Joyce Ray's Blog

Twig and Turtle for Early Readers

One of my finds at the wonderful Bath Book Bash in Bath,Maine two weeks ago was Twig and Turtle, No Hard Feelings by JenniferJacobson. I’m new to this early reader series, coming in at number #6, but nowthat I’ve found it, gift giving for my eight-year-old Grand One, Emily, is inthe bag.

Pop singer Mae, with a hit environmental song and accompanyingdance called Mae’s Say that sisters Twig and Turtle love to perform, iscoming to town to visit her cousin - Twig’s friend Lottie. Lottie can inviteone friend to dinner. Who will it be? When Twig experiences two rejections inone day, she stumbles upon a TED talk speaker who loses his fear of rejectionby actually trying to get people to say NO to him one hundred times. When Twig’sand Turtle’s family agrees to the challenge of gathering five rejections in oneweek, Turtle is off and running. “May I have a taste,” she asks a stranger witha Danish.

Sometimes rejection is hard to come by. But Mom, Dad, Twig,and Turtle each have their turn at the prize of being royalty for a night. Twigrealizes that there are often reasons for rejection and learns to take themless personally. When Mae surprises Twig and Turtle with a visit in response toTwig’s letter, everyone gets to sing and dance Mae’s Say with its famousartist. Illustration sketches by Paula Franco add to Twig and Turtle’scharm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praise for Twig and Turtle come from School Library Journaland The Horn Book. My Christmas shopping for Emily is done!

At the Book Bash, Jennifer Jacobson shared a table withJamie Hogan, illustrator of Jacobson’s picture book Oh, Chickadee!

 

A Moon Poem

Ramona hosts Poetry Friday today at Pleasures from the Page. Thank you, Ramona! A big thank you to Irene Latham for the autographed copy of Moonstruck! Poems About Our Moon, edited by Roger Stevens and illustrated by Ed Boxall. In celebration of the upcoming publication of The Museum on the Moon, Irene offered Stevens' book of poems by random selection. It arrived in my mailbox! The anthology features Roger Stevens' fun poems, along with moon poems by other poets. Emily  Brontё's poem "Moonlight, Summer Moonlight" is included.

Moonlight, Summer Moonlight 

'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight,
All soft and still and fair;
The solemn hour of midnight
Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,

But most where trees are sending
Their breezy boughs on high,
Or stooping low are lending
A shelter from the sky.

And there in those wild bowers
A lovely form is laid;
Green grass and dew-steeped flowers
Wave gently round her head. With all these moon poems in my brain, I visited the Colby College Art Museum and found a moon painting! August Moon, by Dan Namingha, is part of an installation named "Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts and Village."  20 and 21st century Native artists' work is paired with art by the Taos Society of Artists in early 1900s New Mexico, creating a dialogue with differing perspectives of Pueblo culture.

Namingha's gorgeous painting inspired me to write this poem, a Nonet, which I learned to write in this poetry forum. If you're not familiar with this form, it's a nine-line poem with the first line containing 9 syllables. The remaining lines contain syllables in descending order. So 9 syllables followed by 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. Since this poem is inspired by a painting, it's an ekphrastic nonet!

Three Sisters

They stretch in waves of harvest colornow summoned by Moon Mother's glow.Three sisters raised with strong rootshelped one another grow.On a moonlit stage,corn, beans, and squash,moon-boldened,laugh atCrow.            ~Joyce Ray ©2023

LIGHT COMES TO SHADOW MOUNTAIN - a Book Review

 

 

This bookreview comes an admission – Author Toni Buzzeo is a personal friend! She is a NewYork Times best-selling children’s author who has published twenty-ninepicture books, including the 2013 Caldecott Honor ONE COOL FRIEND, illustratedby David Small. I am delighted to recommend Toni’s first Middle Grade novel, LIGHTCOMES TO SHADOW MOUNTAIN, published this summer by Holiday House.

Cora MaeTipton yearns for electricity to come to her Kentucky mountain in 1937.Convinced of its benefits, she and her best friend set out to educate theirclassmates through a school newspaper, in hopes they will persuade parents tojoin the electric cooperative. Resistance to change comes from where it mattersmost – Cora’s and Ceilly’s own homes. As much as Cora loves her rural mountainlife, she knows that the future will require communication dependent upon electricity.Her dream of becoming a journalist also depends on light for nighttime examstudies. Cora will win readers’ hearts as she navigates the demands of a mothersuffering from depression, the near tragedy of an injured brother, and her ownsorrow in her quest to bring light to Shadow Mountain.

