Poetry Festival

As promised, Poetry Friday fans...an original poem about the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival.

Driving home from the poetry festival, 1996 I would like to remember this night, compel my mind to hoard sounds, images. But Route 80 is featureless, dark and nothing more. I wish for some apparition, a fire in the sky, perhaps the carcass of an animal strewn across the road, its blood flashing in snapshots. This night, when words reached behind my eyes like sea water, into my throat like desert air, this night should be remembered. My mother, with me big in her belly, drove some other featureless highway, the rest of the world home in bed. A voice said, “Pull over.” And she did. Even though she was alone, she listened to that voice, and watched from the shoulder. A darkened car hurtled the wrong way, weaving the road towards her and me. Tonight I say, speak to me, Voice, so I will remember. But I am closer to home with every mile, knowing this drive will be forgotten, not even hearing the radio drone. Words burn in my mind. There is no room for road, or darkness, or music. A voice I recognize now, as my own, has whispered, Mother, blood, belly. Carcass, car, desert. These words anchor themselves just long enough for me to write them here. Published in Paterson Literary Review #29, 2000

This Jersey Girl will be heading home first thing Friday morning to spend two days at the festival. Can't go to this year's festival? Stop by next week for reactions, poetic postcards, photos, and interviews with poets and festival staff.

Poetry Friday is Here!

It’s Poetry Friday This time next week, I’ll be basking in the poetic glow of the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. Here are the highlights of the 2008 lineup: Chris Abani, Coleman Barks, Coral Bracho, Billy Collins, Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, Martín Espada, Joy Harjo, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Edward Hirsch, Jane Hirshfield, Ted Kooser, Maxine Kumin, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sharon Olds, Linda Pastan, Charles Simic, C. D. Wright, Franz Wright.

Find more info at http://www.dodgepoetry.org/. Festival organizer Jim Haba always invites several international poets to the event. At the last festival, 2006, Taha Muhammad Ali was one of those poets. I heard Ali speak several times during the four-day festival, but it was his poem, “Revenge,” that made a lasting impression. The poem begins with Ali’s desire to meet and duel the man who killed his father. It goes on…

But if it came to light,

when my rival appeared,

that he had a mother

waiting for him,

or a father who’d put

his right hand over

the heart’s place in his chest

whenever his son was late

even by just a quarter-hour

for a meeting they’d set—

then I would not kill him,

even if I could.

Read the rest of the poem here: http://www.grdodge.org/2006festival_revengetext_english.htm I’m sure many felt, as I did, echoes of our own country’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as Ali and his translator read “Revenge.” Ali has the gravelly, enticing voice of a storyteller. But don’t take my word for it. The Dodge team has a video clip of the reading that you can access here: http://www.grdodge.org/2006festival_revenge.htm Writing Exercise (Recommended High School and Up) Poem: Revenge is a Desire Ali begins his poem with a strong desire for revenge. He argues himself out of action without losing any of the power of his desire. Your desire might be for brownies, or to say what you really think to a neighbor. It could be a need for revenge, or to steal something. Can you argue yourself out of acting on that desire without losing any of its sweetness or sting? Poetry Friday Friends: I’ll do a procrastinators’ round-up early Saturday AM. Visit next week for an interview with Electronic Arts lead designer Rex Dickson about how realistically (or not) video games are portrayed in current MG and YA fiction.

Your Poetry Friday Round-Up:

Linda has an original poem about feeling different at http://ldkwritetime.blogspot.com/.

Check out Julie Larios's blog "The Drift Record" for a poem by May Swenson: http://julielarios.blogspot.com/

John Mutford has a review of Randall Maggs' "Night Work The Sawchuk Poems" – a verse biography of a hockey goalie. http://bookmineset.blogspot.com/2008/09/readers-diary-397-randall-maggs-night.html Gregory K. is getting creative with a very clever original poetry today: I'm Pretty Well Connected.

