Greetings, Poetry Lovers! You are HERE for the Poetry Friday Roundup, and I'm so glad! :0) Welcome to all - seasoned posters and any new folks as well. Please leave your links in the comments, and I'll round them up old-school-style on Friday. Happy Valentine's Day weekend!
I'm excited to host this week, because I *love* this community so much. (Insert all the phone emojis with hearts here.) I'm always saying the Poetry Friday folks are among the finest, most generous humans on the planet. I also always feel that I receive more than I give, and I'm grateful to all.
I've also always admired those of you who choose a "OLW" - one little word - for the year. It's fascinating to discover why a particular word is chosen, and how it manifests itself over time and seasons. I plan to go mine some of those word-gems for artsy inspirations in the future.
Along those lines, I had the pleasure of meeting Margaret Simon in person at a writer's retreat a few weeks ago in Georgia, and she and I were talking some about living in the present. That weekend, I remember waking up one morning with the words "You are HERE" front and center in my mind, and I've been pondering that phrase ever since. It has slowed me down and made me pay attention, with gratitude and a not-subtle nudge, too, to make the most of my "here." I'll spare you all the self-reflection, but I did decide to make that idea into a journal cover.
The binding machine I had bought a while back was finally unboxed this week, as I was keen to learn how to make spiral-bound journals from scratch. What fun! I now have a new addiction, and you'll be seeing lots of journals of different sizes popping up like daylilies in my Etsy shop in coming weeks.
For one of the small ones pictured above, I featured a haiku from several years ago that appeared in Frogpond (Vol 41:3). (This poem came from a writing retreat as well - we should all go on more retreats! I'm actually doing some online collage adventures for the next few months, which is like a virtual retreat, and I'm going to another "real" art workshop in April in Tennessee, led by artist Lynne Perrella.)
Anyway, this haiku reads:
open gate
the way
my mind wanders
ⓒRobyn Hood Black
(And by now, I'm sure you're thinking, "We know...!"
One last thing: if you are involved with middle school, high school, or college students, be sure to check out the STEAM-Powered Poetry Contest, which is, well, gaining steam as we head toward Poetry Month in April. Heidi Bee Roemer and her talented team are receiving submissions of one-minute videos made by older students and geared toward elementary-aged students. These are created to feature poems in this year's dugout; I'm delighted to have one about mixed media as an option, and you'll see other Poetry Friday names, too, such as our own Heidi Mordhorst.) There are cash prizes! See this link for more info, and feel free to pass along.
Can't wait to read your posts and share the love. Thank you for showing up!
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Our beloved Jan at bookseedstudio shares a HEART-warming way to live in the present and celebrate this Valentine's Day weekend. Thank you, Jan, for the perfect first post of this Poetry Friday!
Overwhelmed by the news? Matt has you covered with a distraction at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme, featuring a "preposterous" poem for Valentine's Day (AND Friday the 13th!), sure to have you chuckling and hiding your eyes at the same time.
Pour a second cuppa and go take in all colors at Cathy Stenquist's blog today. I was entranced with three special poem challenges she made for herself, fashioned from real bits of life and history. She captures personalities beautifully, and there's a great pic of her and her Valentine at the end!
Laura Purdie Salas is playing with a trio of "tricubes" today and offers a perfect tricube tribute for Valentine's Day. :0)
(--had to break to brush and walk Rookie!--)
At Dare to Care, Denise has a sumptuous little poetic buffet - a link to a stunning poem by Barbara Ras, as well as two original poems that will move your heart and mind. Oh, and she has that delightful winter word, "apricity," so get thee hence.
Karen Edmisten offers us a much needed glimpse of God today (really) in the life and words of late poet Brian Doyle. Worth reading whether you are religious or not!
I love that the spirits of now-gone relatives and dear ones are showing up in today's posts. Susan has a beautiful original poem of imagining at Chicken Spaghetti; bring your half-filled coffee mug, and she'll top it off. *ALSO* - Susan is hosting next week and offers a shared prompt for next week's posts, based on a line from Whitman. :0) Thanks, Susan.
And now, (drumroll, please....) I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! Sorry to yell; got excited. Except go up and read Laura Purdie Salas's post, and sometimes a loud voice is okay. At Alphabet Soup, our lovely Jama has a characteristically fulsome and wonderful review of Charles Ghigna's The Very Hungry Caterpillar's First Poems, with his own perfect-for-young-ears poems accompanying perfect-for-young-eyes collage illustrations by the late and great Eric Carle. Can't wait to share with my baby grands. This collection was published by World of Eric Carle/Penguin Random House.