Author ToniBuzzeo has created a detailed setting for well-developed characters in thisstory of friendship, family, loss, and personal motivation. While the action keepsthe reader turning the page, Light Comes to Shadow Mountain is a raregem of a book that invites reflection. Readers who love Lauren Wolk’s EchoMountain will love Light Comes to Shadow Mountain.

You canvisit Toni on her website: https://tonibuzzeo.com/

 

 

After Edna St. Vincent Millay

Karen Eastlund hosts this week's Roundup. Thank you, Karen. Find all the poetic offerings and end-of-June musings over at Karen's Got a Blog!

This week I'm writing from Maine, and it feels so good to be back in my home state. Almost as if to welcome me home, one of my poems aired on WERU Community Radio in Blue, Hill, Maine last week.

During an April online workshop, participants were asked to write a poem using the first line of another poem. I began with the delicious first line of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, "Elegy Before Death."



There will be rose and rhododendron   (after Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Elegy Before Death”)
There will be rose and rhododendronbefore you take your leave.Apple blossoms’ heady scentwill welcome swarms of bees.
In the crotch of Cortland branches,finches will nest and sing.Eggs will hatch, young will fledge,blind to your scourge’s sting.
There will be solitary picnicsbeneath gnarled apple trees,gratitude for setting fruit,for cool shade of leaves.
Oh, would the plucked fruit of Eve,her curious mind cursed,yield knowledge of a longed-for curebefore orchard drops are pressed!
Your demise will leave us reeling.Our wounds are grave and deep.Not one of us will mourn your passing;for you, we will not weep.
            ~Joyce Ray © 2020
You can hear the radio recording of the poem on a post on my website, along with a piece about my writing journey.  I'd love to have a visit from you!

Some Keep the Sabbath

Many thanks to my friend Anne who reminded me of this Emily Dickinson poem. It seems so appropriate for these Covid-19 times when many congregations choose to keep each other safe and so are reluctant to gather in person to worship.


 
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –I keep it, staying at Home –With a Bobolink for a Chorister –And an Orchard, for a Dome –
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –I, just wear my Wings –And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,Our little Sexton – sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman –And the sermon is never long,So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –I’m going, all along.
                      ~  Emily Dickinson

Our congregation has been worshiping at least nine weeks with the aid of lovely pre-recorded YouTube videos. So we are truly "staying at Home." Our pastor and one musician work diligently to prepare the service, and it is so much more time intensive than preparing a traditional service. With no concrete plans to return to in-sanctuary community worship this summer, perhaps we need to consider an outdoor gathering where we can more fully pay attention to warblers and leafy trees.


Poetry Friday is over at A Year of Reading. Thanks to Mary Lee, and have fun discovering the poem offerings this week.

Litany for Pines

 Happy May Day and Poetry Friday! Elizabeth Steinglass has the Roundup today and offers a great video where she shares poems from her terrific book Soccerverse. Many thanks, Elizabeth!
This past week we had to do a difficult thing; we cut down 10 pine trees very close to our home.

We have lived with these trees for forty-two years, and they were huge when we arrived. This winter strong winds sheared off a thirty-foot top, which, thankfully, did not land on the roof. So it was time to say goodbye with gratitude. 
We spoke this litany to the sentinels who stood with us for so long.
 To Our Pines
To pines who have sheltered us from wind and snowwhose shade has cooled uswe offer gratitude.And let you go.
For birds’ nests and sighing branches,for holding swings, wind chimes and clothes lineswe offer gratitude.And let you go.
To friends who’ve grown older with us,given us oxygen to breathe,we offer gratitude.And let you go.
May your spirits remain close,your whispers stay in memory,your legacy bless what shall come anew.We let you go.

Spring Collective Poem

Some of us in the Northeast are still awaiting spring (New Hampshire had snow Wednesday night).  But we welcome much needed reminder of resurrection coming this Sunday with Orthodox Easter.

At our Easter dinner last week, we gathered our daughter, son-in-law and grandson from next door. They have been shopping for our groceries, so we have contact with them when they deliver. We almost did not get together for a meal, but on Sunday morning, I caved. After dinner, we collectively wrote a poem.


