SOL 18: My Mother, My Mountain

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 Catherine Flynn12 Comments

My mother
is a shadowy mountain.
I scale her thick, furry limbs.
I ride along on the broad, flat ridge
of her back as we roam our rain forest home.
I snuggle into the cave of her arms,
safe, when we nest each night.
The mountain sustains me.
My mother.

This poem was inspired by the photo of a carved mountain gorilla mother and child shared by my partner-in-poetry and Slicing, Christie Wyman, for Laura Shovan’s Ekphrastic Poetry Project. For me, the facial expressions of these critically endangered animals brought this carving to life. It appealed to me immediately, and I had a general idea of what I wanted to write. What I needed was a form that suited my ideas.

There are many well known poetic forms that I could have tried, but I wanted something that would ring true to the African roots of this carving. I didn’t find anything suitable in a search through my poetry reference books, so I turned to Google. There I found an form called the “Eintou.” Described as an “African American septet syllabic/word count form consisting of 2 words/syllables in the first line, 4 in the second, 6 the third, 8 the fourth, 6 the fifth, 4 the sixth, and 2 the seventh.” In addition, “Eintou” is from a West African dialect and means “pearl, as in pearls of wisdom.” The structure also reflects the African and African American philosophy that “life is a cycle. Everything returns to that from which it originates.”

An Eintou felt exactly right for this poem. Now my only problem was matching the word count. I drafted several versions that stuck to the structure explained online, but it just wasn’t working. In keeping with my efforts to develop my Habits of Mind, I decided that by “creating, imagining, and innovating,” I could modify the structure and add a 10 word line in the middle and work back to two words from there. (This form has the added, unintentional bonus of being shaped like a mountain!) I think I maintained the spirit of the form. Also, I definitely stayed true to the purpose of Laura’s project, which “is to practice the habit of writing regularly,” the same purpose of the Slice of Life Challenge.

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, 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.

Slice of Life: “Be Astonished”

May 8, 2017May 9, 2017 Catherine Flynn10 Comments

I didn’t make it to all the Poetry Friday posts over the weekend. I rarely do, despite my best intentions. But the posts I did read were, as usual, full of beauty and inspiration. Jama Rattigan shared Mary Oliver’s breath-taking poem, “Messenger.” (Read it here.) These lines have been in my head all weekend:

“… Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.”

We owe it to the world to “be astonished” and “give shouts of joy” about the beauty that surrounds us. As I was walking to my classroom this morning, I looked out the window and was astonished by the beauty of fallen cherry blossoms.

Scattered by the wind,
cherry blossoms dart and dance
across the playground

I also appreciated Brenda Harsham’s interview with Irene Latham. Both of these smart women inspire me, but I really appreciated Irene’s advice to “just WRITE. Even if all you have is fifteen minutes, just do it.” Why do I need to be reminded of this constantly? At this time of year, though, it seems especially important to find those quiet moments amid all the hubbub, both for our students and ourselves. Recent research “suggest[s] that short doses of nature—or even pictures of the natural world—can calm people down and sharpen their performance.” So amidst all the busyness of the day, find a minute to just be. Then (to remind myself) write about it!

Thank you also to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, Lisa and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Stars: A Fibonacci Poem

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 Catherine Flynn11 Comments

Dava Sobel‘s The Glass Universe continues to inspire me. Although I couldn’t find any direct relationship between stellar spectra and the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical form seemed appropriate for this topic.

Stars
hide
secrets
in white light.
Spectral lines reveal
elemental composition
and temperature to sleuths who probe their mystery.

Star Spectra by Secchi, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Writing poems in a specific form can be a fun yet challenging way to summarize learning in any subject area. The concision of poetry forces kids to hone in on the essential aspects of a topic, book or article. It also provides an authentic purpose for using subject-specific vocabulary. As I wrote this poem, I found my biggest challenge wasn’t the basic science behind the stellar spectra, but getting the right words to match the syllable count of a Fibonacci poem.

