Poetry Sisters Write "In the Style Of" Valerie Worth

The challenge this month was to write "in the style of" Valerie Worth. You can learn more about Valerie Worth and read some of her poems at Spotlight on NCTE Poets: Valerie Worth, with Lee Bennett Hopkins, a post by Renée M. LaTulippe at No Water River. 

Worth's poems are meditations on the little things in world around us. Writing in free verse, her keen sense of observation and economy of language make everyday objects seem extraordinary.

When William was in third grade (2009-2010) his teacher had the class copy and illustrate poems that "spoke" to them in their journals. This poem by Valerie Worth was one of his choices.

In Paul Janeczko's book The Place My Words Are Looking For: What Poets Say About
and Through Their Work, Worth had this to say about poetry.

"One of poetry’s most wonderful features is that it can get beneath the surface of things and explore them not as mere objects but as remarkable phenomena with lively personalities of their own. Articles as coat hangers can take on unexpected dimensions within the realm of a poem; and if this can happen with coat hangers, then the world must be filled with other ‘ordinary’ subjects just waiting for poetry to come along and reveal their extraordinary selves."

Worth's poems are magical, so emulating her was quite a challenge. I used the poem porches as my mentor text.

attic

in the attic
time is fluid

the air thick
with memory

trinkets and photos
recall a lifetime

a rocking horse sways
and gathers dust 

an old teddy bear
welcomes a new friend

holiday boxes wait
expectant and hopeful

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2023. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? In December we’re writing in the form of the elfchen, or German cinquain. You can learn about this form at German With Nicole.  Are you in? Good! We are continuing with our 2023 theme of TRANSFORMATION. If you’re still game, you have a month to craft your creation and share it on December 29th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

Do take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. Happy poetry Friday, friends!  

A Cento Challenge

This month Every Day Poems offered up a challenge to "craft a Cento from some of your favorite Every Day Poems lines." They also added this extension.

For some extra fun, you’re invited to hand-letter your Cento poem, using a different style or color for each unique line you’ve gathered from another poet. Or, you could put each line on a different slip of paper and collage your poem together.

Challenge accepted!

Here is my untitled cento. (Click to enlarge.)

It reads:

the whole world’s chanting desire

between stars or heartbeats

beyond reach, beyond reckoning 

and in slow-motion

a tide, incoming: vast

when pulled away, return always to me

The lines in this cento come from the following poems:

• Black Dirt by Helen Pruitt Wallace
• Report [an excerpt] by Elizabeth C. Herron
• Grendel In Dawn’s Early Light by Rick Maxson
• Into the Woods by Laurie Klein
• Into the Woods by Laurie Klein
• Juliet’s Aubade by Sara Barkat