Poetry Sisters Write Wordplay Poems

The challenge this month was to write a wordplay poem. This challenge is based on one offered up by Nikki Grimes in May 2015 at Today's Little Ditty. Here's an excerpt:

When I first began to write poetry at age six, it was the result of wordplay.  So try this wordplay exercise and create your own free verse poem.

When I talk about wordplay, I'm talking about studying a word from top to bottom, and inside out, considering every aspect of the word:  What it looks like, sounds like, feels like.  What it does, how it's used, etc.  The idea is to bring all of your senses into the act.  The poem you create may end up being complex and sophisticated, or very simple.  But whether you're writing a nursery rhyme, or a complex prose poem for adults, wordplay is a valuable skill in the process of creating dynamic, original, poetry, or lyrical prose.

Since our theme this year is "In conversation," we were encouraged to choose a related word. Here's my first attempt at this.

Whisper 

Whisper is a
hushed word
a shhhhhhhhhh
between the library stacks
and in church pews

Whisper is a
heart pounding word
finger pressed to lips
hold your breath
so you can't be
discovered
(but it's just an
active shooter drill)

Whisper is an
intimate word
forehead to forehead
nose to nose
lips to ear
sharing hearts and
secrets

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2025. 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
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? We're writing poems inspired by four Lucille Clifton notes to Clark Kent - Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on March 28th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Denise Krebs at Dare to Care. Happy Poetry Friday, friends!

Awesome Earth - Talking with Joan Bransfield Graham

I have been a science nerd and teacher of science for a very long time. Earth science was one of my favorite classes to teach. In middle school, I often wrote poems (bad ones, generally) for my students as an introduction to scientific ideas. There was a lot of nature poetry then, but not much about Earth's form and structures. I can count on one hand the number of titles since then that have made it to my bookshelf. I'm happy to report that this sad situation has been remedied with the release of Joan Bransfield Graham's new book AWESOME EARTH. A terrific addition to her collection of concrete poetry titles, SPLISH SPLASH and FLICKER FLASH, AWESOME EARTH celebrates landforms and the processes that shape the earth's surface. In fact, the subtitle for the book is "Concrete poems celebrate caves, canyons, and other fascinating landforms." 

The first poem, "Fantastic Forces," describes the earth's surface as ever-changing. After this, readers will find poems about continents, mountains, deserts, islands, volcanoes, and more. There is helpful back matter in the book that describes more about each landform. Readers will also find a glossary of terms and additional resources to explore. One of the things I love about studying landforms is how much fun so many of the words are to say: archipelago, peninsula, hoodoo. You'll find all of these in this volume.

The artwork of Tania García pairs beautifully with Joan's poems. The artist used digital techniques combined with handmade ink textures created from sponges, scourers, old brushes, wrinkled plastics, and old eyelash mascaras to create digital illustrations for the book. You can see these beautiful textures in the mountain and metamorphic rock poems.

I have so many favorites in this volume, but if I had to pick one or two, it would be the poems Stalactites and Stalagmites. I used to teach students that stalactites (with a C) form from the ceiling, while stalagmites (with a G) form from the ground. Most students only remembered the difference about half the time. This pair of poems will go a long way to helping students see and understand the difference between them. 

As someone who works with teachers and kids, I see many opportunities for sharing this book in the classroom. I don't know if any of you read the LOC CIP data on the publication page, but I'm often surprised by what I find there. While it lists the audience for this book as ages 4-8 and grades preschool-3, I know these poems will be enjoyed by students through middle school. 

Joan kindly answered some burning questions I had for her. Here are her thoughts about AWESOME EARTH, her poetry writing process, and more.

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How does writing concrete poetry inspire and/or challenge you?

Joan: It adds another dimension to the poem, a visual aspect which can be fun. I am a very visual person, and I like to think outside the box or “create the box” that a poem lives in.  Teachers have told me my poems work well for their students who are acquiring English as they provide many clues to unlocking the words.

In writing concrete poetry, do the words or form come first? (Can you describe a bit about your process for writing a concrete poem?)

