Irene Latham's Blog, page 117

Wild Winter Poems

Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Music Maven, Swap Queen & Poetry Goddess Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for Roundup. Her blog always inspires me!

Today's poem are on the theme of winter! SO COLD. I know many of you have experienced weather this week far more severe than here in Alabama, but really, below freezing day AND night? You know it's bad when I have to wear socks with my flip flops. :)

The first poem can be found in JULIE ANDREWS' TREASURY FOR ALL SEASONS, poems selected by Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton, paintings by Marjorie Priceman.
The following two can be found in THE TREE THAT TIME BUILT, poems selected by Mary Ann Hoberman & Linda Winston.

You'll see that the first poem takes the "wild winter" theme in a fun, unique direction... and the others salute the winter wilds of the great outdoors.

Happy Winter, Steamy Tub
by Karen Gundersheimer

Happy Winter, steamy tub
To soak and splash in, wash and rub.
Big blobs of bubbles pile on me
The way the snow sits on a tree.
I rinse the soap off, scrub some more,
Drip puddles on the bathroom floor--
Then gurgling bubbles drain away,
A wet and merry end of day.


from March '79
by Tomas Transtromer, translated by Robert Bly

Being tired of people who come with words, but no speech,
I made my way to the snow-covered island.
The wild does not have words.
The pages free of handwriting stretched out on all sides!
I came upon the tracks of reindeer in the snow.
Speech but no words.


Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, -- "Snow."
Leaves were green, and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, -- "Frost."
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly, --
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

------------------------
Wishing everyone warmth & beauty (and bubble baths!) these winter days and nights!!

Movie Monday: BIG EYES

This week we escaped for a few hours into Tim Burton's latest: BIG EYES. It's set during the 1950s and is based on a true story about artist Margaret Keane whose husband Walter takes credit for her work -- because "lady art" doesn't sell.

I love movies about art and artists, so it's no surprise I liked this one. It also made me SO glad I wasn't alive in the 1950s, which as the movie is prompt to point out, was a good time to live -- if you were a man. We really have come a long way, baby. I loved watching Margaret become empowered to tell the truth about her life. THAT is art. Also, she created what was in her heart, for herself, not for anyone else. There's a lesson in there for all of us pursuing the creative life. Go see!

One Little Word for 2015

wee "wild" meHello, and happy Poetry Friday! Please visit Tricia (whom I was so lucky to meet at NCTE!) at The Miss Rumphius Effect for Roundup.

First: It's been a float-y couple of days what with learning DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST was included in the 2014 Nerdy Book Awards and as a 2014 CYBILS Finalist. I am so thrilled and grateful! Special thanks to all my Nerdy friends including one Mary Lee Hahn who wrote such a beautiful post about some beautiful poetry books. Thank you! And to Amy at Hope is the Word (who nominated the book!) and to the CYBILS Poetry Round One judges (Kelly Fineman, Nancy Bo Flood, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Jone MacCulloch, Margaret Simon, Sylvia Vardell & Bridget R. Wilson), throwing you kisses! Having served on the committee in the past, I know just how hard it can be to winnow the list. I'm so honored you chose to include WILDEBEEST. Poetry popsicles for everyone!!

And now: I'm thrilled to be sharing with you my 2015 One Little Word  - and some related poetry:

WILD (adj.): Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state (The Free Dictionary)

No, I'm not talking the girls-gone-wild kind of wild. More of a return to, or discovery of, the true-est me.

The kind of wild that's found in the following poems:

The Summer Day
by  Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean --
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaw back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
How she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
I don't know exactly what prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.


And here are a couple of other rather famous "wild" poems. Any others come to mind?? I think I will work on a Wild Poetry Playlist during 2015. If YOU have a "wild" poem, please do share! xo
"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver
"Wild Nights - Wild Nights! (249)" by Emily Dickinson
p.s. Want to see what magic two musically-minded high school kids (one of whom is my son.. ErBeeko) can create?? They are in 9th grade. :) Follow them on Facebook... They'll Be Going Far!

Six Word Memoir for 2014

Here's my Six Word Memoir for 2014:

Bittersweet mystery fiddles with poet's heart.

This year held some wonderful and difficult moments -- as all years do. I was able to spend quality time with poets I adore and children I love, and I experienced some wonderful times with family... yet I've had to watch my father struggle mightily with the return of his cancer.

