Shivering Poems

Day 9 of the March Slice of Life Challenge!  Check out other Slicers' offerings at Two Writing Teachers.

More refrigerator poetry.  I posted the second poem I created on the edge of the door of our  refrigerator.  I don't know why.  I guess it was because I could see all the words from which to choose more easily, as they are on the side of the refrigerator.  I still have the first poem up on the front of the freezer door, and I just didn't move this one to the front yet.  No reason.  Maybe I'll go move it.  Or not.

 I kind of like how it travels down the narrow edge of the freezer door.

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beneath the window

shivering yellow flowers

whisper of spring songs

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We have just got to get rid of this snow.  

My spring poems are starting to blossom.

They'll die in this cold!

But to warm us all up - I've put my second haiku in Haiku Deck as I did yesterday.

My second Refrigerated Haiku:

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

Refrigerated Haiku

Day 8 of the March Slice of Life Challenge!  Check out other Slicers' offerings at Two Writing Teachers.

At Christmas, my daughter gave me a set of magnetic word for writing haiku and other poetry on my refrigerator.  Fairly recently I got all the words separated and somewhat organized on the side of the refrigerator...

And then I wrote my haiku:

No matter how many words you get in these sets, you always want more.  They must have sugar in them.  Like candy, words are addictive - you can never get enough.
A haiku requires willpower then.  You cannot indulge in wanton wordiness.

Ok, though you shouldn't indulge in wanton wordiness with a Haiku, you can however play with its format as much as you like!  So I'm trying Haiku Deck here with the same words.  Fun!


Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

Of Roosters and Sharks

It's day 7!  Yea!  A whole week of posts in March for Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers AND it's Poetry Friday over at Reflections on the Teche with Margaret Simon  Stop by and enjoy some great posts in both places today!

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It seemed that yesterday was a rooster day!

As I was bopping through the Slices for Thursday, someone had posted about their mean rooster that would attack them as a child.  Someone else had mentioned a rooster that would come running after their mother when she was out hanging clothes on the line.

We had a renegade rooster, too, who would come tearing after us.  Now he didn’t always do it, but when I think about it, it was probably when we had the dog in the yard with us, that he would let us pass.  I remember one day hearing my brother, who was probably 8 at the time, yelling wildly from the porch for my mother. She came running from somewhere in the house.  My brother was kind of accident prone, or catastrophe prone, so when she heard him yell or scream, she knew she had to move fast!
So she did.  And there he was on the porch holding with outstretched arm our rooster!  He had him around the neck, and was yelling for help!  The rooster had been chasing our little sister, following her right up onto the porch.  He had rescued her from her attacker, but had no clue how to now get out of this predicament.  He couldn’t just let go or he’d be the victim now!  Mom rescued him from the clutches of that rooster (though to the rooster behavior novices it would look as if the rooster was in his clutches!).

Then, just when I’d thought “hey, that would be a good story to tell sometime” - which I just did - I remembered it was Laurie Purdie Salas’ 15 Words or Less Thursday (go here to see the picture).  I went to her page and saw a picture of a giant rooster outside by a snowbank.  It looked as if the picture had been taken from inside a building.

It looked about as imposing as our rooster did to me when I was a kid.  It looked like it was waiting outside for us.  It was our nightmare rooster from a long ago childhood.
It also reminded me of one other thing.  Maybe you’ve seen it, too.  On TV.  Saturday Night Live.  Remember the shark knocking on the door?

So on that prompt yesterday, and with recent posts, vivid memories and Saturday Night Live sharks floating around in my head, I posted this poem...

Rooster Pranks

“Car’s towed!”
rooster crowed,
eyes glowed.

“Pizza arrived!”
rooster lied.
Entrance denied!

We’ll stay inside.

