First, I'd like to thank Linda Baie over at TeacherDance for the beautiful poem she wrote for me. It was part of a poetry exchange that Tabatha Yeatts created and organizes, where people are matched up to write a poem for another person. My first poem was written for Tabatha, and my second for Anastasia Suen. The third is about to go out...
Anyway, Linda B. wrote and illustrated this wonderful poem:
Tiny fingers
tiny toes,
until arriving
no one knows
that a grandchild,
by giving the names
'Gran and Gramps',
start a magical dance,
seeming by chance.
It rearranges you
into
lullaby-singing (no matter the voice)
mud-puddle-jumping (not given a choice)
cookie-baking (a sugar success)
finger-painting (in spite of the mess)
toy-truck-racing (vroom sounds just right)
picture-book making (easy to write)
KIDS,
all over again.
by Linda Baie, 2014
Thanks, Linda!
And in that vein... Here's
RefrigerARTor!
I did it!
I did it!
I painted a duck.
Quack, quack!
I'll clip it right here
Then step back!
To admire that picture
Painted by me!
It makes the room beautiful,
Don't you agree?
The only thing better
Than one piece of art
Is two, three or four!
Must get busy and start
To fill the refrigerator
With more of my stuff!
Being an artist
Can be pretty rough
Working all morning
Using my brush;
Masterpieces can't be
Done in a rush!
©2014, Donna JT Smith
Thanks Donna, and your poem in "his" voice is wonderful. I have pictures all over, especially because of the 'stay' for three weeks. It was fun to see what they did, and they're so deliberate about it. "Masterpieces can't be/Done in a rush!"
ReplyDeleteHi, Donna and Linda. Your poems compliment each other beautifully -- both show the love you have for the little ones in your life, and both are accompanied by watercolor illustrations.
ReplyDeleteBoth these poems are serious warm and fuzzy makers! Also, what a great picture of your grandson stepping back to admire his work!
ReplyDeleteAlmost forgot! I also want to compliment Linda on her artwork-- beautiful!
DeleteSo much heart in both these poems. And Linda's painting is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready for grandchildren yet, not for a long while, but both these poems, the art, the photos, do make me pine for that ordinary, extraordinary preschool time...beautiful work, friends!
ReplyDeleteSo cute those refrigerator art pictures. Especially the plate. Your love comes shining through in your verse. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteWhen my sons were little, my refrigerator was always full of their artwork! Thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories. Linda's poem captured grandparenthood perfectly!
ReplyDeleteLove your painting, Linda!! And the way you show that you get carried away with your small grandchildren, no matter the voice or the mess or the mud.
ReplyDeleteDonna, you are so right about the importance of art ... the self-expression, the autonomy, the gift you can make of it when you are done.
Lovely to read these two together - so many delights in a grandparent's world!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun pair! Love the peek at your refrigerator art gallery, and shots of the artist at work!
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ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Linda and you have caught the spirit of the grandparent and the refrigerator artist/child. Great set.
ReplyDeleteViolet N.
Awww... how it rearranges your life... I LOVE THAT. I am not to that point yet with my own teens still in the house, but I can imagine the sweetness. Love the fridge art. :) Thank you Donna and Linda! xo
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