Category Archives: clmooc

Prose Poem-100 Word Rant: NPM24 Day 28

Today as I walked the beach I was struck once again by the fragility of our planet. I noticed the crumbling cliffs pouring onto the sand below, those same cliffs where the amtrak and coaster trains run daily. The cliffs that support multimillion dollar homes in danger of sliding into the ocean. The cliffs that have been whittled away by wind and water, by weather, by building, by human life. Yes, erosion is a natural phenomenon, but there is more to it than that.

My mind wandered from the damage to poetry. The way poetry can offer healing by pushing words into the world, letting us examine our thinking, play with ideas, connect with the earth, the wind, the water, each other.

My students wrote their own 6 words for the environment a week ago and then created a poster to share their words and their thinking with others. The words of this first grader continue to resonate with me.

I think she’s right. It’s time to change ourselves so we can help each other and help the earth. Which led me to a 100-word rant for my poetry today.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that poetry and earth share the month of April as their time of attention. We need poetry to understand our planet, to appreciate our planet, to save the planet from our reckless disregard for its limits. As we spin on this planet we call home, let’s consider the harm that comes from the use and abuse philosophy that has become so prevalent. It’s time for solving. More leaning in than lashing out. Instead of global clashing and teeth gnashing it’s time for change. For ourselves, our community, our nation, our world. It’s our moment.

Sound Off: NPM24 Day 27

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Today’s #verselove prompt was to “sound off,” but honestly, on a busy Saturday after a busy week, I simply needed a space with the sound off. So I decided to riff on that idea for today’s poem.

Sound Off

Today I need the sound off

to tiptoe through clouds of silence

listening to echoes

of nothing at all

Sound off

vibrations stilled

hearing only the words inside

my own head

And in that quiet

inspiration speaks

in colors muted and soft

a masterpiece

heard only by one

This is Just to Say: NPM24 Day 26

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We learned about William Carlos Williams earlier this week and wrote our own 16 word poems (I wrote about it here). Today we returned to WCW and studied his apology poem: This is Just to Say. I also read a few poems from Joyce Sidman’s collection of the same name. Even though the first graders in my class have been writing poems all month, stretching to write a poem of apology was challenging for many of them. They definitely knew how to say they were sorry–but that “tongue in cheek” sort of “sorry not sorry” approach eluded many of them.

With some coaching, we started to get there. Here are a couple of examples:

B wrote to his mom.

For Mom

This is just to say

I’m sorry I didn’t want to play in the baseball game

I just was as tired as a bear in winter

But it was fun playing baseball

Please forgive me mom

And this student wrote to her sister

I am sorry I came on your bed

and gave it a caterpillar look

I just wanted to give you a hug

like two bears in a cuddle

It might make me feel better

Another wrote to basketball

For Basketball

This is just to say

I’m sorry I haven’t made a shot yet.

Today stuff kept getting in my head

and I couldn’t get it out

It was like a milkshake was getting in my head

My mind said “you can do this” but

my head said I’m a brick

My own attempt was related to our first grade performance at this morning’s assembly where students sang Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise.

For Jimmy Buffett

This is just to say

I’m sorry our singing

was a bit off key

We were excited and nervous

twitching like hiccups

dressed in our cheeseburger hats and guitars

Your songs are so catchy

so fun and filled with energy

We just had to dance

and shout out with glee!

From Black Sage: NPM24 Day 25

Writing the Night Sky: NPM24 Day 24

Small Poems: NPM24 Day 23

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I love small poems. Those deceptively simple compositions that are packed with possibilities of layered meaning. I also love that they invite my young students into their mystery.

Today we read 16 Words William Carlos Williams & “The Red Wheelbarrow” by Lisa Rogers & Chuck Groenink and learned about this well-known poet and his famous short poem. We studied The Red Wheelbarrow and students were ready with their noticings. They counted those words carefully–yes there were 16 (at least the way it was written). They noticed the four stanzas and that each stanza had four words. They noticed the color words and felt that the line “glazed with rain water” was a bit metaphorical. (It also brought to mind donuts–got to love the literal interpretations from first graders!)

I handed out post it notes–it worked last week–small paper for small poems. And they set off with a mere five minutes before they needed to head off to their reading groups. We came back to our poems after lunch. Some students wrote several (I have plenty of post-its!) and all wrote at least one.

Here’s the one inspired by donuts

a sweet donut

with raining sprinkles

is waiting for someone

to pick it up

chomp

Many of my students continued to be inspired by sports

balls flying

like blue birds

flying in

the air

flies into a brown

kids glove

And the one I fell in love with (I’m sure I didn’t write like this when I was in first grade!)

little bits

of sky fall

down on my

face giving

it a small

cool nature shower

And my own poem is trying to conjure spring. There are hints here and there, but the pervasive marine layer is back–something that brings out the complaining in us Southern Californians!

spring wildflowers pop

yellow

when the sun

shines

after many rainy

days

my heart sings

joyfully

Earth Day: NPM24 Day 22

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It’s Earth Day, a perfect day to celebrate the earth and nature and our connections to them. Donnetta at #verselove suggested crafting a poem that honors Mother Earth in some way. Abigail, part of the #writeout team from the National Writing Project shared a recoding of Ada Limon reading the Mary Oliver poem Can You Imagine?

After a day spent with first graders talking and learning about all the reasons and ways we can and should honor and care for our planet, I found myself thinking about the ever-present tall palm tree that has been a constant on our playground for longer than I can remember. This is the tree that inspired my poem for today.

Tree-by-the-Sea

Can you imagine

standing tall and still

a constant

playground companion

for generations of children

Watching wall ball games evolve

casting a skinny shadow

a line of shade

connecting

play and nature and trees and kids and learning

Can you imagine

the stories

our sentinel palm

can tell

of friendships forged

lives linked

in a school-by-the-sea

Toes tucked in deep

green crown with a priceless view

if you listen to the rustle

you might hear your childhood

in the leaves of a tall

tree-by-the-sea

The Joy of the Ordinary: NPM24 Day 21

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Some prompts are meant to be transformed and that’s what happened with Stacey’s prompt over at #verselove for me today. Her prompt was about memories from mama’s kitchen, but instead I picked up on her “I’ve been writing this since…” line.

When I think of kitchens, I think of my husband. He’s the resident chef in our family and the one who makes food happen for me and our extended family. But I didn’t really write about food or the kitchen, instead that refrain conjured the power of the ordinary and its translation into love.

The Joy of the Ordinary

I’ve been writing this

since the day you walked into my life

making conversation easy for once

as we talked through that entire first evening

everyone and everything disappeared

but you

I’ve been writing this

for decades

through our youth and childrearing

sickness and health

frustration and excitement

boredom and change

learning from each other, with each other

embracing the inevitable messiness that life serves up

I’ve been writing this

as I’ve learned to value the ordinary

daily dependability

Love

I taste in the meals you make day in and day out

Love

I hear in days that start and end with I love you

Love

I smell in freshly mown grass or the flowers you decided I needed just because

Love

I see in your attention to detail about all things family

Love

I feel in the warm hugs that defy distance

packed in a text, a phone call, a note in my lunchbox

a whisper in my ear

I’ll be writing this

forever

spending a lifetime

with you