How to Make a Toddler

Yesterday I had a wonderful visit with my daughter and 2 ½ year old grandson via Google chat.  It was fun to be able to watch him have lunch and play with his little truck.  It was fun to hear him say "Hi, Nannie!" and see him smile.  I even held the computer so that he could see our new cat play with a cat toy and hear the cat meow...and then hear him meow back!
So I am combining my March Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers with Poetry Jam today.  The Poetry Jam challenge is to write a poem with "Bottle" in it or somehow incorporate the idea of a bottle in your poem.  This is what I came up with:

How to Make a Toddler

a gallon of giggles
a vial of smiles
a bottle of boisterous
a jar of wiles

a bucket of laughter
a tank of tears
a jug of hugs
a flagon of fears

a flask of ask
a canteen of can’ts
an ampoule of no
a shaker of shan’ts

a keg of I can
a pitcher of pouts
a carton of pain
a decanter of doubts

a pot of play
a can of care
a vessel of love
a ewer of prayer

a drum of squeals
and two of delight
then add the stars
in a heavenly night

this container of toddler
as full as it seems
needs one more thing -
parent's blanket of dreams.

The part in red, I added this morning, per Andrew's thought that it needed something at the end.  I totally agree!  It was bugging me, but I decided to post it feeling unfinished.  I was up by 4:30 this morning to look at it again, having auto published at midnight.
Oh, and changed "magnum" to "shaker".  Magnum kept putting me in mind of Tom Selleck.  So he's gone!
Now I can go back to bed for a bit!  Aaah!

Poetry Anyone?

And now it is Day 5 of the March SOL.
Because on Sunday the names of the Poetry Authletes were at last made public, I can finally tell you that I am in at least the first round of the competition.
I am a bit nervous about it, because, not only will I be posting and helping here, I will be visiting my grandson some this month AND composing a poem under duress - maybe more than one if I'm lucky enough to move on to the next round.  I guess I will relive, at least for a few days, what it is like again to have a day job, have a toddler and try to write!  It's hard enough when I'm all by myself and just LOOKING at work I should be doing.

Whether I lose or win a little bit, it is always an honor to be in there writing with the wonderful poets included in this list.  I know there are some of you Slicers who are in the March Madness 2014 poetry tournament this year, too.  Are we slicing off more than we can chew?

Can I Do It All?

Take a slice and chew it up
Take a sip from out da cup
Take a word out for a spin
Make some rhymes to maybe win
Watch the toddler as he plays
Let work go for other days
I have words I need to write
He has teeth to brush at night
Then there's breakfast, lunch and dinner
Before I sit to write a winner
Or maybe I will have to settle
And pour some tea from out da kettle
Playing games and reading books
Hanging clothes on little hooks
Waiting for the bedtime hour
Waiting for the writing power
Hoping it comes forth with ease
Before he wakes for breakfast, please.

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So here's the info about it and links to get there. (Less a slice in this section and more an info-mercial.)

Hosted by Ed DeCaria at Think Kid, Think, it is a fast paced, word assignment driven, kid friendly and geared toward, poetry writing frenzy.  If you have never been there or done that, it is a thing to be there for!  (Calendar of events here.)

Classes are welcome to sign up to read the poems being created and submit a classroom vote on favorites.  If you haven't signed up a classroom, you should do that!  It doesn't take tons of time out of the day and it gives your kids exposure not only to poetry, but to some pretty interesting vocabulary! (Sign up page here.)

Individuals may vote also from their home computers.  But once you have voted on the day's offering of poems, that computer is finished until the next round!  No doubling up on votes!  That means each spouse would have to vote on their own individual computers.
The poets have a word assigned to them and they have 36 hours to craft a poem using that word.  The poems are then put up for all to read and vote on for a day.  Votes are tallied and a winner of each match is declared.  Winners are paired, and the next words are assigned for a new face-off.

So check out the page, sign up your classroom, and be ready to read some good poetry (there's never any bad poetry, is there?) later this month!

You may even find one of the poems leads you to a slice!

Old Post Commenter

Today I received a neat comment on an old post.  Someone had done a search on "Walter Reed, Woolwich", and my blog post "Walter Reed's Gulf Station", came up. 

I'd had another comment on it prior to this one from someone who had lived across the road from this man and his Gulf station.  I had asked the commenter if they were perhaps a daughter of Carla, who was a good friend of mine who lived down the road from me.  I had heard from someone that she got married and lived in the house across from Walter and across from where I had lived as a child, just down the road from her old house.  This person was not Carla's daughter, though.  She gave me more information and her sister emailed me later, too, with a picture.

