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Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - My Poems in Clara's Kooky... (& some artsy-"letters")

 

Greeetings, Poetry Lovers!  I've missed you as I've been popping in and out of town and in and out of here recently. This week, I'm on board to celebrate Clara's Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz, the latest (and most amazing) collaborative poetic genius-work from Pomelo Books, a.k.a. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. 

 

I thought I'd have a fulsome review to share earlier this fall, but... Helene.  I'm thrilled to see all the good press this one-of-a-kind anthology has been receiving since it splashed into the kid-literary pond last month, both among our PF family and in the wider world!  In fact, last Friday over at Jama's Alphabet Soup - the crème de la crème of blogs in my book (and lots of others), Clara and her quirky crew were the main course.  So for a really good review and explanations and insights and sneak peeks, please go fill your bowl here. (But then come back and keep reading! And look up other wonderful reviews, too.)

 

It was fun to work on poems for this project, and then wait with bated breath to see what in the world Janet and Sylvia were cooking up.  We knew it was something that took a lot of editorial and creative wrangling, and something that would be unlike any other collection.  

 

When I started reading my own copy, my first thought was, "Wow - I wish I had had a book like this when I was growing up!" This fun and somewhat indescribable treasure offers space for curiosity and creativity to run wild.  I'm glad I'll be able to share it with grandchildren when they're a wee bit older.

 

The line illustrations by Frank Ramspott bring to life all the imaginings and characters and poetry within, but don't overpower all the layers of text.  And I do love all the layers.  I might read and write haiku because I NEED the spareness it requires/provides, but that is probably because I'm actually the opposite of a minimalist. I wonder if Clara is a minimalist or a... maximalist?? Nope, that's not the right word. I'll have to wonder and think on that a bit.

 

Thare are more than 150 poems between the covers of this book, and I'm delighted to share the two I've got in there.  

 

The first was in response to Janet and Sylvia's question, "Can you write a poem about siblings?"

 

SIBLINGS

 

Take the "r" out of brother, and what do you get?

BOTHER! That's what. He makes me upset.

 

Take the "i" out of sis, and what does it make?

 "Ss" – like a hiss - the sound of a snake!

 

Please take them both, take them out of my sight.

Then I know everything will be all _ _ ght.

 

I said, everything will be all _ _ ght.

Hmmm.

 

Okay, please put back the "r," and return the "i," too –

I have to admit, I would miss those two.

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

I dearly love my brother, Mike, though growing up, we probably both sometimes felt the way the narrator of this poem feels!  I got TWO bonus sisters when my mother remarried right before I went off to college - Carla and Sharon.  Love them too!

 

My other poem was a response to writing about syllables.  I do love me some syllables. And a challenge. 

 

 

ONE-ON-ONE

 

"I am Worm,"

said Worm.

"I have no feet.

"I am long and smooth.

"My name has one sound."

 

 

"Caterpillar!"

announced Caterpillar.

"Appendages galore.

"Spectacular segments, moving together.

"Melodious appellation!"

 

"Branches beckon," declared Caterpillar.

"Jubilant journeys!"

 

"I am off to the dirt," said Worm.

"Have a nice day."

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

Thanks for reading. Oh, and speaking of words and wordplay, they require letters.  I've been having some fun in the studio with letters.  (See what I did there?) Just in time for stocking stuffer season, I'm assembling some fun little necklaces using vintage miniature Scrabble tiles. (Here's the link; I've got a rare 20-percent-off holiday sale going on.)

 

Here's hoping your thoughts and wonders leave you inspired and comforted and rested or energized, whichever you need. I'm sure you'll find poems you need over at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town, where our wonderful Ruth is rounding us up from Kampala, Uganda, with her usual thought-provoking, community-building offerings.  Thank you, Ruth!

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Poetry Friday - Haiku in bottle rockets - and Happy 25 Years to the Journal!

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

Short and sweet today with a big shout-out to Stanford Forrester and bottle rockets! Congrats on 25 years (50 issues) of this wonderful journal.  Here's to the next 25....

 

Always honored to have a poem included, and here's one I have in this issue:

 

just a number

rainwater seeps into

my boots

 

The amazing Tabatha has the Roundup today at The Opposite of Indifference.  Thank you, Tabatha! 

