I’ve just learned the term
for my self-soothing rhythm:
I am a cricket.
Cricketing
The Edge of Childhood
Erica from Arkansas is our host today for the fifth and final day of the November Open Write at www.ethicalela.com. She inspires us to write story-poems that span from childhood to adulthood and hover on the brink.
She urges us to “record imagery that comes to mind when you think of that childhood experience. I encourage you to focus on concrete sensory details, but if you have to pull from memory or make something up that’s fine too.”
Earlier this week, we wrote 4×4 poems, featuring 4 stanzas with 4 syllables on 4 lines with a refrain. Today, I’m trying a 5×5 with those same parameters, but without a refrain.
Chasing the Future at the Kitchen Sink
overnight, he’d grown
a foot, it seemed – so
when I saw him ride
his bicycle by
the kitchen window
as I washed dishes
it brought to mind a
huge bear riding a
motorcycle in
a 3-ring circus
his back slumped over
the seat, head looming
over handlebars
ankles spinning wheels
in a duck-paddle
my mother-heart froze
in that moment, a
vivid photograph
etched in memory,
forever preserved
today, his own 5
grow a foot each day
too fast – much too fast
new generations
chasing the future
November 19: Always Looking for the Next Book
Book Fever Haiku
The Serviceberry
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
releases today ~
her first book, Braiding
Sweetgrass, was a game changer
I’ll savor the next!
I’m hoping the electronic copy of her new book is accessible early today. I’ll download it and read it on the plane to NCTE. It’ll be an inspiring read, and one I’m looking forward to diving into. Braiding Sweetgrass created a seismic shift in my thinking of the differences between cost, value, and worth and the provisioning cycles of nature. I see the life of a tree in a wooden table, and I honor the life of the tree. I feel immense gratitude for the gifts of nature ~ the earth’s gifts ~ that sustain us as we live and eat. The Native Americans have long had it right. This is all one big web, an interconnected planet with water, air, fish, animals, plants, and more ~ and each strand of it is dependent upon the other. If ever there is a time for emphasis on preserving land and the cleanness of earth and her oceans and streams, it is now. Our future generations depend upon it.
Today is Day 4 of the November Open Write, and Emily from Maine inspires us to write poems about the best and worst of ourselves using acrostics and reminding readers we are still who we are. Come join us! As always, please enjoy reading the poems at http://www.ethicalela.com by clicking on the November Open Write link.
Knowing Kim
At my best, I’m
Kindle-reading with dogs piled in my lap by the fire on the farm
Inspired by writing and all things hygge
Making a travel itinerary and looking forward to coming home
At my worst, I’m
Karaoke singing
In trouble again
Making a mess
But I’m always Kim.
If you have any book recommendations for my book club, please share them in the comments. We are searching for a great December read – quite possibly a Christmas classic. What do you recommend?
November Open Write Day 3 of 5
Denise Neal, principal at Our Lady of the Way RC School in Belize, is our host day for the Open Write at www.ethicalela. She inspires us to write poems today by offering this prompt:
“Think about your educational journey. In Aristotle’s words, ‘ The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.’ Because we all have different experiences, our stories will be a collage of joy, success, pain, sacrifice, opportunities, and commitment. I encourage you to write in 4 lines and have a minimum of five stanzas.
However, you are also welcome to write freely to TELL your STORY.”
I thought of Denise’s words and all the things about my educational journey that really mattered ~ and still do.
What Matters
not the classrooms
not the worksheets
not the crayons
but the experiencing
not the posters
not the desks
not the chalkboards
but the reading
not the papers
not the assignments
not the projects
but the thinking
not the textbooks
not the answers
not the solutions
but the writing
NCTE 4 x 4: The November Open Write, Day 2 of 5
Stacey L. Joy of California is our host today for the second day of the November Open Write at www.ethicalela.com.
