Irene Latham's Blog, page 31

ArtSpeak: RED "Watermelon Time" after The Watermelons by Diego Rivera

Hello on this last day of National Poetry Month! I'm giving this poem it's own post because it was a bugger to write. You can view all the poems in the ArtSpeak: Red series (so far) on padlet. For this poem, I typed pages and pages of watermelon ideas -- only to discard them. It's hard to write about something so familiar and bring something fresh to a poem... and then I remembered one of Charles Water's poems about peanut butter that the kids adore. It uses rhyme, and so I decided I could do that, too, and at least make watermelon FUN (because it is!).
 So there you go. My only concern is: will kids know what "champagne" is? I don't know!

Here it is again, not tied to the image:

Watermelon Time
Honey, grab a watermelon.Baby, pick a big one!Now let's crack it open –we'll feast on juicy sun.
Honey, is your belly full?Baby, did you taste sweet rain?Watermelon, o watermelon!Summer's own champagne.
- Irene Latham

FOLLOW THE RECIPE: Poems about Imagination, Celebration, and Cake by Marilyn Singer

words by Marilyn Singer,
art by Marjorie PricemanHello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Christie at Wondering and Wandering for Roundup. Is it really the last Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month? How did this happen? Sigh.
I'm delighted today to welcome Marilyn Singer to Live Your Poem to talk about her (delicious!) new book.  As is my tradition for author interviews, I've provided Marilyn with four simple prompts. Take it away, Marilyn!
The delicious:

MS: As you might guess, a book entitled Follow the Recipe: Poems about Imagination, Celebration, and Cake (Dial, 2020) was inspired by the delicious. My husband, Steve Aronson, and I were in a restaurant in Howard Beach, NY. We’d just had a delightful time birdwatching at Jamaica Bay, and we were ready for a good meal. At an Italian restaurant, we ordered a dish we’d never had before—pasta e piselli, a simple and yummy combination of pasta and peas. While we were eating, an interesting idea struck me. I said to Steve, “Hmm, I wonder if a book of poems about recipes would work? Not just food recipes, but other kinds of recipes?” Steve knows that such ideas are dangerous—once they take hold, I can’t stop myself from doing something with them. That one took hold fast! The first poem I wrote was “recipe for patience” and it is about shelling peas.

At yet another delicious lunch, I mentioned the concept to my editor, Lucia Monfried, and she loved it. I wrote a bunch more poems and she accepted the manuscript. But she wanted more poems…which perhaps leads to the difficult…

The difficult:

MS: I’d already written a lot of poems and I wasn’t sure I had it in me to write more—and, I mean, like six or so more. But after some relaxation and refreshment (some of Steve’s good cooking—he’s the main chef in our house), I did write more. All of the poems in the book include mentions of food, sometimes metaphorically. Lucia suggested that they go from concrete to more abstract. So they start with “recipe for a good recipe” through poems such as “recipe for a poem” and end with “recipe for celebration.” One of the poems is a reverso, a form I created for Mirror Mirror (Dutton, 2010), illustrated by Josée Masse. It’s a poem with two halves. You read the first half down, then the same lines in reverse order, with changes only in punctuation and capitalization, and each half says something different. In Follow the Recipe, my reverso is a recipe for science.

Another difficult thing was finding the right illustrator for the book. It definitely took a while. But then Lucia suggested Marjorie Priceman, and I was thrilled. I love her work and I love what she did with our book. She used collages to make it seem like an old beloved book of recipes, perhaps one passed down among generations. I think it’s fabulous!

It also took us a while to come up with the title—and it usually does. LOL!-----More Marilyn responses below! But first... please enjoy this poem from the book (posted with permission from the publisher): words by Marilyn Singer, art by Marjorie PricemanRecipe for Endurance
Think of a time before blenders and mixers,electric fixers.
Think of a time before microwaves, stoves,when their wasn't sliced bread, only freshly baked loaves.
Keep stirring the pot.
Picture the chance to strengthen a limbwithout going to Gym.
Think of porridge or pudding or maybe risottoback in the day and use this as your motto.
Lots of things change. Some do not.Think of endurance - you still need it a lot.And keep stirring the pot.

- Marilyn Singer----------
The unexpected:

MS: I think pretty much any idea for a book is unexpected. It’s one of the surprises of being a writer. Some ideas don’t turn into full manuscripts. Some manuscripts don’t turn into books. When they do, it’s definitely an unexpected delight. And if they actually sell a lot of copies, that’s really unexpected. Heh.