Michele at Scholar’s Blog has some topical Keats! An ode written on September 19, 1819. At Reading Year, Mary Lee is contributing a review of Judy Sierra's Beastly Rhymes. Looks like a great collection to share with kids: http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-review.html

Visit twowritingteachers for a school-related poem: http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/pf-getting-to-know-the-teacher/

Andrea -- Just One More Book!! Podcast is in with a podcast review of a book my kids and I love, Stella, Unleashed! The poems are in the voice of a sassy rescue dog. Janet has a post and poem about Johnny Appleseed: http://acrossthepage.net/?p=242

Shelf Elf offer us Mark Strand’s "Lines for Winter,” hauntingly read by actress Mary Louise Parker. Thanks for sharing a poem in performance. http://shelfelf.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/poetry-friday-mark-strand-read-by-mary-louise-parker/

jama is in with a Stephen Dobyn’s poem, “How to Like It" http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/177475.html

TadMack at Finding Wonderland brings us “God in the Details” by Mike White .

Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast is offering a William Stafford poem that’s new to me: “You Reading This, Be Ready.”

Ruth's poem this week is To Night by Joseph Blanco White. Tricia must have been reading my post “Questions.” I’ll be pining for England after I read Wordsworth’s Upon Westminster Bridge.

Sara at Read, Write, Believe has something exciting… Poetry Foundations series of poems as comic strips.

Kelly has news. The Cybils blog is announcing the 2008 Panel of Poetry judges: http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/2008/09/the-poetry-pane.html

Jill at The Well-Read Child is blogging about Crocs! a rhyming picture book by David T. Greenberg.

laurasalas has an interview with both the poet and the illustrator of Pirates! http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/95226.html You’ll want to see more of this book, so head to Sylvia Vardell’s post in honor of "international talk like a pirate day." She reviews PIRATES at http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/ Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader is reviewing three children's books with autumn poems and DAPPLED APPLES, a picture book written in verse. http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2008/09/fall-into-poetry.html

At Blue Rose Girls, you’ll find a poem by Bruce Weigl entitled HOME.http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-home-by-bruce-weigl.html ellsworth is sharing a vintage children's poem, "September," by Helen Hunt Jackson, an amazing woman. http://ellsworthsjournal.blogspot.com/2009/09/poetry-friday_19.html Today barbarah has a poem today called "Grandmother's Beatitudes," and/or "Beatitudes for friends of the aged." It’s here. Maybe we should vote on which is the best title.

Mitali Perkins brings us an original poem about solitude at Mitali's Fire Escape called Evening Walk. http://www.mitaliblog.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-evening-walk.html Jim D was inspired to share a lovely original children's poem after rare sightings of a hummingbird in his yard. http://jdwrites4kids.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-original-hummingbird.html

My buddy Tabatha Yeatts is having technical trouble, too. She can’t post a comment, but asked me to share this: “I'm in with some poetry postcards (I saw that you are going to be sending poetry postcards soon -- these ones I am sharing are literally cards!)” http://www.threeleggeddragon.com/tabatha/poetryfriday.htm

Wow! We’re going multi-sensory today. If you’re overloaded, visit Karen E. for a poem by Billy Collins called “Silence.” It's here.

It’s cooler here in Central MD today. slayground has an autumn poem, Mnemosyne by Trumbull Stickney. http://slayground.livejournal.com/418838.html Becky at farmschool is also thinking fall. She’s got a scarecrow poem at: http://farmschool.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/poetry-friday-harvest-edition-2/

Liz in Ink said... “I spent my first book advance on a trip to the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival.” Bet she left feeling richer, despite the lighter wallet. She posted Norman Dubie’s “Of Politics & Art.” http://liz-scanlon.livejournal.com/83677.html

Becky made me hungry with Alien Conspiracy, Or The Cheese Song by Andrew Peterson. Be prepared for a cheesy photo.http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-alien-conspiracy-cheese.html Yat-Yee is going multi-sensory with a Taylor Mali poem about music: http://yatyeechong.blogspot.com/. She also reminds us, “Don't forget to enter the free book giveaway of Red Glass.”

MotherReader has more animal poems in her review of The Seldom-Ever-Shady Glades. The children’s book is illustrated with beautiful quilt-art that you can check out at: http://www.motherreader.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-seldom-ever-shady-glades.html deowriter has a Lucille Clifton poem from a collection edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. http://maclibrary.edublogs.org/2008/09/19/poetry-friday-from-what-have-you-lost/ Both poets will be at Dodge this year. Meehumm at Semicolon has an original poem by her nine-year-old “misspellings and lack of meter abound. Mom, of course, thinks its precious.” So do I! http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=2672 barefootinhighheels is one of several people new to Poetry Friday. Follow the link to a poem from a Barefoot Books collection, “Someone I Like, Poems About People.” Find a coupon at this blog for Barefoot Books -- a wonderful series of themed folklore, poetry and short story collections for kids. http://barefootinhighheels.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/poetry-friday/

