TWO PLANET POEMS

 A Martian Chronicle: Words of Earth's First Astronaut to Land on Mars

The sky is pink.

The rocks are red.

There ain’t no birdies

Overhead.

It’s bare. It’s bleak.

Don’t see no plants…

Or other green

Inhabitants.

It’s desolate.

The air is scant.

Except for me—

No life’s extant.

It’s dusty, dry.

I need a beer.

Houston,

Get me outta here!

INTERPLANETARY FAX

TO: Pluto
DATE: August 24, 2006
RE: Demotion to Dwarf Status

Sorry, Pluto, you’re way too small.
You’re just an itty-bitty ball…
An insignificant cosmic dot…
A speck in the Milky Way. You’re not
Considered a planet anymore.
Here’s your pink slip; there’s the door.
You’re off the list. Goodbye! Adieu!
Don’t go making a hullabaloo.
There’s nothing…nothing…you can do.
Accept your fate.

FROM: IAU

(NOTE: IAU stands for the International Astronomical Union)

 ***************

Posts from earlier this week:

FOLLOW THE LEMON DROP ROAD: An Original Poem from an Unpublished Collection

SOLE SONG: A Mask Poem about a Pair of Shoes

TWO COW POEMS: Variations on aTheme

***************

 



 Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 22-28). 

 

***************

Irene Latham has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Live Your Poem.

 

TWO COW POEMS: Variations on a Theme

One writing exercise that I enjoy doing is writing about a particular subject in different kinds of poems. Here are two poems that I wrote about cows. The second is a mask poem. You'll see that the poems have some things in common:

 

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE COWS

Graze on a hillside meadow

dotted with dandelion suns.
Breathe in the sweet smell of clover
and freshly mown hay.
Flick flies away with your tasseled tail.
Feel summer days pass by
like silk over silver.
Moo and chew
and chew and moo.
Relax…
enjoy
your grand green view.

COWS

Up here on the hillside,

We graze and we laze.
We laze and we graze
On warm sunny days.
We chew and we moo.
We moo and we chew
And ruminate on
This grand green view.

 ***************

 

Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 22-28). 

SOLE SONG: A Mask Poem about a Pair of Shoes

Here is a mask poem that I wrote back in 2010 for one of Tricia's (Miss Rumphius) poetry stretches.

 

Tricia wrote:

Shoes make great subjects for writing. Pick a shoe, any shoe, and it will tell you a story. It may want to tell you about a special event--a wedding, a prom, a soccer game. It may want to tell you about how it hid from the other shoe? It may want to tell you about a previous owner. If a shoe has traveled many miles, it will have many stories.

So, that's the challenge for today. Write a poem about shoes, or an event where the shoes figure prominently, or a pair you wanted by couldn't have, or .... there's just so much to choose from!

Sole Song

We’re the well-worn soles of shoes
reading all the sidewalk news.
As we go along our way
we broadcast headlines of the day:
intermittent
dots of rain
wad of bubblegum
bright stain
of cherry popsicle
that bled
its sticky sweetness
cool and red
concrete cracked
by root of tree
telltale clue
of injured knee
ghost of ant
whose remnants lie
flattened from a passerby
OH NO!
PEW!
Our bugaboo!
We just stepped in doggy do!

 

***************

 

Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 22-28). 

FOLLOW THE LEMON DROP ROAD: An Original Poem from an Unpublished Collection

Years ago, I began working on a collection of poems about sweet things. There were two different versions of the manuscript. One included poems just about candy. The other contained poems about all kinds of sweet things--including donuts, pudding, popsicles, a birthday cake.

My good friend Grace Lin and I planned to collaborate on the project. We even took a "investigative field trip" to YUMMIES, a famous candy store in southern Maine where we found hundreds of different kinds of candies--some of which I hadn't seen in decades. You can read about our trip here: How Sweet It Is!: A Poetry Tale.

In 2011, when Grace was out in San Francisco, she spoke with Melissa Manlove, an editor at Chronicle Books. She told Melissa she had a manuscript written by a friend that she wanted to send to her. Grace had planned to send Melissa my manuscript of candy poems. After some thought, Grace decided to send her my THINGS TO DO manuscript. I will be forever grateful to Grace for doing that. My book THINGS TO DO might never have been published if it hadn't been for her! I might never have received a 2018 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor Award or the 2018 Margaret Wise Brown Children'sLiterature Prize.

 

NOTE: I also owe a debt of gratitude to my wonderful editor Melissa Manlove who helped me shape my manuscript into the book it became...and to Catia Chien, the talented artist who created beautiful, dreamy illustrations for my text.

Here is one of the poems from SWEET TOOTH, my unpublished collection of candy poems:

FOLLOW THE LEMON DROP ROAD

A good witch gave me directions to Candyland.

She told me to follow the Lemon Drop Road

Straight past Vegetable Valley

And Eat-It-It’s-Good-for-You Village.