Joan: The words, what you are saying in the poem is always the most important consideration. If a shape can enhance that in any way—great; if it doesn’t, I don’t shape the poem. Actually, I once sold “audio” rights to a shape poem, and so I guess they liked what I had to say!  I’ll write things down first on paper and see if the poem can find its shape. If I think it might work as a concrete poem, I’ll type it on my computer, experiment with various fonts (which can make a big difference) and spacing, and, of course, I always use my Poetic License. 

In what ways do you think Awesome Earth complements Splish Splash and Flicker Flash?

Joan: The three books are about our natural world and our appreciation and understanding of it, and I think they look terrific together. The four Classical Elements are Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  I’ve written and submitted a manuscript “Amazing Air” and am hoping it could make a set of four books:  Earth (AWESOME EARTH), Air (AMAZING AIR), Fire (FLICKER FLASH), and Water (SPLISH SPLASH).  What do you think?

Do you have favorite poetic forms to write in? What about those forms appeals to you?

Joan: Like Ryan O’Brian in my book THE POEM THAT WILL NOT END, I am enamored with ALL forms (I really enjoyed writing “Is There a Villain in Your Villanelle?” for Paul Janeczko’s A KICK IN THE HEAD) and the challenges they present, but I do appreciate the succinctness of haiku.  It seems to me, if you are writing fiction, you start with an idea which you spin out in many different directions.  With poetry, you make multiple observations and try to distill everything to its very essence.  Haiku appeals to me for its incredible economy and insight.  

Are there any poets or works of poetry that have mainly influenced your writing style or themes? How have they inspired you?

Joan: Besides reading poets’ books, I’ve enjoyed hearing them read their own work, and I’ve had an opportunity to do that on quite a few occasions. When I lived in Virginia near Washington, D.C., I went to a reading at the Library of Congress and heard many former U.S. Poet Laureates read. In California I met Marie Bullock, the delightful founder of The Academy of American Poets, at an amazing reading at the gorgeous Huntington Library. I’ve also heard Lucille Clifton, William Stafford, Joy Harjo with her sax, Mary Oliver, Edward Hirsch (How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry), Seamus Heaney, and Billy Collins. 

How has your writing evolved over time? Can you discuss specific poems or collections that mark significant points in your development as a poet?

Joan: Taking Myra Cohn Livingston’s Master Class in Poetry at UCLA, I not only learned from her but from the other wonderful poets in the class. I’ve learned from joining SCBWI, from being in an excellent critique group, from doing School Visits and meeting my readers, and from writing poems for anthologies.  Also, my husband and I attended Toastmaster meetings and completed the training, which proved to be extremely useful. It’s one thing to express yourself on the page and quite another to speak in front of hundreds of people. I found it is important to refine both your craft and your communication skills.

What are you most looking forward to in launching this new book into the world?

Joan: I hope it brings readers joy, surprise, information and inspiration. May it widen the world for those who haven’t seen it yet, deepen their understanding that we all share this beautiful world and need to appreciate it, care for it. I’ll always remember the little boy who came up to me after one presentation and said, “That was the fun-est thing I’ve ever seen.  I’ve never seen a waterfall before.” There are many children in Los Angeles who have never seen the ocean, and we are so close.  Some schools take field trips to see this marvel. Our ever-changing Earth has been at work for centuries.  It is astonishing and deserves our awe, doesn’t it?

Would you like to share the details of any new poetry project(s) that you’re working on?

Joan: As I mentioned, I have a manuscript called AMAZING AIR.  Another project, THE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT, pairs my poetry and photography.  A WHISPER OF WINGS, bird poems, OUT OF THE PARK! and a few others.  

Thanks, Tricia, for being a teacher of teachers and recognizing the power of poetry!

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Joan in 2014 when THE POEM THAT WILL NOT END was released. I also interviewed her for a National Poetry Month series in 2009. You can read that interview at Poetry Makers - Joan Bransfield Graham.

AWESOME EARTH is a welcome addition to the world of science and children's poetry. I do hope you get a chance to enjoy it. If you haven't seen SPLISH SPLASH or FLICKER FLASH, now is a good time to check out all three titles!

