Tag Archives: photography

Cormorant: NPM22 Day 25

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I love science! I think in another life I must have been a scientist. Questions are always my entry point–so today’s #verselove prompt was perfect. Linda at Ethical ELA listed steps in the scientific method and then encouraged us to use all or part of them to craft a poem for today. Yesterday as I walked on the beach, I saw a cormorant in an unusual place…on the beach. In the past, cormorants on the beach have signaled illness for the bird, so I was concerned when I saw this one. I turned my cormorant sighting into fodder for my scientific method poem today.

Cormorant

I see you sitting on the beach

alone, on the sand

are you lost? are you ill?

Most days you fly against the horizon

like a jet plane, pointed due north

wings in constant motion

Today you are still

feathers like midnight

eyes like stars

unperturbed by my approach

Is it avian flu?

Bird dementia?

Or just a relaxing day on the beach?

Relief pulsed through my veins

when I saw you later

floating in the surf

looking for a snack

before blasting back into the sky

continuing your coastal journey

Thanks for stopping by

and posing

for a portrait

@kd0602

Sniff In: NPM22 Day 23

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I rolled the virtual metaphor dice inspired by Stefani over at Ethical ELA coming up with the words poetry, well worn, and brand new toy. Combined with my afternoon lagoon walk, words tumbled and fell into today’s poem.

Sniff In

Sniff in beach funk

salty fishy

tickling nose and imagination

feet moving over well worn paths

buzzing bees pollinating images

a flash of yellow

stomping above a blossoming of white

birdsong on a post

and balanced on overhead wires

playing with words each day

a brand new toy

nature and poetry

holding hands

@kd0602

Photography: NPM22 Day 17

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Today’s #verselove prompt was about choices…and I made a choice that was different from the intended direction (I think). So, today I decided to write a #smallpoem (close to Haiku) to go with a photograph–where I wrote with light.

Photography

Today I write with light

images speak my words

exposing sea treasures

@kd0602

Sea Song: NPM22 Day 16

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Verselove over at Ethical ELA continues to be bounty of poetic forms–that all seemed designed to bend or break the rules I had previously learned. Today Tanka, a form I had learned as 5 lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern was transformed by Cara to a 3 line, 31 syllable meander.

I’m combining #verselove with some #beachlove today in several approximately 31 syllable Tanka.

Sea Song

One squishy step after another

pulls me into the noisy silence of the sea

where worries slip like water off a duck

Tides ebb and flow revealing an upside down world

tiny crabs, anemones, silver darting fish

dance of predator and prey

Like seabirds, thoughts take wing

breath calms, an echo of water’s rhythms

lullaby sung by the sea, perfect harmony with me

@kd0602

Creative Joy: NPM22 Day 13

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Today’s #verselove prompt over at Ethical ELA gives explicit directions to break rules! Stacey introduced the idea of a Gogyohka poem–a liberated version of a Tanka–a 5 line poem without the restraint of syllable counts. Strangely enough, I had introduced Haiku to my young students yesterday, inviting them to write 3 line poems without strictly adhering to the traditional 5-7-5 format.

To inspire their writing, we headed outside again today, this time with iPads in hand in search of tiny perfect things. (We had read the book by the same name before heading out–looking for tiny treasures so often overlooked.) When you’re 6 or 7, nearly everything is a treasure. They love the poppies that grow along the fenceline, the spiral of the succulents with their variegated greens, and even the gas meter–a metal contraption–that they don’t recognize as having a particular function.

And their joy inspired my Gogyohka today.

Creative Joy

Released from classroom restraint

they search the school grounds

for tiny perfect things

subjects for child-fresh photography

inspiration for unrestrained Haiku

@kd0602
Preset Style = “It’s Technical” Lightness = Auto-Exposure Size = Large Border = No Border

The Buzz: NPM22 Day 12

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Today’s #verselove prompt over at Ethical ELA is the news. The news? I feel like there is so much I want to avoid about the news–especially for my writing. I considered all day just what take on the news I might embrace. And then the headline…out of our principal’s mouth during lunch today, “The queen bee has moved in…” That’s the news I am going with!