Kim of Page After Page is also new to Poetry Friday. She’s giving us “The Moon,” courtesy of Robert Louis Stevenson. http://pageafterpage-kim.blogspot.com/2008/09/moon-moon-has-face-like-clock-in-hall.html

Kelly Fineman is better late than never with an Emily Dickinson autumn poem. http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/334927.html Janet at The Write Sisters introduces the poetry of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel with some powerful poems, including “Roster.”http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com/2008/09/wilma-elizabeth-mcdaniel.html

A counterpoint to “Stella Unleashed,” Anamaria (bookstogether) has a quote from and a comment about Catherine Lazo's rhyming picture book “Someday When My Cat Can Talk”:http://bookstogether.squarespace.com/blog/2008/9/19/pf-someday-when-my-cat-can-talk.html

Charlotte discusses an update of “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” This one’s called “I Know an Old Teacher,” by Anne Bowen: http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-know-old-teacher-by-anne-bowen.html david elzey has a beautiful prayer for Easter Island, which he says current occupants call: Te Pito O Te Henua http://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/poetry-friday-from-the-belly-button-of-the-world/

Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living has another seasonal poem, Applesauce. (It's by Ted Kooser, who will also be at Dodge.) And I’ll close with a welcome to Fiddler at Rockhound Place. She’s bringing J.R.R. Tolkein’s “Far Over the Misty Mountains” to her first Poetry Friday. Thanks, everyone, for your comments and links. Hosting was a blast! See you next Friday.

Poetry Friday Preview

Tomorrow is my first time hosting Poetry Friday. Longtime Poetry Friday Posters – please bear with me while I fill some new friends in on the details. If you’re new to Poetry Friday, you can participate in several different ways… 1) Read my host-post. Visit the links others leave in the comments. Feel enriched by poetry. 2) Leave a comment on my blog. If you follow a link to another blog and love the poem or commentary posted there, leave that blogger a comment too. 3) Leave me a comment with a link to a poem you’d like to share. Give brief info – who you are, poet and title of the poem you’re sharing, maybe why you’re inspired to share it today. Remember to include the link (I forgot the first week I participated). 4) If your blog has a post with a poem (yours or someone else’s) or you’ve written about poetry, leave a comment with the same info as #3. Include the link to that post on your blog. I hope you’ll find something surprising, unexpected, or maybe rediscover an old favorite while you’re reading through people’s poetic offerings. I’ll be posting something Dodge Festival related around midnight. Expect a wee-hours round up, another before each school bus run (9 AM and 3 PM), after football practice (9 PM) and a final round up in the late evening. I’ll do a procrastinators’ round-up early Saturday AM. Please check in during the week of the 29th. I’ll be sharing poetic postcards from the Dodge Festival. On Poetry Friday 10/3, stop by for an exclusive interview with poets Khalil Murrell and Michael Z Murphy. Both are Festival Assistants for Dodge. They will give us a behind-the-scenes view of America’s biggest poetry festival. See you tomorrow!

Victorian clip art courtesy of Averyl's Attic: http://www.averyl.com/attic.

Blood Sample

Warning: Gory Poetry Alert

Recommended for 12 and up only Look at the writing exercise from last week’s Poetry Friday. http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-writing-exercise_12.html

I was writing about a performance of the epic poem Beowulf at the 2004 Dodge Poetry Festival. If you can’t wait for Halloween, here is a gory Blood Sample poem: “Haunting Hands.” It’s by my friend, Maryland poet/writer/sculptor/actor and overall Renaissance Man, John Hayes. You might find the photo of his sculpture (below) surprising after reading this horror fantasy poem.

YA writers, take note. The horror/romance genre is hot right now, with the upcoming release of the movie version of Twilight, the vampire series by Stephanie Meyer (http://www.stephaniemeyer.com/). I hope John's poem inspires you to write your own "blood" poem. Haunting Hands By John Hayes Her severed hands drip blood wake me from my sleep as they creep across my face I grasp the fingers hurl them from my bed follow, as they race into the dusky night. Flickering gaslights cast shadows on the gory trail they set a corner turned at Amity Street four houses more upon her porch they are restored to Sigourney. Wildly creaking in the gloom her body sways in merciless delight. I clutch my breast and plead, "I swear my love, I did not mean to hack you so that night spare me now this pain." She grins. Her cackle quakes inside my brain her bloody hands possess me smear my ashen face. I shrill into the endless night. I love how Sigourney Weaver and the Amityville Horror house slip into this poem.

