Monday Poetry Stretch - Birthdays and Beginnings

I've always hated birthdays. Mine was yesterday. There was no party (thankfully), just some time with family and a nice dinner out. I always regretted having a summer birthday as a child, feeling I was missing out on celebrating with friends in school. Ever since going college I've lived my life according to a different academic calendar, so now my birthday usually comes at the beginning of the fall semester. Hey, you get what you wish for. Now I am in school for my birthday and wish that my summer birthday came just a bit earlier!

Today I'm thinking about birthdays and beginnings. What will this new year bring? Let's write about that. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Poetry Stretch Results - Back to School

The challenge last week was to write about going back to school. Here are the results.

Shoes
by Kate Coombs of Book Aunt

Left flip-flop cracked,
with tar on the back.
Right flip-flop sandy,
smeared with cotton candy.

Left school shoe shines,
ready to stand in line.
Right school shoe grins,
set to walk in.

--Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved


Ready
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of The Poem Farm

I'm ready to be a grade older.
I'm ready to ride the bus.
I'm ready to meet my teacher.
(I hope she's ready for us.)
I'm ready to use these pencils.
I'm ready to make new friends.
I'm a little bit sad
but I'm ready.
Summer always ends.

© Amy LV


COOL! SCHOOL!
by Carol Weis

A B C
Hey look at me,

Sneakers all tied,
Smile’s this wide.

How can that be?
Will anyone see?

That I’m just some fool
Who thinks school is real cool!
Carol Weis © 2010


WISE UP
by Judy Beck

My teacher at school doesn’t like me.
She hasn’t a reason I’m sure.
My personality is delightful.
My manner is simply demure.

In the class I do everything perfect.
In math I am really a star.
When it comes to language and writing,
I’m better than the others by far.

But my teacher at school doesn't like me,
And for what reason I haven't a clue.
You should see how I truly help her.
You should see all that I do.

If she struggles when she is teaching,
She knows that I’ll kindly step in.
And of course I’m there to remind her,
If she ever does it again.

I’m also helpful at recess.
I tell her what others do wrong—
If they are breaking the rules, or fighting,
Or simply not getting along.

But my teacher at school doesn’t like me,
And she hasn’t a reason I’m sure.
Since I’m not the one with a problem,
It’s obvious that it must be her.

Judy Beck - all rights reserved

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Monday Poetry Stretch - The Big Yellow Bus is Back

This morning as I headed out for the first day of the fall semester, the big yellow monsters were out making trial runs. While you may still be enjoying the last few days of August, summer is officially over for me. Some of you reading this may even be back at school as well. 

Let's write about school or going back to school. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Same Sound, Different Meaning

Homonyms, homophones, homographs ... what's the difference? I learned the word homonym in grade school for words that sound the same but have different meanings. You can find a nice discussion at http://www.magickeys.com/books/riddles/words.html.

Why the ruminations? After reading a poem by Brenda Hillman I started thinking about the interesting ways a poem could be constructed with such words. Here's an excerpt of the poem.

Cleave and Cleave
by Brenda Hillman

The lifeguards have gone in for the season;
their stilted chair
still looks out like an egret on the strip of sand
that's cluttered with artifacts; one thong,
sun-lotion bottles, the sunken
pockets of fottsteps filled with trash.
I stop on the cliff and stare down at the lake
that builds its private character in the off-season,
imagine sunbathers skiing now,
taking their introverted goldness
down the bright slopes.

In the parking lot,
a young couple embraces, coming from
the shoulders of the lawn with picnic remnants,
and finding their Buick he presses her against it
and she tilts her sun hat toward him so it
catches the light like a last
phase of the moon--she knew
it would do that--

Read the poem in its entirety.

What can you do with words that sound the same but have different meanings? That is your challenge. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Nonfiction Monday - 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days

I've come to rely on Bruce Goldstone's books Great Estimations (2006) and Greater Estimations (2008) for teaching students about number sense and quantitative estimation. I'm thrilled he's added a new title to his growing collection of math books. 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days will also be useful for the study of number sense and offers suggestions for celebrating the 100th day of school that extend well beyond traditional counting activities.