Thanks so much to Joan for inviting me on this blog tour. You can check out the other stops on this blog/media tour at:

• Monday, Feb. 17-- Poetry for Children – Dr. Sylvia Vardell, Professor Emerita, Texas Woman's University, Past President of IBBY, author, and publisher.
  
  
• Tuesday, Feb. 18 – Georgia Heard, poet, educator, author, and inventor of Heart Maps ®, 2023 NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award on Instagram and Facebook.
  
  
• Wednesday, Feb. 19-- Simply Seven Interviews with Jena Benton, Alaska SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator, author-illustrator, poet, teacher.
  
  
• Friday, Feb. 21-- Jama's Alphabet Soup — Jama Kim Rattigan, Virginia-based author, blogger, foodie, alphabet lover, picture book nerd.

Joan was kind enough to send a copy of AWESOME EARTH, which I'll send to one lucky winner. Please leave a comment to enter. 

Poetry Friday is Here!

Happy New Year, poetry people! I'm delighted to be hosting you this week.

I have been working on my cards for the New Year poetry postcard swap hosted by Jone Rush MacCulloch and pulled out my old Smith Corona. There's something magical about a typewriter.

Goofy, I know, but I love them. Sadly, my typewriter ran out of ink as I was typing my 8th postcard. My last three cards are on hold until a new ribbon is delivered.

In honor of the typewriter, I'm sharing a poem by Australian poet David Malouf.

Typewriter Music

Hinged grasshopper legs kick
back. So
quick off the mark, so
spritely. They set
the mood, the mode, the call
to light-fingered highjinks.

A meadow dance
on the keyboard,
in breathless, out-of-bounds
take-offs into
flight and giddy joyflight without
stint. The fingerpads

have it. Brailling through
études of alphabets, their chirp and clatter
grass-choppers
the morning to soundbites,
each rifleshot hammerstroke another notch
in the silence.
     © 2006, David Malouf

The Poetry Sisters met on Sunday to map out our writing prompts for the year. We have a plan and a prompt for January. Would you like to try this month's challenge? We will be writing a tanku, a poem that begins with a tanka, followed by a haiku written in response. A tanku can be any length, but each verse should be written in response to the one before. You can find an example at Rattle: Poetry. Are you with us? Good! Please share your poem on January 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

Please join the Poetry Friday party by leaving your link below, and don't forget to leave a comment to let us know you're here. Happy poetry Friday, friends!  

**NOTE** - Denise Krebs was kind enough to point out that Inlinkz doesn't work for everyone. If you click on a link and Inlinkz won't connect, go to the upper right-hand corner of the "refused to connect" page and click on the X. That should take you to the site. If that doesn't work, leave me a comment and I'll link those pages here.

**********

Ruth from There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town is sharing an original poem entitled Bedtime.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Poetry Sisters Write Haibun and/or Haiga

For the last month of the year, the challenge was to write a haibun or haiga. 

The haibun is is a poetic form first created by Matsuo Basho. It is a form that combines two modes of writing—prose and verse. Here are some of the "rules" of writing haibun, as suggested by the Haiku Society of America.

Prose in Haibun

• Tells the story
• Gives information, defines the theme
• Creates a mood through tone
• Provides a background to spotlight the haiku

Haiku in Haibun

• Moves the story forward
• Takes the narrative in another direction
• Adds insight or another dimension to the prose
• Resolves the conflict in an unpredictable way, or questions the resolution of the prose.
• Prose is the narrative and haiku is the revelation or the reaction.

In a haibun, the prose can come first, last, or between any number of haiku.
Haibun also have a title, something haiku generally do not.

You can read some examples and see different haibun forms at More than the Birds, Bees, and Trees: A Closer Look at Writing Haibun.

Haiga are poems that blend an image and haiku. Here is an introduction written by Ray Rasmussen.

Haiga is a mix of image and either haiku or tanka poetry. Its origins are in Japan where poet-artists used a mix of brushstroke painting and calligraphy to compose their images and poetry.

