THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY
April 12, 2016

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Welcome to Poetry Friday!

Looking for Poetry Friday? You've come to the right place! Welcome, friends.


Please leave a few lines about your post and a link in the comments. I'll be putting the links up throughout the day.

I've been thinking about friendship this week. As of Tuesday, the resident teens are both back in school. I rely on friends to help me through the transition from our wild and crazy, full-house summertime to the quiet of fall, when I'm working at home with only the dog for company.

Sam, the security guard, says you pass the sniff test.
It's also Rosh Hashana this week, a time for spending time with family and sending Happy New Year greetings to friends. (Did you eat your apples and honey today? Here's a recipe.)

Within our Poetry Friday community, there have been many hellos to celebrate and goodbyes to comfort one another through in the past several months. I wanted to take the time to say -- whether we have met in person or not -- thank you, PF bloggers, for being such good friends to me and to each other.

The Arrow and the Song

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

And since Longfellow mentioned song, my favorite version of this poem is sung on folk musician Ted Jacob's wonderful CD, "The Days Gone By."


This was one of our favorite CDs
when the children were small.
But I also enjoyed this rendition, among the many I found on YouTube.



And a great American Sign Language version, also on Youtube, is at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hesf862wL0

Thanks again to all of you for being part of this wonderful circle of friends. I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts today. If you're on Twitter, use the hashtag #PoetryFriday.

Charles Ghinga has an original poem about the creative muse at Father Goose today. And check out the photo of his artist son, Chip, at work in the studio.

Michelle H. Barnes at Today's Little Ditty is transporting us to Ireland for an ekphrastic poetry project. 

At Teaching Authors, April is celebrating Rosh Hashanah with an original poem about a Jewish New Year tradition. Plus, there's "Cotton Candy" (a poem by Deborah Chandra). And we're all invited to a new children's poetry blog hop!

Tara remembers Seamus Heaney at A Teaching Life. His poem "Blackberry-Picking" contains the magic of childhood, but also speaks of its passing.

Liana Mahoney celebrates the end of summer with an original poem, "Frost Warning," at Commas Have Wings. (I'm in the autumn camp, too, Liana. Give me crisp days over heat and humidity any day.)

"Pencils" is Matt Forrest Esenwine's metaphorical back-to-school poem. You'll find it at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Matt's poem would make a great classroom writing prompt, teachers!

Diane Mayr tells us about International Dot Day, for which she written an original haiga. That's at Random Noodling. Diane also reminds us that it's the start of hurricane season. At Kurious Kitty, she has Hart Crane's "The Hurricane," and at KK's Kwotes, an illuminating morsel of poetry knowledge from Crane.

Myra is thinking about the "friend in need" aspect of friendship at Gathering Books, with Poet Tita Lacambra Ayala's collaboration with singer-songwriter Cynthia Alexander on a coming of age piece, "Flowers of Youth." 

Robyn Hood Black's family welcomed a new baby this week. She has the short poem "Amazing Face" and an autumn poem, "September 1918" by Amy Lowell. With today's news, these lines struck me: Some day there will be no war, 
Then I shall take out this afternoon
And turn it in my fingers,
And remark the sweet taste of it upon my palate


Violet Nesdoly is speaking to the Pisces in me with her fishy "Ocean Neighbourhood."

Another member of the Father Goose family has a poetry post up today. Debra Ghigna's poem "Sleepover" is featured at the blog Sweet Sweet Baby

Tabatha earns her blog title "The Opposite of Indifference" today with a post about MARD, Men Against Rape and Discrimination. Poetry  has been part of the organization, based in India, since its inception, and Tabatha shares some examples.

Gregory K is bemoaning summer reading (I hear you, buddy) with an original poem at GottaBook. Honestly, shouldn't cereal boxes count?

The ghost of Robert Frost visits The Drift Record today. Julie Larios has the Robert Francis poem "To the Ghost of Robert Frost." I love this poem's subtle reminders to enjoy some stillness during the (back to school) rush.

There's a lot of chatter on Facebook and Twitter about Renee LaTulippe's new series, "Spotlight on NCTE Poets." Today, Lee Bennett Hopkins presents David McCord at Renee's blog, No Water River. Stay tuned for the whole series. Renee plans to cover all the recipients (over 35 years' worth!) of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. 

I have to agree with Mary Lee Hahn that children's author Lemony Snicket's collaboration with the venerable Poetry Foundation is spectacular. She explains why at A Year of Reading. You'll find a link to Snicket's (Daniel Handler's) list of "adult" poems that children might like at Mary Lee's blog.

Catherine at Reading to the Core finds inspiration in a journal entry, Scrabble and other word games today. She has an original poem up and would love some feedback on it.

There's another original poem at Betsy H's I Think in Poems, and it's also about language -- spoken, rather than written. Stop by to read "Words Flow."

