Joyce Ray's Blog, page 3

POETRY PHOTO EXCHANGE

I'm sharing my response to Margaret Simon's Poetry/Photo Exchange where partners write poems from a photo prompt. The very poetic Mary Lee Hahn was my partner. She sent this photo and said, "Have fun!"

Photo by Mary Lee Hahn
I tried to have fun. I really did! It looks to me like that mantis is feeding on a stink bug. I could work with that. I began with mapping and all these words came to mind, starting with mandible: praying, prey, prehistoric, clutch, hunger, food chain, crunch, armor, cannibal, instinct.

Then I asked , What is the metaphor here?" May Sarton wrote in Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, "Metaphor teaches you what the poem is trying to tell you," and "Metaphor is the 'old wisdom' -the poet has to explore what the metaphor is saying." Then I thought about Yemen and Syria and all nations that are preyed upon. And the fun disappeared! 

After I wrote my "state -of-the-world" poem, I pushed myself to forget the metaphor and think more like a child. I'm glad I was able to let go of my serious side for a bit. Thank you, Mary lee, for the photo inspiration. 

Here is my poem, and yes, I saw a video of a praying mantis pouncing on a mouse!

My mandibles crunch armor,
rip mouse fur,
and before it's too late,
I devour the head
of my mate.
But you can be sure,
before I pounce,
I say a prayer. 

         ~Joyce Ray (All rights reserved)

Margaret hosts the Roundup today at Reflections on the Teche. Check out the poem photo pairings! Thank you, Margaret!

I'm sharing the poem I received in this year's student po...

I'm sharing the poem I received in this year's student poetry postcard project arranged by Jone MacCulloch, Media Specialist and Poet Extraordinaire.

Reuben's poem flew all the way to New Hampshire  from Silver Star Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington.


Brave Claudette ColvinI have courage like a lionBrave, determined, sharingShe stood up for bullyingDetermined Claudette Colvin
I was happy to see that Reuben's class has been learning about Claudette Colvin, who indeed showed courage at age fifteen when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery in March, 1955. I read that she told Newsweek, "I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other—saying, 'Sit down girl!'

So I thought I'd write a poem postcard to Reuben about one of these brave women who were heroes for Claudette. I chose Harriet Tubman.

Conductor Harriet TubmanEyes on freedom Bold, daring, heroic,Eyes on the North StarVigilant Harriet Tubman

Read more student post card poems at Check it Out . Thank you, Jone, for the opportunity to receive my lovely surprise in my mailbox.
  Jama has the Roundup today over at Jama's Alphabet Soup! Thank you, Jama.

CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? in New Hampshire

  Poetry FridayFresh Start Farms - Dunbarton, NHThanks to Tabatha for hosting Poetry Friday today. Congratulations to her and all who submitted poems on the release of IMPERFECT, poems about mistakes. Be sure to stop over at The Opposite of Indifference to sample this week's offerings and for a chance to win a genuine kintsugi kit! The beautiful answer for at least some mistakes!

Do you recognize this scenario that is being played out in different ways across our land and others? Farmland in our little New Hampshire town is now farmed by Somali-Bantu, Congolese and Bhutanese farmers. Local housing is part of a long range plan.

If your area does not have new farmers to welcome, perhaps you have new Americans or folks hoping to become Americans who contribute to your communities in other ways. How are they being welcomed?

Our church has opened a dialogue with these farmers from Fresh Start Farms. We will host them as they present their work during our worship service this Sunday on Earth Day and honor them with a luncheon following.

To encourage our new neighbors' integration into our community, we started with BOOKS, of course. We recommended a dozen current titles with children of color as main characters to our public and school libraries. They were purchased this spring.

Of course the libraries needed CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR: Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship by dear Poetry Friday colleagues Irene Latham and Charles Waters.


What can I say about this book? Parallel poems that celebrate the similarities and differences of two cultures. A picture book in verse. All of our common middle school experiences that will break your heart all over again. The story of an evolving friendship between two reluctant classmates depicted both in words and in the facial expressions skillfully assigned by illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. A precious jewel on any bookshelf. 

CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR is a joy, a hope, a promise. A promise I make to work for a future where every Charles and Irene can be friends. 
      Author Q&A

Golden Shovel Poetic Form

 

 

Sally Murphy, just back to school Way Down Under, is graciously hosting the Roundup today. Take a trip to Sally's for your poem feast!

Last week, I learned about the Golden Shovel poetic form when I discovered Nikki Grimes' book One Last Word. Grimes plays tribute to Harlem Renaissance poets by creating original poems around the words of first lines in their poems. She works with a "striking line" and incorporates the words of this line as the last words in the lines of her new poem.


Nikki Grimes uses a poem in the public domain by Jean Toomer as one of her source poems.