Thank you, Laura, for once again being so generous with your time and talents. Thank you also to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, Lisa and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

DigiLit Sunday: Asparagus: A Digital Poem

April 9, 2017 Catherine Flynn6 Comments

When Margaret posted this week’s Digilit Sunday topic, Digital Poetry, I felt a sense of relief. The past few weeks have been pretty hectic and I just didn’t have the time to devote to the topics Margaret had suggested. But Spring Break began on Friday and I finally felt that I could stop and take a breath.

The spark for this poem came from “Autumn’s Way” by Charles Ghigna. I took the first line,

“In their yellow-most goings,”

and reworked it for spring. Thinking about how to narrow down the greening of spring, for some unknown reason, I settled on asparagus.

With the help of this video the poem itself came together pretty easily As I thought about the digital element of this poem, I wanted to challenge myself and create something that conveyed a sense of movement. I have limited experience with iMovie, but I thought it might create the effect I wanted.

I scoured the web for royalty-free images of growing asparagus. (NOT an easy feat!) While I was doing this, a memory of “Simple Gifts” popped into my head, and I knew that tune would be the perfect soundtrack.

With all the elements collected, I set out to create this movie. After about four hours of trial and error, I have a 24 second video! As with any work, I feel this still has room for improvement. So I offer you the latest digital draft of my poem, “Asparagus.”

In the greening days of April,
stalks of asparagus
raise their heads
after slumbering deep
in the earth.
Stretching into
the air’s bright warmth,
growing taller,
they sway to and fro,
like a troupe of modern dancers
welcoming spring.

SOL 17: After the Rain

March 28, 2017 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
~ Vincent Van Gogh ~

At the beginning of the month, I quoted this line from The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill:

“Every day I find something shiny in the rubble.”

It has been a real challenge for me to find something shiny today. But I kept looking and finally found this.

Stubborn snow drifts,
pitted and dirty,
hug the edge of the woods.
Rain pours from gray skies,
unable to shake
the last curling leaves
clinging to oak trees.
Everything is brown.

But.

Something is stirring.
The forsythia wears
a faint golden crown.
Lilac buds grow fat
as a line of pink clouds peeks
out of the gloom at dusk.

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

Poetry Friday: “Worldview”

February 2, 2017 Catherine Flynn13 Comments

This poem was written in response to Laura Shovan’s Found Poetry Project. This year’s theme is “10 Words Found in the News.” Laura’s goal is to “encourage everyone to look at that language as a poet. We can create found poems and word art to reflect what’s happening in our country and world.” Today’s words, worldview, help, shareholders, safer, protections, dishonest, media, replace, business, and Messiah, are from NPR’s February 1st story about Rex Tillerson’s approval as Secretary of State.

"Earthrise" Image Credit: NASA — “Earthrise” by the astronauts of Apollo 8. Image Credit: NASA

Let the worldview
we carry within us
be this:

We are all shareholders,
caretakers of the abundance
of our planet.

We owe her our protection,
to keep our water safe,
to help our neighbors in need.

This is the business of living.

Don’t dwell on the media’s howls
of dishonest, troubled souls.
Replace fear with love,
and find the power of your Messiah within,
in the light of your heart.

Please be sure to visit Penny Parker Klosterman here for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Slice of Life: News from the Natural World

January 31, 2017February 16, 2017 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

For the past four years, poet Laura Shovan has hosted a February Poetry Project. What started as “a birthday project” has grown to include 54 poets committed (or challenging themselves) to write a poem a day. I submitted one poem in 2015, when Laura’s theme was Pantone paint colors. Last year’s theme was “found object” poems, and I contributed many poems, but did not succeed in writing every day.

This year’s theme is “10 Words Found in the News.” Laura’s goal is to “encourage everyone to look at that language as a poet. We can create found poems and word art to reflect what’s happening in our country and world.” The project officially begins on February 1st, but Laura and other poets have posted several “warm-ups,” pulling words found in articles related to current events. I have been looking at these words and have tried to engage with them in way that doesn’t drive me to despair. One of my biggest concerns about the current administration is their total disregard for the environment and action toward climate change, so I’ve decided the most meaningful way for me to participate in Laura’s challenge is to view the words through the lens of the natural world. This may not always be possible, but that’s my goal.