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Poetry Friday - Happy Lunar New Year, Dragon Fans!

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Continuing a recent theme, I've received more wonderful, creative New Year postcards as part of Jone Rush MacCulloch's Poem Postcard Exchange, and I look forward to featuring them next week. (Or the next couple of weeks, depending on how many I can fit in a picture!) These surprises in the mailbox really brighten a day, especially in winter.

 

Today I thought I'd share mine that I sent out this week to everyone.  I hope these cards make it by Saturday, the beginning of the Chinese/Lunar New Year! 

 

Jone always adds a nod to the Lunar New Year (and its animal) as a an option for creative inspiration. The postcard exchange itself is inspired, she says, by the Japanese custom of Nengajo - sending out greetings for the New Year. 

 

Jone shared that her own birth year's animal is the water dragon, so she's related to Nessie.  ;0) (Slaintѐ to that, Jone!!)  The animal for 2024 is the wood dragon. 

 

Online you'll find all kinds of info, customs, and folklore surrounding these dragons as well as the other animals.  The New Year is a huge holiday in many Asian countries, with countless people travelling to their home towns to celebrate, and many businesses closing for a week.

 

As for me, I've always loved dragons. (My first published/now out-of-print book, a Scholastic Rookie Reader called Sir Mike, featured an imaginary one!)

 

For my postcards, I reached back into my own misty imagination to find dragons.  Did anybody else "sculpt" treasures from a simple dough in the kitchen, and bake them into being? My mother was very supportive of the creative messes my brother Mike and I could make.  Thank you, Mom.

Oh - and Happy 44th Anniversary today to my mother, Nita,  and her Valentine, Jack!

 

 

Here Be

 

Flour, salt, water
Our mother showed us
how to form dough
 into whatever we wanted
bake it, wait for it to cool.

 

I made dragons
with pointy wings
and arrowhead tips on their tails.
Their edges browned.
I painted them purple

and royal blue.

 

If I close my eyes,

I can see them

 

flying

 

feel the warmth
of their fiery
dissipating
breath.

 

©2024 Robyn Hood Black

 

Fun note: In more of my own internet explorations about Lunar New Year dragons, many days after I wrote this poem, I discovered that their lucky colors are purple and blue.  How about that?!!

 

The background for my poem card came from some canvas-textured papers I dyed with indigo powder during a recent online mixed media workshop I took. I scanned a small sheet into my computer and enlarged it a wee bit to make it 5 X 7 size.  For the dragon, I carved a little block of "Easy Carve" (like linoleum, but much softer and easier on the hands).  I had drawn a quick sketch - just from imagination, as I was trying to recall freely drawing dragons as a kid - and made a simple outline of it on the block, then loosely carved away. 

 

I printed the image individually on each card.  Some came out with fairly crisp, even impressions - the usual goal for printmaking, and others were a bit messier.  But, my favorites ended up with gradated amounts of ink over the image, kind of ghostly, like the one above. I thought these blended in with the billowy nature of the indigo wash, adding a hint of mystery, maybe.

 

Final note:  If you search online for "Here Be Dragons," which maybe a few of us (?) thought was a common warning found on very old maps, you might discover as I did that a Latin variation appeared on a globe at the beginning of the 16th Century... and that's about it.  But I do love me some illustrated sea monsters and such on antique maps! 

 

Thanks for reading my rambles.  Now, get out your compass and ramble on over to Beyond Literacy Link, where the ever-generous and creative Carol has our Roundup. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all you LOVE-ly people!

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Poetry Friday - Holiday Puproar

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Can you believe it's December already?  I can't, though we were fortunate to have our family together for a wonderful Thanksgiving visit.

 

My days have been starting way too early and all running together lately with pup-wrangling.  We've had our new wee beastie, a Keeshond, for about four weeks now, and he just turned five months old on Thursday.  We already love him to pieces, and he loves chewing things into pieces.  ;0)  He's getting the hang of things (house training, short walks seeing other doggies, etc., car trips...), and I've got him in a puppy class at PetCo.  My daughter Morgan, who is home with 17-month-old Sawyer, and I have been comparing days!

 

Though we're taking this fella out in the back yard for house training, the process reminded me of a silly poem I wrote a gazillion years ago. (Maybe not quite that long, but it's been a while.)

