Irene Latham's Blog, page 24

An Accidental Wedding Poem!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure and visit Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for Roundup. Thanks to all—especially the teachers among us—who shared experiences about transitioning to summer. I'm lifting a glass of homemade strawberry lemonade to all of you!

Something fun this week: My friend & poet & anthologist Nancy Tupper Ling invited me to be part of her Author Acrostic series! Be sure to check out all the authors in the series at Nancy's website. I'm on a social media hiatus, so I'll share mine with you here:

In the beginning, my parents

Read to me. I learned the joyful

Exuberance of words!

Now I'm learning there aren't

Enough words, and even less time.

- Irene Latham

Also, this week, I've been updating my website! More on that soon. And Tabatha helped me format a little zine to go with WILD PEACE. Link coming soon! Creating digital content sure does gobble the time, doesn't it?

For my ARTSPEAK: Four Seasons poem this week, I knew I wanted to write after this Klimt apple piece, and I decided to use a 7-line mentor poem with an odd rhyme scheme. I couldn't figure out my beginning, so I started building the poem from the bottom up... and I'd only got the last four lines done when I decided it was a poem! (I'll try the 7-liner poem another time.)

Mountain Wedding
Afternoon rainbecomes summer's champagneas sunbeam marries shadow in a forest chapel—and outside, trees carry bouquets of apples.
- Irene Latham

Twilight Time (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Laura Shovan for Roundup.

This week I have been learning again how to relax! I don't know if this happens to you, but after a period of intense activity (2 months of many presentations and mad revisions!), it's taken me a couple of weeks to wind down... and this week, finally, I felt myself sink into the days, my mind not constantly cataloging what needs to be done next. Also this week I was able to connect with some dear-to-me folks, so that certainly has added to my sense of peace and contentment. I guess I'm summering! And I hope you are too.

Here's my latest ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem. Thank you so much for reading.

Twilight Time
When night rises,
shadows fall—
warm stars
welcome all
across the yard,
across the dark—
where lightning bugs
leave their mark.
How these summer
             evenings
glitter-gleam!
Each blink
both a heartbeat
and forever
as Sun settles in
to dream.

- Irene Latham

Paddling During a Pandemic (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit LInda at A Word Edgewise for Roundup.

Now that I've entered the ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS "Summer" Museum, I realize I have written A LOT of art poems about summer! And I am quite excited to add more to the collection. 

Funny thing: during the pandemic, I wanted nothing to do with writing about the pandemic. And now that it feels mostly in the rearview mirror, voila! a pandemic poem! Thank you so much for reading.

Paddling During a Pandemic

sun's blade
slices morning

as canoe
cuts river's
current—

peace glides in
with a ripple,

   dip,
            splash!

each stroke
a kaleidoscope
of hope
- Irene Latham

Last Poem of Spring!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Buffy Silverman for Roundup.

I can't believe we are on the verge of Summer...O Spring, where did you go?

Highlights form the past week:

1) an in-person book signing for D-39! Kids came for a special, intimate ticketed event for the first hour (and invented their own robodogs!), and then the second hour was open to the public. Imagine my delight when dear friends (Ann Marie! Paige! Kai! Katie Jane!), new friends (Olive! Walter!), and Cappuccino (a dog!) showed up! I'm so grateful to Little Professor Books for hosting this event. Independent bookstores are THE BEST!

Check out Macie's D-88 robodog. :)

2) an in-person teaching students how to write nonets at a Literacy Camp in Auburn, Alabama. Thank you, Betty, for inviting me!

3) participating in a zoom panel for a keynote session as part of ASLA conference, along with Randi Pink and Anna Birch.

4) presenting in-person PD with Alabama history teachers. I also got to share with them about the forthcoming (with Charles Waters) AFRICAN TOWN. :)

And tonight I'll be watching some of my favorite kids perform in a play. Life is good!

As for my ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem, turns out it's my last Spring poem. Wow! I'll be searching out some Summer art between now and next Poetry Friday. Thank you so much for reading!

Horses Plowing in Spring

dirt moves
easy
beneath blades—

hooves leave
secret messages
in the furrows—

Spring: welcome!

Rain: come often,
but don't stay too
                    long. . .

Farmer: thank you
for giving us work.

Sun: shine on!
- Irene Latham

Margot Says Hello to Spring (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at Carol's Corner for Roundup.

Sometimes when I have only a few minutes, I turn to old favorite poems as mentor texts to jumpstart my writing. Such was the case this week, when yesterday, upon returning from a most lovely week away from home, I needed to write another ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem. I used "Summer Stars" by Carl Sandburg as my mentor text and set it to a gorgeous piece by Mary Cassatt. Thank you so much for reading.

Margot Says Hello to Spring

Grow with me,
afternoon of spring blossoms.
So friendly you are,
garden of spring blossoms,
So friendly, a girl in a hat
can swim in blossoms,
wade across oceans
of splashy colors,
So friendly you are,
spring blossoms,
So friendly, waving,
                       waving,
So warm and brave-waving.

- Irene Latham

"May Promenade" poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for Roundup.

I am out adventuring! I did (of course) make time to write a new ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem... though in my poem, it's May instead of June! (Where did May go?!) Thank you so much for reading!

May Promenade

parasols
              pop

kites kiss
clouds

sun shatters
afternoon

as dusty streets
puff
               praise

sudden
downpour

           of boots
- Irene Latham

"Why Roses" poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Michelle at Michelle Kogan for Roundup.

I'm in with a quick kind-of-experimental latest poem in my ArtSpeak: Four Seasons series. As many of you know, van Gogh is my artist of choice. Today's piece is one he created while in the asylum, so I put it in his voice—and I tried to create something that could be read in two different ways: both as a traditional l-r poem and as 2-poems-in-1 (when read in columns). What a challenge! I'm sure I'll keep tinkering, but here's where I've landed for now.