The poetic spark of haiga has to do with four elements:

• the quality of the image and its type
• the quality of the haiku (or tanka or short poem)
• the quality, type and placement of the text
• the quality of the framing of the image

Of course, the relationship of the haiku to the image is incredibly important. Do they enhance each other, making the haiga greater than the sum of its two parts?

This is a lot of background for a tiny poem. I have been playing around with block printing this month, so I created my own image and then wrote an introduction and a haiku, so this poem is a bit of haibun and haiga, though I'm not sure I followed the rules for either with any kind of fidelity.

Longing for Winter 
In my youth, winter days were filled with endless hours outside, sledding, skating, shoveling, and building snow forts and an endless parade of snowmen. Whole families populated the yard, festooned with coal, carrot stick noses, and the scarves and hats we could sneak out of the house. Cold and lake effect snow ensured families lasted through the season, disappearing only with the blossoming spring. 

climate change no myth
blizzards lamentably rare
snowmen live in dreams

Poem and Image ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

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

Michelle Kogan is hosting Poetry Friday this week. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Friday - Holiday Poetry Swap and a Poem

For years, Tabatha Yeatts, who blogs at The Opposite of Indifference, has coordinated both a summer and winter (holiday) poetry swap. I appreciate what a labor of love this is and am always happy to participate. This year my swap partner was Linda Mitchell of A Word Edgewise, who just happens to be hosting Poetry Friday at her blog today! Linda lives only about 90 minutes from me, but we haven't crossed paths here in Virginia. Here's hoping we do one day.

Linda sent me the most wonderful swap package. It contained a beautiful bag (a teacher can NEVER have too many totes), a gorgeous handmade card that was collaged and stitched, a cool pencil holder that was folded and handmade (I love papercraft), and, of course, an original poem.

I was thrilled to see that Linda wrote a poem in the 4×4 form. Denise Krebs at Dare to Care invented this form. Here are the rules.

• 4 syllables in each line
• 4 lines in each stanza
• 4 stanzas
• 4 times repeating a refrain line–line 1 in the first stanza, line 2 in the second stanza, line 3 in the third stanza, and line 4 in the fourth stanza.
• Bonus: 4 syllables in the title
• No restrictions on subject, rhyme, or meter.

Here is the poem Linda sent me.

And here's a closeup of the beautiful card she made.

Thanks, Linda! And thanks to Tabatha for arranging the swap.

Today, I'm sharing a favorite poem by Ted Kooser, which feels like a lovely companion for this poetry swap goodness.

Christmas Mail

by Ted Kooser

Cards in each mailbox,

angel, manger, star and lamb,

as the rural carrier,

driving the snowy roads,

hears from her bundles

Read the poem in its entirety.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things Linda is sharing today at A Word Edgewise. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Sisters Write to Jane Hirshfield's Two Versions

I missed our Zoom this week, so I went into this challenge blind. Mary Lee set this back in January when she was enamored of a new-ish poem by Jane Hirshfield. If you have access to The Threepenny Review, you can find it in the Summer 2023 edition.

I used Hirshfield's poem as a mentor text and followed her structure very closely. I tried writing about several different topics, but I've been a bit melancholy lately, so when every poem came back to the same subject, I ran with it. 

Two Versions 
(after Jane Hirshfield's Two Versions)

In the first version, I held my mother’s hand.

Hospital staff traveled in and out of her room.

One no-nonsense nurse nodded after checking her respiration.
Another patted my shoulder with empathy after wetting her lips.

What was my hand doing, I now wonder
gripping hers so tightly
as it once did in childhood while crossing the street?

Was it disbelieving? fearful?

And why, when I conjure a lifetime of whispered moments,
over Scrabble boards, in the kitchen, on the phone,
do I think, after all our glorious days together, of this?

In the second version, there is only guilt,
of which I know everything.

Except to have been there in her final days.

So much time, so many tears. In darkness
and in light, I am still begging pardon.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared 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 are writing Haibun (prose + haiku) or Haiga (art + haiku). Are you with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on December 27th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

This week, my poetry sister Tanita Davis is hosting Poetry Friday. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Sisters and Seven Ways of Looking

This month's challenge was to write in the style of Wallace Stevens' poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Since 13 stanzas is a lot, we gave ourselves some grace and decided to go for only seven ways of looking at something. 