She inspires us to write 4×4 poems as we think about the world today. Looming in technicolor living on my horizon this week is the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention in Boston, which begins Thursday and lasts through the weekend. Ada Limon, our US Poet Laureate, will be speaking on Sunday, and many others will be speaking throughout the convention – Kate McKinnon and Bryan Stephenson to name a couple. As I think about the world today, NCTE is what is foremost on my mind. There’s a different air there – where I breathe best around readers and writers, where something I can’t detect seems to flood my veins and bring joy. And to top it all off, I’ll be joining meet-ups with many of my writing group friends from Slice of Life and Ethicalela in person, even presenting with one of the groups on one of our books that just launched in September. If you’re at NCTE this year, you can find me in Room 210A of the Boston Convention Center on Thursday, November 21 at 11:30.
Hope to see you there!
A 4 x 4 poem structure follows these four rules:
- 4 syllables in each line
- 4 lines in each stanza
- 4 stanzas
- Refrain repeated four times in lines 1, 2, 3, 4 of stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4.
NCTE
where shall we go?
NCTE!
where will it be?
Massachusetts
where can we breathe?
NCTE!
what do we need?
NCTE!
who will we see?
Ada Limon!
where will she speak?
NCTE!
where would we dwell?
NCTE!
who steals our hearts?
NCTE!
November Open Write Day 1: An Invitation
Today, I’m your host at http://www.ethicalela.com to kick off the November Open Write. Please come join me at that site to share your own poem and to read the poems of others!
On the last day of October’s Open Write, I shared this poem:
An Invitation
save the date: November 16
you may choose to arrive by stretch limousine
we’ll be gathering in style for a writer’s retreat
whether castle or cabin or on your own street
we’ll spend the day writing in fantasy places
day one: a packing list poem ~ what’s in our suitcases?
so gather your words ~ select them with flair
I’ll be the door greeter to welcome you there!
you’ll need your location and writing utensil
something to wear, and perhaps a spare pencil
we’ll all need a critter (think Hogwarts style)
and a snack to share to write all the while
and then let’s bring one thing – a gift for the group
something to make us all laugh, cry, or hoot
what’ll it be? oh, I can’t wait to see ~
here’s a basket of tickets – take some – they’re free!
let’s keep Donnetta’s theme words sparking and growing
return in November, keep writing ongoing!
I offered a glimpse of today’s prompt, encouraging writers to think of a fantasy writing retreat and these aspects: location, clothing, writing utensil, critter, snacks, and a gift for others.
Today, I offer this poem to inspire others to write poems about a fantasy writing retreat. Come join us, and share yours on the ethicalela website!
Location: I’m arriving by Oz-graced Yellow Brick Road
to this heavy oak castle door with just an armload
Clothes: wearing overalls under my farm-writing cape
this magical cloak of virtual escape
with shimmery amber-hued dragonfly wings
and chicken foot bracelets and beetle leg rings
just a suitcase, you see, for this week here together
with all of my writing pals ~ birds of a feather
Utensil: and speaking of feathers, I’ve brought my quill pen
plucked from the wing of a feisty owl hen
Snacks: I’ve sugar-spun cauldrony crinkles for snacks
shaved off curled spikes from chameleons’ backs
Critter Companion: made easier by Razor, my pink crocodile
I walk on a bling-leash, in true Funny Farm style
Group Gift: and one more thing: I bring a group gift ~
truth glasses for all, to see things others miss
Paint Chip Poems: Day 4 of the October Open Write
Seana Hurd Wright of Los Angeles is our host for Day 4 of October’s Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com.
Seana shares her process, which you can read fully here, or the synopsis here: Choose 4 -8 colors and brainstorm names of the many synonyms and color shades that are similar to the ones you chose. Write a poem or short story, in any form, using colors and as much figurative language as you’d like. I decided to choose two main colors, red and blue. Then I selected various shades and hues that compliment them. Then I selected a topic and enjoyed playing with words.