Anything else:

MS: I hope people will enjoy the book and perhaps try writing their own recipe poems on a variety of topics. I also hope everyone will enjoy some cake—as well as sharing it together, in the near future.
Thank you, Marilyn, for visiting today!

Readers, please check out this book. And maybe write a recipe poem??? That's what I did. :) It was inspired by a friend who sent me a (Montana) sunset poem earlier this week to cheer me up on after a sad day. So much thoughtfulness in the world right now... I'm so so grateful. Truly, it's been tough. We'll get through it... we will, we will!


Recipe for a Sunset
skyand more sky
mountainor beach
birds,breeze
a hand to holdmaybe a dog
all the colorssinging
a placeto be still
to leaninto the world
together
- Irene Latham

"Everyday" Poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone for Roundup. 
Sometimes the thing that gets me through difficult times is simply sticking to the routine: writing in the morning, talking walks with husband and dog, practicing my cello. I guess that's what was on my mind when I selected this week's art and wrote my latest ArtSpeak! RED poem. Enjoy!



Everyday
River sloshesover washerwomen's feet
as they beat the clothesto make them clean.
Meanwhile buzzards wadepick, wait –
neither complainson these watercolor mornings
as the river sings.
- Irene Latham

A Poem for When the Wind Blows

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm for Roundup.

It's been a weird week for me... some tough moments, and some good ones, too. Can you relate?? Any time we get out on the lake is what seems to be the best medicine for me right now. I'm so grateful to have that available to help see me through this time... and I wish I could ship it out to all of you!

Be sure to see my post from yesterday about some unexpected good news about NINE: A BOOK OF NONET POEMS. :)

And I have a new ArtSpeak: RED poem to share with you.

999 Copies of NINE: A BOOK OF NONET POEMS on the Wall

Hello and happy April 9! A few months ago Amy Huntington, illustrator of NINE: A Book of Nonet Poems (and other books), suggested we celebrate NINE on the 9th of each month leading up to the book's release June 9, 2020. And so we have! And it's bee great!

Well. This week we were informed that due to issues related to COVID19, the book's on sale date was moved up... and it's already available for sale ! In April! For National Poetry Month! Two months early!


Hard to complain about a book coming early, right?? So anyway, no reviews have been posted yet... and I haven't been able to execute any of the plans I envisioned for NINE's release... 
Maybe later? Maybe never? I don't know! 
Right now I'm just going to share another spread from the book so you can get to know it a bit better. Meet my new animal friend:

Nine-Banded Armadillo
This creature wears nine belts but no pants.No socks ride its leathery legsyet it sports an armored coat.It dances by moonlightand feasts on termites, claws click-clicking,snout snufflingin wormdirt.
- Irene Latham
And here is a picture of an armadillo I met last year (7-banded, not 9-banded). Check out those claws!!
Let's call her "Josephine," shall we?
(It has 9 letters. :)

A HATFUL OF DRAGONS... and a Dash of Hope

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Heidi at my juicy little universe for Roundup.

Also, check out the roundup of National Poetry Month goodness at Jama's Alphabet Soup. As always, there's a ton of creativity going on in this community of poets... take that covid-19!

Today it is my pleasure to welcome Vikram Madan to respond to three simple prompts as they relate to his brand-new book A HATFUL OF DRAGONS, from Boyds Mills and Kane, which he both wrote and illustrated. Vikram and I were to be on the Poetry Roundup panel together at Texas Library Association, and I am so sorry that didn't happen! But it makes me extra-glad to have him for a visit here, at Live Your Poem. Take it away, Vikram!

