Imagine the Possibilities

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.

Happy Poetry Friday!

For the past few summers I’ve been participating (more or less) in Kate Messner’s Teachers Write online summer writing camp. This summer the focus is poetry and play, so of course I was all in. On Monday, Kate talked about found poems and challenged us to try it out. The fun part is always finding good source material.

I’m currently reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Although Aimee is an extraordinary poet, this is a book of prose celebrating the wonders of nature and the lessons we can learn from them. In “Vampire Squid” Aimee talks about the ability of this creature to escape predators by seemingly disappearing, wishing she had that skill as the new girl in high school. As I read, I jotted down phrases, then rearranged and revised.

The New Girl: A Found Poem

like the vampire squid
with arm tips glowing and waving
who pulse-swims in darkness
then strikes a pineapple posture
arms overhead,
an appearance of fangs—

I wish to disappear.
Draft, 2023Rose Cappelli

I also returned to A Blessing of Toads: A Guide to Living with Nature by Sharon Lovejoy. I wrote about Sharon’s beautiful essays here, and from time to time I continue to read and reread from this book. Yesterday I read about an injured hermit thrush Sharon found. I concentrated on the part where she finds the bird and how she cares for it. I took some liberties with verb tenses and word forms, preserving as much of the original phrasing as possible.

A Thrush in My Picnic Basket: A Found Poem

Found: injured hermit thrush
beneath berry-laden bushes
one eye missing

a lidded picnic basket
becomes a temporary home:
holly for a perch
water
a crushed mush of berries

when I check
she tilts her head
gazes
preparing
to sing down the sun
Draft, 2023Rose Cappelli

Thanks Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Sharon Lovejoy for crafting such beautiful words and for the opportunity to refashion them into found poems.

Linda has the roundup today at A Word Edgewise where she takes us on a journey of words and art with a cluster of poems written around “Enough.” Be sure to stop by!

It’s Poetry Friday!

When I realized that Poetry Friday was just around the corner and I had nothing planned to post, I had a slight moment of panic. Then I remembered that most days I try to post a small poem, often a haiku, about something I noticed that day (thank you, Mary Oliver). I’m sorry I didn’t record the reference, but something someone posted on a Poetry Friday in June reminded me about softball.

When my daughter was in middle and high school she played on a couple of travel softball teams. So for several years in the spring and early summer I was on the road with her most weekends.It was usually just us, especially for the overnights, since my hisband would stay home with our teenage son. I have fond memories of that time when we were trapped in a car together, getting to know each other a little better.

Marcie has the round up today here where she gives a preview of her Sealy Challenge for 2023 and more. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.

Happy Poetry Friday!

Irene has the round up today at Live Your Poem where she’s celebrating the Moon in advance of her forthcoming collection of poems, The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface with illustrations by Myriam Wares, launching on August 8th.

Our Moon has been an object of curiosity for many people through the years, including myself. I have several picture books, fiction and nonfiction, on the subject. So it’s not surprising that when fellow poet, Bridget Magee, put out a call for her anthology, Two Truths and a Fib (2023), that I chose the Moon as my subject.

Here are two of my poems that appear in that book. Since one is a nonet and one is an etheree they kind of go together. I’ll save the third one, the FIB, for you to discover on your own.

Moon

the long-night moon makes me curious,         
hypnotized with wonder and awe
as it lights the garden path,
paints shadows in the grass—
a luminary
in the dark sky,
our faithful
cosmic
friend
© 2022, Rose Cappelli

Moon

from
darkness
a tiny
crescent appears,
spreading over time,
waxing to half a dime,
creeping farther and farther,
reaching, stretching toward the edge
until finally it lights the night—
fully illuminated, glowing, bright
© 2022, Rose Cappelli

The next full moon is almost here – July 3. That one will appear larger and brighter, the first supermoon of 2023.