. I’ve shared many of my favorites previously, and I didn’t have a lot of time to write this week. As usual, though, inspiration came through at the last minute from Mary Lee Hahn, this week’s hostess for Poetry Friday and today’s Naomi Shihab Nye celebration. She directed me to Colby Sharp’s The Creativity Project, where Nye encouraged writers to “Write a list of ten things you are NOT (not an astronaut, a perfectionist, a wool spinner, a butterfly, a name-caller). Then pick your favorite lines and develop, or embellish, them, adding metaphors, more description, whatever you like.”

Here is a draft of my response:

I am not someone who speaks
the language of birds.
But at dawn, when they sing a tune
from the distant past,
their chirps and whistles ripple
into the silence
of the sleeping house,
reaching into my dreams,
recognition stirs inside me
and their melody carries
me into the day.

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Don’t forget to visit Mary Lee at A Year of Reading for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Poetry Friday: A Poetry-Filled Weekend

Catherine Flynn17 Comments

Last weekend, I kept pinching myself to make sure I was awake and not in a blissful poetry dream. I was indeed awake and sitting at a table with Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Janet Wong, and several other amazing poets. Oh, did I mention this table was at Poet’s House in New York City? And that there was a stunning view of the Hudson River right outside the window? It’s all true, but I still have to keep pinching myself.

I can’t begin to share all the wisdom and advice that Rebecca, Georgia, and Janet shared, but here are a few pointers I found helpful and inspiring:

  • Let the image be your guide
  • Your memory is a poet-in-residence in your mind
  • Find wonder in everything you look at
  • Write about what takes your breath away

We drafted many poems. Most of mine aren’t ready to share, but this almost-haiku, inspired by the empty playground in Rockefeller Park, makes me happy.

on a rain-splashed day
puddles tromp through the playground
for their turn on the slide

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Please be sure to visit Elizabeth Steinglass for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Slice of Life 19 & Poetry Friday: Pancakes!

Catherine Flynn18 Comments

          .

Congratulations, Heidi Mordhorst! You are the lucky winner of a copy of In the Middle of the Night: Poems From a Wide-Awake House! I know you and your second-graders will LOVE Laura’s new book.

There is a lot going on at my house these days. Our renovation project is winding down and we’re hosting an engagement party for my son and his fiancee next weekend. I know we all have busy lives, and kudos to all of you who juggle everything so well, but my attention has NOT been on my writing. I have managed to jot down a few ideas and make some notes, but not much more than that. I am looking forward to writing more in April, but have no particular project in mind for National Poetry Month.

Last week, it was my turn to post a prompt for Laura’s Food Poetry Project. Deciding what to favorite food to post was more difficult that I thought it would be. In the end, I went with the my idea of the delicious breakfast food ever, the pancake.

Writing about pancakes turned out to be just as difficult as choosing them. Sometimes when I’m stuck, I write acrostics to get ideas flowing. This week, after a bit of tinkering, I decided to stick with the form.

Pancake

Piping hot,

Awash in butter

Nine in a syrup-

Covered stack

Abounding with blueberries

Keeps hunger away and

Energizes me for the day!

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Be sure to visit Carol at Carol’s Corner for the Poetry Friday Roundup! Also, thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Poetry Friday & A Slice of Life 19: Soup

Catherine Flynn11 Comments

       

I’m a recipe follower. Before I got married, I told my mother I wasn’t moving out unless I got a Betty Crocker cookbook so I’d have the recipe for apple pie. After many years of trying new recipes, though, I learned to be a little more flexible about improvising when I cook. In fact, when it comes to chicken soup, I just start tossing ingredients into the pot. So when my poetry pal and critique group partner, Linda Mitchell, suggested writing about soup, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. This poem, which is basically how I make chicken soup these days, is still a very rough draft.

Soup

In a pot as blue as the sky,
a poem simmers.
Corn kernels
become a hundred tiny suns.
Carrots and potatoes
are the warm, rich earth
while parsley and rosemary
are fresh and green and fragrant.
Chunks of chicken add
more earth and sunshine.
Water,
bubbling up as if from a spring,
mixes and melds
with salt,
with pepper,
with love
sating my soul.

