Irene Latham's Blog, page 98

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "Courage"

Hello, and welcome to day 6 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.  Please join me, if you feel so inspired!  Also, please visit Carol at Beyond Literacy Link to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Two things about today: 1) I am at Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS. My presentation is called Reading is Delicious: Fresh, Fun Food Programming for Kids. Hello, all my fellow book lovers! 2) It's our 25th wedding anniversary! How did THAT happen? I'm so, so grateful for that man, this life. Love love love.

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Orchard Barber Shop" after Gardener Pruning a Tree by Jacques Callot
"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
Today's poem is inspired by "Planting Corn" by Stanley Mazur. This poem went in an entirely different direction than I was expecting. What drew me to the painting was the row of women, and the farmer in charge. Yes, I could make this a feminist poem, but mostly I was drawn to the mathematics of planting and started out writing about the way the farmer measures the field like a seamstress. But then I read the April 5 (I write these poems a day ahead during National Poetry Month so I can post in a timely manner) reading in The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, which, in a wonderful bit of serendipity, spoke of the courage of the seed. And then that's all I could think about! So often I am inspired by what I am reading... which is a good reminder to read wide and often. (I can always go back and write the feminist and mathematics poems later.)

Courage
The seed in the apron pocketdoesn't knowit will growinto corn
yet it nevercomplainsabout the darkor the dirtor the farmer'scalloused hands –
instead it simplywaitsfor light.
- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #5 "Orchard Barber Shop"

Hello, and welcome to day 5 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.  Please join me, if you feel so inspired!  Also, please visit Penny at a penny and her jots to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:


"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
Today's piece is an etching, and since I am busybusy today preparing for my trip (this afternoon!) to Hattiesburg, MS for the amazing Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival (this year featuring Joyce Sidman! Jacqueline Woodson! Melissa Sweet! And so many others!!), this piece about garden work snagged my attention. 
There are so many chores associated with gardening -- and with being a human (haircuts, washing clothes, grocery shopping) -- and maybe they aren't all that glamorous, but they are kind of necessary. Just like everything I've got to accomplish before I hit the highway!

Orchard Barber Shop- after  "Gardener Pruning a Tree" by  Jacques Callot
Gardener turns barberwhen trees needs a trim –
snip, clip, slashhhhh!And then –
a bower full of flowersbears fashionable fruit,
each shiny faceboasting a slick, fresh style
that's just-right around the ears –
All because the gardenerpicked up a pair of shears.
- Irene Latham
I look forward to revising this one. :) Listen to me read the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "Orchard Barber Shop"

Hello, and welcome to day 5 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.  Please join me, if you feel so inspired!  Also, please visit Penny at a penny and her jots to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:


"Gardener's Companion" after The Watering Can by Georges Seurat"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
Today's piece is an etching, and since I am busybusy today preparing for my trip (this afternoon!) to Hattiesburg, MS for the amazing Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival (this year featuring Joyce Sidman! Jacqueline Woodson! Melissa Sweet! And so many others!!), this piece about garden work snagged my attention. 
There are so many chores associated with gardening -- and with being a human (haircuts, washing clothes, grocery shopping) -- and maybe they aren't all that glamorous, but they are kind of necessary. Just like everything I've got to accomplish before I hit the highway!

Orchard Barber Shop- after  "Gardener Pruning a Tree" by  Jacques Callot
Gardener turns barberwhen trees needs a trim –
snip, clip, slashhhhh!And then –
a bower full of flowersbears fashionable fruit,
each shiny faceboasting a slick, fresh style
that's just-right around the ears –
All because the gardenerpicked up a pair of shears.
- Irene Latham
I look forward to revising this one. :) Listen to me read the poem on Soundcloud.

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #4 "Gardener's Companion"

Hello, and welcome to day 4 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! One thing I love about writing poems after art is how wide and varied the responses can be. Fun!

We are just back from a wonderful few days in Los Angeles, which might have something to do with today's choice of painting... oh the things that nourish us! More on this in a minute.

First, I do hope you'll pop in on Diane at Random Noodling to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
Today's image "The Watering Can" really speaks to me. Something I'm learning about myself as I write these poems inspired by art is that I really love still life images. I especially love giving voice to those inanimate objects whose stories need to be told! I'm also drawn to the fun of imagining myself as something else, and also the freedom that allows me as a poet. I mean, since a watering can can't actually talk, I can give it whatever life I choose! I find this kind of writing delightful. And, this one turned out to be kind of a riddle poem, which I wasn't expecting. I do try to write a poem that can also stand alone (without the art), and I think this one does. I am more successful with some poems than with others!
Also, here we go again: readers from last year may remember I discovered a theme in my ARTSPEAK! poems -- waiting. Here it is again, in this poem. Poems certainly reveal us, don't they?