Here is my first effort in response to warm-up#1, using eight of the ten words Laura’s randomizer pulled from Trump’s inauguration speech. I also changed some tenses. (factories, behind, pleasant, interests, disagreements, fallen, starting, complaining, cash, stops)

News from the Natural World

A honey factory
clings to a branch
high in an ancient maple.
Starting at dawn,
when the first rays
of sun peek from
behind purple hills,
bees begin their ancient
dance anew.

They have no interest
in disagreements
rippling through the world;
cash and complaints
have no currency here.
Golden liquid
is their only care,
oozing, dripping, falling,
from waxy honeycombs,
free for the taking.

Thank you, Laura, for once again being so generous with your time and talents. Thank you also to Stacey, Dana, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lisa for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Slice of Life: Things We Prize

January 3, 2017 Catherine Flynn6 Comments

My husband and I are gearing up for a big renovation project: new kitchen, new living room, new patio. It’s all very exciting, but a little daunting as well. I don’t think I’ve crossed the line to hoarder yet, but I am not good at throwing stuff away. But with the upcoming construction, I’ve been trying to get organized and get rid of some clutter. While I was going through a box over the weekend, I found some pictures from sixth grade. They stirred up quite a few memories and inspired this poem.

“Things We Prize”

Prizes weren’t meant for me.
Other kids won prizes.
Kids who could run fast
or spell “mountain”
or knew that 7 x 8 was 56.
No, prizes weren’t meant for me.

Until one day I decided
I was tired
of not winning a prize.

At the edge of the playground,
that sea of asphalt,
scene of so many embarrassments,
Mr. Fletcher raked the dirt smooth,
ready for us to jump,
fling ourselves as far as we could,
and make our mark.

When it was my turn,
No one expected much.

I stood tall,
feet planted,
courage growing.
Bent my knees,
Pushed off.

WOOOSH!

Propelled myself
farther than any kid
in sixth grade,
farther than any kid
in the whole school.

The prize was mine.

Thank you to Stacey, Dana, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lisa for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Slice of Life: Snow Day Haiku

December 20, 2016December 20, 2016 Catherine Flynn13 Comments

Mary Lee Hahn‘s #haikuforhealing has become addictive, and Saturday’s snow scattered commonplace marvels everywhere.

tattered cobweb
now a crystal tapestry
transformed by winter’s kiss

a snowy thicket
strewn with breathing boulders:
deer hunker down

a mighty hunter,
sidelined by an icy gale,
dreams of chasing mice

Slice of Life: The Edge of Winter

November 8, 2016 Catherine Flynn7 Comments

When I taught third grade, Leo Lionni’s classic, Frederick, was one of the first books I read to my students. We admired Frederick’s independence and creative spirit. We relished his stock of words and images. Then we went outside to gather our own colors and words.

Back then, I paired this book with Mary O’Neil’s Hailstones and Halibut Bones and the kids wove the images they’d gathered into color poems. Today I would add Joyce Sidman’s Red Sings from Treetops. Sidman’s luscious poetry never fails to get a reader and writer’s creative juices flowing.

For the past few weeks, the autumn days have been spectacular in my corner of the world. I’ve been spending as much time as possible outside, collecting images and ideas. This poem grew out of those noticings.

Breathe in the silence
of a barren field
at evening’s edge.

Listen to the sun’s
last rays, seeping
through leafless trees.

Feel the murmur
of starlings as they
dip and dive in crisp air.

Watch the calm shatter
as a flock of geese
announce their approach.

Taste the first hint
of winter, ruffling
the pond’s glassy surface.

Go and gather images and colors and words. Give your students, no matter how young or old, time to write their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams. We’ll all be richer for it.

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