Friday, June 02, 2023

Poetry Friday is Here!

Hello All! I'm so happy to be hosting Poetry Friday. 

I have spent the last few months preparing to move out of the building I have spent the last 29 years in on campus. It is my home away from home. There is much I will miss about it. The physical move of all our things occurred this week and still continues, as bookshelves are installed, and furniture moved in. I have been adrift for weeks, with no place to land, settling most days in the library before my classes meet in the late afternoon. We will be allowed to move in next week, and I can't wait. 

In seeing my new office, I am saddened that I have lost so much space to store my books. Out of necessity, I will need to let some go. While I will be able to pass them on to new teachers just starting out, it will hurt to part with them.

Thinking of moving had me reading Ralph Fletcher as I packed up. In Moving Day, Ralph gives readers a series of free verse poems in which 12-year-old Fletch describes his family's move from Massachusetts to Ohio. Here's one of my favorites from this collection.

Defrosting the Freezer

One container of spaghetti sauce
Grandma made before she died.

Two pieces of old wedding cake
you couldn't pay me to eat.

Three snowballs from last winter
slightly deformed, no longer fluffy.

Four small flounder from the time
Grandpa took me deep-sea fishing.

Everything coated with a thick
white layer of sadness. 
That thick layer of sadness has surely enveloped me. I did stop by my old digs one last time to say goodbye. My son grew up here, and when he came to campus, lived in the building connected to mine for 2 of his 4 years. It holds many precious memories.

I'll be rounding up posts through the day old-school style, so please leave your link in the comments, and I will add you to the post. Happy Poetry Friday, all!

**********
Original Poetry
Laura Purdie Salas is sharing a poem entitled The Song of Sunshine.

Mary Lee Hahn of A(nother) year of Reading is sharing a sudoku poem entitled No Vacancy.

Heidi Mordhorst of my juicy little universe is celebrating pride and sharing a color poem entitled I Finally Choose a Favorite Color.

Linda Mitchell of A Word Edgewise is also sharing a color poem written to a lovely photo. 

Robyn Hood Black shares a proud grandparent moment and the poem You're the ONE! on the occasion of her grandson's first birthday.

Linda Baie of Teacher Dance shares a poem entitled The Bouncing Ball Keeps Bouncing.

Irene Latham of Live Your Poem shares an ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem entitled Meadow Song. She also shares an invitation to a moon poem party when she hosts Poetry Friday on June 30th.

Margaret Simon of Reflections on the Teche is also sharing a color poem that begins, "If you want to find red."

Michelle Kogan shares some Good morning haiku.

Carol Varsalona of Beyond Literacy Link remembers her uncle and pays to tribute to loved ones with her poem Life is a Journey.

At Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J. Wright, Alan shares a poem entitled Appliance Compliance.

Carol Labuzzetta of The Apples in My Orchards shares a found object poem entitled Debris.

Anastasia Suen is sharing an acrostic poem for June.

Patricia J. Franz marvels at the mountains in springtime and shares the poem snow flower: a haiku.

Sally Murphy is generously giving us a glimpse into her new verse novel, Queen Narelle.

Matt Forrest Esenwine shares news of his forthcoming book and a poem entitled The Eve of Maturity.

Jone Rush MacCulloch combines the prompt for the monthly Spiritual Thursday Journey with her thoughts and poems in a slide show of visual prayers.

Donna Smith of Mainely Write shares her poem The Ocean as a Canva movie.

Molly Hogan of Nix the Comfort Zone used Eileen Spinelli’s “If You Want to Find Golden” as a mentor for her color poem

Janice Scully of Salt City Verse shares two poems about Santa Cruz.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of The Poem Farm shares a poem entitled Possibility, which can be sung to the tune of "Dona Nobis Pacem." She's also featuring some fourth-grade guest poets.

Marcie Flinchum Atkins shares a haiku and photo.

Book Reviews and Book Lists
Jama Rattigan of Jama's Alphabet Soup shares a review of Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals by Linda Ashman and Aparna Varma.

Susan Thomsen of Chicken Spaghetti shares a list of poetry books for adults published or forthcoming this year.

Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning shares the anthology Things We Feel by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.

On Writing
Lou Piccolo shares some thoughts about writing poetry to combat writer's block.

Poetry of Others
Ramona of Pleasures from the page rambles through the rhododendrons and shares lines from a Joy Harjo poem and Wendell Berry too.

Tabatha Yeatts of the Opposite of Indifference shares the poem "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear" by Mosab Abu Toha.

Karen Edmisten shares the poem "New Moon Newton" by Oliver Baez Bendorf.

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

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

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

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

    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 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

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

      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

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

      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)

      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

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

      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)

      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

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

      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