Poetry Friday - Welcome Mat Is Out!

Welcome poetry lovers! I'm happy to be hosting Poetry Friday this week. I'm especially thrilled to be hosting on a day when the Poetry 7 gang is sharing a crop of new poems.

This month we wrote poems to images chosen by Liz. After attending the Picasso Sculpture exhibit at MOMA, she shared some photographs she took and challenged us to pick a piece and write to it. You can read about the exhibit at Pablo Picasso, Now in 3D. I chose the cat sculpture. (This is not the picture Liz shared, but one that shows the piece at a slightly different angle.)

Pablo Picasso's "Cat" (1941) at @themuseumofmodernart for #caturday, naturally. #catart

A photo posted by Ben Sutton (@itsbensutton) on Sep 12, 2015 at 8:01am PDT

Early draft  From Whence Le Chat (maybe?) Art takes shape in peace and war emerges from light and dark an act of defiance a voice of truth in every age Paris, 1941 … Declared “degenerate artist” harassed exhibits halted he retreated to his studio German laws did not douse creative flames a world at war did not quell his genius La Résistance française saw to that smuggling bronze into Paris In a Left Bank studio surrounded by Nazis art did more than survive it flourished and le chat was born

Most recent draft Pablo’s Cat Paris, 1941 … Declared “degenerate artist” harassed exhibits halted he retreated to his studio German laws did not douse creative flames a city in turmoil did not thwart his genius surrounded by Nazis he shaped smuggled bronze Le Chat was welcomed into a home swelling with poetry plays paintings sculptures In a Left Bank studio as war waged on Picasso could not be quelled would not be silenced Art did more than survive It flourished

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2016. All rights reserved.

You can read the ekphrastic poems written by my Poetry Seven compatriots at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Kelly Fineman
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley - Andi's a bit under the weather, so please send virtual hugs and healing thoughts her way. We'll hold down the fort until she's well again. We miss you, Andi!

I hope you'll help me celebrate poetry this week by joining in the round-up and visiting other folks sharing their thoughts. I'm and old-school style host, so please leave a note with a link to your offering in the comments. Thanks to all of you who stop by to read, write poetry, and share in the love of children's literature.

Happy poetry Friday friends! 

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Original Poetry
Robyn Hood Black of Life on the Deckle Edge is sharing a lovely little poem entitled Groundhog Day and a story about her neighbor that will make you smile.

cbhanek of Quick Thinks About Literature & Life isn't giving up on snow-inspired photo poems and shares a new poem entitled Chillin'.

Diane Mayr of Random Noodling shares a poem entitled 2016 Antique Mart.

Jone MacCullough of Check It Out shares her poem Super Bowl Sunday.

Joy Acey of Poetry for Kids shares the poem Ducks and issues a poem writing challenge.

Sally Murphy checks in from Down Under and shares a lovely little photo poem.

Heidi Mordhorst of my juicy little universe muses a bit on the nature of blogging and shares a poem entitled INSTRUCTIONS | dmmg.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater shares a poem entitled The Traffic Lights. She also shares an image of her draft and some wise advice for writing.

Ramona of Pleasures from the Page shares a short poem about her upcoming day. Fingers crossed that she has time to share a poem with her students today!

Brenda Harsham of Friendly Fairy Tales shares a poem entitled Squirrel Haven.

Bridget Magee of wee words for wee ones made me laugh out loud! Check out her poem entitled The Ex Files.

Violet Nesdoly is still thinking about and writing nothing poems and shares one entitled I Read Nothing.

Liz Steinglass is sharing a lovely poem entitled Fog.

Kay of A Journey Through the Pages is sharing a haiku in defiance of snow.

Penny Parker Klostermann shares a new post in her series A Great Nephew and A Great Aunt and highlights a beautiful art and poetry collaboration between Irene Latham and her 9 year-old niece.

JoAnn Early Macken of Teaching Authors shares a poem entitled Staring Out the Window.

Found Object Poem Project 
Laura Shovan of Author Amok invites everyone to join in a month-long daily write-in. All of the information people need to participate (and the Week One prompts) are at 2016 Found Object Poem Project.

Matt Forrest Esenwine is hosting Laura Shovan's Poetry Prompt series today and sharing his poem entitled Heirloom Moon, along with those written by others playing along.

Mary Lee of A Year of Reading is also participating in the found object poem fun and shares a poem entitled Mysteries.

Linda Baie of Teacher Dance shares her response to today's found object in a poem entitled Early Valentine's Day.

Carol Varsalona of Beyond LiteracyLink shares a couple of found object poems and issues a reminder about the invitation to the upcoming gallery, Winter Wanderings.

Molly Hogan of Nix the comfort zone shares her found object poem entitled One Plump Tomato.

Poetry of Others
Keri of Keri Recommends shares the poem The Other Side of a Mirror by Mary Coleridge.

Diane Mayr of Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet shares the poem Merry-Go-Round by Langston Hughes for Black History Month.

Tara of A Teaching Life shares the poem Thinking of Flowers by Jane Kenyon.

Tabatha Yeatts of The Opposite of Indifference shares poems by Joy Acey and Robyn Hood Black and sets them to music!

Jama Rattigan of Jama's Alphabet Soup shares a gorgeous Friday Feast that includes Adele Kenny's poem entitled To Blueberries AND a recipe for Bluemisu.

Carol of Carol's Corner provides her own poetic and heartbreaking introduction to the Langston Hughes' poem Let America Be America Again.

Catherine of Reading to the Core is sharing two poems by Judith Moffat and Marilyn Singer that connect to her one little word for the year.

Ruth of There is no such thing as a God-foresaken town shares the poem Questions of Travel by Elizabeth Bishop.

Donna Smith of Mainely Write took up Tabatha's poem/song matching challenge and has selected music to go with poems by Tabatha Yeatts and Irene Latham.

Little Willow of Bildunsroman is sharing the poem The Awakening of Dermuid by Austin Clarke.

Janet of All About Books with Janet Squires shares the poem Birches by Robert Frost.

Doraine Bennett of Dori Reads shares the poem Reply to the Question: "How can You Become a Poet?" by Eve Merriam. She also rounds up a whole bunch of her poems in this post.

Carlie of Twinkling Along shares the poem Genetics by Jacqueline Woodson.

Poetry Books and Interviews
Myra of Gathering Books introduces readers to the book all the words are yours: haiku on love and shares a few excerpts.

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes of Today's Little Ditty welcomes David L. Harrison as February's spotlight author, shares his newest poetry collection, and offers up this month's ditty challenge.

Margaret Simon of Reflections on the Teche shares Irene Latham's new book When the Sun Shines On Antarctica, along with some of the poems and poems written by her students in response.

Irene Latham of Live Your Poem shares a Cybils nominated poetry book, Sleepy Snoozy Cozy Coozy: A Book of Animal Beds.

Tamera Will Wissinger is celebrating the  release of her new book There Was An Old Lady Who Gobbled a Skink. Congratulations Tamera!

Mandy of Enjoy and Embrace Reading shares the book Messing Around on the Monkey Bars by Betsy Franco and an excerpt.

Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children shares a mega-list of resources for celebrating Black History Month with poetry.