Friday, March 13, 2009

Poetry Friday Is Here Today!

In preparation for National Poetry Month (only 18 days away!), I am immersed in all kinds of poetry and loving it. Right now I'm reading poetry about poetry. Here's one of my new favorites.
The Poet's Occasional Alternative
by Grace Paley
I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead it took
about the same amount of time
of course the pie was a final
draft a poem would have had some
distance to go days and weeks and
much crumpled paper

the pie already had a talking
tumbling audience among small
trucks and a fire engine on
the kitchen floor
Read the entire poem. (Unfortunately, the formatting is lost at this site, but you'll still find the beauty.)
As this week's hostess, I'm pleased to offer up links to the following gems. Enjoy this fantastic Friday feast of poetry.

Contests and Announcements
Kelly Polark has a contest! Enter to win a copy of Douglas Florian's new book, Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings!

Greg K. at GottaBook is setting you up for 18 days of longing with a big tease about his national poetry month project.

Books, Reviews and Projects
Sylvia Vardell at Poetry for Children has a list of books on magic and luck for Friday the 13th.

Sally Murphy at Versing introduces her new blog dedicated to novels in verse.

Amanda at A Patchwork of Books reviews the book Food Hates You Too by Robert Weinstock.

Sara Lewis Holmes at Read*Write*Believe shares her thoughts on The Free Verse Project at Poets.org.

Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day shares ideas for using the book Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus.

Martha Calderaro shares her thoughts on Maria Testa's book Becoming Joe DiMaggio.

Becky of Becky's Book Reviews has a review of Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle.

Renee at Shen's Books shares a review of Linda Sue Park's Tap Dancing on the Roof.

Tasha at Kids Lit has a review of the book Rhymes Around the World by Kay Chorao.

Web at Blog from the Windowsill shares a review of Three Little Kittens and Other Favorite Nursery Rhymes, selected and illustrated by Tony Ross.

Original Poems
This week's poetry stretch results showcase poems in which two words opposite in meaning were used in both the body of the poem and the title.

At Blue Rose Girls, Elaine shares her poem And Who Will Lead the GOP?, along with a link to her new blog Political Verses. Go Elaine!

Julie Larios at The Drift Record has a brief poem on the letter P, as well as a fun list of things she loves that begin with the letter p.

Jim Danielson at Haunts of a Children's Writer gives us a poem on Robins.

Laura Purdie Salas shares the poem she has written for the Peace Project, entitled Unexpected Links (a poem for two voices).

Using a photo of a tree and it's "secret door" for inspiration, Laura Purdie Salas shares the the poems folks submitted for this week's 15 words or less challenge.

Linda at Write Time shares three original tanka.

Liz Garton Scanlon at Liz in Ink gives us her poem Details of Devotion.

Jone at Check It Out shares two student poems and a quote.

Laurie Ann Grover at On Point shares an original poem entitled Samurai Armor.

cloudscome at a wrung sponge has some lovely photos accompained by haiku.

Tiel Aisha Ansari at Knocking From Inside shares an original free verse entitled Buddha Hand.

Christine shares two poems written by her daughter. You can find Beauty and the Beast at The Simple and the Ordinary and Home Is at Simply Put.

Lisa Chellman at under the covers share her opposites poem entitled Blind/Sighted.

Poetry of Others
John Mutford at The Book Mine Set shares the poem Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti.

Susan at Black-Eyed Susan's has the poem Tahar Ben Jellou, translated by Nadia Benabid.

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader shares the poem Litany by Billy Collins. You'll also find a video of him reciting the poem here.

Mary Lee at A Year of Reading has the poem What I Believe by Michael Blumenthal.

Janet at Across the Page shares the poem Sheepdog Trials in Hyde Park by C. Day Lewis.

Carol at Carol's Corner gives us Kay Ryan's poem Bad Day.

Diane at The Write Sisters shares an anonymous poem entitled As to the Weather.

Jet at The Incredible Thinking Woman has John Gillespie Magee, Jr.'s poem High Flight.

Love2Learn Mom at Studeo shares the Gary Soto poem Teaching English From an Old Composition Book.

Kelly Fineman at Writing and Ruminating has a Jane Austen poem entitled Venta.

Valerie at Living the Good Life on Not Enough Acres Farm shares a couple of limericks, including one by Edward Lear.

Kim Cassidy at Whimsy House gives us the Jane Yolen poem The Cardinal.

Yat-Yee Chong shares The Meaning of Life by Nancy Fitzgerald.

Over at Bildungsroman Little Willow shares the poem She Ran by Amy Studt.

Charlotte at Charlotte's Library has the poem Guest by Rabindranath Tagore.

