Poetry Friday Is Here . . .

and I'm saying, Not again!  Not about hosting -- it's been a long time since I played Poetry Friday hostess -- but about the poem I'm sharing today.

"A Giraffe Is Not Standing Beside Me" is one of my favorite Not Poems. It's by Jean Meyers, a longtime New Jersey educator who was one of my first poetry pals.

This is a great one to share with children.

Jean's delicious descriptions reveal the power that language has over our minds. With her evocative guidance, your brain can't help but imagine the nonexistent giraffe.

Lots of fun to talk about this concept with your children and students.
I hope you will enjoy this poem as much as I do.

A Giraffe Is Not Standing Beside Me

by Jean Meyers

The nature of linguistic negation makes it virtually impossible to draw a picture of such a statement. PBS "On Language"

No knobby antlers nudge my shoulder,

no demure eyelashes shade the brown eyes

in the horse-face that peers into mine

from atop a bending neck.

No rounded-square brown markings

dot the hide that ripples

under my tender tentative hand,

no spatulate hooves support

slender legs.

No leaves drop around me

from rubbery browsing lips,

and no sharp grassland smell

rides the wind.

The fact

that a lion

is not lurking

in the shrubbery

has nothing

to do with it. 

Thanks to Jean Meyers for permission to post this poem.

Thank you for joining the poetry party. I'll be checking in and posting comments/links more throughout the day.

Charles Ghinga has a lovely metaphor poem about the month of August at Father Goose.

Happy birthday to Amy at the Poem Farm. She is on Day 128 of her poetry journey -- wow! Amy is sharing a one of her poems about poetry -- poetry as a gift.

Jama Rattigan reminded me today that poetry is gift that grows more rich when it's shared. A few weeks ago, I sent her a food poem by Washington state poet laureate Sam Green. Jama contacted Green and learned the story behind his poem, "What the Culinary Arts Teacher Knows About Grace. You've got to read her amazing post at Alphabet Soup!

The Shell by James Stephens at Bildungsroman reminded me of Kat Falls' YA novel, Dark Life, which is set in a future undersea Earth colony. The poem and book would make an interesting pairing.

Toby has links to several poetry-related articles at The Writer's Armchair today. Former national PL Robert Pinsky's piece on poetry for kids (he doesn't like the saccharine stuff) is a must-read.

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha has a funny Billy Collins short that she heard on NPR's Marketplace.

Mary Lee is sharing a poem about why it is better to be a cat than a human.The cats in the poem are in permanent vacation mode -- no busyness about them.

Julie Larios has been away for a while. Let's welcome her back. Julie is thinking about the anniversary of Hiroshima. She has a verse from Byron's Don Juan at The Drift Record.Some day I'll have to tell you all my family chestnut about Lord Byron.

Diane Mayr has three posts for us, an original poem about Facebook at Random Noodling , a look at previous national poet laureate Kay Ryan's newest collection at Kurious Kitty , and a quote by Ryan at Kurious K's Kwotes.

Thanks, Diane for also posting on behalf of traveling Andy at The Write Sisters, who has "Morning on the Desert" by Katherine Fall Pettey. It's another "take a breather" poem. Seems like everyone wants to hold still and enjoy what's left of summer today.

Ruth has a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (my birthday buddy!) Here it is.

Alison Stevens wrote about Four Brown Toes, which I assumed were tanned tootsies but Alison's much more creative than that in her fun bed-time conversation poem.

Like me, Doriane's been struggling and juggling schedules this summer. She's sharing a Psalm to remind us all to take a breath and enjoy the days we have.

The Stenhouse Blog features "Backyard" by Mary Oliver. The back yard in the poem could be my back yard after we returned from vacation. Fried marigolds -- I haven't had the heart to dig them up.

Sherry has a Wordsworth poem about the mysterious Lucy, subject of a series of his poems -- yet no one knows who (or if) she really was.

Jeannine Atkins is turning prose into poems at her blog. She asks, "What's too much and what's too little" when using poetic devices like alliteration and symbolism.


"Children's Poetry and the Cinderella Syndrome," which Elaine is reposting at Wild Rose Reader. The article is about children's poetry awards. Elaine -- thanks for including the comment from editor Alvina Ling and your response.

It's not easy to write a poem that "records" a conversation, "James Tate's poem Her First Novel", does so and will make you laugh. Thanks, Karen Edmisten, for sharing that poem.

Looking forward to going back to school? Janet's sharing a brief review of Marilyn Singer's poetry picture book, First Food Fight This Fall at All About the Books. The poems follows a group of elementary schoolers through their school year.

Miss Erin will not tell a lie in her powerful original poem.

For those of you enjoying Shark Week on TV, Theresa at Looking for the Write Words also has an original poem, one she co-wrote with a student in the voice of a great white shark.

You'll find another student-written poem posted by Maureen, with some lovely sensory lines about snow to cool you off on this humid summer day.