As a writer and photo stylist, Goldstone has created an amazing array of images in support of his imaginative ideas. Here's an excerpt of ideas from the middle of the book.

Flip 100. (46) Flip a coin 100 times. How many times will it land heads up?

Clip 100. (47) Clip together 100 paper clips.

Clap 100. (48) Clap 100 times.

Tip 100. (49) Line up 100 dominoes and then tip them over.

The activities recommended by Goldstone can be easily carried out at home or in the classroom. They don't require fancy or expensive materials, will keeps kids engaged, and will provide a springboard for brainstorming additional activities involving 100.

This one is going straight to the top of the the thematic book list for the 100th day of school. Strongly recommended.

Book: 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days
Author/Illustrator: Bruce Goldstone
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Publication Date: August 2010
Pages: 48 pages
Grades: K-3
ISBN: 978-0805089974

Source of Book: ARC picked up at the ALA Conference in June.

In the states where the school year often begins after Labor Day, the 100th day generally falls close to Valentine's Day (snow days not withstanding), so you've got plenty of time to prepare. Here are some additional resources that will help you plan for the 100th day of school. 

• Mathwire.com 100th Day of School Activities
• Complete the Wacky Wish poem (If I could have 100/of anything at all/ ...)
• Songs and Poems for the 100th Day of School
• Celebrate the 100th Day of School (Scholastic)
• Celebrate the 100th Day in 100 Ways

This post was written for Nonfiction Monday. Hosting this week are Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian. Do take some time to check out all the great posts highlighting nonfiction this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - How to Listen

There's something about spending nights at the beach, windows open with the sound of the waves rushing endlessly in and out. I could have done without the constant roar of fighter planes overhead, but there were quiet and peaceful moments. Some days I think we forget how to listen and just be in the stillness or cacophony of the world. It's not just the sound of the world I love, but the sound of poetry in all it's rhythms, rhymes, meters, assonance, consonance, and well, the list is endless. 

While we often write about what we see, my experience at the beach reminds me that sometimes we need to write what we hear. So, your challenge is to write about what you hear in your world. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Where Is Miss Rumphius?

You've probably noticed the lack of posts in the last 8 weeks. Summer school and life have been kicking my butt. However, with a little bit of R&R scheduled, a TBR pile that's huge, and big plans for some new lists and features, I hope to be back in fighting form in no time.

I'm not lying when I say I've missed you. I'm not just talking about posting here, I'm talking about reading you. I haven't visited my favorite blogs in ages. I missed all the reports about ALA (Yes, I was there!), Brush Up Your Shakespeare month, a slew of Poetry Fridays and Nonfiction Mondays, and so much more.

I leave today for a much needed vacation and will be back on August 2nd. I hope you'll join me here when I return.

Tuesday Poetry Stretch - A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Yup, I'm late. Chalk it up to the last week of 8 weeks of madness and a heavy teaching schedule. I'm going home to visit my mom soon and started thinking about all the sayings she tosses around, hence the title of this post. I thought it might be fun to write around a saying or two. Some of my mom's gems include:

• "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. If horse turds were biscuits you'd eat til you died."
• "Why don't you freeze your teeth and give your tongue a sleigh ride?"

I'm thinking about raining cats and dogs at the moment. They might make a great poem. How about you? What will you write about? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - The Sky's the Limit

While waiting for the fireworks to begin last night I was doing a bit of stargazing, or not, given how cloudy it was. Even on clear nights in the summer I find myself missing Orion. His reappearance is just another of the many things I love about fall. Yes, I know it's summer, but it's hot and my least favorite time of year, so I'm trying to think cool thoughts.

Are you a stargazer or skywatcher? What is your favorite thing in the sky? I'll have to admit I'm most fond of birds in flight, the harvest moon, and winter stars. Let's write about the sky this week and the things you find most appealing in it. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Abecedarian

It's time this week to revisit and old (i.e. - one we've already played with) form. An abecedarian poem is one in which the verses or words begin with successive letters of the alphabet. I was inspired to think about this form again because I've been reading When You Are Alone / It Keeps You Capone: An Approach to Creative Writing With Children by Myra Cohn Livingston. In it you'll find a poem written by a ninth grade boy that begins this way.