She said to beware of the sugarless not-so-gummy bears

And bitter chocolate bunnies

Who often fool unsuspecting travelers

With their phony sweet talk,

And entice them to eat only healthful foods

Like broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

Oh…YUCK!

I’m glad she warned me.

I can’t wait to reach my destination.

 

I must follow the Lemon Drop Road…

follow the Lemon Drop Road

follow the Lemon Drop Road

follow the Lemon Drop Road

follow the Lemon Drop Road…

 ***************

 

Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 22-28). 

 



And the Winner of THINGS TO DO for the Third Week of National Poetry Month Is...

The winner of a signed copy of my book THINGS TO DO is Brenda Harsham! Congratulations, Brenda! Just email me your address and let me know how you would like me to inscribe the book.

ROOSTER and CHICK: Two Mask Poems



I seem to "default" to the mask poem whenever I begin writing a poetry collection. On Wednesday, I posted four mask poems about spring peepers from an unpublished seasonal collection titled VOICES ALL AROUND ME.

The following two mask poems are the first two verses from another unpublished collection titled FARM TALK, which contains poems written in the voices of farm animals, a few wild animals, and a farmer and his wife. Most of the poems are written in pairs--for example, a mare and her foal, cows and a bull, mother duck and her ducklings, rooster and chick.  

ROOSTER

Cock-a-doodle-doodle-do!

The sun is rising. You should too.

It’s time to wake and shake off night…

To welcome in the morning light.

It’s the dawn of a brand new day.

That’s something to crow about, I’d say!

CHICK

Listen!

Dad’s calling up the sun.

Wake up! Wake up, everyone!

Night is over. Day’s begun.

 ***************

My other postings from earlier this week:

Wild Rose Reader Looks Back: A Belated80th Birthday Post for Lee Bennett Hopkins

THREE NIGHT POEMS FOR CHILDREN

Four Mask Poems about Spring Peepers

***************

 

Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 15-21). 

 ***************

Tabatha has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference.

Four Mask Poems about Spring Peepers

I enjoy writing mask poems. It's especially fun taking on the personality of an animal that I have learned about and speaking in its voice.

 

One of my favorite books of animal mask poems is Marilyn Singer's TURTLE IN JULY, which was beautifully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. In this book, Singer speaks in a different animal's voice each month--a deer in January, a barn owl in February, a bear in March, etc. She also speaks in the voice of a bullhead fish in each of the four seasons.



 

TURTLE IN JULY and Karla Kuskin's ANY ME I WANT TO BE are the two books that got me hooked on writing mask poems. Unfortunately, ANY ME I WANT TO BE is out of print. You might be able to find a used copy online.  I think TURTLE IN JULY is still  available in library binding. I highly recommend both books!

Last year, I worked on a collection of mask poems told in the voices of familiar animals and plants that takes readers through the cycle of a year. I wrote four poems about spring peepers--one for each season.

Listen to spring peepers at this link:

https://youtu.be/KdYH-cFANfQ

SPRING PEEPER IN SPRING

Awakened from my winter sleep

And ready to mate—I peep and peep
At night to woo a lady fair.
My heartfelt singing fills spring air.

Above this vernal pool I wait

And eagerly anticipate

That special someone who will be 

The perfect froggy gal for me!

 

SPRING PEEPERS IN SUMMER

The day we hatched from jellied eggs…

We looked like fish. We had no legs.

We breathed through gills. We had no lungs.

We didn’t have long sticky tongues.

We didn’t look like frogs…for sure.

But then we started to mature.

And day by day we changed and grew.

To tails and gills we bid adieu.

Now we have lungs and four fine limbs…

And we can croak

and jump

AND swim!

 

SPRING PEEPER IN FALL

Summer was fun—so full of flies,

Beetles, ants, and sunny skies,

Cricket song…warm, lazy nights,

Dew in the grass and other delights.

But…

Now it is time to find a space

Under a log—a snuggly place

Where I can hibernate till spring

When I will reawake and sing.

 

SPRING PEEPER IN WINTER

Quiet please.

Do not disturb.

Don’t jog this log

While I’m asleep.

I need to get a good long rest.

In spring, I must be at my best!

 ***************

 

 

Don't forget! I'm giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during April. All you have to do to qualify to have your named entered into next Sunday's drawing is to comment on one of the blogs that I posted during this third week of National Poetry Month (April 15-21). 

 

 

THREE NIGHT POEMS FOR CHILDREN

I worked on a collection of night poems for weeks last year. I could never shape it into what I wanted it to be--even though I tried hard. Sometimes, when I try too hard, my poems seemed forced. I had to put the collection away. Maybe I will work on it again one day. Here are three poems from two different versions of my collection of bedtime poems:

END OF DAY

Sun slid down the western sky

as weary Day bid goodbye.

Then Dark crept in on velvet toes

after sleeping Night arose.

PICTURE WINDOW

My window frames a patch of sky

where I can watch stars passing by

and see the full moon’s beaming face

smile down on me from outer space.

 

CITY NIGHT

When sun has gone,

my city puts her jewels on--

a necklace of electric lights

that glitter and glow.

