Here’s something fun, you guys.
I was introduced to this fun Dad-son-daughter trio who have a blog going called SOMEDAY.
SOMEDAYÂ is about getting the kids to interact with folks who have interesting jobs.
And they decided “interesting jobs” includes “children’s author”.
So, yay! My first video interview with kid journalists — Owen and Melia.
Enjoy — I did! 🙂
http://shaferpower.com/2015/05/10/someday-episode-10-liz-garton-scanlon-childrens-author/
I was traveling today so I’m sliding in under the wire here with my pantoum. There’s the form (which you’ll notice requires quatrains, and numerous repeating lines) and then we chose to use the words certainty and/or flight (or, in my case, fly).
I worked on two different poems this month and didn’t adore either one, but this is the one I’m most comfortable with.
So Much of Who You Are
So much of who you are is what you’re called
like a hermit crab becomes his empty shell.
Be it oddball, beauty, class clown, geek,
it’s certain and prescriptive as a mother cell.
Like a hermit crab, becoming his empty shell
or maybe more a puzzle, the chicken and the egg?
Is it certain and prescriptive as a mother cell
or do you name the name yourself, by who you are?
Maybe more a puzzle, the chicken and the egg:
First you breathe, then squawk, then try to fly.
You name the name yourself, by who you are
I’m here and true, myself, beloved til I die
First you breathe, then squawk, then try to fly
Whether oddball, beauty, class clown, geek
Say, I’m here and true, myself, beloved til I die
So much of who you are is what you’re called
All my poetry sisters wrote them too, and ya’ll, they are GOOD!!!
This is a weak way of doing this, but I’m just going to link to Kelly’s here and then you can follow HER links to everyone else’s. Is that ok?
Cheers, gang….
Yesterday was my honey’s birthday. So, this….
Haiku 29
April 29, 2015
It’s not really cold
but we circle a fire,
toast another year
And today? Today is the last day of April. The last day of National Poetry Month.
The last day of daily haikus. At least for now…
Thanks so much for reading and writing along with me.
Haiku 30
April 30, 2015
Bikes at the trailhead
All locked up and left behind
Go on foot from here
My month of haiku-ing is wrapping up and I have to say, I’m sad to see it go.
There is something so small but essential for me about this tiny act of noticing.
In the midst of earthquakes and civil rights breakdowns and more personal heartbreaks, haiku is a way to take a breath and, also, to breathe something back into the world that might be a little lovely. Or hopeful. Or true. Haiku doesn’t fix any of these monumentally big and daunting crises, but it doesn’t ignore them either. It stands alongside them and says let’s not forget to notice, in the midst of everything. Let’s not forget to breathe.
Haiku 22
April 22, 2015
Egg, soup, berries, wine
What a world, that gives us this!
All this, and you too…
Haiku 23
April 23, 2015
Artist, canvas, paint
She’s so busy noticing
Doesn’t notice me
Haiku 24
April 24, 2015
Black and wet and gray
The whole day is colorless
Except the radar
Haiku 25
April 25, 2015
The rain delivers
a whole park-full of mushrooms:
fairy brigadoon
Haiku 26
April 26, 2015
To leap, plunge and gasp,
strip the whole, hot day away:
water’s reminder
Haiku 27
April 27, 2015
A walk with the dog
can feel just so important
that the dinner burns
Haiku 28
April 28, 2015
All the world rages
All the world weeps, screams, falls, quakes
But this babbles, shines
Well, that week flew by like lightning. Sheesh.
The annual Texas Library Association Conference — so much goodness in one place it’s just hard to put it into words.
But I tried! 🙂
Haiku 15
April 15, 2015
Oh, librarians
You love books and I love you
We both love readers
And then it rained….
Haiku 16
April 16, 2015
Each drop leaves traces
of having been real and here
What an impression!
And then everything glowed green….
Haiku 17
April 17, 2015
Blessed be the green
kneeling at a city’s feet
Humble but sacred
And then it was the weekend!
Haiku 18
April 18, 2015
There is something about
pecan trees and mandolins
I’ll sleep well tonight
And then it rained again!
Haiku 19
April 19, 2015
The morning after:
Boughs and branches littering
the rain-swollen creek
And then, a Monday…
Haiku 20
April 20, 2015
A cloud-covered day
All the news is cold and grim
Then, these little suns
And finally, a normal day. A dog walk. Cool breeze. Happiness…
Haiku 21
April 21, 2015
The dog as dervish
spins, whirls, erases real time
This is nirvana
Since the beginning of April, I’ve continued my daily practice of writing haiku, and they’ve made it up onto facebook but I’ve missed posting here. So, without further delay, here are haikus 8-14.
Haiku 8
April 8, 2015
There are other paths —
fruitful, dead-end, better, worse
I’ll walk here for now
Haiku 9
April 9, 2015
Bright whisper of red
A taunt, a dare from the day
Then he flies away
Haiku 10
April 10, 2015
Broken bark, peeled shell
The tenderness underneath
Still whole and standing
Haiku 11
April 11, 2015
Best part of road trip:
Daughter reading Penderwicks
aloud to her mom
Haiku 12
April 12, 2015
Can’t see my way home
Heading straight into the sun
But clouds clear things up
Haiku 13
April 13, 2015
Beach glass sanded smooth
Each cutting edge rounded down
Will we soften too?
Haiku 14
April 14, 2015
Oh, bamboo — you’re back?
Sisyphus got off easy
I chop and you thrive
Some days, on their face, don’t feel especially poetic.
So you just have to look a little harder.
For humor, too.
On those days, days like today, it’s good to look for what’s lovely and what’s funny.
Y’know?
Haiku 7
April 7, 2015
Heard at college fair:
Fifty-four thousand dollars?
As in, REAL dollars?
Everyone I know right now is sneezing.
My daughter actually texted me from the school bus this afternoon to try to describe the magnitude of one of her sneezes.
Really, the whole situation is out of hand.
I love Spring.
And I love live oaks.
But really?
Haiku 6
April 6, 2015
Neon-green pollen?
Don’t be such a show-off, Oak.
We know you’re alive.
Sometimes on the weekends, I barely slide in under the wire to post my haiku.
Not because I don't have time to pause, notice or breathe but because I don't have time to spend at my computer.
Isn't that lovely?
I am a big fan of weekends….
Hope you all had a good one!
Haiku 5
April 5, 2015
Chicken? Egg? Jewel?
So many ways to see things,
to know which came first.
My best birthday present this year is how many of you are joining me in writing a haiku each day!
I've been doing this mostly on my own, every day in April, for seven years.
But it is such a fun and easy and accessible practice to share.
So if you're one of the folks who've been writing along with me — thanks!
And if it's not, feel free to join in starting today!
No better occasion than a birthday to remind ourselves that it's never too late to start anew….
Haiku 4
April 4, 2015
Everything is new —
rose bud, wind, spring rain.
But I'm forty eight?