Oration

A            Mexican hat is not to
Be           undermined, especially when one can
Cee          its innate qualities which
Dee          golden color rev-
Eals.        However
F            one doesn't see the beauty:
G-           wiz- let them go to
H            or heaven but
I            do not think they should be on this earth, or
Jail.

It's really a silly little thing, but it reminded my of how many clever and interesting ways there are to write a poem.

So, your challenge for the week is to write an abecedarian poem. Leave me a note about your work and I'll post the results here later this week.

Check Me Out In the June Issue of Book Links!

This month you'll find me sharing a thematic book list somewhere besides this blog. Check out the June issue of Book Links for my article entitled Titles That Sing and Shine: Books about Sound and Light. You'll find poetry, fiction, informational titles and activity books for grades K-6. You'll also find a sidebar on scientists of light and sound with suggested titles for learning more about Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.

If you can't get to the article right away, check out some of these web sites about light and sound.

Light

• LASERS: From Science Fiction to Everyday Life
• Make a Splash With Color
• Optics for Kids

Sound

• Instruments of the Orchestra
• New York Philharmonic – Instrument Storage Room

Finally, check out this Poetry in the Classroom post entitled Lighting It Up for even more ideas on teaching about light.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Cento

Today's poetry stretch takes the form of thievery. Actually, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so let's think about this as an exercise in honoring our favorite lines of poetry. Today's exercise in mental gymnastics takes the form of the cento.

The cento is a poem made entirely of pieces from poems by other authors. Centos can be rhymed or unrhymed, short or long.
(From The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms.)

You can read more about the cento at Poets.org. I also like this article about found poetry.

Not one to stick with the rules, I wrote using adult titles on my bookshelf.

Nobody's Fool

He waits in the secret garden while his
love is lost to the housekeeping.
He knows the name of the rose,
and all creatures great and small.
He meditates on beauty,
and walks where angels fear to tread.
He is the constant gardener,
tending the family orchard while
the sun also rises.
He lives in a brave new world,
without pride and prejudice,
by a thread of grace.
He dreams of Gilead,
the wide Sargasso Sea and
going to the lighthouse,
but dreams blow away
on the shadow of the wind.
He views the world through
an imperfect lens, and knows it's all
one big damn puzzler, but
he believes that life is a miracle and
that the Lord God made them all.

Here are the books that make up this cento.

1. Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo
2. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
3. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
4. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
5. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
6. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
7. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
8. The Constant Gardener by John le Carre
9. The Family Orchard by Nomi Eve
10. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
11. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
12. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
13. A Thread of Grace by Maria Doria Russell
14. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
15. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
16. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
17. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
18. An Imperfect Lens by Anne Roiphe
19. One Damn Big Puzzler by John Harding
20. Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry
21. The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot

So, do you want to play? What kind of poem will you assemble? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Poetry Stretch Results - Macaronic Verse

Well, it appears that last week's challenge put me in a bit of hot water. Sheesh! I didn't think it was THAT hard. Here are the results for macaronic verse, or poems that include bits and pieces of another language.

Subject is Matter
by Jane Yolen

Subject is matter,
And matter is verse.
The one can be versatile,
Or something worse.
Verser and verser,
Berserker we go
Into the mental
And magical flow.

Floe is the answer,
A berg of real choice,
When verse is much better
Than verbiage or noise.
And so burgermeister
Come sell me some rhymes
That I can take with me
In virtual times.

©2010 by Jane Yolen, all rights reserved


GRATIAS
By Steven Withrow of Crackles of Speech

Mother of merci
beaucoup
and grazie mille
and muchas gracias.

Estranged relation
of vielen dank
and mange takk,
among many others.

You grace—you gratify
my philologist’s heart
with your Latinate
morphology.

Gratias,
Gratias,
Gratias tibi ago,
Thank you so.


