The Miss Rumphius Effect

Friday, May 26, 2023

Poetry Sisters Write Ghazals

The challenge this month was to write in the form of the ghazal. You can learn more about this form here. This is a fairly restrictive form. When I began working on the first draft, I felt pretty good about where it was going, until I realized I was bending the rules far too much. Suffice it to say I scrapped my first draft and started on something entirely new. This one far better meets the rules for a ghazal, though I'm not sure it's very rhythmic. I can feel where the lines don't "sing" together. Maybe this is just a weird quirk of mine, or perhaps it comes from writing so often in iambic pentameter. In any case, this is a form I definitely need to play with.

Ghazal For the Dawn

birds in the garden sing in the dawn
all manner of creatures take wing in the dawn

mourners weep at a graveside
tears sting in the dawn

summer ends, school starts again
when the first bus arrives, children cling in the dawn

candles are lit, pews quietly fill
bells in the chapel ring in the dawn

hens wake up early, eat breakfast, lay eggs
rooster greeting the sunrise is king in the dawn

I lace up my sneakers, hit the road in the dark
feet pounding the pavement, arms swing in the dawn

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

Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month we are writing in response to a quote. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on June 30th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Patricia Franz at Reverie. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Friday, April 28, 2023

Poetry Sisters Write in the Style of Neruda

This month's challenge was to write in the style of Neruda. Oh boy. I haven't read much Neruda, so finding a poem as a mentor text was hard. I was familiar with the bilingual, illustrated selection of Neruda's Book of Questions that was published by Enchanted Lion Books last year. I thought about writing a poem composed of questions, but I went down the rabbit hole of reading Neruda's odes and got lost. They're pretty amazing. If you haven't read them, the best way to describe them is a lengthy (usually) stream of consciousness about everyday objects with a hefty dose of meandering seemingly off-topic before brilliantly closing with a meditation on beauty, nature, or something else profound.

Inspired by these odes, I attempted one of my own. Our theme for the year is transformation. I'm not sure I got there this time, but I had fun trying.

Ode to a Basket of Trinkets

Woven coils

of colorful paper

form a wide

round bowl

letters

clearly visible

one can

imagine

the stories

they told

In their

present form

transformed into

this bowl

they hold

memories

trinkets

baubles

no one

but me

can love

I cannot bear

to part

with small

forgotten

treasures

I worry them

in my hand

bringing the

ghosts of

love, loss

to life

memories clear

and cloudy

hanging by

a thread

I worry

over them

wonder when

they'll

disappear

each trinket

a touchstone

an exercise

in remembering

and forgetting

a pink diaper pin

once mine

mother kept

it in her

jewelry box

a fountain pen

ink cartridge

the bane of

my left-handed

existence

I'm not

cool enough

or adept enough

to write

without smudging

the ink

my hand

the paper

a Scrabble tile

one puzzle piece

Mardi Gras beads

tiny paper dolls

a frayed Girl Scout badge

three wheat pennies

a wooden nickel

all fleeting

beautiful

reminders of

the me I

used to be

and the ones

who made me

who

I am

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
Andi Sibley

Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month we are writing in the form of the ghazal. You can learn more about this form here. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on May 26th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!

I hope you'll 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!

Friday, April 14, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 14

My poem for Day 14 of National Poetry Month is written to the illustration Sowing and Reaping in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, (1863 May 23), p. 141. The poem focuses on the right side of the image.

The Richmond Bread Riot

April 1, 1863

In the third spring of the war

a nation of farmers

was starving

hungry women took the lead

took to the streets

wielding clubs and knives

axes and hatchets

they marched on

the Governor's mansion

discontent, angry

quiet determination turned

to chaos as chants of

"Bread or blood!"

echoed through the streets

I hope you'll join me tomorrow for my next poem highlighting a piece of history. You can read the previous poems as images on Instagram or at the links below. Each one is listed according to the primary source that inspired it.

April 1 - Sketch map of White Oak Swamp and vicinity southeast of Richmond.]; 6/1862; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77
April 2 - John Wilkes Booth's calling card
April 3 - Section of the city code of Montgomery, Alabama, requiring segregation on buses
April 4 - 1917 poster showing Liberty presenting a sword "Service" to a young woman
April 5 - Sheet music cover for Votes for Women: International Suffragists' Song
April 6 - Teachers' Monthly Report and Rules (1865): Narrative School Reports from Teachers and Superintendents of Freedmen's Schools
April 7 - Letter from Governor Ross Supporting Apache Removal (1886)
April 8 - Roy Takeno reading paper in front of office / photograph by Ansel Adams
April 9 - Amnesty Oath of Robert E. Lee (1865)
April 10 - Detroit Publishing Company photograph of The Main street, Mackinac
April 11 - Pigeon Message from Major Whittlesey to the Commanding Officer of the 308th Infantry (1918)
April 12 - Henry Bacon’s Competition Proposal for a Monument to Abraham Lincoln (1912)
April 13 - The Johnstown calamity. A slightly damaged house. Pennsylvania Johnstown, 1889

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone Rush MacCulloch. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Thursday, April 13, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 13

My poem for Day 13 of National Poetry Month is written to the photograph The Johnstown calamity. A slightly damaged house. Pennsylvania Johnstown, 1889.