Storm Ending


Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,Great, hollow, bell-like flowers,Rumbling in the wind,Stretching clappers to strike our ears…Full-lipped flowersBitten by the sunBleeding rainDripping rain like golden honey —And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.
The first line inspires new verse in which Grimes reminds us that

The truth is, every day we rise is like thunder— a clap of surprise. Could be echoes of trouble, or blossoms of blessing.  
The poem continues, though I was perusing this volume in my local bookstore, so I don't have more of the poem to share. The book has vivid illustrations by many contemporary African American artists, including my friend Jan Spivey Gilchrist!

I found that Terrance Hayes wrote the first golden shovel sourcing the Gwendolyn Brooks poem, "We Real Cool."  So I was ready for something new this week.  I wonder if any Poetry Friday friends have tried this form. If anyone has shared golden shovel poems here and I've missed them, I'd love to read them.
Maine summer poems have been on my mind lately - too much winter up here already, and I'm down south in New Hampshire! I googled "Maine poems" and found this one by Kate Barnes, Maine's first poet laureate, which I used as my source poem.
Neighborliness

In Maine we're used to it, it's still
the custom to look out for the neighbors, a habit
handed down from the start
of the earliest fishing villages, of the first
long strings of hundred-acre farms
stretched along ridges, each one usually
just called, "The Road."
The entire poem can be read here, a beautiful tribute to communities watching over one another.    I took the first line as my striking line. The word neighborliness just wanted to creep in there, but I'm not so satisfied with the last line of this draft. It sounds too adult for a kid's poem. I'm open to suggestions!

All in all, I enjoyed the process and will certainly dig up another poem with a golden shovel provided by a poem I like.
 In Maine we're used to it, it's still                         after Kate Barnes

When rain, snow and sleet hang on in March, up here in Maine we’re holding fast to what we usedto love last year - canoes to paddle, waves to jump, clams todig, marshmallows to roast, fish to catch, and all itmeans to be summer in a land with it’s           fill of frontier wonder and neighborliness still.                                 
                                ~Joyce Ray © all rights reserved A Golden Shovel Poem borrowing words from the first line of “Neighborliness,” by Kate Barnes, Maine Poet Laureate Emerita.
  

WINTER POEM SWAP

 
For never-resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter and confounds him there;
Sap cheque'd with frost and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o'ersnow'd and bareness every where.
~ William Shakespeare, from Sonnet V 
Winter Poem Swap coordinator Tabatha was my poem buddy this year. Knowing that I'm revising a MG novel set in Maine and that I live in just as icy New Hampshire, she crafted a poem that will keep me going through snow, wind and frosted windows. Sometimes writing is as her poem describes, and the only thing to do is to write the words one by one until your heart opens and the story is unlocked.
I've decided that the literary socks she included in my package are my lucky writing socks, and the tea bags with writing quotes are reserved for those moments when I'm stuck. Oh, and there's a book for writers when I need all the encouragement I can find. Thanks, Tabatha. I am in love with my poem!
Writing Through Winter
             by Tabatha Yeatts 

some days
she thinks that writing is
living in a drafty cabin 

during the bitter days of winter,
listening to blank pages rattle
like wind shaking dead leaves

she thinks of her pen
as the cabin window -
a fragile barrier
against the snow 

what can you do,
she wonders,
to make it through
those nights when the wind

wraps its fearsome arm
behind your back
and leans in for a kiss? 

she knows the remedy 
for words freezing inside her
is to remember stories that pump
the bellows of her heart

she lays her gloved hand
on the pane and traces letters,
one by
one.

 ************Buffy has the Poetry Friday Roundup. Thanks a bunch, Buffy!

9/11 Tribute

Wikimedia commons photo
Perhaps some of you have visited our 9/11 Memorial site in New York City. I have not. Tonight, as on each anniversary since 9/11, a light tribute will extend high into the night sky to honor those who perished. You can view some images of the tribute here.
Our town librarian asked me to write a poem for our town's 10th anniversary observance of 9/11. My wish is the same on this 16th anniversary.
Golden Seams
Remember the day a ruptured skyspread emptied and silent over us?Doves and their kindred spirits dared not fly.Smoke billowed. Haunting words dropped heavy as descending stones.
On a stage where some called out, “Revenge!”we cleaned and dressed our nation’s wound,reached out to any stranger’s pain                       to bond with post-9/11 glue.
On widening trenches of mistrust we heaped security and sacred creed,a monument to our lost innocence;a Maginot Line Band-aid.
Do we wear you like a proud tattoo,America’s September scar,vengeance, vigilance– emblazonedon muscles we habitually flex?
What if our splintered self, instead, displayedseams layered like Japanese Kintsugi art–heroic deeds of that one day   now gilded by forgiving hearts?
Let gold-illuminated seams                      embellish and adorn our fractured vessel.Let doves fly in from wild skiesto roost at last in sunlit olive branches.                         Joyce Ray © All rights reserved

 Note: Kintsugi (kin-tsugi) is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics. The artist applies layers of lacquer to adhere the pieces together. The final layer is laced with gold to illuminate, rather than hide, the breakage.
 