Gardener's Companion - after Watering Can by Georges Seurat
I wait for the farmerthrough the afternoon heat –
I go where the hosepipecannot reach.
Sometimes I spring a leak,but even then,
I never speak.
When the sun beams down
my skin gleams like a leaping silver fish.
I have but one wish:come now,
take me into your hands –I am a watering can.
- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (Turns out *I* can't see the embedded file, but others can... so maybe it's an issue with my own browser... still working on it!)

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "Gardener's Companion"

Hello, and welcome to day 4 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. Please join me, if you feel so inspired! One thing I love about writing poems after art is how wide and varied the responses can be. Fun!

We are just back from a wonderful few days in Los Angeles, which might have something to do with today's choice of painting... oh the things that nourish us! More on this in a minute.

First, I do hope you'll pop in on Diane at Random Noodling to see how our Progressive poem is progressing!

Okay, back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems so far:

"Man, Reading" after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Tissot"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
Today's image "The Watering Can" really speaks to me. Something I'm learning about myself as I write these poems inspired by art is that I really love still life images. I especially love giving voice to those inanimate objects whose stories need to be told! I'm also drawn to the fun of imagining myself as something else, and also the freedom that allows me as a poet. I mean, since a watering can can't actually talk, I can give it whatever life I choose! I find this kind of writing delightful. And, this one turned out to be kind of a riddle poem, which I wasn't expecting. I do try to write a poem that can also stand alone (without the art), and I think this one does. I am more successful with some poems than with others!
Also, here we go again: readers from last year may remember I discovered a theme in my ARTSPEAK! poems -- waiting. Here it is again, in this poem. Poems certainly reveal us, don't they?


Gardener's Companion - after Watering Can by Georges Seurat
I wait for the farmerthrough the afternoon heat –
I go where the hosepipecannot reach.
Sometimes I spring a leak,but even then,
I never speak.
When the sun beams down
my skin gleams like a leaping silver fish.
I have but one wish:come now,
take me into your hands –I am a watering can.
- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (Turns out *I* can't see the embedded file, but others can... so maybe it's an issue with my own browser... still working on it!)

ARTSPEAK! 2016: Poem #3 "Man, Reading"

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.

Before we get to that, Now, please visit Doraine at Dori Reads to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

Okay, so this year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems I've written so far:

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

So, Day 3, and I'm already stretching the theme a bit. What does a piece that features a man reading in a garden have to do with Plant. Grow. Eat? Well, I think maybe a lot of things! All is metaphor with we poets, isn't it? And this guy surely has a story... and one thing I've learned from entering contests is that it helps to come at a subject from an odd angle. You want to be the poet who writes something unexpected and memorable about a subject. But mostly I selected today's piece because I love writing love poems. And it just seemed like a Sunday thing to do!  
Man, Reading- after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Jacques-Joseph Tissot
And this benchis where I shall meetthe one who'll makea garden of my life –
I'll be reading(in my dapper suit)and she'll say,you're reading that one? Me too!
And not a blossomin the gardenshall compareto the bounty we find there –
the two of us,now a pair,sharing a bench,talking about books.
- Irene Latham

Click to listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "Man, Reading"

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.

Before we get to that, Now, please visit Doraine at Dori Reads to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

Okay, so this year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here are the poems I've written so far:

"At the Vegetable Market" after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro

So, Day 3, and I'm already stretching the theme a bit. What does a piece that features a man reading in a garden have to do with Plant. Grow. Eat? Well, I think maybe a lot of things! All is metaphor with we poets, isn't it? And this guy surely has a story... and one thing I've learned from entering contests is that it helps to come at a subject from an odd angle. You want to be the poet who writes something unexpected and memorable about a subject. But mostly I selected today's piece because I love writing love poems. And it just seemed like a Sunday thing to do!  
Man, Reading- after Denoisel Reading in the Garden by James Jacques-Joseph Tissot
And this benchis where I shall meetthe one who'll makea garden of my life –
I'll be reading(in my dapper suit)and she'll say,you're reading that one? Me too!
And not a blossomin the gardenshall compareto the bounty we find there –
the two of us,now a pair,sharing a bench,talking about books.
- Irene Latham

Click to listen to the poem on Soundcloud!

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "At the Vegetable Market"

Hello, and welcome to day 2 of my National Poetry Month poem-a-day-project ARTSPEAK! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art.

Before we get to the poem, please don your leis and visit Joy Acey (in Hawaii!) to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing! There's quite an unexpected word in the line today. Enjoy!

