Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet

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Enjoy these Great
Children's Lit Blogs and Websites:

Kathi Appelt/Calloo Callay

Doraine Bennett

Mayra Calvani - Mayra's Secret Bookcase

Scotti Cohn

Wolf and Cat (Scotti Cohn)

Myra - Gathering Books

Melanie Hope Greenberg

Cathy C. Hall

Heather Ivester - Mom2Mom Connection

Gail Karwoski

Irene Latham

The Miss Rumphius Effect

Donny Bailey Seagraves

Reva Solomon

Kristin Tubb

April Halprin Wayland

Kim Siegelson

Teacher Talk Radio Jen Schneider

Laura Losch
Middle School Media Specialist

Pithy Python - Natalie Bernstein Elementary Librarian

TeachingAuthors.com (great!)

Poetry Friday

INK Interesting Nonfiction for Kids

JacketFlap

Wren Cottage / P.J. Shaw

Writing Snacks

Hanging with fellow Georgia writers (from top, l-r) Tracy Walker, Heather Kolich, Donna Bowman, (bottom, middle) Janice Hardy and Paula Puckett
photo by Steve Kolich

Susan Rosson Spain, Robyn Hood Black, Elizabeth Dulemba, and Myra Meade at the Hall Book Exchange in Gainesville, Ga.
photo by Mel Hornsby

Southern Breeze Kudos Kites 09 - Donna, Robyn, Heather, Sarah, and Peggy

Robyn with Kathleen Duey, author extraordinaire http://www.kathleenduey.com

Robyn with Alaska Nature Writer Debbie Miller http://www.debbiemilleralaska.com

photo by Robyn Hood Black
Paul B. Janeczko http://www.paulbjaneczko.com

Copyright 2005-2013 ©Robyn Hood Black. All rights reserved. Please ask permission before using any text or images on this website, except for reproducible
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Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday: Jump-Start your Morning with Janet Wong…

September 6, 2012

Tags: Poetry Friday, poetry, authors, book tracks, ponderings

This image, like most of the fun ones I find online, from the company YAY Images.

What’s that – a yawn? Oh, I see – you’re just perusing a few Poetry Friday blog posts while the coffee pot is sputtering and clicking. Well, then, today’s poem is for you!

If you’re a Janet Wong fan (I know - that’s everyone!), perhaps you’ve taken BEHIND THE WHEEL – Poems About Driving for a spin around the block already. Originally published by Margaret K. McElderry in 1999, Janet made these wonderful poems available as an e-book last year and a paperback this year for a new set of young drivers and poetry lovers.

Of course, the collection is about so much more than driving: family relationships, love, authority, choices, beliefs. As expected, the poems unfold in simple language, sometimes with more than a dash of humor, and leave the reader nodding, “Yes – I’ve felt that way, too.”

Today we’ll enjoy a lighter one, and this will get us back to coffee.

Not these lines from “One Hand On the Wheel,” but I have to share them because I love them so:

…
My mother was one of them
when –
who knows what happened.

Now she’s driving 65,
one hand holding a cup of coffee,
one hand on the wheel
…

No, here is the poem I want to leave you with as you smell that aroma from your kitchen. It’s shared with gracious permission of the author.

Jump-Start

by Janet Wong

can’t turn over
battery’s dead

need
jumper cables
in
my
head

clamp them on
start me up

pour some coffee
in my cup
dark strong coffee

start me up

To learn more about Janet and her robust, full-flavored, high-octane body of work, visit her website. Check out terrific resources for educators at her Poetry Suitcase! For Janet’s amazing collaborations with Sylvia Vardell, including the Poetry Tag Time books and the hot-off-the-press Poetry Friday Anthology, visit Pomelo Books.

And for cup after cup of delicious poetry, sit a spell this morning with the lovely Katya, who is rounding up Poetry Friday at Write, Sketch, Repeat.

Cream and sugar, anyone?

Comments

September 7, 2012 6:23 AM EDT

I'll take my coffee as tea, please, but strongstrongstrong and with a bit of milk and sugar. Ahhh...now my brain is awake!