The Great Flood of 1889

When the South Fork Dam gave way

the Little Conemaugh River ran

like the Mississippi

a flood of water and debris

hit the unsuspecting town

fires burned for three days

it wasn't pretty

even in stereoscope

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 12

My poem for Day 12 of National Poetry Month is written to Henry Bacon’s Competition Proposal for a Monument to Abraham Lincoln (1912).

neoclassical ghosts haunt DC

triangular pediments, massive columns

majestic domes

iconic symbols of democracy

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 11

My poem for Day 11 of National Poetry Month is written to Pigeon Message from Major Whittlesey to the Commanding Officer of the 308th Infantry (1918).

battlefield messengers

of the feathered kind

braved harsh conditions

kept rear commanders informed

of enemy movements

and friendly fire

Monday, April 10, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 10

My poem for Day 10 of National Poetry Month is written to a Detroit Publishing Company photograph of The Main street, Mackinac.

Main street, 1906

strung, wired,

ready to power up

my insulator collection

small piece of forgotten history

Sunday, April 09, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 9

My poem for Day 9 of National Poetry Month is written to the Amnesty Oath of Robert E. Lee (1865).

After surrender

he promised to uphold the Constitution

expressed a desire for reconciliation

transitioned from treasonous general

to college president

Saturday, April 08, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 8

My poem for Day 8 of National Poetry Month is written to Roy Takeno reading paper in front of office / photograph by Ansel Adams.

Free Press in Manzanar

There was nothing free

in this "reception center"

240 miles from the sea

in a high-walled mountain valley

where US citizens

treated as aliens and enemies

were interned

Friday, April 07, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 7

My poem for Day 7 of National Poetry Month is written to a horrific Letter from Governor Ross Supporting Apache Removal (1886). You can read the entire letter in the link.

They Were Here First

ghosts of the past

rattle in the present

their descendants are here

strangers in their own land

targeted by hateful language

yesterday and today

traditional enemies

generations of hostility

warpath of pillage and murder

radical measures

extermination

no peace except in

distant and isolated lands

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Thursday, April 06, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 6

My poem for Day 6 of National Poetry Month is written to Teachers' Monthly Report and Rules (1865): Narrative School Reports from Teachers and Superintendents of Freedmen's Schools. This is a found poem created with words from the Rules.

Teacher Rules

value knowledge and

subjects of instruction

notice and observe with

special attention

all pupils

provide time for learning

deliver best care in teaching

Wednesday, April 05, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 5

My poem for Day 5 of National Poetry Month is written to the sheet music cover for Votes for Women: International Suffragists' Song. This is a found poem created with the song's lyrics.

Votes for Women

mothers and maids

foremost toilers of our land

all answer the call

marching as one vast army

liberty under way

Tuesday, April 04, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 4

My poem for Day 4 of National Poetry Month is written to a 1917 poster showing Liberty presenting a sword "Service" to a young woman.

Over There

more than Uncle Sam

indelible images

posters sold the war

Monday, April 03, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 3

My poem for Day 3 of National Poetry Month is written to a section of the city code of Montgomery, Alabama, requiring segregation on buses.

Don't tell me it's not systemic

Don't try to convince me it's done

Centuries of brutal oppression

Need time to be overcome

Don't tell me the past is divisive

The facts can't be denied

We must tell the truth of history

Honor all who suffered and died

April 1 - Sketch map of White Oak Swamp and vicinity southeast of Richmond.]; 6/1862; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77
April 2 - John Wilkes Booth's calling card

Sunday, April 02, 2023

NPM 2023 - Poem 2

My poem for Day 2 of National Poetry Month is written to John Wilkes Booth's calling card. You can read more about it on the Pieces of History blog.

April 14, 1865

in the afternoon

he played the gentleman

observed the niceties of the day

before he played America's Brutus

felling The Great Emancipator

April 1 - Sketch map of White Oak Swamp and vicinity southeast of Richmond.]; 6/1862; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77.

Saturday, April 01, 2023

National Poetry Month Project 2023

Last year for National Poetry Month I wrote poems in a variety of Japanese poetic forms (haiku, tanka, dodoitsu, etc.) to photos, letters, newspaper articles, and other family ephemera. This was my first attempt at using primary sources to write poems.