No
by Kate Coombs of Book Aunt

I cannot make a telephone calle
or cut the abundant grasa.
I will not shoot the revolver
or lift the heavy masa.
I won't congratulate the champú
or buy a movie pasa.
Nor will I pet the cat's furia
or polish up the brasa.
Don't ask me to drink a cola
or shelve books in a casa.
And no matter how fast I can run,
I'm not going to win the raza.

—Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

NOTES:
calle = street
grasa = grease
revolver = to turn
masa = dough
champú = shampoo
pasa = he/she passes
furia = fury
brasa = live coal
cola = tail (of an animal)
casa = house
raza = race, lineage
("No" is the same in Spanish and English.)


Econd-say Anguage-lay
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of The Poem Farm

Igs-pay are riendly-fay.
Igs-pay are mart-say.
If you ike-lay igs-pay
Ou'll-yay do our-yay art-pay
to isten-lay ell-way
to peak-say in wine-say.
Irst-fay etter-lay ast-lay
Add ay
You'll e-bay ine-fay.

(If is-thay is oo-tay
ard-hay or-fay ou-yay,
emember-ray...
igs-pay peak-say
Glish-enay oo-tay.)

© Amy Ludwig VanDerwater


Song in Macaroni
by Barbara Turner

Just south of Rigatoni
is the city of Bologna
and for a pocket full of pennes
you can get into the fair.

Where Ms. Elizabeth Rotini
Signs her book on Ditalini
Who painted Acini de Pepe
with the long spaghetti hair.

--Barbara J. Turner


Not Lost In Translation
By Liz Korba of Correspondence.org

English can bee sew confusing.
(How can “says” be said that way?!)
I am walking. I am running. I am sading… (No? Can’t say?!)
I walk slowly. I run quickly. I work hardly… (Not that way?!)
Every rule we know gets broken. My pants ARE?! Shirt IS! (Ok…)
You my teacher good and friendly. Gracias for help and tries.
Here’s a card – “In Sympathy” – What?! It’s for when someone dies?!
Read my note, then you will see…
“Thanks for all you did to me.”

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Macaronic Verse

The Handbook of Poetic Forms defines macaronic verse in this fashion.

Macaronic verse is a peculiar, rare and often comic form of poetry that sometimes borders on nonsense. It is a mixture of two (or more) languages in a poem, in which the poet usually subjects one language to the grammatical laws of another to make people laugh.

You can read more at Wikipedia and learn a bit about the history of this form. I was interested to note that the Carmina Burana (which I sang eons ago in high school) is a fine example of this.

So, your challenge for this week is to write a poem that uses more than one language. If you don't know another language, make one up. Pig Latin, anyone? Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Poetry Stretch Results - Some Like It Hot

The challenge this week was to write about something hot. Here are the results.

Kate Coombs of Book Aunt shared this untitled poem.

Today has a fever,
but the ocean puts cool fingers
across its hot forehead
and says, "Shhhh.
Soon it will be night."

--Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

VANISHING ACT
By Steven Withrow of Crackles of Speech

Nine years old, bored with summer,
sick of sunburn, watermelon,
almost wishing for September,
I follow my patient father
through hanging vines,
chain-linked swings
of our equatorial jungle gym,
where earth turns daily
and vegetables grow.
I plunk myself down
between red radish rows,
leaves like ping-pong paddles,
while Father thrusts
a spade into soft soil.

At garden’s margin
a fat, black rabbit
tips slack ears
like a conjurer’s top hat
at miracle finale
of a mirror-shadow show.
(Father doesn’t look up;
this trick’s for me.)
Long-eared illusionist,
with rabbit sleight-of-foot,
nabs one red radish,
into tall grass disappears,
without presto, bravo,
or wherever-did-he-go.

Pepper
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater of The Poem Farm

It was such a cute pepper
the size of my thumb.
I bit off the tip
and I felt pretty dumb
for though it was little
that pepper was strong.
I thought it was sweet.
It was hot.
I was wrong.

© Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Diane Mayr of Random Noodling shared this untitled poem.

afternoon heat...
gray cat flops on her side
to stretch long
against the cool wood floor
still and silent as a shadow

Air-Condition
by Liz Korba of Correspondence.org

It's hot.
I'm not.