John is a true Renaissance man. I forgot to put playwright on the list of his creative efforts. This is one of his sculptures.

Check out more art and poetry at John's website. http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7w3iq/johnhayessculpture/ Want to try the bloody writing exercise? Here it is again: http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2008/09/poetry-friday-writing-exercise_12.html

Amok in Questions: GottaWriteGirl

Susan at GottaWriteGirl tagged me. I’m not sure what being tagged means, but I’m willing to play along. If you haven’t seen Susan’s site, check it out. http://www.gottawritegirl.com/. It’s a must read for children’s authors (like me) in pursuit of that first book contract. I’m tagging some writing friends to join the game: Gina Hagler, http://ginahagler.blogspot.com/, Mary Bowman-Kruhm http://marybk.blogspot.com/, Lois Szymanski http://loisszymanski.blogspot.com/, Cynthia Lord http://cynthialord.livejournal.com/. 1. What do you do before bedtime? As soon as the kids turn their lights out, I read. On my bedside table now: a book of Tolstoy novellas. I’m up to “The Cossacks.” My favorite piece was “Happy Ever After” because of its insights into marriage. Just finished Kevin Crossley-Holland’s wonderful Arthur series.

2. What is your favorite sound? “I’m afraid even I really just don’t know” -- my kids (ages 8 and 11) quoting Monty Python sketches. Makes me feel like I'm being true to myself as a mom.

3. What were your childhood fears? Being “It.” Playing Truth or Dare with mean girls.

4. What place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back? England. We used to visit our grandparents there every year until I was in high school. Have you ever seen the movie “Shadowlands” with Debra Winger & Anthony Hopkins? It’s about Narnia author C.S. Lewis and his marriage to an American poet. I was bawling before the opening credits ended. The rolling green landscape did me in.

5. What has made you unhappy these days? Mean people. See #3. They never went away. I’m just better at dealing with them. 6. What websites do you visit daily? I find technology overwhelming. Keeping up a blog takes up a crazy amount of time. I still read a print newspaper every day. Does that count?

7. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Susan and I met briefly at the MD/DE/WV SCBWI conference. She’s cute. She’s enthusiastic. She’s determined to reach her goal of seeing her YA novel published. What’s not to like?

8. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head? Seal’s cover of “Lips Like Sugar” on the 50 First Dates Soundtrack. (Susan -- you're mention of Elton John's Sugar Bear triggered this.) The original song is by Echo & the Bunnymen. I loved them in high school. Now, their music is kind of scary and jarring. But I love Seal’s version and this entire soundtrack. Modern reggae-style remakes of 80s tunes? Totally Rad.

9. What’s your favorite item of clothing? I have a blue ¾ sleeve t-shirt that looks sort of like clouds. It’s got some Asian-inspired artwork on it. I love it. I would wear it every day, but that would be gross. 10. What is your dream for the future? I’ll quote GwG’s “To publish my first YA (or any) novel.” I’m five years into this adventure, with magazine credits under my belt. Still working toward that first contract. Thanks for the game, Susan. (Find Susan's response to these questions here: http://gottawritegirl.blogspot.com/2008/09/game-on.html) Writing Exercise (Middle School and Up)

Ask your fiction character the above questions. You are the tagger. He or she is the tagee.

An alternative for kid lit & YA authors: what would happen if your character played "Truth or Dare" with a mean girl?

Amok in Giftedness II

Do G/T educators discuss giftedness and its pressures with their students? I’m guessing it’s a scary topic – both for teachers afraid of stepping on parental toes, and for kids. If you’re willing to start the conversation with your child or your students, you might use Rita Dove’s poem, “Flash Cards” as a way to enter into the topic. The poem begins: Flash Cards In math I was the whiz kid, keeper of oranges and apples. What you don’t understand, master, my father said; the faster I answered, the faster they came. Read the poem to its wonderful & sad conclusion here: http://matthewsalomon.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/rita-dove-flash-cards/ Younger students will like this animated version of “Flash Cards,” with Dove reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgDImBQ_ZjI Are you willing, teachers/parents, to talk about giftedness with your gifted students? If so, send a comment about how it goes. Writing Exercise (Upper Elementary through Adult) A Poem or Essay on Giftedness What were or are you a “whiz kid” at? (It might be haiku writing or hula hooping – anything goes.) How did/do you know you were good at it? How did people treat you because of your talent? Do you feel good about your talent, or does it make you feel anxious like the character in “Flash Cards?”