Mrs. Bennett (no relation to Lizzie, right?) remembers the September 11 anniversary. She's thinking about her high school students of 2001, and sharing Billy Collins' "The Names" with her current AP English class at Used Books in Class.

Despite so many of us looking to autumn, Liz Steinglass reminds us that there are some late-in-the-season flowers to enjoy. Her original poem "Morning Glory" is at Elizabeth Steinglass.

One of Margaret Simon's favorite poets, Jane Hirshfield has an article, "5 Poetic Essentials for the Home Cook." Margaret has crafted a beautiful found poem from Hirshfield's words. Read it at Reflections on the Teche.

Irene Latham shares a Seamus Heaney tribute at Live Your Poem. Heaney's poem "Scaffolding," like many of today's offerings, reminds me that part of friendship is providing support when our friends are struggling.

Jama is already planning what she's going to make for her Halloween feast at Jama's Alphabet Soup. She gives us a preview of "Trick or Treat: A Happy Haunter's Halloween."

Speaking of tricky rhymes, Elizabeth at Fuse#8 has some Ogden Nash for us. I love the pre-Lemony Snicket, winking-at-the-kids satire of "Don't Cry, Darling, It's Blood Alright." What a treat!

More Seamus Heaney memories at Ruth's There Is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town

Another favorite theme this week is magic pencils. It must be all the back-to-school chalk dust in the air. Anastasia Suen has an original poem "Magic Pencil" at Poet! Poet!

Morzant the Alien interviews children's poet Kenn Nesbitt at Bigfoot Reads. (For an alien, Morzant is quite a talented interviewer.)

Amy at The Poem Farm has a mask poem about a hermit crab. Her original poem "Hermit Crab" combines scientific facts with a charming, non-crabby voice.

"The Reading Boy" is a poem by a ten-year-old poet, shared with us by Little Willow at Bildungsroman. You'll find a link to a New York Times article by the poet's mother about her son.

Mother Reader has a song as  poem for us, a portion of the Ylvis song and video "The Fox." The lyrics are beautifully poetic. 

Becky Shillington's also in friendship poem, Shel Silverstein's "How Many, How Much. " You'll find that at Tapestry of Words.

"Each kindness done and not done affects the world," says Jone at Check It Out. This is the central message of the book she's reading, Each Kindess by Jacqueline Woodson. Jone recommends pairing the book with a poem by Janet Wong.

At All About Books, Janet S reviews a book of concrete poetry, Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems by Heidi B. Roemer.

Joy at Poetry for Kids is also looking forward to Halloween. Her original ghost poem, spoken in the voice of Little Monster, made me giggle.

Lorie Ann Grover took me back with a photo of and haiku about an egg chair. We had the same chair (from Ikea) when our children were little and they'd spin in it until they were sick! Lorie Ann's original poem, "Retreat" is at On Point.

Samuel Kent is building a robot out of challenge words from his readers. I like his use of the word "twerk" better than the one we've been seeing in the news lately. Find "Lemonbot" at I Droo It.

Karen Edmisten is sharing the beautiful Anne Porter poem "Music." This one is about relationships, too -- here, between a mother and child.

As the day winds down, Keri's offering of Ted Kooser's "Porch Swing in September" describes exactly how I'd like to spend the evening. That's at Keri Recommends (miss you, Keri!)

And Dori closes us out with social justice poems at Dori Reads. Indivisible: Poems for Social Justice is for high school students. Looks like a great book to use for engaged classroom discussions, Dori.

Sherry at Semicolon has John Keats' beautiful ode "To Autumn." If you haven't read Stanley Plumly's biography, Posthumous Keats--highly recommended.

More song lyrics as poetry at Jen's Teach Mentor Texts blog. Sing along to Katy Perry with her new song, "Roar." (Note: Jen's  hosting next week's Poetry Friday round up.)

Dia Calhoun has a beautiful, original poem, "Leaving Where Behind" at her blog.

Thanks for being patient, everyone, while I visited your blogs and posted the links. Have a restful weekend!

Be sure to stop by Author Amok next week. Holly Thompson is visiting to answer five questions about her new YA novel-in-verse, The Language Inside.

45 comments:

Charles Ghigna said...

Thanks, Laura. We're offering a bit of "Choice Art" today over at the FATHER GOOSE Blog

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

Happy New Year, Laura! What a sweet post. I feel the same about this nurturing PF community, and I can only imagine my ties to it getting stronger with time. Your Sam (looks kind of like a "Longfellow" to me, actually) seems like he's pretty practiced in the friend department.

At Today's Little Ditty, I share my discovery of The Poetry Project: Poetry and Art from Ireland, and feature a video/poem entitled "The Colours." http://michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-colours-poetry-in-action-from.html

April Halprin Wayland said...