Jone of Deo Writer shares a poem about the heat.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Better Than Wizard's Chess

While I continue to dig out from under a pile of work, please enjoy this brief interlude. And yes, it IS better than Wizard's chess!

Monday Poetry Stretch - Some Like It Hot

I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth where blogging is concerned. I'm swamped with work right now, but wouldn't dream of letting down all you folks who take up challenges with me. I don't know what it's like where you are, but it's darn hot here. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I have lived here nearly 16 years and I still don't like the summers. I don't miss the Buffalo snow, but I do miss the summers and the fall.

Okay, enough of my stream of consciousness on the weather. Let's write about something HOT. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Nonfiction Monday - Arctic Reading

It's been quite hot out, so the reading I'm doing with my son has taken a chilly turn. Here is a trio of books that examines life in the harsh Arctic wilderness.

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, written by Debbie S. Miller and illustrated by Jon Van Zyle - The city of Fairbanks, Alaska lies one hundred and fifteen miles south of the Arctic Circle. This book provides seasonal descriptions of the changing hours of light and temperatures in Fairbanks from one summer solstice to the next. Across the top of each page readers will find the date, total number of hours and minutes of daylight, times for sunrise and sunset, and average high and low temperatures. The text examines everything from the migration of birds and caribou to the hibernation of bears, all placed within the context of the lengthening and shortening of days. Animals referenced in the text include the moose, snowshoe hare, grizzly bear, ground squirrel, sandhill crane, caribou, wolf, raven, and trumpeter swan. The text ends with a glossary that explains phenomena like "blinks," "diamond dust," and "sun dogs."

Ice Bears, written by Brenda Guiberson and illustrated by Ilya Spirin - Beautifully written and illustrated, this story begins in December with the birth of two polar bear cubs and follows them through the year. Readers learn how they grow, develop, and learn to survive in a complex ecosystem. The ice is a central focus here, and readers will come to see the threat to the bears as the climate warms and the ice melts. The back matter explains a bit more about threats to the Arctic and includes a list of websites for environmental organizations. (You can learn more about this book by reading my review.)

Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with a Caribou Herd, written by Karsten Heuer - Read that title again and let two words sink in--ON FOOT. This is an adaptation of Heuer’s adult title that describes the five months he and his wife spent following the migration of more than 100,000 Grant’s caribou to their breeding ground in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In describing the difficulties they (humans) faced, Heuer also provides readers with an intimate view of this seasonal trek from the perspective of the caribou. While journeying thousands of kilometers, the caribou must cross mountain slopes and thawing rivers while surviving blizzards and the constant threat of predators. Accompanied by photographs of the migration, this is an amazing story that helps readers to understand the delicate Arctic ecosystem.

If you are interested in learning more about the Arctic and Arctic wildlife, check out these resources.

• Defenders of Wildlife has a series of wildlife and habitat fact sheets.
• Polar Bears International has an extensive page of polar bear facts.
• The National Geographic Society has information on polar bears at creature feature.
• Canadian Geographic has some information on caribou.
• The Arctic Studies Center answers some frequently asked questions about the arctic.
• The Arctic Wildlife Portfolio at the Arctic Studies Center has a wealth of information on birds, as well as land and sea mammals.
• Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online magazine for K-5 teachers integrating science, literacy and the polar regions.
• NOAA has an Arctic theme page with a gallery of Arctic images.

This post was written for Nonfiction Monday. Hosting this week is Lori at Lori Calabrese Writes. Do take some time to check out all the great posts highlighting nonfiction this week.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Ottava Rima

I keep going back to form when I need some structure for my writing. It actually helps me when I have constraints to work within. Ottava rima is an Italian form that consists of a stanza of eight lines with the rhyme scheme abababcc. In English, the lines are usually written in iambic pentameter. Ottava rima is generally associated with epic poems (like Don Juan), but can be used for shorter poems.

An example of ottava rima can be found in the poem Sailing to Byzantium. Here are the first two stanzas of the poem.

Sailing to Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

So, your challenge for the week is to write a poem in the form of ottava rima. Leave me a note about your work and I'll post the results here later this week.