But on Monday night, lo and behold, Carla's son, who no longer lives in Maine, commented on my post!  He was the one searching for information on Walter Reed.

Unfortunately, I've lost contact with Carla and her family.  We spent summers playing out in the fields behind our houses and in the great big barn she had at her house.  We rode imaginary horses and played school.  I got stung by a bee on top of my head in the old dairy barn!  It was her house I was riding my bike home from when the bats seemed to be (really were!) chasing me (The Feeling of Bats). 

I am so thrilled with this contact from the past!  What a neat thing this blogging is!  You never know where it will lead!

Community Read Aloud

Day 3/31 in the March Slice of Life Challenge!  I am late posting, as I had to see if there would be anything remarkable about today.
And there was.
Today I was a reader for the Community Readaloud in our local schools.
As a teacher, I had always had a reader from the community come into my classroom on March 2 or 3 and read to my class. I'd been receiving the benefit of readers for years.  We listened to real estate brokers, bankers, secretaries, local government officials, store owners, etc. as they read to my class - a classroom of students they had never met.  And for some it was the first time they ever read to a group of kids.  But they were willing to put themselves out there to help kids not only enjoy a good book, but to hear why reading is important in that person's life. 

When I was presented with the opportunity to read to a group then, I thought, why not?  I know can read to a group.  I like books.  I know reading is important in all walks of life. I have the time.  So why not me?

I first went to the school at which I used to teach, so I could get a few books that would be good for the huge age span I was about to confront - a group of 16 kindergarten to fifth grade students in an afterschool group.  After chatting and catching up with a few friends who were still there, I selected three books for the readaloud.
 
The first one was "Epossumondas" by Coleen Salley. The kids loved it.  Epossumondas is a bit Amelia Bedelia-ish; a good predictable story for the 5 -10 year old range.  The olders might at first think that it is too young for them until they hear you read it.
The second was Margaret Read MacDonald's book, "Mabela, the Clever", about a mouse and her friends on their way to being initiated into the secret Cat Society, when just in the nick of time she remembers what her father taught her about being clever! 
And the last was Gerald McDermott's "Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India".  In it a monkey ends up outsmarting a crocodile by tossing a mango.

With those books safely stashed in the car, I then headed to the grocery store to pick up some mangoes and fresh haddock.

At the end of the school day, I headed to the afterschool group to read.  This school was one I (very formerly) attended in grades 1 to 8.  My childhood school was not the old building any more.   Last year they finished building the new school and so, well, there was nothing recognizable...  my old teachers were not there any longer.  Of course, I'm no longer teaching, so that could be a factor.

I was escorted down the hall and up the stairs (a far cry from the one room per grade-all on one floor-just one hallway school I'd attended) to the afterschool area.  I had a wonderful time getting to know the kids and reading the three books to them.  And after the story I brought out the mangoes which I sliced up to for a yummy treat (If you are wondering about the haddock and how it fits in here, it doesn't.  My husband and I had it for lunch.  I did not serve it to the kids.  It was just miscellaneous information meant to confuse and take your attention off the mangoes).

I enjoyed reading aloud today.  I liked being able to visit with both of my old schools.
Things had changed.  Things were different.
But the stream of students headed out the front door was the same.  The smells were the same.  The after school chatter was the same.
...all the same - yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I was brought back to two former worlds today.
I was a teacher and a student.
But then, I think I will always be both.
...all the same - yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Rotten Cuff

Rotator Cuff...sounds like a car part.  Or maybe a baseball pitch or boxer's punch.
But no, it's a human shoulder part, and I have neither been pitching nor punching.
Somehow, though, I've done something to my left one.  I think I twisted it and made it hurt a little bit just before Christmas.  Then in January I fell.  It didn't seem to hurt my left shoulder when I fell, but it did hurt my right shoulder and my left knee and left foot.  I guess they hurt enough that I didn't think about my left shoulder.
However, it has gotten progressively worse until a simple flick back of my hair with my left hand sends me writhing in pain.  The allure of the hair flick has gone agonizingly awry.  I now have to leave my long, golden (ok - silver) locks in my soup.
I went to see my doctor last week, and he referred me to physical therapy.  I have some arm and shoulder exercises to help loosen the muscles around the joint, and I am icing (sugar-free) it throughout the day to reduce swelling.  Next week I will go back to see how it's coming along and probably add some more exercises.  I think, though, that it is one of those things that takes a year to heal - if it is going to get better.  I just need to be patient.  How many times in life are we told to just be patient? 
I don't think I can patiently wait to flick my hair again.
Rotator Cuff...if only it were a car part.  Hello, VIP?  I need a rotator cuff for the left front.