Laura! Happy New Year! SOOO grateful to be part of this circle of poets and friends ~

At TeachingAuthors.com I'm celebrating Rosh Hashanah (especially tashich)and also a Poetry Blog Hop. I'm in with wonderful poem by Deborah Chandra, "Cotton Candy" (that woman creates metaphors like nobody's business!) and my own poem about the Jewish New Year ritual of tashlich from a seagull's point of view.

http://www.teachingauthors.com/2013/09/happy-poetry-blog-hop-happy-new-year.html

<3
April Halprin Wayland

Tara @ A Teaching Life said...

Such a haunting poem, Laura, especially these lines:
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke
...that is the power of love and friendship, isn't it?

Unknown said...

Laura, thanks for hosting, and for sharing the beautiful Longfellow poem. Who knows where our arrows may land? I'm avoiding a Frost Warning today at Commas Have Wings.
http://commashavewings.com/the-end-of-summer/

Tara @ A Teaching Life said...

Oops. I forgot to leave a link to my post, in memory of Seamus Heaney
http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-seamus-heaney.html

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

Thanks for hosting, and for sharing that poem, Laura! Love Longfellow's poem - a true classic, and a good introduction to his work for those unfamiliar. (I think he was a remarkable figure whose talent is underappreciated these days)

For today, I'm offering a relatively new poem in time for the new school year: http://mattforrest.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/pencils

Diane Mayr said...

My posts will be up after midnight. At Random Noodling I have a reminder about International Dot Day, and a haiga dot I created to make my creative mark. http://randomnoodling.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-haiga-dot.html

Kurious Kitty looks at Hart Crane's poem, "The Hurricane." http://kuriouskitty.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-hurricane.html

And at KK's Kwotes there's a quote by Hart Crane. http://kkskwotes.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday_6.html

Thanks for your heart-felt post about friendship. Although we've never met face to face, I would count you as a friend!

GatheringBooks said...

Hi there Laura, we are kindreds today, as I am also sharing both poetry and music in GatheringBooks. I love these lines by Longfellow in particular:

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;

So beautiful.

We have something extra special in GatheringBooks today as a fitting end to our bimonthly theme on loss and heartbreak: Cynthia Alexander's "Flowers of Youth". Here is the link -
http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/poetry-friday-flowers-of-youth/

Thank you for hosting this week and having this up extra early.

Robyn Hood Black said...

Happy Poetry Friday, Laura! Thanks for hosting, and I'm honored to call you FRIEND in this wonderful circle.

I'm pondering September today, with a spoonful of Rebecca Kai Dotlich and a serving of Amy Lowell. Here's to Fall!
http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm?post=927175

April Halprin Wayland said...

Hi, Gang! I forgot to add that my TeachingAuthors link doesn't go live until 3:30 am EST

http://www.teachingauthors.com/2013/09/happy-poetry-blog-hop-happy-new-year.html

Violet N. said...

Thanks for hosting, Laura, and for sharing that beautiful Longfellow poem. It works beautifully as a ballad.

My Poetry Friday post is a fishy wish - "Ocean Neighborhood" here:
http://vnesdolypoems.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/ocean-neighbourhood/

Charles Ghigna said...

Thanks again, Laura!

I'd like to introduce you and our Poetry Friday friends to a very special guest poet today. Come meet Debra and her poem "Sleep Over" at SWEET SWEET BABY

Tabatha said...

Hi Laura! I love the poem you chose today! I think it is time for us to start trying to schedule another lunch.
My PF entry today falls in the you-never-know-what-I'm-going-to-post category:
http://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2013/09/mard.html

Greg Pincus said...

Thanks for hosting, Laura!

I'm up with an original today: Summer Reading

Julie said...

Isn't it wonderful how these Poetry Friday friendships form?? I feel like I know some of you from way back!!

Over at
The Drift Record I have another small poem by Robert Francis. Yes, last week was Robert Francis, too. Yes, I'm on a Robert Francis kick. Yes, it might last awhile!
Thanks, Laura, for the Longfellow, and the reminder about apples and honey. Happy New Year!

Renee LaTulippe said...

Happy New Year, Laura! And thank you for these lovely thoughts and Longfellow's poem. Being way over here in Italy is tough sometimes, so the friendships I've formed with all you wonderful PF folks have becomeso important!

Today at No Water River, Lee Bennett Hopkins and I kick off a new video series called SPOTLIGHT ON NCTE POETS. In this first episode, Lee reminisces and chats about the first winner of the NCTE award, David McCord - plus there are plenty of poems!
http://www.nowaterriver.com/poetry-friday-spotlight-on-ncte-poets-david-mccord-with-lee-bennett-hopkins/

Thank you for hosting!

Mary Lee said...