Poetry Stretch Results - By the Numbers

The challenge this week was to write some mathematically inclined poetry. Here are the results.

CAT'S TWELVE TAILS
By Steven Withrow of Crackles of Speech

One she wore on Sunday mornings
strolling with a friend.
Two she took on pleasant outings
by the river bend.
Three she kept for secret errands
prowling in the dark.
Four she hid beneath a bush
beside the city park.
Five she dressed in scarlet ribbons
meant to catch the eye
Of chickadee or meadow mouse
or bashful butterfly.
Six she bought on market day
and paid a level price.
Seven tagged along behind
against her own advice.
Eight she gambled and she lost
in midnight games of chance.
Nine she broke while practicing
a whirling-dervish dance.
Ten she groomed to gleaming black
until her tongue turned red.
Eleven she abandoned
for a buttered crust of bread.
Twelve she had inherited
at birth with regal pride.
She curled it close upon her breast
and wore it when she died.

© 2010 Steven Withrow. All rights reserved


Four Leaf Clover
by Amy LV of The Poem Farm

We hunted on our knees in clover
running our fingers through grass
trying to find four leaves
in a green sea of threes.
My little sister turned her back
took two clovers
ripped one leaf from each
twisted both stems together
and called, “Look I found one!”
I used to do that
so I almost told her it wasn’t real
not a real lucky clover.
But then
I remembered how Grandpa says
"You make your own luck."
I gave my little sister a thumbs up
and she smiled.

© Amy LV


Proper Fractions
by Kate Coombs of Book Aunt

Whole numbers endlessly march up the line,
their long journey never is done.
But fractions stay home to slice up the space
that lies between 0 and 1.

The whole numbers always add units:
plus one and plus one and plus one.
The fractions divide it, then use only part,
for some reason, they think that's fun.

A fraction may cut up the unit
like a pizza into six, eight, or four.
Still, the work's microscopic: a fraction can cut
that one into a billion or more.

The fractions look sadly restricted,
as they slice and re-slice the same space.
Yet they can divide it in infinite ways,
though the fractions seem stuck in one place.

Oh, the whole numbers grab our attention
with their soldierly march up the line.
But there in the space between 0 and 1
the fraction world plays with design.

--Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved


UNDER THE APPLE TREE
by Diane Mayr of Random Noodling

One little bee seeing an apple under a tree,
flew back to the hive as quickly as could be.

Two curious bees seeing the first bee's dance,
flew away from the hive at the very first chance.

They scouted around, then flew back home,
alerting three more at the honeycomb.

Four hungry bees who just couldn't wait,
flew off to the apple tree and ate and ate.

They ate and ate and ate some more,
and the last five bees got nothing but the core.

Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.


MATH JUNGLE
by Violet Nesdoly

The number pathways
in my brain
are grown over
with words

Mental machete’s
what I need
to clear the nouns
and verbs

And make again
a traffic trail
for all those
integers

© 2010 by Violet Nesdoly (all rights reserved)


Number Facts
By Liz Korba of Correspondence.org

IMAGINARY numbers!
Do they vanish in thin air?
My teacher says in sixth grade math -
“Just know that they are there.”

I did a little Google search -
According to one text
REAL numbers and IMAGINED ones
Create what’s called COMPLEX.

IRRATIONALS struck me this way
Since they’re so very long,
But they’re still REAL though they won’t stop
(I’m shocked that I was wrong.)

The NATURALS I understand -
To order and to count.
And NEGATIVES make sense to me –
Alas, my bank account!

The INTEGERS are NEGATIVES
And NATURALS with “OH”
A most important number
They discovered long ago.

Its other name is ZERO
Somehow EVEN – with no leaning
POSITIVE or NEGATIVE,
Divide with – there’s “no meaning.”

Which leads me to the “number”
That I read about today
It’s NaN – that’s “NOT A NUMBER”
And it’s quiet – so they say.

Ten digits should be simple
(Though INFINITY’s a lot.)
I fear I don’t KNOW numbers
Be that RATIONAL or not.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.