Please visit Doida at KidzintheMiddle (poems geared toward the 11-14 crowd) for his poignant, important poem this week, Why Did Colin Take a Knee? It might be Valentine's Day weekend, but it's still Black History Month.
Up at Salt City Verse, Janice is visiting with that old mysterious trickster, Raven, with a lovely ink and wash drawing and an original haiku. See if she learned any of their secrets!
Speaking of birds, your doctor called and said to be sure to visit Michelle Kogan's blog today for a lovely robin painting, and another Valentine, and a poem that is sure to be good for your heart, sentiment-wise and blood-pressure wise. Ahhhhh. A much needed respite!
At TeacherDance, Linda has a warm , sweet, and perfect Valentine's Day poem with a deep resonance in light of these challenging days.
Well, we've had zombies to distract us, and now, monsters! At Poetry Pizzazz, Alan offers up a delightful way to build a monster, with wordplay and idioms! More fun for this Friday the 13th. What body parts would make up your own personal, poetic monster?
(--Quick lunch break - back in a flash or two!--)
Did you see the monks walking, either in person or on video? Tabatha shines as always this week at The Opposite of Indifference, with a gorgeous original poem paying tribute to Aloka, the dog who joined them in 2022. (And, see if you can spot one of Jan's "hearts" in this post!)
Despite being under the weather, Marcie Flinchum Atkins chimes in after some conference speaking with a simple haiku sharing the poetry love, and with some light to help us see our way.
At Nix the Comfort Zone, Molly gives a photo she took a second look and pens a gorgeous poem from its images. (Perfect for the Chinese New Year animal, too!)
Speaking of which, Rose at Imagine the Possibilities shares her New Year Poem Postcard poem from Jone's swap, and she offers a lovely Cento which includes lines from cards she received!
Much is in store for you at Live Your Poem. Clcik the first link, and you can check out Irene's series on YouTube with two-minute writing tips (on Tuesdays, of course!) The main event is a wonderful innterview with Shannon Bramer about her new book, Nightmare Jones. Some very original poetry might keep you up at night, wanting to read more! And Irene has a tender ArtSpeak poem this week.
Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading is sharing four haiku for the Lunar New Year that she wrote as part of Jone's wonderful posctcard exchange, ispired by a breathtaking photo she took on her travels last fall. (And there's a pinch of humor, too, to brighten your day.)
Patricia J. Franz is inspired this week by Maria Popova's 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days: An Almanac of Birds, namely by the perfectly-hued-for-Valentine's-Day flamingos! Thanks for your own poems of possiblity, Patricia! :0)
At My Juicy Little Universe, Heidi "What ifs" us to a place of peace with our planet and its inhabitants, with her inimitable turns of poetic phrases and sly references. It's good "Medicine," indeed.
Our aforementioned marvelous Margaret at Reflections on the Teche is reflecting on a beautiful new picture book, Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More by Bette Westera, translated by David Colmer, with sigh-worthy woodcut illustratrations by Henriette Boerendans. She then took to "Roaming the Seasons" herself to craft an original Cento poem with words from the book's pages.
A hearty welcome to AmyIlene (Amy Spitzer) who shares a thought-provoking and moving original poem, "The Line(s)," which invites multiple readings, and reading aloud. Thanks for joining in, Amy!
This weekend of hearts is not always light and sweet, but heavy and hard for those who have experienced loss. Our beautiful Carol at Beyond Literacy Link writes through the shadows as she keeps her eye out for the sun. She has a lovely winter photo and haiku, and then, acting on a prompt offered by Margaret S. to "choose a crystal to use as a muse for your poem today," Carol shares "Crystal Heart Healer-Mango Calcite," in the form of a shadorma. We send reflections of faceted light right back to you, Carol!
*Valentine's Day ADDITIONS!*
There's still weekend left, folks - please go drop some rose petals for these posts, too:
Sylvia Vardell has an AMAZING opportunity; she's downsizing and willing to part with some of her aMAZing poetry outfits that she has made over the years, since she's still a poetry champion but not hopping from conference to conference these days. Find details of her special giveaway HERE.
And, Denise kindly shared Linda M's Letter-Love post for this week, right HERE.
Enjoy! Hope you are having something lovely to warm your heart today. :0)
