Greetings, Poetry Lovers! I'm chiming in at the end of a family beach vacay to join Irene Latham's "Moon in June" poem party as part of this week's Poetry Friday Roundup.
Irene is celebrating the upcoming launch of The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, illustrated by Myriam Wares, and published by Bushel & Peck's Moonshower imprint. Click here to learn more about it and land a copy for yourself!
Congratulations, Irene, and all the creators of what looks like an out-of-this-world collection.
We've been back in the Beaufort area, in the same rental house on Harbor Island where we've gathered for years. I do miss this charming coastal town! I still sell some artsyletters wares in a couple of shops here, and yesterday I took a few items downtown. On my drive over the bridge from the sea islands, I realized that this bridge will always remind me of the early evening a few years ago I was crossing it from the same direction and saw a shimmery crescent moon suspended over the river and the rooftops, inspiring a little poem that ended up in Highlights Hello in the fall of 2021. (The beautiful illustration is by Denise Hughes.) I thought, Hey, I could share it again for Irene's poetic lunar soiree.
So, please excuse the repetition for those who have seen it before! But it's fun sharing a lullaby poem during a trip with our oh-so-active one-year-old baby grand here, where our daily schedules have revolved not around moonrises and moonsets but around mealtimes and naptimes. Our Sawyer's been a trouper with all things sand and sea and pool. In fact, he's probably swallowed a wee bit of sand and sea, as those toddler hands move fast.
Another fun poetic note, we've all read him Two by Two by Lisa Lowe Stauffer countless times. (It's a rollicking Noah's Ark tale illustrated by Angelika Scudamore and published by Zonderkids - click here for more info.) Quick backstory: I coordinated a children's poetry weekend workshop for our Southern Breeze region a dozen years ago, and Rebecca Kai Dotlich was our fearless leader. Lisa was there, and this manuscript, her first published children's book, grew out of that weekend. Irene was there, too - an accomplished novelist and poet, but she hadn't published her impressive bevy of children's poetry collections yet!
Grateful for all these connections, for adventurous human spirits, and for the moon.
Good Night
by Robyn Hood Black
Crescent cradle
In the sky
Sings a silver
Lullaby.
Twinklestars
with golden light
Wink and kiss
The world good night.
©2021 Highlights for Children.