A small group of us met on Zoom Sunday to write and discuss the prompt. I left that session thoroughly confused about what my topic should be. I tried writing poems on the Statue of Liberty, sunflowers, the color blue, and clouds. None of those got me more than a few stanzas, and they weren't pretty. I wondered if following the mentor poem more closely might set me on the right track. I chose the bird I regularly see on my walk to work as my subject and ultimately found my way through the poem. I will return to this one because I may just have six more stanzas in me to get this poem to the magic number of thirteen.

Seven Ways of Looking at a Heron

I
The lake hosts a gaggle of geese
a paddling of ducks
and one unmoving heron

II
I relish the empty house
Like the pond
claimed by a solitary heron

III
In the gray light of dawn, heron waits
a fixture in the daily ebb and flow

IV
Heron knows
all things are difficult before they are easy

V
A wader and the water
are one
A wader, the water, and a fish
become one

VI
Heron glides across the water
breakfast in her belly
bloodstain on her neck

VII
I prefer the quiet of the heron
Ducks quack, geese honk 
breaking the morning stillness
I understand the heron

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared 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 October, we are writing to a prompt from the book The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach, edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell.

Are you with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on October 25th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

This week, Irene Latham of Live Your Poem is hosting Poetry Friday. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Sisters Write Ekphrastic Poems

At least once yearly, we challenge ourselves to write poems to photographs or works of art. I love writing to the shared images and rarely choose my own, but this time, I did.

In early August, I spent time at the National D-Day Memorial and was struck by the replica of the sculpture “Le Monument aux Morts.” The original stands in Trevieres, France. Erected in 1921, it was intended as a memorial to men from the town who died in WWI. In 1944, it was damaged during the battle for Normandy. The town decided not to repair it as a reminder of the damages of war and the fragility of peace.

I chose 6 words from the plaque describing the statue. Those words are: second, history, memory, soil, face, and war. I wrote the first stanza using them in the order I found them and then rearranged them to write this sestina.

Echoes of War

Standing at her feet, I think for a second
of the tragedies of modern history
hiding in our collective memory
we know horrors are buried in the soil
it’s a past we cannot face
yet we’re still a world at war

We are burdened by weapons of war
firearms the leading cause of death in youth, seconds
change lives, scars etched upon their faces
mass shootings not just history
but present on our soil
Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde—names burned in our memory

Their epitaph reads “in memoriam”
we lose in peace and war
on home and foreign soil
our first sons and daughters, our second,
and third, changing family histories
sorrow written on every mourner’s face

On its face
loss becomes a memory
a blip in our history
not a game this tug of war
we have no time to lose, not one second
we must nurture our fertile soil

From this earth, this very soil,
we rise to comfort every weary face
time’s healing touch felt with each passing second
old wounds begin to fade from memory
planting hope in bodies ravaged by war
softening the edges of this cancerous history

Pages turned in the book of human history,
hold lessons learned, deeply buried in the soil
when Earth shook under the weight of war
its narrative shaping humanity’s face
we hold the lost in our memory
honor them each passing second

We make history as we face the future
fragile peace holding on our soil, the memory
of war fading for the briefest of seconds

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared 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 September, we’re using Wallace Stevens Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird as a model for looking at something in different ways. We might settle on 7 or 4 or 12 ways. Looking deeply and differently are the keys here. Are you with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on September 27th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

This week, Susan Thomsen of Chicken Spaghetti is hosting Poetry Friday. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Sisters Write Want-Ad Haiku

The challenge this month was to write haiku in the form of classified ads. It's been a doozy of a month for me for too many reasons to recount. Suffice it to say I missed our monthly Zoom and I dashed these off early this morning before a walk with the dog. We did promise ourselves that these prompts weren't about perfection, but drafts and sharing. In that spirit, I share these little insights into my state of mind these days. I know haiku don't traditionally have titles, but I really needed those extra syllables!