Back to ARTSPEAK! This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market. Here's yesterday's poem:"Triolet for Planting Day" after The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
I selected today's poem because many farmers' markets happen on Saturdays, so what better way to celebrate the first Saturday of National Poetry Month? And yes, this is a piece by the same artist as yesterday. We will be seeing more of Mr. Pissarro before the month is through!
What caught my eye in this poem was the little girl hidden behind the basket. I've been that little girl at the market with Mama. I know the rules. I decided to give my experience to the girl in the art.

At the Vegetable Market- after Vegetable Market at Pontoise by Camille Pissarro
Mama says,never go to the markethungry.
Shesays I can't sayI want I wantor Pleeeeeeeease.
no matter how bluethe blueberriesor how perfectthe potato.
But I don't careabout money,and I am always hungry.
So I smile wider thana watermelon rindand my cheeks turn round as tomatoes
when the lady with the basketleans in close,
says, want a taste?

- Irene Latham

Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (still having trouble embedding... grr)

ARTSPEAK! 2016: "Triolet for Planting Day"

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! I am out adventuring with my family this week -- living my poem! -- but please be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm for Roundup.  
Also, be sure to check out the first line of our Progressive Poem, over at Laura's blog!
Woohoo, it's NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!!!
Here at Live Your Poem I am celebrating by continuing the poem-a-day-project I started last year: ArtSpeak! in which I respond to images found in the online collections at the National Gallery of Art. This year's theme is "Plant. Grow Eat." It was inspired by the release of my latest book FRESH DELICIOUS: Poems from the Farmers' Market.
This year I decided to start off with the "title" image. I don't know why -- it just sort of happened! 
The piece is "The Artist's Garden at Eragny" by Camille Pissarro. I love this image of the woman planting... I have known this woman (my grandmother, my mother) and I have been this woman. 
Planting a garden is full of hope, the weather is generally lovely, and there aren't yet any weeds. (Of all the garden chores, I HATE weeding. Grr.) But planting -- it's the most fun part of gardening, if you ask me! Yet, it's quite repetitious, isn't it? 
Which is how I came to write this poem as a triolet. (Remember Laura Shovan's "wild" triolet? I love it!) You'll notice that mine isn't a strict triolet, but a variation. I love variations. Truly. 
And isn't the whole poem a metaphor for what we poets are doing today, on this first (quiet) April morning of National Poetry Month? Enjoy!


Triolet for Planting Day
- after “The Artist's Garden at Eragny” by Camille Pissarro

This is the way we plant the seeds

on a quiet April morning:

Poke, press, cover is our mantra, our creed.

This is the way we plant the seeds,

as soil favors gentleness over speed.

Later, weeds may offer warning,

but today, this is the way we plant the seeds.

The garden starts on a quiet April morning.

- Irene Latham

**Listen to the poem on Soundcloud! (I am having issues embedding the track... hmmm...)

Five Ways to Be Bold

Hello! It's Spiritual Journey Thursday, and I'm out adventuring, but I couldn't NOT leave a post in celebration of Donna's One Little Word BOLD.

When I look back over my life, I realize that even though I am a self-professed shy, introverted person, I have also had some really bold moments -- one such moment came to me this morning: when I was 11, I was the first girl acolyte at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington, Louisiana.

 I've also had plenty of wish-I'd-been bold moments. That's sort of what I want to talk about today. Because I'm learning being bold isn't always about being loud or brash or outlandish or first. For me, lately, it's about these five things instead.

How To Be BOLD

1. Be honest. About who you are, what you like, what you want, what you think.

2. Speak up.  Even when no one asks. Maybe especially when no one asks. Who you are and what you like/want/think is important, and no one will know unless you tell them.

3. Try something new. Read a book in a genre you don't usually choose. Sign up for sushi lessons -- even if you don't like sushi. (It will grow on you, I promise.) Go to a thrift store and buy something you'd never wear -- and wear it!

4. Say Yes. And NO. Yes to adventure, to an invitation for coffee, to getting up in the middle of the night to watch a meteor shower. Say NO when it interferes with what you really want to be doing or when it hurts you (or others) or when what you need more than anything is a nap.

Bold Oliver!5. Wear rainbow shoelaces. Walk around in the world like it's a beautiful place to be, and you are so delighted to be in it. Smile at strangers. When someone says, I like your shoelaces, do a little dance step and invite them to join in. Sure, they might say no, they might think you're crazy. But this is a way to reach out and connect with the world. And I can't think of anything BOLDer than that.

Please come back tomorrow for the kickoff of my 2016 National Poetry Month project ARTSPEAK! Plant. Grow. Eat. Yay!