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Life on the Deckle Edge

POETRY MONTH - Haiku Mini Movie Today! "my small insights"....

Click here to hear Robyn read her haiku, "my small ingishts."

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  My National Poetry Month project continues with a haiku today, "my small insights," from MODERN HAIKU, Vol. 44, No. 1, Winter-Spring, 2013.  (The mini-movie features some original art, too!)

 

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I share a new mini poem movie with one of my published poems for kids; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's haiku suitable for kids.  Here's a link to my YouTube Channel.

 

Thanks so much for joining me!  Wishing you and yours continued safety and health as we stay, play, and learn at home. 

 

(Children under 13 may comment only with demonstrated parental consent – Thanks!)

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POETRY MONTH - Mini Poem Movies continue with "Lunch Lady" from SCHOOL PEOPLE

Click here to hear Robyn read "Lunch Lady" from SCHOOL PEOPLE.

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  We're halfway through my National Poetry Month project, "I Pause for Poems" and "I Pause for Haiku"!  On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I share a new mini poem movie with one of my published poems for kids; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's haiku suitable for kids.

 

Today I'm sharing a reading of "Lunch Lady" (©Robyn Hood Black) from SCHOOL PEOPLE (Wordsong, 2018) by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Ellen Shi.  Monday would have been Lee Bennett Hopkins's 82nd birthday, and everyone in the children's literature world still mourns his loss last August.

 

Lee kept requesting rewrites of this poem.  And, rewrites.  It finally clicked to me that he wanted a picture of a REAL person, someone who works very hard at his or her job and who is tired at the end of the day! 

 

In this unprecedented season of remote school, I'm sure students and school people of all ages are missing the folks who serve tasty food to nourish bodies and minds.  I know many school systems have gotten creative to continue to provide meals to kids, and sometimes their families, too.  At the beginning of this school closures adventure, my teacher-daughter's county began a program to deliver meals to stops along the bus routes.

 

Here's to all the men and women who work in food service!  You are appreciated, and I'm sure everyone will be happy to gather in the cafeteria again in the fall.

 

Click here for this mini poem movie, and here for my YouTube channel.

 

Thanks, and I hope you're having a wonderful Poetry Month amidst these challenging times. 

 

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POETRY MONTH - It's Tuesday, So We're Pausing for Haiku Today with a Mini Movie!

Click here to hear Robyn read her (super short!) haiku, "after the hurricane."

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Did you know a haiku can be just one line long? :0)

 

Hope you enjoy this one from MODERN HAIKU, Vol. 49.1, Winter-Spring 2018.  Click here for the link to the mini poem movie, and click here for my YouTube Channel.  Thanks for joining me!

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POETRY MONTH Mini Poem Movies Continue with "Word Wanted" from POEMS ARE TEACHERS

Click here to hear Robyn read her poem, "Word Wanted," from POEMS ARE TEACHERS.

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  My "I Pause for Poems" National Poetry Month project continues this week... 

Each weekday in April, I'm sharing a mini video featuring one of my poems.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, it's poems for kids; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's haiku suitable for kids.  Thanks so much for joining me!

 

Today's poem is "Word Wanted" from POEMS ARE TEACHERS - How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (Heinemann, 2018).  This is a terrific resource for the classroom, and Amy is hosting a publisher's giveaway EVERY WEEK this month over at THE POEM FARM.  She also hosted this week's "Poetry Friday" - Click here for the Roundup.  And be sure to follow her wonderful Poetry Month offerings each day from her writing camper!  Here's a link to Amy's YouTube Channel, where you can create poetry with a roll of the dice this month. 

 

To catch up with all my videos so far, or to subscribe, hop on over to my YouTube Channel, too!

 

Wishing you all the right words today - XO

 

(Children under the age of 13 may comment only with demonstrated parental consent - Thank you!)

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Poetry Friday/Poetry Month... Mini Poem Movies Continue with "Mural Compass"

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I'm still "pausing for poems" each weekday in April with mini poem movies featuring some of my published poems and haiku. Today, it's "Mural Compass" from THE POETRY OF US, edited by J. Patrick Lewis (National Geographic, 2018). Here's the video link, which goes live at 12 a.m. April 10. 

 

Thanks to Matt Forrest Essenwine for last week's heads' up that this anthology was chosen as the April 2020 "Book of the Month" for Read Across America by the National Education Association. A great choice for folks unable to travel right now! Click here for a teaching guide from NEA.   

 

My poem takes readers to Philadelphia, celebrating the country's largest community outdoor art project.  It is a 'kyrielle' - and that was a fun challenge!

 

 

Mural Compass

 

Tall figures rise from city ground.

They speak to me without a sound

from vibrant faces, facing sun - 

these paintings are for everyone.

 

Chartreuse and purple pop the street,

kaleidoscoping at my feet.

Graffiti marks are now long gone.

These paintings are for everyone.

 

On buildings bare and bridges wide

where history and hope collide

shine songs of freedom, fame, and fun -

these paintings are for everyone. 

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

 

For a bit more about this poem and book, you can read a post of mine from Sept. 2018 here.  [I don't think I mentioned in that post how this poem was written in the middle of a hurricane evacuation... a story for another day!]