Amy at ayuddha.net shares some A.A. Milne and Now We are Six in honor of her daughter's birthday.

Jacqueline at Neverending story has a great picture and The Flying Squirrel by John Gardner.

Karen Edmisten shares James Agee's Knoxville, Summer 1915.

Jennie at Biblio File gives us Mercutio's Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet.

Jill Corcoran
shares her love for Valerie Worth along with two poems, safety pin and dinosaurs.

Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living shares some Dickinson and the poem The Grass Has So Little to Do.

Justina at Wordlings by Justina gives us Scarlet by S.Y. Headley.

Music, Lyrics and Video
Jama at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup shares thoughts on the recent birthday of James Taylor, along with some fine lyrics.

Shelf Elf has the video Poetry with Cookie Monster.

Marjorie at the Paper Tigers blog shares links to the BBC's Poetry Pie programme in which poems by Debjani Chatterjee are featured.

Over at readertotz you can see Shel Silverstein reading Crocodile's Toothache.

In celebration of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, Nandini Bajpai at Notes from New England shares the Beatles' song Here Comes the Sun.

50 comments:

  1. At last I have something to contribute to Poetry Friday. I ahve started a new blog focussing on the verse novel form, at http://versing.blogspot.com/

    Would love to hear from people who have written, reviewed or just read verse novels.

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  2. Thanks for hosting. I'm in with a review of a Christina Rossetti collection as well as her classic poem, "Goblin Market."

    http://bookmineset.blogspot.com/2009/03/readers-diary-469-christina-rossetti.html

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  3. My selection is from the flag of childhood: poems from the middle east.

    Thank you for hosting.

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  4. Tricia,

    Thanks for hosting the roundup this week.

    At Wild Rose Reader, I have LITANY, a poem by Billy Collins. the post includes a link to Collins reciting and talking about the poem.

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2009/03/litany-by-billy-collins-poem-video.html


    At Blue Rose Girls, I have an excerpt from an original poem--AND WHO WILL LEAD THE GOP?--and a link to my new blog, Political Verses.

    http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2009/03/political-verses-elaines-new-blog.html

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  5. I'm in with a short poem but a long riff on the letter "P" over at The Drift Record

    Thanks for hosting, Tricia, and thanks for reminding me about Pride and Prejudice! You'll see it plus PERSUASION as late additions (with credit where credit is due) to my P-oetry Friday P-age.

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  6. My poem this week is WHAT I BELIEVE by Michael Blumenthal. It kind of fits your opposite challenge, both the poem and the photos I chose.

    http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-what-i-believe.html

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  7. My post on "Sheepdog Trials in Hyde Park" is here, at my blog Across the Page:

    http://www.acrossthepage.net/?p=2404

    Thanks for hosting today!

    Janet

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  8. I'm in with an orginal children's poem titled ROBINS.

    http://jdwrites4kids.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-robins.html

    Jim Danielson

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  9. Thanks for hosting. I'm in with "Bad Day" by Kay Ryan.

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  10. Hi Tricia!

    I'm celebrating James Taylor's birthday with some thoughts on "Sweet Baby James."

    http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/250161.html.

    Love the Paley poem!!
    Thanks for hosting. :)

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  11. Hi Tricia--Great Grace Paley poem. I'm picturing the pie on one side of the scale, a poem on the other...

    I have my original poem for the Peace Project up, called "Unexpected Links (a poem for two voices)."

    Thanks for rounding up!

    Laura

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  12. I have a review of Food Hates You Too up on my blog. Food poems are always loved in my house!

    Amanda
    A Patchwork of Books

    http://apatchworkofbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-food-hates-you-too.html

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  13. And I've also got this week's 15 Words or Less poems up at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/138312.html

    Thanks!

    Oops, I see a forgot to give you the url for my original poem, Unexpected Links. It's at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/138135.html

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  14. Hi! Thanks for hosting.

    I have Poetry with Cookie Monster this week. Completely goofy, I know, but it's the way I'm feeling the last day before March break.

    :)

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  15. Thanks for hosting today! I'm in with 3 original tanka (one for the poetry strech on opposites) at
    http://ldkwritetime.blogspot.com

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  16. Oh, Tricia. I love that Paley poem. Have never read it but I LOVE it...

    I'm in with an old original today...

    http://liz-scanlon.livejournal.com/102929.html

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  17. Diane of The Write Sisters muses about newspapers of the past and poetry that filled empty spaces.

    http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com

    Thanks for posting and have a great weekend!

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  18. Today at The Incredible Thinking Woman, the theme is flight. Even if you don't read the poem (and how could you not?), be sure to watch the beautiful and breathtaking video of wing suit base jumpers in the previous post.