Wanted
one perfect poem
ordered up like a taco
drive-thru preferred

Wanted
one more day with mom
skilled time traveler needed
no fee too great

Wanted
one doppelgänger
for household chores, work meetings
signed, desperate for sleep

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared 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 August, we’re writing ekphrastic poems to photographs. Find an image that inspires you and write away. Are you with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on August 30th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

This week, Marcie Flinchum Atkins is hosting Poetry Friday. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends! 

Poetry Friday is Here!

Welcome to Poetry Friday! I'm so happy to be hosting you here today, especially on this last Friday of the month when my poetry sisters and I share the poems we've written to a new challenge. This month we wrote poems about wabi-sabi, with wabi-sabi as the title. In Andrew Juniper's book Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, wabi-sabi is defined this way. 

Wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. Taken from the Japanese words wabi, which translates to less is more, and sabi, which means attentive melancholy, wabi-sabi refers to an awareness of the transient nature of earthly things and a corresponding pleasure in the things that bear the mark of this impermanence.

In his book Wabi-Sabi Simple, Richard Powell described wabi-sabi as a philosophy that acknowledges a lifestyle that appreciates and accepts three simple truths: "Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." 

We had a wonderful Zoom call on Sunday, during which we had a wide-ranging conversation about wabi-sabi. I really wanted to write in a form, so I decided to experiment with the tritina. The tritina is composed of 3 tercets and a final line (envoi) that stands alone. Similar to a sestina, though shorter, it uses a set of 3 alternating end words instead of six. The form is: ABC / CAB / BCA / A, B, and C (final line/envoi). As I was writing, it felt like I didn't have enough room to play, so I tried a sestina. That was disastrous, so the tritina is what I stuck with.

Wabi-Sabi
art and architecture value
the golden ratio, the perfection
of divine proportion, its pleasing beauty

but what is beauty?
what do our choices say about what we value?
does the circular bell tower lack perfection

because it leans? is perfection
solid, straight, and tall? beauty
lives in a cracked bell—liberty has value

why value perfection when there is beauty in what is broken?

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

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

Would you like to try the next challenge? In July we’re writing haiku that resemble classified ads or Buy Nothing group posts. Are you in? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on July 26th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

Please join the Poetry Friday party by leaving your link below, and don't forget to leave a comment to let us know you're here. Happy poetry Friday, friends!  

**NOTE** 
Denise Krebs was kind enough to point out that Inlinkz doesn't work for everyone. If you click on a link and Inlinkz won't connect, go to the upper right-hand corner of the "refused to connect" page and click on the X. That should take you to the site. If that doesn't work, leave me a comment and I'll link those pages here.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Poetry Sisters in Homage to Body Parts and Lucille Clifton

This month's challenge was to write in the style of Lucille Clifton while paying homage to a body part, as she does in the poem homage to my hips. Our Zoom call was a week early this month, allowing for time off for Memorial Day weekend. We all bumped up against body image and body weariness (a much better word than age) issues. Considering our bodies in this way was deeply humbling.

After many stops and starts on poems about various body parts (feet, calves, ears), I have two drafts to share. I haven't mastered Clifton's tone, but it was fun to try.

homage to my brain

this brain is a big brain
not genius big, but
packed with Jeopardy categories'
useless facts big.
this brain is a science brain
a nerdy brain
that muses on temperature and pressure
and the solubility of carbon dioxide in water
when soda goes flat.
this brain is a pessimistic brain
sometimes apocalyptic brain
filled with existential what-ifs
prompted by social media
and doom scrolling.
this brain is a noisy brain
a disobedient brain
refusing to quiet
standing in the way of
a good night’s sleep.

homage to my feet

these feet are powerful feet
they have marched
in formation and run
hilly miles. these feet
are expressive feet
oozing with joy in
going barefoot in the grass
dipping into tepid pools
soaking in a warm, salty tub.
these feet are pilgrim’s feet
climbing mountains in Tibet
or walking the serpentine
path of a labyrinth
every step a meditation
and prayer. these feet are
political feet, walking miles
in communion, standing
up for people and
the planet.