POETRY FRIDAY - Celebrating Verse Novels

This summer I discovered two verse novels for middle graders at my summertime library. Perhaps one or both have been shared before, but they're treasures to me, who will also be celebrating a birthday this month.

GONE CAMPING, written by Tamera Will Wissinger and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, is a fun book that is also a resource encouraging kids to explore writing poetry in different forms. (HMH, 2017)

Sam and Lucy are first time campers with their parents, but Lucy is a bit fearful as the camping trip begins.

The Woods Ahead
Rondelet

In the woods ahead
Branches and shadows reach everywhere.
In the woods ahead
How will I ever go to bed?
Who knows what creatures lurk in there.
Could be raccoons, or fox, or bear
In the woods ahead. 




The extensive appendix explains rhyme, rhythm, poetic techniques and forms while referencing the book's poems.


Nikki Grimes' GARVEY'S CHOICE (Wordsong, 2016) is an important verse novel with themes of bullying, parental relationships and finding one's own voice. Grimes uses 5 -line tanka verses to tell Garvey's story. She's a master!


Origami

Mom's got a talent
for origami, but she
can't fold me into
the jock Dad wants me to be.
At least she knows not to try.


Go here if you want to visit Tamera Will Wissinger and Nikki Grimes.

Click over to Reflections on the Teche for Margaret's Birthday Treasures, amazing student poems that begin a new year, and all Poetry Friday treasures. Thank you, Margaret!

WORLD POETRY DAY

Donna at Mainely Write came up with a challenge for World Poetry Day- a scavenger hunt to find a poem! What better way to prime the pump for poetry month in April? Just reading the directions is a hoot. Thanks, Donna, for making this exercise so much fun.

Each line was discovered by a visit to one of eight blogs well known to Poetry Friday participants. After following her careful clues, here is the delightful spring poem I found:


Silence blooms.The world turns green-
another year spinning around to throw
furns unfurled
under trees
pining for the fragrance of the forest.
Figments and fancies
play with me.




The ferns in Yorkshire Kris's delightful YouTube video won't be unfurling in New Hampshire anytime soon!


 

Poetry Postcard Exchange

The Poetry Postcard Xchange has been so much fun for me. Thank you, Jone, for coordinating it all! Throughout this month, I anticipated those small word surprises in my mailbox and each one was a delight. Besides the gift of  poems, I got to meet Poetry Friday poets from across the country -well, I only exchanged five poems, but received poem postcards from  Hawaii, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, and NY. They're a wonderful array of art, photography and creative handcrafted cards. I treasure them all!

Here is my fan of poems from Linda Bie, Irene Latham, Carol Varsalona, Joy Acey and Margaret Simon. Several poems expressed HOPE, which many feel the need for in this new year. Others encouraged me to be OPEN and to SAVOR life's moments. Each one fed my soul.


This newbie to the Xchange may not have followed the spirit of the exchange with my own poems, however. I chose five post cards from my collection and wrote poems using the image as inspiration. So most were not New Year wishes.

One did express hope, however, and I'm sharing that one today since I believe (hope) the recipient has received it. Hi, Linda Mitchell!



The former year has fallen away
like acorns and
golden
oak.
Be still, listen
for new
notes.
Strength will come and
with it,
hope. 


This woodblock postcard by artist Holly Meade of Sedgwick, Maine inspired the poem.  

Holly, a talented woodblock artist, author and children's book illustrator, lost a battle with breast cancer three years ago at age 56. 

A collection of Holly's prints may be viewed at She- Bear Gallery.

Violet has the Round-up at Violet Nesdoly/poems. Thanks for hosting, Violet!

Healing Haiku

Tabatha rounds up lots of wonderful poems today at The Opposite of Indifference. Thanks, Tabatha!

I loved the idea of #haikuforhealing that I learned about last week on Poetry Friday. I am not a tweeter or Twitter user, but I did try to hold myself open for some haiku thoughts this past week.

Lessons and carols at St. Paul's Chapel in Concord offered a healing place, indeed. Also, perhaps the snow that has arrived here in New Hampshire, whitewashing everything, can be thought of as healing. Certainly, watching the thankful birds and squirrels brings one back to basics - the world goes on.




lessons and carols
certain, true, comforting–
soul anchor [image error]















soften my edgesas snow pillows our landscapethat I may receive



sunflower feederfresh snowfall–chickadees converge