This year I'm going back to primary sources, though this time around I'm using pieces from the National Archives and Library of Congress. I am posting the poem and primary source here. You will be able to find a graphic mashup of the poem and primary source on my Instagram.

My first poem is written to this Sketch map of White Oak Swamp and vicinity southeast of Richmond.]; 6/1862; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77.

In 1862, this was his world
a hand-drawn map
dotted with enemy encampments
rebel pickets and redoubts

world turned upside down
civilization measured in
miles to Richmond

I hope you'll join me this month for more primary source poems. If you are interested in my previous projects, you can find them linked below.

2022 - Poems and Primary Sources - For this project, I wrote in Japanese poetic forms to photos, letters, and other ephemera of family history.

2021 - Found Poems - For this project, I wrote and shared found poems, most of which were science- or nature-themed.

2020 - Armchair Traveler - This project highlighted original poems related to places I've been. These were written in response to the COVID lockdown and the desire to be anywhere but home.

2019 - Original Poems - This project highlighted original poems in a range of forms on a variety of topics.

2018 - Assorted Poems - This project highlighted a range of poems written by others that I found interesting or inspiring.

2017 - Celebrating My Late Sister-in-Law - On the fifth anniversary of my sister-in-law's death, this project shared memories of her and a poem related to each memory.

2016 - Celebrations - Inspired by World Rat Day: Poems About Real Holidays You've Never Heard Of (written by J. Patrick Lewis) and The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations: Holiday Poems for the Whole Year in English and Spanish (compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong), this project focused on daily, weekly, and monthly celebrations held during the month of April. In addition to information about each celebration, posts highlighted poems, books of poetry, children's books, and more.

2015 - Poetic Forms - This project, entitled Jumping Into Form, examined poetry writing and a variety of poetic forms, while providing a wealth of resources for teachers guiding students in writing poetry of their own.

2014 - Science Poetry Pairings - Inspired by the Book Links article Sylvia Vardell and I co-authored, Nonfiction Monday meets Poetry Friday: Linking Genres, this project highlighted books of poetry (or in some cases very special poems) and their perfect partners.

2013 - Poetry A to Z - In this project, I shared books, poems, poetic forms, and other poetry-inspired topics. Beginning with Z and winding down to A, the posts were a potluck of poetry resources.

2011 - Poetry in the Classroom - In this project, I highlighted a poem, a theme, a book, or a poet each day and suggested ways to make poetry a regular part of life in the classroom. I also suggested companion books, websites, and activities to accompany the reading of selected poems.

2010 - Poetry Makers - Following on the heels of the 2009 project, I posed a series of questions to 32 different children's poets. I highlighted their answers, along with their work and selected poems.

2009 - Poetry Makers - In this project, I posed a series of questions to 35 children's poets. I highlighted their answers, along with their work and selected poems.

2008 - Poetry in the Classroom - In this project, I highlighted a poetry book or related set of books (on a theme) and described how they might be used in the classroom. I also suggested companion books, websites, and activities to accompany the reading of selected poems from the books. Over the course of the month, I covered 62 books by 39 authors.

Friday, March 31, 2023

Poetry Sisters Write Etherees

This month's challenge was to write in the form of the etheree. An etheree is a poem of ten lines in which each line contains one more syllable than the last. Beginning with one syllable and ending with ten, this unrhymed form is named for its creator, 20th-century American poet Etheree Taylor Armstrong.

Variant forms of the etheree include the reverse form, which begins with 10 syllables and ends with one. The double etheree is twenty lines, moving from 1 syllable to 10, and then from 10 back to one. (I suppose a double etheree could also move from 10 syllables to 1, and then from one back to 10.)

You can learn more about the etheree at The Poets Garret and Shadow Poetry.

Since our theme for the year is transformation, I tried to think through topics that would lend themselves to the building structure of the etheree. I settled on alchemy. Here's what I came up with.

Alchemy

What

magic

power lives

in this base stone

that channels water,

fire, air, and earth to make

transmutation possible

some call it sorcery, changing

lead to gold, nature and elements

altered through alchemy's mystical art

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

Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month we are writing in the style of Neruda. Pick a poem you like and use it as inspiration for a poem of your own. We are still working on the theme of transformation, so perhaps you can squeeze this into your poem. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on April 28th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Friday, February 24, 2023

Poetry Sisters Write Ekphrastic Poems

One thing we can count on as we make our annual poetry plans is that ekphrastic poems will be in the mix. We usually share photos with one another and often will write to a photo that is not our own. Since our theme for the year is transformation, I posted photos related to an exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum entitled Transformed: Objects Reimagined by American Artists. I've seen this exhibit twice now and am endlessly fascinated by it. Here is the plaque that describes it.

I love that it was inspired by this note Jasper Johns wrote in his sketchbook in 1964.