Speaking of tinkering: so many thanks for friends sending notes after reading D-39 (and meeting tinkerer-heroine Klynt!). Truly, it means so much to hear your reactions. Mwah! Thank you so much for reading!

Why Roses

because—                                  asylum walls
                                                   are grey

because I have—                        thorns

because
I remember                                 Paris—

(ribbons of pink                          hopeful green)

because my song
is paint &                                    brushstrokes—

I am                                             alive!
- Irene Latham

"A Good Teacher" #PoemsforMaryLee #MarvelousMaryLee

 

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Christie at Wondering and Wandering for Roundup. 
It's a very special Poetry Friday today because we are celebrating  #MarvelousMaryLee with #PoemsforMaryLee—because Mary Lee is retiring after 37 years as a classroom teacher!

How I wish I'd had a teacher like Mary Lee! I love thinking about the impact Mary Lee has had on so many lives... including mine. I've been learning from Mary Lee ever since I joined the Poetry Friday community. Nearly 10 years ago I wrote a post/poem "Ode to Mary Lee." I admire Mary Lee's willingness to be vulnerable and the bold way she embraces teaching/human challenges like talking about race. I'm often inspired by her poems and thoughts, and always always grateful for the ways she brings all of us together by organizing the Roundup schedule time and time again.

In honor of Mary Lee's service to so many, here is the "Service" poem from DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD.

... and here is a new poem I wrote for Mary Lee... with a haiku syllable count, because I know Mary Lee loves haiku!... but I had to add a title:

 A Good Teacher
fills young minds with morethan mathematics—they learnhow to spell themselves
- Irene Latham

*THIS JUST IN! A bonus #MarvelousMaryLee #PoemsforMaryLee from dear Ann Marie Corgill!

A Poem For #MarvelousMaryLee 

From Ann Marie

Roses are red
But I’m not a poet
Mary Lee is quite awesome
Can I adequately show it?

I’ll just write from my heart
Because words come from there
She’s a gift to our profession
A friend, true and rare.

Classrooms full of kids, year after year
Have learned, grown, and thrived
Under her care.

Far across the miles, or across the dinner table,
Mary Lee’s taught us all
Always willing and able.

Now it’s time to take a break
Smell the roses, catch the fish
Read, write, rest, and travel
Do exactly as you wish!

Happy retirement, Mary Lee!
All good wishes I do send
Enjoy your new beginning
My poem is over now….The End.

----

... and here is my latest ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem! Thanks so much for reading. xo

Fishing in Spring (Life is but a Dream)

row row row your boat

fish ignore
flashy lure

                sink
                deep

row row row your boat

afternoon
drifts,
                floats

row row row your boat

let your heart
bobble,

                catch       hope
- Irene Latham

Because a poem is for everyone. (Roundup is Here!)

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Roundup is here at Live Your Poem.
Note: if you have a WordPress blog, due to some setting/error/? I am currently not able to leave a comment. I am so sorry! 

When I signed up to host I was thinking how lovely it would be, because SPRING! 

And now here it is, and my new middle grade dystopian verse novel D-39: A Robodog's Journey releases next Tuesday!

Many thanks to those who have already helped me to celebrate... Sylvia had me (and others!) answer some tough questions about writing verse novels with tough topics over at Poetry for Children.

Janice gave a sneak peek over at Salt City Verse.

and Linda's post today at A Word Edgewise has me answering just 3 of the 8 (excellent! thoughtful!) questions Linda crafted after reading D-39... because I am (still) buried in revisions, she's given me permission to address the other ones at a later date. 

Thank you!

One of the really exciting things about D-39 is that Mary Lee Hahn wrote the Discussion Guide! It's pretty amazing, just like Mary Lee.

With that in mind, I want to share with you three of D-39's "Poem Friends" from the Guide. (There are 10 in the Guide!)

The first, "The Journey" by Mary Oliver is one you're probably familiar with. If I had to pick ONE poem to pair with D-39, this would be it!

The second you also probably know: "Perhaps the World Ends Here" by Joy Harjo. The accompanying question in the Guide is Where does Klynt's world begin? (Where does your world begin? Where does mine?) Nothing like the end of the world to prompt such queries!

The third is one you may not know— "A Center" by Ha Jin. It begins:

"You must hold your quiet center,
where you do what only you can do.
If others call you a maniac or a fool,
just let them wag their tongues."
Klynt holds her quiet center... and her "distant" center. I loved getting to know her and D-39! And I hope you will, too.
And here's a new (Spring!) ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem. The "Girl" in the poem could be Klynt. Thank you so much for reading!!

A Poem for the Girl by the Lake

a poem wears a hat in spring
a poem wanders off the path
a poem gathers shy blooms
a poem listens to ticklish grass

a poem ripples along the shore
a poem serenades the sun
a poem isn't afraid of shadows
a poem is for everyone

- Irene Latham

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From Here to Happy (poem)

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Bridget at wee words for wee ones for Roundup.

I'm excited to be sharing time with some of you this coming Monday night for Diving into the Wreck: How to Revise Poetry. Yay! (If you missed this before, there's still time to sign up!)

Charles Waters and I are neck-deep in revisions of AFRICAN TOWN, our historical fiction YA verse novel coming early next year... but I did sneak away from that work to write a new ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem. Thank you so much for reading!

From Here to Happy

Meet me at the bridge
where the wild lilies grow.
Meet me before breakfast,
and we'll watch the Morning Show—

one turtle, two turtles. . .
look, now there's four!
And a pair of glossy ducks
where there were none before.

Meet me at the bridge
where the wild lilies sway.
Between fish-nibbles and sun-ripples
the pond smiles at us all day.
- Irene Latham