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Please be sure to visit Rebecca Herzog at Sloth Reads for the Poetry Friday Roundup. Thank you also to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Poetry Friday: “Landscape” by Eve Merriam

Catherine Flynn12 Comments

             

My friend Heidi Mordhorst is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today. Heidi is a passionate, brilliant, funny, caring person. She brings these qualities and more to everything she does. Poetry Friday Roundups don’t usually have a theme other than poetry, but from time to time, the host will suggest an optional, unifying theme. Several weeks ago, Heidi announced that she wanted to highlight and support the worldwide School Strike for Climate that took place today. I wanted to write a poem worthy of this important event. As I looked through my notebooks for an idea, I discovered I already had. (Read more about this poem here.)

In her post today, Heidi is sharing Alice Schertle’s “Secretary Bird,” from Mary Ann Hoberman’s gorgeous anthology, The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination. This is a book I return to often. Here is another poem from the collection that feels appropriate for today.

“Landscape”
by Eve Merriam

What will you find at the edge of the world?
A footprint,
a feather,
desert sand swirled?
A tree of ice,
a rain of stars,
or a junkyard of cars?

What will there be at the rim of the earth?
A mollusk,
a mammal,
a new creature’s birth?
Eternal sunrise,
immortal sleep,
or cars piled up in a rusty heap?

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Poetry Friday: Celebrating International Women’s Day

Catherine Flynn43 Comments

                                     

“It is always better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Hello, and welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! (Visit Renée LaTulippe at No Water River to learn more about Poetry Friday.) 

Two months ago, when I was efficiently filling out my calendar with important dates, I realized I was hosting Poetry Friday on International Women’s Day I never pass up the opportunity for a theme, so I suggested that we share poems celebrating women.

I found this to be a bit more challenging that I anticipated. Right after I posted my idea, astronomer Nancy Grace Roman passed away. After reading about this amazing woman, I thought I might write a poem to honor her. But then I found a post by Maria Papova on BrainPickings about Ellen Harding Baker, an Iowa teacher who lived from 1847-1886. During her short life, she created a quilt depicting our solar system to use during her lessons. Her stunning creation is now part of the collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The National Museum of American History,
Gift of Patricia Hill McCloy and Kathryn Hill Meardon

This confluence of needlework and astronomy drew me to Ellen’s story and made me want to celebrate her life. This poem has proven quite a challenge to write, and I hope it does her justice.

An Ode to Ellen Harding Baker

Silenced by society’s
rules and regulations,
she adhered to its conventions,
fulfilling expectations.

Smiling on her sister,
Minerva granted her a gift:
The skill and creativity
to share her story visually.

Denied the power of the pen,
she embroidered woolen cloth.
Inspired by the spangled sky
and swirling stars above,
she stitched a blazing tapestry
detailing our corner of the galaxy.

Her masterpiece invited
wonderment and awe,
spreading knowledge and delight,
helping imaginations to take flight.

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Today’s post is also doing double-duty as my Slice of Life. Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

And now for the Roundup! Please join today’s celebration of poetry by sharing your link.

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Poetry Friday: Robins

Catherine Flynn10 Comments

                                           

 

As I left school one afternoon last week, snow had just started falling and an icy wind was picking up. Suddenly, six or seven robins flew across the parking lot, landing in a tree at the edge of the playground. The sight filled me with hope that spring will be here soon.  Here is a poem those robins inspired.

Robins,
plump and ruffled
against the snow,
swoop,
perch;
a maple tree
bursts into bloom.

© Catherine Flynn, 2019

Valerie Worth’s poem, “Robins,” also expresses the delight of the return of these harbingers of spring.

Look how
Last year’s
Leaves, faded
So gray
And brown,

Blunder
Along
Like flimsy
Flightless
Birds,

Stumbling
Beak over
Tail
Before
The wind.

But no,
Wait:
Today
They right
Themselves,

And turn
To the
Stout slate
And ruddy
Rust

Of robins,
Running
On steady
Stems across
The ground.

 

Photo by Jedidiah Church on Unsplash

Don’t forget that next Friday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day. I’ll be hosting the Roundup that day and would love it if people help to celebrate the day by sharing poems that honor women. You can read more here.  Please be sure to visit Linda at Teacher Dance for the Poetry Friday Roundup.