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } </style> <br />--> <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>The delicious:</b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r127qpJ_q5..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r127qpJ_q5..." width="256" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>VM:</b> Although ‘<b>A Hatful of Dragons</b>’ is primarily a book of funny poems, the illustrations accompanying the poems are vital to the humor. I am a visual person (<a href="https://www.vikrammadan.com/paintings... ‘day job’ is ‘visual artist</a>’!) and I often conceive of poems as a visual whole - with words and images intertwining and playing off each other. When Rebecca Davis, my editor, distilled my raw manuscript into a more defined collection, she was drawn to the handful of poems that had linkages to each other. As we refined the book further, I found this a delicious area to explore: could I find ways to visually cross-connect the poems in unexpected ways, so as to enhance both the humor and the reading experience? I hope that attentive readers will have a delightful time discovering how recurring characters and visual narratives cross-connect the poems. (For example, can you find the characters from Page 56 on Page 38?)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>The difficult:</b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>VM: </b>I initially thought illustrating the book would be a breeze – just a matter of turning rough sketches into finished art. Boy was I wrong! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">My first set of illustrations ended up ‘too tight’ – I had the art-equivalent of stage-fright (this being my first traditionally published book) and overthought everything, making the resulting artwork look rigid and lifeless. It took gentle prodding from my editors to help me loosen up and breathe life into the drawings. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTXhK-D2KK..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="1246" height="131" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTXhK-D2KK..." width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Many times my art just had to ‘grow up’ to meet the ‘high expectations’. Other times I found myself iterating on possibilities trying to find the right look. For example here are eight (spot-the-differences!) layouts I created for the back cover (all of which were eventually rejected for being ‘too busy’):</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-59Gw2X7UA6..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1488" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-59Gw2X7UA6..." width="400" /></a></div><br />In general I ended up working on the art far more than I expected to. That said, it was a fabulous learning experience and my editors were wonderfully patient as I found my way.<br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>The unexpected:</b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>VM: </b>When I am writing rhyming poetry, I focus a lot on rhythm, rhyme, beat, scansion, and syllable count. What I did not expect at all was that the poems in the book would end up being copy-edited. And the copy editors would (rightly) suggest corrections to my (colloquial) punctuation, grammar, word and phrase usage, etc. Some of the requested changes threw a wrench (or more accurately, an unwanted syllable or two) into my carefully constructed stanzas and I had to go back to redo parts of some poems. In the process I had to grudgingly accept that, as writers for kids who are just learning to read, we have a responsibility to demonstrate the correct use of language, and hold ourselves to the higher standard, even if it makes our own jobs a little harder. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>Anything else:</b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>VM: </b>I’ve been amazed at my editors’ attention to detail. For example, my illustration for a poem titled ‘Time Machine’ had a subtle reference to the movie ‘<i>Back To The Future</i>’. I didn’t think anyone would notice it – but sure enough my editors spotted the ‘anomaly’! With their blessing that ‘easter-egg’ is still in the book – look for it on page 48! :)</div><br /><br /><b>***YAY! I found the Back to The Future 'easter-egg.' :) Also, you can hear Vikram reading poems from the book in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiOkW... />... and now for the latest installment of <a href="http://www.irenelatham.com/artspeak.h... RED</a> (<a href="https://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2020... National Poetry Month project extended across the entire year!</a>) ... I had hoped Vikram's book would inspire me to write something light, but that's not what happened. Sigh.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uU7qBniQ5Q..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uU7qBniQ5Q..." width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;">In the Midst of It All</span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">yes, the hills</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">are burning</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">lake bleeds</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">into sky</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">birds wing away –</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">why? why? why?</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">still –</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">sun calls,</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">enfolds us</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">in her cloak –</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">no more you</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">no more me</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">WE</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> </div>--> <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>- Irene Latham</i></div><br /><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> -->

(Choose Your Own) Progressive Poem is Here!

Hello and welcome to day 2 of this year's Progressive Poem! It's nice to continue this tradition in the midst of COVID19, isn't it?
So many thanks to Margaret for getting us organized and to Donna for getting us started!
In case you missed it, Donna surprised us all by going all Choose-Your-Own-Poem-Adventure and offering a choice of first lines:

"I feel the taste of green upon my toes, my toes"

or

"Sweet violets shimmy, daffodils sway"


Hmmm... I could imagine possibilities using either option, but ultimately I couldn't resist the language, color and movement in line 2! And since I enjoyed choosing so much, I decided I'd like to offer that option to Jone as well. So, here are your choices, Jone:

Sweet violets shimmy, daffodils sway

as warm rain sprinkles my face[or]along the wiregrass path to the lake

Can't wait to see what you decide... and where it takes us the rest of the month. Happy National Poetry Month to all! xo

1 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
2 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem
3 Jone MacCulloch, deowriter
4 Liz Steinglass
5 Buffy Silverman
6 Kay McGriff at https://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/
7 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
8 Tara Smith at Going to Walden
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme
11 Janet Fagel, hosted at Reflections on the Teche
12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
13 Kat Apel at Kat Whiskers
14 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
15 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
16 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
17 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
18 Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading
19 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
20 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
21 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
22 Julieanne Harmatz at To Read, To Write, To Be
23 Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
24 Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering
25 Amy at The Poem Farm
26 Dani Burtsfield at Doing the Work That Matters
27 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
28       
29 Fran Haley at lit bits and pieces
30 Michelle Kogan

Put on Your Red Shoes and... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit beautiful Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for Roundup.