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes (on vacation this month!)
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? In June, we’re writing poems about wabi-sabi, with Wabi-sabi as the title. In Andrew Juniper's book Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, wabi sabi is defined this way. 

Wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. Taken from the Japanese words wabi, which translates to less is more, and sabi, which means attentive melancholy, wabi-sabi refers to an awareness of the transient nature of earthly things and a corresponding pleasure in the things that bear the mark of this impermanence.

In his book Wabi-Sabi Simple, Richard Powell described wabi-sabi as a philosophy that acknowledges a lifestyle that appreciates and accepts three simple truths: "Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." Will you write with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on May 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

This week, Janice Scully at Salt City Verse is hosting Poetry Friday. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy Poetry Friday, friends!

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 30

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems. Since someone pointed out I'd written poems about spring, summer, and fall, I knew I couldn't leave out winter.

Zero is the leaves on the tree

How do you know it's winter?

Animals

snack, snooze, skedaddle

snowflakes fall

Old bear

time to sleep

wait, rest, pause

Footprints in the snow

bear snores on

Time flies

On a snow-melting day

snowman - cold = puddle

Wake up world!

Spring is here

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Zero Is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco, illustrations by Sino Arihara
• How Do You Know It's Winter? by Ruth Owen
• Picture This: Animals by Margaret Hynes, illustrations by Andy Crisp
• Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready For Winter by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrations by Claudine Gévry
• Snowflakes Fall by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrations by Steven Kellogg
• Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
• Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming
• Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
• Footprints in the Snow by Mei Matsuoka
• Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrations by Jane Chapman
• Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
• On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring by Buffy Silverman
• Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrations by Micha Archer
• Wake Up, World!: A Day In the Life of Children Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer
• Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand

It's hard to believe this is the last day of April and the last book spine poem for a while. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. I can't thank you enough for joining me on this journey.

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 29

    For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Stichin' and Pullin' a Gee's Bend Quilt

Eight hands round

growing patterns

inch by inch

stitch by stitch

the seasons sewn

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Stitchin' and Pullin' A Gee's Bend Quilt by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrations by Cozbi A. Cabrera
• Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrations by Jeanette Winter
• Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell
• Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
• Stitch by Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon
• The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrations by Michael McCurdy

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 28

   For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Climb into my lap

here’s a little poem

you read to me, I’ll read to you

books day by day

love in the library

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Climb Into My Lap: First Poems to Read Together, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrations by Kathryn Brown
• Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrations by Polly Dunbar
• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrations by Michael Emberley
• Books Day By Day: Anniversaries, Anecdotes, and Activities by Susan Ohanian
• Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrations by Yas Imamura

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 27

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Count Down to Fall

Shrinking days, frosty nights

summer green to autumn gold

goodbye summer, hello autumn

leaf by leaf

leaves fall down

in November

a chill in the air

every autumn comes the bear

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk, illustrations by Sherry Neidigh
• Shrinking Days, Frosty Nights: Poems About Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
• Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors by Mia Posada
• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
• Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems, selected by Barbara Rogasky, photographs by Marc Tauss
• Leaves Fall Down: Learning About Autumn Leaves by Lisa Bullard, illustrations by Nadine Takvorian
• In November by Cynthia Rylant, illustrations by Jill Kastner
• A Chill in the Air: Nature Poems for Fall and Winter by John Frank, illustrations by Mike Reed
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

Poetry Sisters Write Poems to Unanswerable Questions

This month the Poetry Sisters' challenge was to dream up an unanswerable question and answer it in a poem. For example, in the poem "How Many How Much," Shel Silverstein asked, "How many slams in an old screen door?" 

On our Zoom call Sunday, we spent 5 minutes generating questions on our own, and then we shared them. It gave us a lot of ideas to work with! I tried writing to a couple of different prompts but found that every poem I started wound its way to an answer, which was not the point. Ultimately, I ended up with lots of questions and no answers. 

Ode to Wonder

How many ticks in a grandfather clock?
How many rings in a bell?
How many days in a rotating Earth?
How many pails from a well?