I took my inspiration from a friend’s Facebook post. He shared photos of a long-held tradition in Bluffton, South Carolina, a town where I used to live. Each October, a gathering of paddlers all dress as witches and take to the waterways at sunset to greet autumn in style. It’s quite a sight to see, full of color and peaceful festivity. This year, a tour boat passed by and someone on the boat blasted the song “Witchy Woman” as they passed, bringing laughter and setting the mood.
Witches’ Paddle
On October Sunset they ride
Onyx-caped waterproof witches
paddle out on Supermoon tide
admiring autumn’s swell riches
Bop ‘Til You Drop: Day 3 of October’s Open Write
Wendy Everard of New York is our host for Day 3 of October’s Open Write, inspiring us to write Bop poems. You can read her full prompt here.
The Process
Here are the basic rules for The Bop:
- 3 stanzas
- Each stanza is followed by a refrain
- First stanza is 6 lines long and presents a problem
- Second stanza is 8 lines long and explores or expands the problem
- Third stanza is 6 lines long and either presents a solution or documents the failed attempt to resolve the problem
My poem is inspired by a friend’s Facebook post. She’d found Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake donuts and thought it would be a good idea to share ~ to tempt her friends, of whom I am surely the most temptable.
Little Debbie Donut Bop
{the problem:}
in a word:
willpower!
why?
Who made these
Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake Donuts?
{expand the problem:}
oh, that’s easy to expand:
just open the bag.
eat.
weight increases.
waist and hips expand.
arms expand.
thighs expand.
{the failed attempt to resolve the problem:}
taste bud EXPLOSION!!
the sugar-grit of green glittery garland
white snow-pearl smoothness
red-ribbony-wrapped tinseling
savoring the sensations of Christmas in October
Ode to Change: Day 2 of October’s Open Write
Our host for Day 2 of the October Open Write is a group of students at Aquinas College in Michigan, inspiring us today to write odes to change. Stefani Boutelier, an instructor at AC, leads them in their prompt offering today, which you can read in its entirety here.
Ode to Letting Go in Chained Haiku
the leaves show us how
on our morning driveway walks
straight into the sun
how to let things go
bidding the branches goodbye
flitting to forest
floor beneath, seeking,
stirring, gathering in groups
with others who’ve held
onto things for far
too long to know weightlessness
untethered freedom
to roll on gentle
breeze to take to bright blue skies
on blustery gusts
to change their small view
and see the whole world anew. ~
a new perspective
Questionable Products – October Open Write Day 1 of 5
Scott McCloskey from Michigan is our host today for the first day of our October Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. He inspires us to write Questionable Products Poems – the kind with a slant of an ode to something that raises our eyebrows in wonder, disgust, or utter surprise. You can read his full prompt here. Be sure to check out the links, too, at the bottom – for those strange things we all need.
My Mark on the World
speaking of unboxing gifts
I’m inventing the next big thing
because of all the things that
annoy me like the partially squeezed
twisted toothpaste tubes or
velcroed soap with melded slices sticking
like a bloodletting leech to a larger bar or
handwarmer mugs that brand palms or
already-used weekly sandwich bags or
damp half-paper towels drying to be recycled or
all those other quirks like the holy
t-shirts because they’re good for tractoring
what annoys me the most is the simple
kitchen dishtowel that never
-do you hear me? never –
and I mean never, ever, ever not once
not once –
makes it back to the oven handle
where it is supposed to hang out
unless I put it there myself
it’s not really even a dishtowel, per se,
it playfully pops behinds and serves as a napkin
for powdered donuts and
wipes counter messes and
occasionally dries a dish
but it naps, crumpled in comfort on counters
on the table
on the bar
on the coffee table
and so I’m inventing one
with invisible GPS homing strings
to draw it back
to where it goes
so that I will have left
my mark in this world
right in the hearts of
kitchens all over
the world
in the smiles of wives
worldwide
Common Threads 