Take an object

Do something to it

Do something else to it

The inspiration for my poem is a piece from this exhibit entitled Conversation, created by Marie Watt, a contemporary artist enrolled in the Seneca Nation of Indians. This work is made from reclaimed wool blankets, satin binding, and thread.

There is so much I love about this piece, but the mathematics of the shape has captured my attention. Here's my poem.

Möbius Magic
impossible shape
two sides, two edges -- transformed

this infinite curl

one surface, no boundaries

where math and art collide

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

Would you like to try the next challenge? Next month the form we are tackling is the etheree. This is a ten-line form that begins with a one-syllable word and grows by one syllable each line until you arrive at line ten (which has ten syllables). You can learn more about this form at Poetry Magnum Opus. We are still working on the theme of transformation. We hope you'll join us. 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 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Friday, January 27, 2023

Poetry Sisters Write Cascade Poems

Happy 2023. I'm thrilled to kick off another year of writing with my poetry sisters. We met at the beginning of January to plan our challenges and talked about forms, themes, and prompts for the year. The theme guiding our writing for the year is transformation.

The challenge this month was to write a cascade poem. You can learn more about this form in Robert Lee Brewer's column at Writer's Digest. This is a repetitive form where each line from the first stanza becomes the final line of each stanza that follows. Therefore, if the first stanza has 3 lines, the poem will have 4 stanzas. For this poem, I went with exploding stars.

Galactic Chemical Evolution*

Stars go supernova
expelling elements into space
we are made of stardust

time passes - in billions of years
cascading elemental changes
stars go supernova

seeding future generations
stars burn and die
expelling elements into space

carbon, nitrogen, oxygen
formed, reformed, remade
WE are made of stardust

*Galactic chemical evolution is a real field of study. Here's a brief introduction.

Stars and interstellar gas in galaxies exhibit diverse chemical element abundance patterns that are shaped by their environment and formation histories. The aim of Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) is to use the observed abundances to unlock earlier epochs in the Universe, probe the mechanisms of galaxy formation, and gain insight into the evolution of stellar systems.

The quote above came from Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia in a paper entitled Galactic Chemical Evolution. If you want to learn more about this topic, The Journal of Physics: Conference Series has a paper entitled Introduction to Galactic Chemical Evolution.

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

Would you like to try the next challenge? In February, we are writing ekphrastic poems. You get to choose the topic, form, meter, length, etc., but your poem must be based on an image. We hope you'll join us. Are you in? Good! You’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on February 24th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jan Annino at Bookseed Studio. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Friday, December 30, 2022

Poetry Sisters Write "Box"-Inspired Poems

For our last challenge of 2022, we let the word box inspire our poems. I made a long list of phrases that included the word box and hoped I would find some inspiration there. Two items on that list really stood out for me. One was "tackle box." I have fond memories of poking around in my father's tackle box while we were fishing. The other was a button box, which immediately reminded me of this.

This old candy tin was my grandmother's button "box." It was the one I spent hours playing with when I was young because "children were meant to be seen and not heard."

I also thought a lot about the shape of a box and wondered if I could write a poem in the shape of a box (or square). I did some searching and found that Lewis Carroll wrote in a poetic form where the number of words per line is equal to the total number of lines in the poem. What's challenging about this square poem is that each of the six lines was meant to be read horizontally OR vertically from top to bottom. Here is the poem Carroll wrote.

I Often Wondered

I often wondered when I cursed,
Often feared where I would be –
Wondered where she’d yield her love
When I yield, so will she.
I would her will be pitied!
Cursed be love! She pitied me…

It's a bit easier to see how this works in the image below.

I decided to give this form a go. I started with 6x6 and found it incredibly difficult to write a poem that made sense across all the lines. Frustrated, I tried a 5x5 and then a 4x4. Ultimately, I landed on a 3x3 and wrote two stanzas. This isn't what Carroll had in mind, but I'm a rule-breaker. I did use the word box in my poem, so I feel as though I met the challenge posed.

I created a grid to aid in writing my poem. It helped align the words and made reading the horizontal and vertical lines much easier.

Here's another way to read the poem. I've highlighted the words in various ways to make the vertical lines stand out. Even though the poem is actually 2 individual square poems linked by a theme, I quite like the way the 6 words across the stanzas work together to create 3 entirely new lines. I did cheat with the singular/plural form of button(s). I'm not sure "buttons box" works, but there you have it.

Sorting Grandma’s buttons

Grandma’s buttons box

Buttons box bounty

Assorted beautiful buttons

Beautiful buttons speak

Buttons speak history

I am still working on a tackle box poem and hope to share that soon. In the meantime, if you are into nerdy mathematical poetry connections, I came across a conference paper while researching square poems that I am fascinated with. You may be too. It is entitled Graeco-Latin Square Poems.

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

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Patricia Franz at Reverie. Happy poetry Friday, friends!

Pages

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