Day 1 Leaky Faucets and Posting a Unique URL

Today is slice 1!  Here we go!  Slices galore today at Two Writing Teachers!  Go there for a peak into what is going on today all around the world!  Are you ready for the party?  Terge is!

I think, at my house today, we are repairing leaky faucets!  They are long overdue!
It's too early to start them yet, (I'm going to need breakfast (see below) first!) but that WAS the plan we made yesterday!  I wonder if we will follow through or get distracted?  We often get distracted around here.  Something more fun may present itself, and then all plans and good intentions are dropped by the wayside as we pursue the distraction!
Do you have trouble staying focused when fun arrives?

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If you are an old hand at this "linking your post" stuff, you can skip over this part and go to the bottom where I am sharing some breakfast oatmeal.

But if you are new to this and are having any trouble with linking, you may want to read this middle part...

If this is your first year posting to TWT, you may just get a helpful (I hope!) comment from me, or someone else on the team, to get you on track!  It's tricky at first to get that "unique URL" of your post into the comment box! But once you get the hang of it - it's easy-peasy!
This may help....
If you see your regular web address, that's not long enough!
To get your unique URL, after you have posted it, go to your web page.
THEN click on the title of your post on that pages. What did you title today's post? That's what you click on to see JUST THAT POST (I'm not yelling, it just looks that way!)
Now look at your URL again.  Notice how it's changed?  It's longer.  It has your web address PLUS a date and the title of your post with dashes between those words. That's the address to use.  Copy and paste that into the comment section of Two Writing Teachers post for that day!
Do it again the next day - only with your NEXT day's post!

If your URL ever has the word "comment" in it, don't use it.  Delete it if you've pasted it in the comment already.  Go back to your web page.  Go to the current page by clicking on your title and take THAT URL instead.
SAMPLE of what it should look like:
http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2014/02/piano-hands.html
NOT:
http://www.mainelywrite.blogspot.com (this isn't enough)

IF YOU ARE POSTING FROM AN IPAD:
you will not see the unique URL until you go to the post (as above) and tap in the address/URL bar at the top.  When you do that the whole unique URL will appear!  Magic!
Tap it again and "select all" will appear, and you can now copy it to paste in your post!

I hope this is helpful.  If it seems difficult at first stick with it!  Remember, we ask our students to learn things that seem this difficult to them every day!  You WILL get it!

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Welcome to breakfast! I'm ready for breakfast NOW!
Yum! I hope you like slow cooked organic oatmeal with real wild Maine blueberries, Ceylon cinnamon, slivered almonds and real Maine maple syrup for breakfast...oooh, and hot coffee!   Enjoy! 

Have a wonderful Day 1 of 31! I'm looking forward to reading dozens of slices today...oh, and repairing faucets!

(Here's my unique URL for today:
http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-leaky-faucets-and-posting-unique.html)

For a Dead Moth in Winter

Poetry Friday!
Yea!
It's hosted today
by Anasta-
sia's Poet Poet.  You may
find a poem to say...
...that's enough rhyming, okay?

Here's my poem with a little video clip - I'm sure the clip will be here.

Ahhh.  There we go!
For a Dead Moth in Winter

On a summer’s night
I saw you fluttering -
Fluttering to meet my kitchen light.

In the morning light
I saw you resting -
Resting from your midnight flight

In the autumn’s blight
I saw you struggling -
Struggling in a silky plight.

In dead winter’s bright
I see you fluttering -
Fluttering as a tree strung kite.

©Donna JT Smith 2/28/2014