How many songs in 88 keys?
How many drops in the rain?
How many spins on a merry-go-round
How many thoughts in a brain?

Who made the stars?
What makes them shine?
Is there life beyond Earth in space?
Where are lost souls?
When are they found?
Why have they fallen from grace?

The why of the world
is a curious thing
with so many questions to ponder.
Sit down for a bit
and think big things
there's so much for us to wonder.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

You can find the poems shared 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 May we’re writing in the style of Lucille Clifton and are writing poem about body parts ala "Homage to My Hips." Are you in? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on May 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  

In addition to this poem, I have been building a book spine poem each day to celebrate National Poetry Month. I hope you'll pop over to my April 26 post to check it out and explore some of the other poems I've written. If you've been following the Progressive Poem, you might like my April 25 poem, which was inspired by the unfolding plight of the poem's characters.

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 26

Happy Poetry Friday! For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Up in the garden and down in the dirt

a seed is the start

When green becomes tomatoes

my father’s hands

Pick! Pull! Snap!

Tops and bottoms

first, peas to the table

corn

rah, rah, radishes

fresh, delicious

Let’s eat!

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Up In the Garden and Down In the Dirt by Kate Messner, art by Christopher Silas Neal
• A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart
• When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons by Julie Fogliano, pictures by Julie Morstad
• My Father's Hands by Joanne Ryder, illustrations by Mark Graham
• Pick, Pull, Snap!: Where Once a Flower Bloomed by Lola Schaefer, illustrations by Lindsay Barrett George
• Tops & Bottoms, adapted and illustrated by Janet Stevens
• First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby, illustrations by Nicole Tadgell
• Corn by Gail Gibbons
• Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre
• Fresh Delicious: Poems From the Farmer's Market by Irene Latham, illustrations by Mique Moriuchi
• Let's Eat!: What Children Eat Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. I hope you'll take some time to check out all the poetic things being shared today.

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 25

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems. Today's poem was inspired by this year's Progressive Poem. (See the list of participants to follow the poem. It began with Patricia Franze at Reverie.)

The journey

out of the dust

dreamers

the undefeated

illegal

chasing freedom

unspoken

unsettling truths

This child, every child

now and then

an American story

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• The Journey by Sarah Stewart, illustrations by David Small
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrations by Kadir Nelson
• Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrations by Giovanni Rigano
• Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts by Nikki Grimes, illustrations by Michele Wood
• Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
• Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah
• This Child, Every Child: A Book About the World's Children by David J. Smith, illustrations by Shelagh Armstrong
• Now and Then by Claire Philip, illustrations by Greg Paprocki
• An American Story by Kwame Alexander, art by Dare Coulter

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 24

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

We 

wonder

the shape of the world

gravity

spiders and their webs

dinosaur bones

bubble homes and fish farts

how the sea came to be

the stunning science of everything

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• We by Alice Schertle, illustrations by Kenneth Addison
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• The Shape of the World by K.L. Going, illustrated Lauren Stringer
• Gravity by Jason Chin
• Spiders and Their Webs by Darlyne A. Murawski
• Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner
• Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock, illustrations by Carolyn Conahan
• How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures In It by Jennifer Berne, illustrations by Amanda Hall
• The Stunning Science of Everything: Science With the Squishy Bits Left In! by Nick Arnold, illustrations by Tony De Saulles

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page. 

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 23

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.

Poem-Making

Look to the stars

listen to the wind

How do you feel?

Reflect and write

a river of words

Fearless writing

the arrow finds its mark

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources

• Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston
• Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin, paintings by Wendell Minor
• Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth, collages by Susan L. Roth
• How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne
• Reflect and Write: 300 Poems and Photographs to Inspire Writing, compiled by Elizabeth Guy and Hank Kellner
• A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, illustrations by Melissa Sweet
• Fearless Writing: Multigenre to Motivate and Inspire by Tom Romano
• The Arrow Finds Its Mark: A Book of Found Poems, edited by Georgia Heard, illustrations by Antoine Guilloppé

I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find all the poems I've written this month on the Book Spine Poems page.