Amid some hard, fulfilling work writing and rewriting, I delivered to the world my 3rd book of poems for adults THE SKY BETWEEN US and my 1st book of poems for kids DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST and my first paperback DON'T FEED THE BOY... yet I've faced some crushing rejections this year. ('Tis the writer's life. Sigh.)

You may remember that I chose the world MYSTERY as my 2014 One Little Word. I have spent a lot of time dwelling in mystery, asking questions, allowing myself to be in transition instead of hurrying toward the quickest resolution. I've learned a lot about myself this year. (Check back Friday for my 2015 One Little Word!)

I started taking fiddle lessons this year, and it has brought all kinds of joy to my life. I made some important decisions about how to spend my time in ways that honor my true-est self, and I'm excited to see how those decisions play out in the year to come.

Something I'm proud of: I participated in #bloglikecrazy, during which I blogged every day during the month of November. This produced some unexpected writing, and some of my most honest writing. I am hoping to continue that kind of writing in 2015 --- though, no, I will not be blogging every day!

One of the highlights of my year was going to NCTE. I love this community of book lovers and poetry lovers. Also a highlight: New York City with my family. We've wanted to do that trip for SO LONG! I'm so grateful. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to share in the lives of our boys as they continue to grow and develop and become themselves.

What a year! What a life! Thank you for being a part of it. xo

Movie Monday: WILD, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING & the latest HOBBIT

The holidays are such a great time for movies! We were lucky enough to see three of them in the past week -- and I present them to you in order of preference.

WILD starring Reese Witherspoon, after the memoir by Cheryl Strayed. I've blogged already about how much I loved the book -- so I had high hopes tempered by past experiences of movie adaptations not living up to the books that inspired them.

The material here is raw and real and seemed like it might have been a bit of a puzzle to piece together. All that backstory -- and yet it is beautifully done. You get enough of Cheryl Strayed's internal thoughts and scenes of her past. You appreciate her journey and how it changed her. I thought it was beautifully done. (But, no, I have no interest in hiking 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. Just day trips for me, thank you very much.)

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, about Stephen Hawking's life. No doubt, Stephen Hawking's life is rich and inspiring. I loved that the focus here was the woman behind the man, the love story -- and how it fell apart. (Longtime readers may remember a poem I wrote about Einstein's daughter -- it seems that brilliant scientists have a knack for being more committed to their science than to their families... this seemed the case for Hawking as well, and I couldn't help but feel like he was likely more troublesome/less likeable in real life than how he's portrayed in the movie. This SLATE article sets the record straight.) The movie was beautifully made, but it just didn't feel quite honest in the way that WILD did.


Finally, finally the final HOBBIT movie! Can I just say there is something wrong when it takes a person longer to see the movie(s) based on a book than to read the actual book?!

I loved reading THE HOBBIT, and I still love the old animated version of the story. And I had high hopes that this third movie would be more enjoyable than the previous two... alas. I fell asleep in this one, too! Too much darkness, too much conversation, too much dragging things out. I can't imagine watching any of these three again, and I'm sort of mad that they didn't just make one killer movie that contained the whole of Bilbo Baggins' journey. Sigh.

What movies have you seen lately? We still have UNBROKEN and INTO THE WOODS on our short list... hope to get to them this week!

Merry, Merry!

Our Christmas gift to ourselves was a family trip to New York City! It was magical and merry and everything we wanted it to be.
Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you!
at Cornelia Cafe in Greenwich Village
before our show EVERY BRILLIANT THING (which was brilliant!)
me and my boys at the Central Park reservoir (It was cold! But we were still smiling.)
at the New York Public Library (oh, Patience and Fortitude!).
And how 'bout that pink scarf around Eric's neck?!
me and the sweet fella who introduced me to NYC 24 years ago. Love!

POISONED APPLES for Christmas?

Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Please visit Buffy's Blog for Roundup. I can't believe this is our last Poetry Friday before Christmas! Even though it's not exactly festive, I've decided to share with you selections from POISONED APPLES: POEMS FOR YOU, MY PRETTY by Christine Heppermann. This book has appeared on a number of Best Of 2014 lists... and it's poetry! Love when that happens. The book explores the fairy tale tropes in modern day life. Happily Ever After, this is NOT. Oh, darkness....

 I give you the opening poem (with a killer last line!) and my favorite of the collection (because it is such a clever metaphor).

