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.

Poetry Friday Early Birds

I am sleeping, Early Birds.
If you're awake, please share your words.

Poetry Friday is here. Feel free to leave a comment. See you tomorrow!

Contest Winner and a New Summer Read

Congratulations to Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske!

Tabatha's name was unscientifically but randomly chosen from among everyone who commented on my upcoming blog-lift. She gets a signed copy of my poetry chapbook, Mountain, Log, Salt and Stone.

I kicked off the summer with a visit to ALA, where I picked up more ARCs than I could carry.

One of my favorites was the middle grade novel The Kneebone Boy By Ellen Potter. It comes out next month from Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan).

Here is my review of The Kneebone Boy, recommended for ages 9-12.

What was your overall impression of the book?
The Kneebone Boy has Gothic elements (“orphaned” English children on the run, a family mystery), but the adventures of the Hardscrabble children never veer into fantasy or horror and the children are never really in danger. While the book’s cover art looks foreboding, the narrator’s voice is full of light ‘tween sarcasm that gives the novel humor and heart.

The story in one sentence?
When their father takes off unexpectedly, the three Hardscrabble children fend for themselves in London, track down a long-last aunt, and try to solve the mystery of the mysterious Kneebone Boy.

Who were your favorite characters and why?
My favorite characters were Lucia Hardscrabble and Great Aunt Haddie. One of the originalities of this book is that one siblings is acting as author/narrator on behalf of all three. The reader is invited to guess which one. My guess was Lucia (she’s the only girl in the family -- I could relate). Since I found her voice to be funny, sweet and a little cynical, I liked Lucia.

Great Aunt Haddie is a fun supporting character. You can feel this wild, careless and caring young woman growing on the Hardscrabble kids. Her American oddities – like eating PB&J sandwiches for dinner – are endearing to the kids. She is a complex, interesting character you’d want to know in real life. And hooray! she doesn’t step in and rescue the children, but lets them work things out for themselves.

What were your favorite parts of the story?
One of my favorite parts of the book is the setting of its second half. Great Aunt Haddie lives in a castle folly. I’d never heard of castle follies before. The castle folly takes a Gothic element that is normally sinister – a dark and dreary castle with a dungeon for the children to sleep in – and turns it on its head, making it fun. I could say that of most of the novel.

Here is a castle folly in England that you can rent for your next vacation:

What did you like about the graphics/cover?
Here’s the problem: the cover is gorgeous.

It made me want to pick up the book. There are three ominous, steely eyed children standing in front of a threatening forest. One (the eldest Hardscrabble) is holding a black cat. It reads Gothic, maybe fantasy. That's the problem.

The Kneebone Boy is closer in tone to Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwick novels. Even the dark school uniforms the children wear on the cover disappear before Chapter 3. Is this cover a fair representation of what you’re about to read? I’m not so sure.

Would you recommend to a friend? What would you say?
I've already handed the book to my 10-year-old. The Kneebone Boy is a fun book, with a family story both sad and heart-warming at its center. It straddles several genres and styles, most of the time successfully. Middle grade readers who haven’t yet encountered Gothic novels probably won’t be expecting to see Gothic tropes here, but I was. That's why it gets...

Three Scoops

Summer Reading  Score
Empty Cone – Didn’t like it.
One Scoop – It was okay.
Two Scoops – Pretty good.
Three Scoops – Great book.
Sundae – I want to read the whole series. Now.