 

 

I Paper-trained my Puppy

 

I paper-trained my puppy -
he reads The New York Times.
He starts at the beginning:
the news, the views, the crimes.

 

Then he reads the comics,
while rolling on the floor.
He moves on to the book reviews,
the fashion, arts, and more.

 

After that he grabs a pen
and holds it with his muzzle.
He won't get up until he's done
the daily crossword puzzle.

 

I paper-trained my puppy.
I made one small mistake.
The puddle in the corner
is looking like a lake.

 

©Robyn Hood Black. All rights reserved.

 

Usually at this time of year I'm up to my ears in Etsy orders. This year has been a little different, as with moving several months ago, traveling this fall, the new pup, and my general taking-a-while-to-get-my-act-together-in-a-new-place, I haven't done my customary making of a bunch of new things and marketing!  I've had to accept that some years I'm more together than others. 

 

I'm still happily shipping out orders, but I'm expecting to be up and running from my new studio full swing after the holidays instead of before.  Lots of new artsyletters items will be coming in the New Year! In the meantime, if you need any "regular" items from my shop, please feel free to use Coupon Code JINGLE10 for 10 percent off this month.  :0)

 

Anastasia Suen is rounding us all up this week at Small Poems - Thank you, Anastasia!  Join her on a snowy walk down Memory Lane as she recounts the sale of her first poem years ago. 

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Poetry Friday - Haiku for the Birds

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  This past Saturday, I enjoyed attending the "Almost Winter" Open Mic Zoom Event of the Southeast Region of the Haiku Society of America, organized by our fearless leader & poet extraordinaire, Michael Henry Lee.

 

Our featured speaker was the generous and gifted Antionette ("Toni") Libro, who shared her experiences with internationally known haiku poet Nick Virgilio (1928-1989), considered "a founder of haiku written in the American idiom." (More here.)   Libro invited Virgilio to speak to her classes at Rowan University when she taught there, and she published some of his haiku in Asphodel, the literary journal she founded and edited.

 

Stanford M. Forrester also shared a short presentation about Jerry Kilbride, including one of his haibun about Virgilio. Forrester founded bottle rockets press 25 years ago and is a former president of the HSA.  

 

Also at the virtual meeting, winners of our kukai were announced.  A kukai is a contest in which participants submit a poem on a theme, and then all of them judge the submissions (presented anonymously). For our contest, the three haiku receiving the most votes were the winners, with their authors receiving a copy of Nick Virgilio:  A Life in Haiku, edited by Raffael de Gruttola (Turtle Light Press, 2012).

 

Happy to report that my haiku was one of these three!  The other winners were Terri L. French and Cody Huddleston. Fine company.  The aforementioned theme was "almost winter," and my contribution was a spare one:

 

 

almost winter as the crow flies

 

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

Thank you, HSA SE!

 

Speaking of birds (and there will likely be a raven post coming soon, after our seeing them on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip), I'm happy to highlight the latest anthology from bottle rockets press, Bird Whistle - A Contemporary Anthology of Bird Haiku, Senryu, & Short Poems, edited by Stanford M Forrester/sekiro and Johnette Downing.  The collection features bird-themed poems by more than 100 poets, including terrific haiku by the two wonderful editors.

 

The poems in the collection are by turns wistful, profound, surprising and humorous.

 

One of my favorites was penned by the above-mentioned Michael Henry Lee:

 

 

swallow tail kites

making more of the wind

than there is

 

 

©Michael Henry Lee

 

 

I have some previously published poems included as well:

 

 

one blue feather

then another

then the pile

 

 

our different truths

the rusty underside

of a bluebird

 

 

robin's egg blue

how my father would have loved

my son

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

 

I have already bought an extra copy of Bird Whistle for someone special on my Christmas list. Maybe you have bird-lovers on your holiday list as well? Here's the link.

 

If you have a lot of them, I have some bird-y items in my Etsy shop, too! ;0) (Click  here to peruse.)

 

By the way, I wasn't able to stay for the open mic part of our get-together on Saturday, because we had to get back on the road with our new Keeshond puppy we had just picked up in Georgia that morning (pictured above).  His name is Rookie, but that's another story… ;0)

 

Flap your way on over to see Karen Edmisten, who is kindly rounding up Poetry Friday this week.  Thanks, Karen!