My city sparkles from head to toe!

***************



REMINDER: I am giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during National Poetry Month. I will collect the names of people who have commented on my blog posts each week in April and put them in a bag. Next Sunday, I will draw a name from the bag of someone who commented on a post that I published during the week of April 8-14.

Drawing dates: April 22, 29, 30.

 

Wild Rose Reader Looks Back: A Belated 80th Birthday Post for Lee Bennett Hopkins.

I had hoped to put together a special 80th birthday post for Lee Bennett Hopkins before I left for  Hattiesburg, Mississippi--but I got sick with a respiratory infection Easter weekend. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I'd get better by April 10th so I could accept my Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor Award at the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Literature Festival. Fortunately, I was fine by the day of my departure--but I never got around to whipping up a birthday post for Lee.

I decided today to post links to some of my previous blogs about Lee and his poetry books. I thought some of you might like to read them.

Here they are--in chronological order:

Party for a Poetry Man (2009)

Lee Bennett Hopkins: WHY POETRY? (2010)

PASS THE POETRY, PLEASE!: A Wild RoseReader Interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins (2010)

A Question for Lee Bennett Hopkins(2010)

Lee Bennett Hopkins: A Silent Mentor (2010)

The Anthologist: A Poem for LeeBennett Hopkins (2010)

Eating Poetry, Number Two: A Poem for Lee Bennett Hopkins (2010)

Q & A with Lee Bennett Hopkins(2010)

Happy Birthday, Lee Bennett Hopkins!(2012)

Poetry for Little Ones: "Lullaby & Kisses Sweet" (2015)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, DEAR ONE!!!

 

 

***************

 

REMINDER: I am giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during National Poetry Month. I will collect the names of people who have commented on my blog posts each week in April and put them in a bag. Next Sunday, I will draw a name from the bag of someone who commented on a post that I published during the week of April 8-14.

Drawing dates: April 22, 29, 30.

 

 

 

And the Winner of THINGS TO DO for the Second Week of National Poetry Month Is...

 

The winner of a signed copy of my book THINGS TO DO is Robyn Hood Black. Congratulations, Robyn! Just email me your address and let me know how you would like me to inscribe the book.

 

 

Cutting a Poem from a Manuscript: THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE NIGHT...or THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE THE MOON?

Things to do if you are NIGHT was the final poem in my original manuscript for THINGS TO DO. There were three more poems that related to night--one about a teddy bear, one about a nightlight, and one about the moon.  

My editor Melissa Manlove wrote me saying:... we really only need one bedtime poem in the collection... I strongly prefer moon in this case, as it is particularly lovely and makes an excellent end to the book. 

So the "night" poem was cut and the "moon" poem stayed.

Things to do if you are NIGHT

Be the shadow of day.

Put the sun to bed and light the moon.

Rouse sleeping raccoons and owls.

Paint oceans black.

Sprinkle stars across the sky.

Slip softly away before dawn.

Things to do if you are the MOON

Live in the sky.

            Be bold…

                        OR

            be shy.

Wax and wane

            in your starry terrain.

Be a circle of light,

just a sliver of white,

            or hide in the shadows

            and vanish from sight.

Look like a pearl

            when you’re brim-full

            and bright.

Hang in the darkness

                        Dazzle the night.

I believe my editor made a wise decision. What do you think?

***************

This week's earlier posts:

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A SNAIL: Two Different Versions of a Poem

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A HONEYBEE : Two Versions

Making THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE RAIN a Rhyming Poem

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE THE SUN: Cut from My THINGS TO DO Manuscript???

REMINDER: I am giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during National Poetry Month. I will collect the names of people who have commented on my blog posts each week in April and put them in a bag. Next Sunday, I will draw a name from the bag of someone who commented on a post that I published during the week of April 8-14.

Drawing dates: April 15, 22, 29, 30.

***************

Robyn has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge.

***************

And the last thing that I want to do this Friday is to wish "dearest" Lee Bennett Hopkins a

HAPPY  80th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE THE SUN: Cut from My THINGS TO DO Manuscript???

My editor Melissa Manlove suggested cutting my SUN poem from THINGS TO DO during the early stages of our email discussions because, at that point, it didn't seem to be helping with the arc of my "story" written in poems. Later, we added my revised version of it back into the collection after we changed the "small moment of crisis"--a thunderstorm. I kept the beginning of the poem the same--but changed the ending:

My original SUN poem:

Be big

and round

and bold

and bright.

Wear a crown

of golden light.

Keep the planets

in their place.

Be the queen

of outer space.

I changed the ending to this:

Shower down

            warm yellow rays.

Rule the sky

            on summer days.

REMINDER: I am giving away signed copies of my book THINGS TO DO during National Poetry Month. I will collect the names of people who have commented on my blog posts each week in April and put them in a bag. Next Sunday, I will draw a name from the bag of someone who commented on a post that I published during the week of April 8-14.

Drawing dates: April 15, 22, 29, 30.