    Oh, to soar like that, but I'm a chicken and chickens don't ever get that far off the ground.

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  19. Thanks for hosting this! I have a post on my daughter's participation in the Poetry Out Loud competition and a new poem we discovered there.

    http://studeo.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday.html

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  20. Oh, Tricia, this poem -- says it all. Sometimes the pies really are just So. Much. Easier.

    However, I've heard from my agent, and the pie alternative is out, now! Back to work for me!

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  21. Thank you for hosting. Here is mone, two student poems and a quote:
    http://maclibrary.edublogs.org/2009/03/13/poetry-friday-two-student-poems-and-a-quote/

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  22. Thanks for hosting, Tricia! I'm in with a poem by Jane Austen entitled Venta. Here's the link info: http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/394465.html

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  23. Here are some Limericks in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.
    http://notenoughacresfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-limericks.html
    Have a great day!
    Valerie

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  24. My poetry pick today is all about birds.

    http://whimsyhouse.typepad.com/main/2009/03/poetry-friday-bird-watch-by-jane-yolen-illlustrated-by-ted-lewin.html

    Kim Cassidy
    http://whimsyhouse.typepad.com

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  25. Thank you for hosting :-)

    I have a link to a poem for Holi by Debjani Chatterjee...

    http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/poetry-friday-holi-with-poetry-pie/

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  26. Thanks so much for hosting!

    I have an original poem, Samurai Armor, at my blog.

    18 days until poetry month! Yay!

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  27. And over at readertotz we have a video of Shel Silverstein reading Crocodile's Dentist. I just got a crown. :~)

    Thanks again!

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  28. Tricia,
    This week we celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. In honor of that I've posted Here comes the sun by the Beatles.Thanks for hosting!

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  29. Thanks for hosting this week. I am sharing a poem by Nancy Fitzgerald, who says everything she needs to know about life, she's learned from her dog. (paraphrase mine.) http://yatyeechong.blogspot.com/

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  30. Oh, and thanks for sharing the Paley poem. Responsive eatership: so much more direct and immediate! But I want eatership AND readership! Is that too much to ask? Is it like having a pie and eating it too?

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  31. I am in with Guest, by Rabindranath Tagore.

    http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2009/03/guest-by-rabindranath-tagore-for-poetry.html

    Thanks!

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  32. Thank you for hosting!
    I have a contest this week at http://www.kpolark.blogspot.com!

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  33. Hi and thanks for hosting. I've been thinking about Maria Testa's Becoming Joe DiMaggio this week. www.marthacalderaro.wordpress.com

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  34. Thanks for hosting! I have an original poem called Buddha Hand

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  35. Thanks for hosting! I've got two poems today - each by my 12-year-old daughter. One at each of my blogs. At The Simple and the Ordinary we have 'Beauty and the Beast'
    (http://simpleordinary.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday.html)
    and at Simply Put we have 'Home Is' (http://christinemarciniak.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday.html)

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  36. ayuddha.net has A. A. Milne's "The End" in celebration of my older daughter's sixth birthday this past Wednesday. It's here: http://ayuddha.net/2009/03/13/now/

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  37. The Flying Squirrel by John Gardner at http://theweekthatwas.wordpress.com/. Looking forward to the poetry feast that's in store.

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  38. Thanks for hosting, Tricia. My contribution this week is another tease about April at GottaBook. I'm mighty excited but not quiiiite ready to get specific. Still, I couldn't contain myself!

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  39. Thanks for hosting, Tricia! I'm in with James Agee's Knoxville, Summer 1915. It's here.

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  40. I'm in with a review of Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle.

    Thanks for hosting!

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  41. Thank you so much for hosting! I'm in with Mercutio's Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet

    http://tushuguan.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-shakespeare-edition.html

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  42. This is my first time participating in Poetry Friday! Find a Korean sijo poem from Linda Sue Park's newish book here, on Shen's Blog.

    Thanks for hosting!

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  43. I love the wry humor of the pie poem. It rings very, very true.

    My contribution is my "opposites" poem from the Poetry Stretch. It's called "Blind/Sighted."

    Thanks for hosting!

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  44. Thanks for hosting, Tricia.
    I posted about why I love Valerie Worth and included her saftey pin and dinosaurs poems.

    JIll Corcoran Book: Valerie Worth-Wordsmith Extraordinaire

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  45. I have a review of a new nursery rhym book: http://bunnyplanet.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-three-little-kittens.html

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  46. I chime in with the thanks for hosting, Tricia! I posted an original poem. http://justinachenheadley.blogspot.com/2009/03/poetry-friday-scarlet.html

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  47. Thanks for hosting. Here is my Emily Dickinson contribution.

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