 

Here's a link to my YouTube Channel, where during April I'm posting published poems for kids every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and published haiku suitable for kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Subscribe if you like, to catch all of them!

 

Oh, and if you want to visit artsyletters land, here's a link to my fresh-off-the-virtual-press Spring newsletter. (You can subscribe to that, too!  I only have my act together to send one out three or four times a year.)

 

Wishing you safe poetic travels as you enjoy all the offerings rounded up for us this week at one of my all-time favorite destinations, THE POEM FARM.  Thanks for hosting, Amy!

 

(Children under the age of 13 may only comment with demonstrated parental consent - Thank you!)

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POETRY MONTH - I Pause for Haiku Continues with "spring breeze"

Click here to hear Robyn read her haiku, "spring breeze,"

 

Greetings Poetry Lovers!

 

I Pause for Haiku continues today with a spring haiku.  Click here to hear Robyn read it! What happens when a little wind crosses the surface of water?

 

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in April, I'm reading a poem for kids; every Tuesday and Thursday, it's haiku suitable for kids  I hope you enjoy, and feel free to share with teachers and students!  Thanks.

 

Click here for my YouTube Channel.

 

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POETRY MONTH - Mini poem videos continue with "Blank"...

Click to hear Robyn read "Blank" from THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY 2016

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Thanks for all the kind comments and shares about my mini-poem-videos project, I PAUSE FOR POEMS, via YouTube.  I'm glad teachers are finding useful!  Today's poem is in response to a Today's Little Ditty challenge posed by Douglas Florian in 2016 - to write a poem about nothing. Mine is called "Blank." ;0)  Thanks to Michelle Heidenrich Barnes for all her Ditty magic. 

 

I'll continue sharing poems for kids on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and haiku suitable for kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  

 

Here is today's poem, and here is my YouTube Channel

 

Stay safe, and have a poetry-filled Monday.  

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Poetry Friday - My NATIONAL POETRY MONTH mini videos continue... :0)

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  Happy Poetry Friday, and Happy National Poetry Month.

 

Each weekday in April, I'm sharing a new short video featuring me reading one of my published poems.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, these are poems for children.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, these are haiku suitable for children.

 

(So, three down... a bunch to go!)

 

Today's reading is from THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY (K-5 edition) from POMELO BOOKS by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Click here to hear it, and/or click here for my YouTube channel. (Note, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm learning... Ha!)

 

 

Trouble on the Trail

 

The woods are great and everything,

but now I feel an itch. 

 

My arms are turning kind of red;

my body wants to twitch.

 

You think that's poison ivy there?

Now that would be some joke. 

 

You don't?  Oh good.  But what was that?

You think it's poison oak?

 

 

©2012 by Robyn Hood Black

 

 

Thanks to my family for helping with this project (Morgan mentioned looking for online content for her third-graders; Seth whipped up some original guitar magic and texted it to me; and hubby Jeff followed me around this past weekend with my new-ish iPhone to make some recordings!). Special thanks to all the teachers, media specialists, and school staff, who, like Morgan, are missing their students so and doing their best to educate from afar. 

 

Speaking of amazing teachers, the always-adventurous Heidi has our Roundup today at My Juicy Little Universe.  And be sure to check out all the special Poetry Month projects around the Kidlitosphere at Jama's yearly Alphabet Soup Roundup.  Thank you, you Wonderful Women! AND, follow the Progressive Poem, this year organized by another amazing teacher, Margaret!

 

Wishing you and yours peace and safety and health in these surreal days.  Read, and write, lots and lots of poems!

 

(Note - Children under the age of 13 may only comment with demonstrated parental consent.  Thank you.)

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Happy National Poetry Month! I PAUSE FOR POEMS with a Video each Weekday.... :0)

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers - and,

HAPPY NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

 

I'm embarking on a new adventure, I PAUSE FOR POEMS.  My teacher-daughter Morgan, like many of you and others across the country, is seeking more online content than usual for students during these challenging weeks. 

 

So I grabbed a good-natured husband, and the new-ish iPhone my kids made me get, and took off outdoors, books in hand.  Then I solicited some long-distance guitar magic from son Seth.  And then I went hunting for that video channel on YouTube I'd "claimed" a million years ago.... And then I watched some generous tutorials. [These have greatly helped but certainly haven't smoothed out all my glitches and imperfections, but here we go anyway!]

 

Each weekday in April, I'll share a new short video featuring me reading one of my published poems.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, these will be poems for children.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, these will be even shorter videos featuring a haiku suitable for children.

 

The first foray, pictured above, is my reading of "Sincerely," (©2015 by Robyn Hood Black/©2015 by Pomelo Books) which appears in THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR CELEBRATIONS as well as in HERE WE GO and GREAT MORNING, all from POMELO BOOKS by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. 

 

Thanks to my family for helping, to teachers for teaching, and to everyone who makes poems and books. Each April, the magnificent Jama Kim Rattigan rounds up special National Poetry Month projects throughout the Kidlitosphere (with help from Mr. Cornelius, I am certain.)  You can find her list at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

 

To follow my poem video adventures, here's a link to my YouTube channel.

 

Thanks for tagging along, and here's to a soul-nourishing Poetry Month!

 

(Note - Children under the age of 13 may only comment with demonstrated parental consent.  Thank you.)

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