The Buzz

The queen bee has moved in

and her kingdom is swarming near the classroom door

Announced the principal

during lunch

the buzz buzzed

through the lounge

through the halls

adults swarming

considering

During our read-aloud

a lone bee

was discovered

on Madison’s head

then ushered out with a quick flick

By tomorrow

the queen will be resettled

along with her kingdom

well out of reach

of classroom doors

@kd0602

Heron Blue: NPM22 Day 9

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Heron Blue

Misty tendrils

the softest breath

caresses my arms, musses my hair

exhaling as I inhale familiar saltiness

Not eggshell blue of soft pastels

or jay blue of bright flashes

today is heron blue

almost gray

dark

but not quite

after the sun fades

but before night arrives

In the distance

curved neck, sharp beak

unmistakeable silhouette

I hurry but not too fast

Your silence matches mine

while wave songs play in the distance

You stretch, becoming a roller coaster

of twists and turns

searching, scanning

hunting

patient

In a slow motion

stretch of wings

you lift

effortlessly launched

shape shifting into flight

I watch and wonder

energized by the power of stillness

and the reverence of blue

from sky to sea

to feathers

heron blue

@kd0602
Great Blue Heron in Flight @kd0602

Somehow Dixie over at Ethical ELA conjured this heron into my path today…the day she offered bird as our #verselove poetry prompt. Thanks Dixie–readers here know I love my egrets…and their cousin, the great blue heron is a welcome sighting any day!

Each Footstep: NPM22 Day 8

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Participating in #verselove over at Ethical ELA feels like a daily workout, faced with innovative approaches to poetry that I might not otherwise attempt. And today is no different. Today Scott has challenged us to show something without telling. So here goes…

Each Footstep

Don’t let them fool you

It’s all about the shoes

pulled on over two pairs of socks

a smooth, thin inner layer

and soft cushy outer layer

crissed and crossed

hooked and tightened

tied in a double knotted bow

These boots are made for walking

And they log miles

on dirt

over rocks

through snow

into squelching mud

across crunching gravel

beside trickling streams

Heading nowhere and everywhere

filling my ears

with birdsong

and windy symphonics

the scritch of lizard toes

echoing thump, thump of woodpeckers

the chasing race of squirrels

My faithful friend

gives me a lens

to see anew

snapping scenic vistas

noticing nature’s intricate and unexpected artwork

heightening awareness and concern

for Earth’s fragile beauty

Each footstep connects me

to my breath

to the planet

to these booted feet

These feet were made for walking

@kd0602

(Showing hiking without telling that I hike…with my camera!)

Turn the Wind to Power: NPM22 Day 7

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On day 7 of National Poetry Month, I have faced the most difficult challenge ever! As you know from Day 3, I don’t identify as a music person and today’s challenge was to use a song structure to write new lyrics. Chris over at Ethical ELA was generous, offering his song as structure and giving writers an out–if it doesn’t work for you, do something else. But…the point is to try…right?!?

So after a day spent in 100 degree temperatures learning about and photographing power generating windmills, I just had to figure out how to say something with a song structure. Since music is definitely a challenge for me, I asked my husband what song he might think of related to our exploration today. And he offered up the old classic, They Call the Wind Mariah from the movie Paint Your Wagon.

I listened and hummed…and tried my own (amateur-ish) attempt at song writing. This will definitely not be up for any Grammys, but I hope you get a bit of a glimpse of what a windmill farm is all about.

Turn the Wind to Power

Way out here the land is spare

spaces openly devoured

Nature gifts the wind, the sun, the land

emptiness once stretch for hours

Against cerulean cloudless skies

these faceless giants tower

Farmed energy these crops of wind

give city folks their power

Spin it, oh spin it

tall mills of wind, they spin it

They twist and turn and spin again

and turn the wind to power

@kd0602

Things I Know by Heart: NPM22 Day 2

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Imagine my surprise this morning when the post by Ethical ELA was hosted by friend and colleague Emily Yamasaki! I was immediately drawn into both the mentor poem, things I have memorized by Maria Giesbrecht and Emily’s poem, Things I Know. I dove deeply into the cool pool of poems that emerged from Emily’s provocation, reading and feeling, admiring and analyzing as I began to think about my own writing for this second day of National Poetry Month.

Things I Know by Heart

The sleek curve of the egret’s neck

in the tidepool at low tide

The smells of love that fill our home

emanating from the kitchen

The silence of his last breath

matching the empty space in our family

My daily commute, etched in the recesses of my mind,

requiring no conscious thought

My childhood phone number

but not my passwords–they continue to elude me

The sweetness of little boys

now into the second generation

Fear of fire, seared into my memory

brought back by ashes that rain down like snowflakes

Fog’s gray blanket

an indicator that spring has arrived

Each of the traffic spots on the 5 between our house and theirs

no matter how long it takes, every trip is worth it

Sunset’s fiery sky painting

celebrating endings and promising new beginnings

@kd0602