The Woods
by Christine Heppermann

The action's always there.
Where are the fairy tales about gym class
or the doctor's office or the back of the bus
where bad things also happen?
Pigs can buy cheap building materials
just as easily in the suburbs.
Wolves stage invasions. Girls spit out
cereal, break chairs, and curl beneath
covers like pill bugs or selfish grannies
avoiding the mess.
No need for a bunch of trees.
You can lose your way anywhere.


Photoshopped Poem
by Christine Heppermann

Some say the Before poem
had character.
This poem is much more attractive.
With the Healing Brush Tool
I took out most of the lines.
I left in a few
so it wouldn't look unnatural.

A Quilt for my Father & Then Some

As many of you know, my father is currently battling his second bout with cancer. He also serves as Executive Director of Bismarck Cancer Center in North Dakota. Which means he has accumulated a number of cancer survivor/BCC t-shirts that mean a lot to him.
SO... I said, send 'em to me! And my father did. Here's the box I got in the mail:


Here are the t-shirts unpacked, on the cutting board:

...and here are the t-shirts minus sleeves and collars and backs:

...and here is the finished quilt top! (sorry, pic is fuzzy and doesn't do it justice!)

fyi: I chose to back it in lime green fleece and to bind it in a black-ish star print. Pics to come!
MEANWHILE, here is the monster that is our son Andrew's quilty graduation gift! It's king-sized and contains so many of the things he's been passionate about...from Pokemon to swim team to McDs to funny sayings (thank you, Mental Floss!). I chose black minky for the back (he LOVES soft textures) and a rainbow-ish print for the binding. Can't wait to see how it comes together!
...and FINALLY, an Auburn throw for my uber-Auburn-fan husband. This one contains sweatshirt tops from way back in the 80s to now! (Binding will be in the orange dotted fabric seen below, and the back will be an Auburn fleece print. Cozy!)

As soon as January comes, I'm going to start piecing the Christmas quilt I've been planning for oh, about 5 years now. Maybe that way it will actually be ready come Christmas 2015. :)
Any quilty or crafty projects going on in your life?

ON THE WING by David Elliott

Hello and happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Mr. Hankins a.k.a. Paul at These 4 Corners (Living Loving Laughing Learning --- how much do I love that?!) for Roundup.

What a week this has been! So many things going on this month -- youngest sons multitude of Christmas concerts, preparations for our trip to NYC, Christmas-y outings with friends and shopping and last-minute gifts and writing, always always writing.

Today I am taking a break from all that for just a minute to share with you a lovely book ON THE WING by David Elliott, illus. by Becca Stadlander. It's contains short vivid poems about birds! So, bird lovers will love it, and people who aren't bird lovers will BECOME bird lovers. :) I don't think poets will ever NOT be inspired by birds, and rightly so! I'd like to share three of these poems with you today:

The Hummingbird
by David Elliott

     Backward!
Forward!

     Here
then
     there!

Always
        in a
tizzy!

Got
     mo
time
     to
sit
     or
sing!

     Too
busy!
     Busy!
Busy!

(This one is on a two-page spread, and the stanzas flit across, just like hummingbirds. Beautiful!)

The Oriole and the Woodpecker
by David Elliott

Music lovers fast await
the first duet
of summer.
Oriole is vocalist.
Woodpecker is drummer.

(Isn't that perfect?! Of course I love the whole "duet" metaphor what with all the music in my life these days.)

The Macaw
by David Elliott

Who
spilled
the
paint?

(If that doesn't make you smile, you are in dire need of a day off... and more poetry. :)

I'm sitting here wondering which is my favorite bird... ever since SUMMER OF THE SWANS, I have loved swans. I fell in love with the African tanager a few years ago... and every time the cardinals nest outside my kitchen window, they are totally my favorites. :) What about you? Any birds that hold particular appeal for you??

DORK DIARIES author Rachel Renee Russell On Writing Across Cultures

The latest issue of Writer's Digest magazine features an article by Tiffany Luckey on DORK DIARIES author Rachel Renee Russell. It's a great article.

When asked how she feels about authors writing about cultures other than their own, Ms. Russell said this:

"Authors of any race and gender should write - number one - what their heart and brain are leading them to write, and - number two - what they're passionate about."

"Authors of any race should be able to write other races. We see [white] authors writing people of color [all the time], so, to be fair, people of color should be able to write other races [as well]."

(Ms. Russell is African American, and her DORK DIARIES protagonist Nicki Maxwell is white.)

She also gave this bit of general advice:

"Write what you are comfortable with, write what you're interested in and what makes you happy."

YES.