Amok in Giftedness: G/T Education

It wasn't a G/T assignment, but this hands-on, long-term science project our guy did with a buddy is the type of learning I hope all gifted and talented students have access to.

I am putting on my educator’s hat today for a rant on gifted and talented education. I bumped into an acquaintance whose middle schoolers attend a local public school. Her kids in eighth grade – one of the most challenging grades to teach. She said they were doing well except for one class: G/T Math. I recently agreed to co-chair the county school system’s G/T Advisory Steering Committee, so my ears perked up. “What’s going on?” I asked. This is the story – remember this is second hand. According to my friends’ kids, the teacher is using computerized presentations or notes on the board to teach. Granted, we’re only a few weeks into the school year, but kids who typically do well in this high-level math program are beginning to struggle. “It sounds like the teacher is using college-style methods,” I told my friend. As I said, eighth grade is a challenge. The kids want to be treated like adults, but they bounce, push, fidget, and argue like little guys. There is a reason they don’t attend college yet. For most 13/14 year olds, their systems are less mature than their outward appearance. If what the children were saying was true, their teacher was equating “advanced learner” with “advanced learning style.” My friend agreed with me. Her kids also reported that when someone asks for clarification, the teacher shows the class the beginning steps of the problem, and then tells the students that they should be able to figure out the rest. Does this sound familiar? There is misconception that children who belong in gifted and talented classes are ideal students. If they can’t keep up with the cream of the crop, they don’t belong in the class. An admission: I used to be that teacher. It was a year or two into my high-school career. The boss asked me to teach a high-level course – a stepping-stone to A.P. English. The retiring veteran who was giving up the class told me that about half the teens in the course, “Don’t belong. Their parents want them to take the class.” She implied that either the parents or the kids had a puffed up idea of how bright they were. My teaching was guided by that veteran’s voice for a year. I don’t think any students failed, but I know I failed plenty of students. I’m going into my fifteenth year in education. As a visiting poet-in-the-schools, I work in mainstreamed classrooms. Writing with kids who have individual and sometimes unusual needs, talents, and limitations has taught me that when I put on my teacher’s hat, I have to meet each student where he or she is. My dear friend Jennie Steinhauser – gifted and talented herself in the ways of teaching – also helped change my point of view. She is one of the most generous-spirited teachers I know. (Now generous enough to homeschool her three kids.) Thankfully, the county-level staff at the G/T program knows that gifted kids (especially in middle school, I think) need creative, understanding teachers who see them as whole people – gifts and limitations, talents and quirks. I am lucky enough to have one of those talented and quirky kids. The 11-year-old is GT/LD – gifted with a learning disability. The current term is twice-exceptional. (You’ll find the National Education Association’s wonderful document on twice-exceptionality here http://www.nea.org/specialed/twiceexceptional.html). When my guy walks into a G/T classroom, this is what I hope he will find: Today, his teacher split the class into teams for a long-term group project, opening a window for kids who like to work cooperatively. Tomorrow, the teacher had them draw colored graphs and charts – a different window. The next day, she read to them, instead of having them read silently. And after that, the window he opened was for hands-on learners -- manipulatives in the science lab. Or researching online, for the kids who get excited by technology. I’m a big believer in multiple intelligences theory. Check out http://www.adifferentplace.org/intelligences.htm -- a very visual-learner friendly page on MI. Teachers can’t know which window is going to let the light in for a particular student. But we must know that it won’t be the same window for every child in the room. We have to open those windows, one by one, until every face has been illuminated. Even if it takes us all year. An aside to my Howard County, MD friends – the folks at the county G/T office know this. This is why we need to advocate for our G/T Resource Teachers, particularly in middle school. Some content teachers out there need the support & best G/T practices information that a G/T Resource Teacher provides. If you want to find out more, or to help, come to the G/T Parent Academy on October 1 (Faulkner Ridge Center, 7 PM). Here is the G/T website: http://www.hcpss.org/gt/