Plastic eggs contained one piece of chocolate gleaned from the cupboard and two slips of paper. One slip had words, the other was blank. We all wrote lines on the blank papers. The last person to finish writing (our grandson) arranged the poem lines.


    Easter has come
    Spring into life!
    Snow is gone for now
    Daffodils sway
    Puppies play
    Smile
    Turn that frown upside down
    Hope
    People helping people
    We are loved
    Peace be with you!







There are all sorts of poem trails to follow at Nix the Comfort Zone. Thanks to Molly for hosting. May you all be well and healthy and find ways to feed your souls. May resurrection from this pandemic come sooner rather than later.

Egg Poems

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 Happy Poetry Friday and Spring! Michelle Kogan hosts the Poetry Roundup today, featuring spring poems from the latest edition of The Best of Today's Little Ditty.

The old blown egg idea came to me last week, probably in anticipation and hope for spring here in the Northeast. Also because we’ve been enjoying eggs from our daughter’s chickens, and somehow I look at each egg less casually since I know the effort that produced it – both the hen’s and our daughter’s!
So I googled blown eggs and set to work with a turkey lacing pin and a lot of hot air! These are the egg poems I wrote.

solitudeembryo shelteringin place
enlightenmentfirst sunlight streamingthrough pecked hole  My hope is that those who are at home will find ways to embrace solitude in these unusual days, and that those who are out there working for the good of all of us will be protected and safe.

Valentine Encouragement

Happy Valentine's Day to the Poetry Friday Community. Thank you for the love and encouragement you share with each post. The kind words offered by so many are true gifts that uplift and spur us to keep writing. Hop around to all the poems offered today by visiting Linda at Teacher Dance! Thanks for hosting, Linda.

We have two grandchildren new to college this year, in Connecticut and Virginia, and while I wanted to continue giving them valentine goodies, I also wanted to encourage them in this new phase of their lives.


            Deep Brain, flex            risk unlimited vision            reach around the globe            now what?




So I turned to the seed catalog and my word pool - remember that wonderful idea from poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge? I love re-reading that book.

These found poems went into their boxes of chocolate chip cookies and favorite candy bars. Just so they'll remember I'm cheering for them.




Out on the rocky horizonyour path, a maphatching endless possibilitiesNo worries!

Winter Poem Swap

When Michelle Kogan's Winter Poem Swap package arrived, I immediately knew she had no qualms about sleuthing around my blog to discover my interests. I am grateful that she wove my love of history, Saint Hildegard's monastic ruins and my Greek ancestry all into a poem about the solace we all seek at this point in our history.

CLOISTER REMNANTS...      For Joyce Ray
Time travel through sacred doorways under ancient arched pathways, and through cloister remnants of long ago... Set aside your electronic contraptions, your political mayhem, and sit with history soaking in moments of solace...
        © 2019 Michelle Kogan
 The poem unfolds in a beautiful accordion book illustrated with Michelle's art depicting scenes from her original painting of the Three Graces of Greek mythology in a cloister setting.  Michelle did visit the Cloisters museum in New York this past year!


I have to admit that I googled the Three Graces to learn what I didn't know. I discovered that I probably walked past Antonio Canova's stunning marble sculpture of the goddess sisters at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London last July. I was fresh off the plane and did not pay as much attention as I could have!


Included in my gift packet were samples of Michelle's fine art, all wrapped individually, so I could savor the discoveries. The poem appeared again, this time in a frameable print. I may decide to share the bounty by actually sending the art cards to friends, but I love the bookmark scene and accompanying poem so much that I plan to mount and frame it. How lucky I am to be able to enjoy Michelle's art as well as her poem!



Art and poetry have enriched this season, and with a grateful heart I share these holiday greetings from another century. My husband's mom saved everything!

A Glad Christmas

     This
greeting comes
with a spray
  of holly
To wish you a
  Christmas
glad and
  jolly!


Greetings. Greetings, and Oh say
  I called up Santa Claus today,
Told him to carry you his best
  And load you down like all
             possessed.


My Christmas Wish
          for You


May all the joy
   Of this glad day
Shine in your heart
   And on your way.




On this Winter Solstice, I wish you Love and Light on whatever path you walk. Buffy has the Roundup today. Head on over for Solstice celebrations and more! Thank you, Buffy.