It's been a quiet-ish week around here, filled with a number of home improvement projects like putting in some azaleas, touching up the paint on the outdoor furniture, wiping away the pollen, wiping away the pollen, wiping away the pollen...
Today I am thrilled to welcome one of the dearest children's poets ever Amy Ludwig VanDerwater in celebration of her new book WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!, illus. by Ryan O'Rourke, published by Boyds Mills and Kane. Is there any more generous poet among us than AmyLV? She has such a wonderful way of speaking directly to children exactly on their level, so all her books are musts for me. And now, please welcome Amy, who was kind enough to come on over and respond to a few simple prompts as they relate to this latest project.  Welcome, Amy!


The delicious: AmyLV: It is delicious to have a second book with the same illustrator. I adore Ryan O’Rourke’s art: his child expressions and textures and small details and bright colors and the way he plays with light on the page. Those pen and pencil butterflies and dragonflies delight me. I love that we have two books together, and I think of them as brother and sister books.
Butterfly Pencil Template from Ryan
Beautiful Amy!The difficult: AmyLV: This is the last book that my friend and mentor, Lee Bennett Hopkins, will ever see of mine. His death last August still surprises me, and I will always be grateful to him for his generosity. I hear Lee’s voice when I revise, and I hope I always will.
The unexpected:AmyLV: Sometimes people share their favorite poem in a newly released book. I have read several such comments about Write! Write! Write!, and I have been tickled to find there are many different favorites. It is my hope that many people will find a poem in this book that matches their experience of writing.  Anything else:AmyLV: Here is the book trailer I commissioned film student Patrick Krum to make. When I watch this, I imagine each of the book characters  jumping off the page!  Thank you, Amy! Want to know my favorite poem in the book? It's "The Pen."
The PenIn a town, there is a house.In the house, there is a room.
And in the room, there is a boy.And in his hand, he holds a pen.
And in the pen swirl drops of ink.They lead the boy to write and think.
And when he reads, the boy can see,the pen has set his stories free.
It could be you.It could be me.
(Pens are magical, you see.)
- Amy Ludwig VanDerwater----
Magical, indeed! And now... because Amy inspires me, I, too, will write about writing for my latest ArtSpeak! RED poem. Enjoy!


<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--> <div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>When I write to you,</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>I put on my red shoes</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead of <i>I am fine,</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I write: </div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">                  I<i>am divine!</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead of <i>I miss you,</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I confess:</div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>                  you are my bliss.</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">When you read my letter,</div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">do you </div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">                put on your red shoes, </div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">                                             too?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><br /></i></div><i>- Irene Latham</i>

A (red) Poppy Poem for Comfort and Cheer

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

The way I deal with stress is kind of a closing-in -- think turtle or snail. Which means limiting screen time especially. However, when I have popped my head out, it's been wonderful to find so many people in our community offering virtual learning during this time when kids are at home. What a great way to give to the world!

I also found some good book-news: THE CAT MAN OF ALEPPO, which I wrote with Karim Shamsi-Basha, illustrations by Yuko Shimizu, coming next month from Penguin has earned its 4th starred review! ★ ★ ★ ★

We're delighted and hopeful this means many readers will discover Alaa and be inspired by his good works. Plus... cats! Lots and lots of cats. :)

And... DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD, which I wrote with Charles Waters, illustrations by Mehrdokht Amini, released last month from Lerner has been selected by Naomi Shihab Nye as the Young People's Poet Laureate Book Pick for April. YAY! What an honor... we couldn't be more encouraged, especially during these challenging times.

And now for the latest installment of ArtSpeak: RED.  Like many of us, I have been compelled to return to old comforts this past week... which led me to write after "Red Poppies" by Mary Cassatt. Enjoy!


Boy in Poppy Field
So many poppiesunder the sun –so many poppies,but I only want one.
This tiny poppythat's broken, drowsy –this tiny trampled poppywho's probably feelinga little bit lousy.
I lift it from its webof thick, dead grass.I gaze into its wide, bright eye –Little poppy, I promise you:this, too, shall pass.
- Irene Latham

Another (red) Summer Poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme for Roundup.

This week has included the cancellation of 4 major book events I was so looking forward to! Strange times... wishing everyone health and good humor as we navigate these days.

The week also brought to our home this amazing sunrise:

And this wonderful bit of mail:
...my first finished copy of NINE
(which, yes, measures 9 in. x 9 in.!)
As for my ArtSpeak! Red project, I do have a new poem for you! I don't know why my brain is stuck on summer, but it most certainly is... read on!


Still Life with Summer
inside,a plate of tomatoeswaits for morningto ripen
- Irene Latham
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