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Poetry Friday - A One-Line Haiku

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I'm finishing up my annual crazy week north of Atlanta doing school author visits, as part of Cobb EMC & Gas South's Literacy Week.  More than a dozen authors and illustrators fan out across the region reaching around 20,000 kids.  My personal tally this week is more than 2500 students, in 24 presentations.  Whew! (It's been fun sharing the new book of Fables I wrote for Core Essential Values with all these young readers & writers.)

 

So a very short post today, with an even shorter poem. Next week brings us All Saints Day on Wednesday. 

 

This haiku appears in the most recent issue of bottle rockets.

 

 

all saints day a trickle of wax

 

 

©Robyn Hood Black

bottle rockets, #49.  Vol. 25.1, August 2023.

 

Enjoy all the wonderful poems over at The Apples in My Orchard, where Carol is kindly hosting the Roundup today. Wishing you and yours a fun Halloween, and also comfort as we remember our own "saints" especially missed this time of year. 

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Poetry Friday - (September Part 2) - We Did It!

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

In last week's post, I featured Edgar Guest's "It's September" (which had a fun addendum added later, after my mother saw the post and shared with me her own experience with that poem). I also mentioned that Jeff and I were going to celebrate our engagement on Sunday, exactly 40 years later, by revisiting the place where he proposed.  As Furman students in the South Carolina Upstate, we had hiked up Table Rock, not far from campus and not far from where we moved this year. BIG thanks to everyone who left encouraging words last week for our hike!

 

Sunday morning, we donned our boots and grabbed our new hiking poles, and off we went! We were hopeful to make it to the top, but the trail is designated as "very strenuous," and I wasn't sure that some past injuries of mine would be keen on such an adventure.  But (drumroll...) - we did it! 

 

It was a gorgeous day with a bright blue sky and heaps of wildflowers.  We got there early in the morning.  They say to allow three hours up and two down; it's a 7.2 mile round trip.  We took our time and got to the top in four hours, stayed up there an hour enjoying the views (and a bald eagle fly-by), and then took three hours to make our way down. 

 

Did I mention, "very strenuous"? No way I would have made it without the poles. At the beginning, and at a couple-few points along the way, the trail teases you with regular ground at a gentle slope.  This never lasts long.  Most of the trail is literally huge rock stair steps that have been put on the trail, or carved out of existing rock.  Or, in more than one place, little indentations carved into a rock face, barely larger than an adult-sized foot (sideways).  Then, in other spots, there are just scatterings of rocks and boulders stacked up - and the red painted trail blaze close by on a tree. 

 

There were a few folks our age and older, with most younger, and, faster.  Most.  A few young ones did struggle in spots! It wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be on the first fall weekend, especially as reviews had mentioned crowds.  Reviews I'd read on the All Trails app ranged from accurate to aspirational to very funny.  One hiker said she experienced all five stages of grief on that hike.  Another said it was just several hours on a stair-climbing machine. 

 

Anyway, we made it up and down alive and enjoyed the challenge!  Jeff said, "Maybe we should do it every year."  I'm thinking every 40 years sounds good... so, I'll write about it again when we're 100.

 

 

            Summit

 

     Me: 

     Decades of wear,

     decades of tear,

     but with more than a skip and a hop -

     we dug deep and dug in,

     put in all of our skin,

     and made it somehow to the top.

 

     Table Rock:

     You want wear and tear?

     Pull up a chair.

     (Though around me, I only saw stone.)

     The Rockies have nothing

     on what I once was.

     Her voice had a wistful tone.

     You talk about years?

     I shed waterfall tears.

     And yet, I still hold my own.

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

---------------

 

We didn't see any bears or rattlesnakes, as had been mentioned in reviews, but one hiker ahead of us had seen a Mama bear and her two cubs, and some other young hikers had seen a rattlesnake. Shortly after we arrived at the top, however, we did see a couple of bald eagles, one flying very close to the few of us gazing at it from the rock outcropping. 

 

 

summit

out of the blue

a bald eagle

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

Please visit the one-and-only, creatively adventurous Jama at her Alphabet Soup for this week's Roundup. 

