Imagine the Possibilities

I’ve been continuing to keep up with the Sealey Challenge, finding so much inspiration in rereading old (and new) favorites. This week I revisited Joyce Sidman’s and Rick Allen’s Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold. There are so many delicious words and phrases in Joyce’s poems, I found myself lingering and rereading.

“born with eyelash legs and tinsel wings”

“the cold came creeping
came prickling into our hearts”

One of the poems which has inspired me before is “What Do the Trees Know?” The first stanza includes:
To bend when all the wild winds blow.
Roots are deep and time is slow.
All we grasp we must let go.

I have several poems that use this structure, some that have already appeared on this post. But this morning I found this one:

What the Night Knows

the creep of the cat
the flap of a bat
the deep of dark
the tide’s high mark

the hush of birds
a time without words
the moon’s give and take
the sun as it wakes
Draft, 2023RoseCappelli

In addition to Winter Bees, this week I also read:

Night Wishes – selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins/illustrated by Jen Corace
Hi, Koo!A Year of Seasons – Jon J. Muth
Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt – McKissack/Cabrera
Secret Places – poems selected by Charlotte Huck/illustrated by Lindsay Barrett George
Sky Scrape/City Scape – Selected by Jane Yolen/illustrated by Ken Condon
With My Hands: Poems About Making Things – Amy Ludwig VanDerwater/Fancher and Johnson

Linda has the round up today at Teacher Dance. Be sure to stop by for her thoughts on transitions and lots more poetry fun.

Happy Poetry Friday!

Part of my delight in participating in this year’s Sealey Challenge (to read a book of poetry every day in the month of August) is my decision to revisit some old favorites. This week I picked up my beloved copy of Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli. Not only are the poems and storylines heartwarming and excellent models, but the illustrations by Matt Phelan are delightful. I fell in love with this book when it was first published in 2007 and have shared it with many teachers and students since. It’s about friendships, the comfort and security of home, and adjusting to new situations.

One of the storylines in Where I Live is about a family of wrens who nest in, then depart from, a wreath on main character Diana’s front door. For some reason that part of the story struck me harder this time around. Perhaps I was thinking about the birds in my yard who come and go, or perhaps about my own empty nest, even though it’s been empty for quite a while.

Empty Nest

the nest is empty
all too soon
no more chirps and cheeps
no begging beaks

where you live matters
a place of warmth and comfort
a place to hang your heart
Draft, 2023 Rose Cappelli

Other books I read this week for the Sealey Challenge include:

Falling Down the Page – edited by Georgia Heard
Water Voices – Toby Speed and Julie Downing
Feathers: Poems About Birds – Eileen Spinelli and Lisa McCue
Ordinary Things: Poems From a Walk in Early Spring – Ralph Fletcher; drawings by Walter
Lyon
I’m Someone Else: Poems About Pretending – Collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; illustrated by
Chris Hsu
Baseball, Snakes, and Summer Squash – Donald Graves

Molly has the roundup today at Nix the Comfort Zone where you’ll find a lovely collection of haiku and photos and lots more poetry goodness.

Happy Poetry Friday!

A few weeks ago I received some poetry swap treasures in the mail from my writing friend, Patricia, which included beautiful photographs of wildflowers accompanied by original poems. Included was a card with a photograph of a naturally occurring heart on a granite boulder. The theme of treasures, as well as the heart photo, fits well with a poem I wrote this week for my poetry group, inspired by a box.

Treasures

Who can measure the depth
of the heart?
It waits for treasure –
a smile,
     a touch,
          a kiss,
               an embrace,
a lifetime of living
pain and pleasure.
Draft, 2022RoseCappelli

Sealey Challenge update: I’m continuing to revisit poetry collections from my teaching days. This week I reread:

Creatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia Heard
Words with Wrinkled Knees by Barbara Juster Esbensen
Have You Been to the Beach Lately? by Ralph Fletcher
Turtle in July by Marilyn Singer
If This Bird Had Pockets by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow by Joyce Sidman

Tabatha has the roundup today at the Opposite of Indifference. Stop by for lots of poetry fun, and thanks for reading.

Happy Poetry Friday!

This year I decided to take on the Sealey Challenge – reading a book of poetry each day in August. I have lots of poetry books in a bin in my basement library that I used quite a bit when I was teaching and working with teachers. So I decided to revisit some of those. As I gathered up a bunch, each one seemed to come with a memory – a student, a lesson, a poem I looked forward to reading again. Some I haven’t read in many years, some I studied more extensively than others, but there is always something new to learn. So far I’ve read:

Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars, written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. I enjoyed the nonfiction with humor element in these poems.

R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet by Judy Young with illustrations by Victor Juhasz. Among other things, I learned a few new poetry forms I’d like to try.

Silver Seeds by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer with illustrations by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher with its beautiful metaphors and images.

I don’t know if I’ll read a full book every day, but I’ll do the best I can.

And here’s a monotetra I wrote after taking an early morning walk along the beach and catching the sunrise:

A New Day

Sunrise offers a dazzling sight,
One bright star bids adieu to night,
Sky shifts to purple, pink, and white.
Ribbons of light. Ribbons of light.

Like seabirds dancing in the tide,
Scavenging food, hitching a ride,
On this day I cast my net wide.
Joy as my guide. Joy as my guide.
Draft, Rose Cappelli 2023

Mary Lee has the roundup today at A(nother) Year of Reading. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness and a look at a piece of Mary Lee’s beautiful embroidery. I’ll be away this weekend babysitting the grands, so I’ll catch up on comments next week.

Happy Poetry Friday!

If you haven’t yet read Welcome to the Wonder House by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard with illustrations by Deborah Freedman, please put it on your wish list. You won’t be disappointed. These talented poets imagine the world as a place of wonder and curiosity, describing it as a series of rooms that hold wonders and lead to curiosity. It is the kind of book you will want to enjoy again and again, if nothing else than to let the beautiful language and mesmerizing illustrations sink in one more time.

I was thrilled when Marcie suggested the Nevermores write a poem of praise this week and cited one of Rebecca’s poems from “The Room of Praise” in Welcome to the Wonder House as an example. I immediately poured over each poem in the book, then got down to writing one of my own. I started by listing things that I was curious about as a child. Fireflies was high on my list. I spent many hours as a child catching and releasing these wonders, and I was surprised to learn as an adult that fireflies, at least the kind I knew as a child, are not often found west of the Rocky Mountains. I even have a picture book manuscript about that curiosity.

After brainstorming some ideas, I jotted down phrases in my notebook, arranged and rearranged, then crafted my praise poem.

Praise to Fireflies

who sing the sun to sleep
with a lullaby of light
dancing in the deepening dusk
like meadow fairies

tiny stars
close enough to catch
in a jar
a hand
a heart—

make a wish!
Draft, 2023RoseCappelli

Photo by Rajesh Rajput on Unsplash

Margaret has the roundup this week on Reflections on the Teche. Be sure to stop by for a beautiful tribute to strawberry jam, the kindness of a friend, and lots more poetry goodness.