Imagine the Possibilities

Today is the first Poetry Friday in National Poetry Month! For my April poetry project I’m combining picture books and poetry. I call it “Call and Response: Picture Books and Poetry.” Reading a picture book is the call followed by a response in the form of a small poem. It was inspired by Laura Purdie Salas’ Poetryactions.

One of the books I read this week was Song of the Old City by Anna Pellicioli and Merve Atilgan (G.P.Putnam’s Sons, 2023). The book takes place in Istanbul where we meet a little girl who receives gifts from the many people she meets while journeying through the city. Somehow, she manages to find a way to pass along the kindnesses she receives.

Passing the Joy

wren welcomes morning
with her song flowing
through the trees
over the rooftops
into my heart
when we meet under the climbing tree
I’ll share it with you
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

I also wrote an elfchen in response to Follow the Flyway: The Marvel of Bird Migration by Sarah Nelson and Maya Hanisch (Barefoot Books, 2023)

Migrating Birds

flying
high following
wind, water, warmth
pulled south by sun
navigating
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

Irene has the round up today at Live Your Poem where you’ll find lots of poetry goodness including the next couplet for our community progressive poem.

It’s Poetry Friday and I’m happy to be hosting today. Please add your link at the end of the post.

This past Christmas, one of my presents was a bird feeder with a camera feed. We finally got around to installing it last week and it’s provided tons of bird watching fun. My first visitor was a tufted titmouse I named Captain. He was soon joined by a pair of bluebirds (Fred and Ginger), Redboy and Queenie (cardinals), chickadees, cowbirds, sparrows, and a host of finches. I name many of my birds, especially the ones I know make daily visits. Eventually I had to turn off the notifications because it got too distracting, but everything is recorded so I can see who visited.

I wasn’t able to embed any of the videos here, but I found a poem (a double ehtheree) about bird visitors I wrote a while back.

I’m expecting that Fred and Ginger will soon be starting a family. Here’s a poem for them.

The birds remind me that even though temperatures are chilly, spring is here. Please click below and add your link. I’m looking forward to reading all the poetry goodness! Thanks for stopping by and for your supportive comments each week.

It’s Poetry Friday and almost time to welcome spring. Of course with spring comes Daylight Saving Time. I enjoy the light lingering longer in the evening, but it’s still dark when I wake, at least for a few more weeks.

I was thinking of the time change this week as I reread some poems in The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal edited by James Crews, looking for a line or image that might spark an idea. In “Listen Back” by Brooke McNamara I found the lines:
“How many mornings have I woken like this, early
and called to listen
at the window of the unknown?”

Then, very serendipitously, Margaret Simon posted a photo of sunrise through fog by Marshall Ramsey in This Photo Wants To Be a Poem.

Margaret also included this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
“For behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal, or a window opening on something more than itself.”

All of those things gave me the inspiration for today’s poem.

Early Morning
I’m called to the dark
beyond the window

called to witness
the gradual unfurling of morning

only when the highest branches of the maples are visible
will the wren announce the sun

and the sky will lighten, slowly
as if a blanket were being pulled from its eyes

what does the day hold?
the answer lies in the light within
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

Tanita has the roundup today at {fiction, instead of lies} Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.

It’s Poetry Friday!

I wasn’t sure I would post today since I am at a writing retreat at The Highlights Foundation with fellow writers from Inked Voices.

But when my preordered copy of Oskar’s Voyage arrived this week, I knew I had to celebrate, especially because Laura Purdie Salas is our host today. Oskar’s Voyage is a delightful story by Laura and illustrator Kayla Harren about an endearing chipmunk whose love of tomatoes causes him to become a stowaway on a Great Lakes freighter. It is full of fun, facts, and lots of emotion. And what better way to celebrate than with a poetryaction. A poetryaction is a poem written in reaction to a book, and Laura has lots of examples on her website. I borrowed one of Laura’s lines “takes a giant flying leap” for mine.

Adventure

if you’re curious
take a giant flying leap
into adventure

discover new things
in a mysterious land
then fly back home

to dream again
Draft, 2024RoseCappelli

Be sure to check out today’s roundup here where Laura gives us a peek into her process of creating Oskar’s Voyage, as well as lots more poetry goodness.