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Poetry Friday - Haiku in Remembrance of a Dog

Victorian Trading Card, The Graphics Fairy. thegraphicsfairy.com

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Missed you last week as I was visiting my folks in Florida.  It was strange taking walks around their neighborhood without my tiny walking buddy of the past 10 years.  As I write this post on the 14th, it's six months since I had to have our precious 3 1/2-pound rescued Chihuahua, Rita, put down the afternoon before I moved from coastal Beaufort, SC, to join my husband here at our new address in the Upstate. It was a shock to spend much of my last week there in the emergency vet hospital instead of just packing boxes.

 

We still miss her naps in our laps, her tail-chasing spins of excitment, and the teeny tapping of the tiniest toenails across the floor.  Three friends of mine lost long-time dog companions this summer, and another lost a favored alpaca.  I've seen online that a Poetry Friday friend just lost a treasured family pup, too.  It never gets easier for any of us, does it?

 

Haiku always offers me a safe and sometimes surprising place to park my grief, explore our connection with the world, and spark memory or wonder.  Here's a haiku I wrote after Rita died, and which was chosen by this year's Haiku Society of America's Members Anthology editor Allyson Whipple for the upcoming 2023 edition.

 

 

first day of spring
my dog's ashes
in the mailbox 

 

©Robyn Hood Black.  All rights reserved. 

 

 

The lovely and talented Rose has our Roundup this week at Imagine the Possibilities.  Thanks for hosting, Rose!

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Poetry Friday - What is Hope? (& my Metamorphosis poem)

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Nope, I can't believe it's already September either... but it was nice to get a peek at the blue moon/super moon to round out August. (It was so cloudy because of the outer storm bands Wednesday night that it took three attempts. Prayers for all those affected by Idalia. My Florida family folks are all okay.)

 

The next time we'll have that super-blue combo treat, it will be 2037.  Our baby grandson will be old enough to get a learner's permit!

 

I have hopes for him, and for our world, as we face so many overwhelming challenges.  Hope lifts us up - it's the thing with feathers, as our Emily said a century-and-a-half ago. 

 

What is Hope? is also the newest title in the ekphrastic anthology series for young readers from Pomelo Books.  Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong have outdone themselves again, offering a collection of 40 poems written in response to photographs, and all sparkling with hope.  There's also a great section in the back with resources for readers, writers, and teachers. As with previous titles, 100 percent of the profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund.  (That is hope in action, right there.) 

 

This book, along with others in the series, sprang forth from an online workshop led by Janet & Sylvia.  I was delighted to participate again in one of these magical gatherings, and I'm honored to have a poem included in the volume, pictured above.  (Sylvia made wonderful 'poem cards'!) The poems were penned by current and previous workshop participants, along with a few guest poets as well. The opening poem, "World," by Syliva, sets a perfect tone for choosing hope when the world offers so many reasons for anger and sadness.  Janet has a very fun poem livening up the middle, "Pickleball."  I really enjoyed this one because I had the good fortune, along with fellow contributor Matthew Winter, to get a personal pickleball lesson from Janet herself, and her quick-on-his-feet and fast-with-a-paddle husband, Glenn.  (That was in July, at the "Think Poetry" & more gathering at Janet's beautiful home in Washington state.  I mentioned this wonderful trip in a blog post here.)

 

Here's my poem:

 

   Metamorphosis

 

     To look at me,

     you might only see

     my long body bunching up.

     Munching leaves.

     Lumbering along a branch,

     earth bound.

 

     What you don't see

     are my wings.

 

     Yet.

 

     They're there.

     Give me a little time.

     A place to spin.

     A thread of hope.

 

     Soon,

     I will stretch iridescent wings

     and dance in the wandering wind.

 

     ©Robyn Hood Black.  All rights reserved. 

 

What is Hope? has just been named a Children's Book Council "Hot Off the Press" Selection for August 2023. (Each month, the CBC highlights new titles identified as great resources for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents.  See the whole August list here.)

 

Hop on over to Pomelo Books to learn more about this hope-full collection here.  You'll find several options for purchase.  Easy-peasey clicks, and you'll be adding to our world's supply of HOPE.

 

Ramona at Pleasures from the Page is gagthering up all the Poetry Friday goodness this week.  Thanks, Ramona!

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Poetry Friday: Moon Poem (one of mine) for Irene's Roundup

 

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.

 

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