Thank you for this Wong-wakeup! Great way to start my day!

- Mary Lee
September 7, 2012 7:18 AM EDT

Perfect way to start the day! Thanks for the Janet fix. :)

- jama
September 7, 2012 7:48 AM EDT

Robyn, my son (at 15 and 3/4) is old enough to get his learner's permit. Thanks for the reminder! I will have to get a copy of Janet's driving anthology to help me through.

- Laura Shovan
September 7, 2012 8:09 AM EDT

I'll share coffee with you any day, Mary Lee - thanks for dropping by!

Jama, of course I thought of you - anything tasty-fied makes me think of Alphabet Soup!

Laura - the poetry, for sure. And maybe the coffee on hand, too, as you soon enter the season of "waiting up on the couch..." .

- Robyn Black
September 7, 2012 8:58 AM EDT

I actually don't drink coffee every day--this increases the effect on those days when I really need it (like today)!! Thanks for sharing my poem, Robyn!

- Janet Wong
September 7, 2012 9:12 AM EDT

Good strategy, Janet! ;0) Thanks so much for playing along.

- Robyn Black
September 7, 2012 9:35 AM EDT

Oh, I don't know about this driving anthology-sounds like something many should have. I like that 'jump-start' too. Can't go without it... Thanks for sharing these, Robyn.

- Linda Baie
September 7, 2012 10:07 AM EDT

Thanks for visiting, Linda! It's a great collection - funny, warm, serious, thoughtful. :0)

- Robyn Black
September 7, 2012 11:44 AM EDT

Coffee isn't used to wake me up, but the poem is a clever way to describe the waking up process. I wash my face; I put eye drops in. Then, I drink juice and water to help me wake up.
The school poems are cute on the other site.

- Patricia Cruzan
September 7, 2012 12:28 PM EDT

Hi, Patricia - I learned Janet doesn't always drink coffee either! I have to have one cup to get me going. ;0) Janet's website is full of school-related poetry treasures.

- Robyn Black
September 7, 2012 7:33 PM EDT

Eye drops: well, that's certainly an eye-opener, Patricia! Would be a great writing prompt to get kids describing their regular vs. ideal wake-up routines.

- Janet Wong
September 7, 2012 7:54 PM EDT

Love this post Robyn!! And what a nice way to "Jump-Start" my day!! Thank you for sharing these lovely poems. :)

- Fats from Gathering Books
September 7, 2012 8:03 PM EDT

I love the idea of jumper cables in the head.

- Liz Steinglass
September 7, 2012 8:35 PM EDT

Fats, So good to see you! I'm guessing it's morning over there about now? :0)

Hi, Liz - yep, I could use a pair!

- Robyn Black
September 7, 2012 10:18 PM EDT

Thank you for the idea, Janet. I'm no longer a public school teacher, but it's a great idea for teachers to use.
If I give a workshop, would it be okay to use your idea and the "Jump-Start" poem?

- Patricia Cruzan
September 7, 2012 11:45 PM EDT

Janet Wong's morning startup suits me perfectly! (I'm thinking it might be fun collect coffee poems -- write a few of one's own and find more by others: be a barrista poet!)

- Violet N.
September 8, 2012 8:10 AM EDT

A barrista poet! Love it! Thanks for popping in, Violet. :0)

- Robyn Black
September 8, 2012 11:01 AM EDT

Patricia: Absolutely, please do use my poem in a workshop--that would be super!

- Janet Wong
September 8, 2012 6:10 PM EDT

I love Janet's snappy versifyin' in this poem! Kinda makes me twitch, just like coffee. I converted to tea a couple years ago, but I remember the days of black, three sugars...Thanks for this fun END of the day for me, Robyn!

- Renee LaTulippe (@ReneeMLaTulippe)r
September 8, 2012 9:20 PM EDT

Coffee, tea, or lemon water, Renee - if we lived on the same continent, I'd be wanting to share a cup on a regular basis! :0)

- Robyn Black
September 8, 2012 10:25 PM EDT

Thank you, Janet. If I get the opportunity, I'll let other people know about your work.

- Patricia Cruzan