Happy New Year! As a teacher, this always feels way more like the time to celebrate than in January! I think I'll have apples and honey for breakfast.

I'm sharing a link to Lemony Snicket's poetry collection on The Poetry Foundation website. It's illustrated by Chris Raschka, and it's simply FABULOUS! I can't wait to share it with my students!

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-if-for-some-reason.html

Catherine said...

Thank you for reminding me of this lovely Longfellow poem. It's true, this Poetry Friday community is so welcoming and supportive!

Today I'm sharing an original poem that was inspired by a phrase in my journal: http://readingtothecore.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/poetry-friday-puzzling-through-the-possibilities/

Thanks for hosting!

Betsy Hubbard said...

I'm in with "Words Flee" today at I Think in Poems. http://ithinkinpoems.blogspot.com/2013/09/words-flow.html

Mrs. Bennett said...

September 11th is next Wednesday, and it struck me that this graduating class of seniors is the last class that was in school (kindergarten) when the events unfolded. Here is a story of of my recollection of that day with a poem from Billy Collins. He comforts me. http://usedbooksinclass.com/2013/09/06/poetry-friday-billy-collins-the-names-shared-by-the-class-of-2014/
Thank you for hosting.

Liz Steinglass said...

Hi Laura,
Thanks for hosting today and for sharing a poem and yourself. I'm sharing "Morning Glory," a work in progress and some of my process as I work on it.
Happy Poetry Friday!
Liz

Margaret Simon said...

Thanks for hosting, Laura. I feel the same sentimental way about my friends here at Poetry Friday. I want to send a special love message to our friend, Linda Baie who lost her husband this week. Our hearts go out to you, Linda.
My post this week is Jane Hirshfield. Can you just swim in the blue of her eyes? I found a poem in her Essential Ingredients for cooking, poetry, and life. http://reflectionsontheteche.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/essential-ingredients/

Irene Latham said...

Laura, I am so happy to now you! Love this community. I've got a poem from Seamus Heaney. http://www.irenelatham.blogspot.com/2013/09/scaffolding-by-seamus-heaney.html

Thank you for hosting!!

jama said...

Hi Laura,

I'm still in Maine, but sending over some spooky-fun poems from the new Halloween collection by Debbie Leppanen:

http://jamarattigan.com/2013/09/06/friday-feast-trick-or-treat-by-debbie-leppanen-and-tad-carpenter/

Thanks for your words about friendship and sharing Longfellow's poem-- it's perfect for today, since I'm in Portland, where Longfellow was born. :)

Fuse #8 said...

Thanks for the round-up! Today I've posted the Ogden Nash children's poem "Don't Cry, Darling, It's Blood All Right". http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2013/09/06/dont-cry-darling-its-blood-all-right/

Love the use of Winnie-the-Pooh and Little Women in it.

Ruth said...

http://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-seamus-heaney.html

I have some Seamus Heaney today -- I'm sure I won't be alone!

Back later to read everyone else's posts -- thank you for hosting!

Anastasia Suen said...

Thanks for hosting, Laura! At Poet! Poet! I have an original poem for back-to-school: MAGIC PENCIL

http://www.asuen.com/poetry/magic-pencil/

Bigfoot said...

My friend Morzant the Alien recently interviewed the new Children's Poet Laureate, Kenn Nesbitt:

http://bigfoot-reads.blogspot.com/2013/08/kenn-nesbitt-interview.html

Amy LV said...

I, too, feel so lucky to have friends in this poetry community. Thank you so much for hosting, Laura. I adore this Ted Jacobs CD and look forward to following these other links. Today at The Poem Farm, I have a mask poem about a hermit crab - http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/p/find-poem-by-technique.html
xo, a.

Little Willow said...

Good morning, Sam! Good morning, poets and bloggers. I shared The Reading Boy from the NYT at my blog, Bildungsroman.

MotherReader said...

Honestly this is a stretch in my song-as-poetry series, but it's too awesome a video not to share. I've got "The Fox" by Ylvis over at MotherReader:

http://www.motherreader.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-fox.html

Thanks for hosting!

Becky Shillington said...

Laura, you and I are on the same wavelength today! I have been thinking a lot about friendship this week, too, and today I posted a Silverstein poem celebrating friendship.

www.beckyshillington.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for hosting!

Jone said...

Poetry pairings: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/poetry-friday-poetry-pairings/

Thank you for hosting, Laura.

Janet S. said...

Thanks for hosting.

My selection is "Come to my party and other shape poems" written by Heidi B. Roemer and illustrated by Hideko Takahashi.

Joy said...

Thanks for the Longfellow poem and the music. I loved the old post card.

I've been writing poems about ghosts this week and have another one up today with a poetry challenge.

I'm at http://www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com

How can you be thinking of fall when it was 103 degrees here this week? Wouldn't it be fun if the cacti turned colors in the fall?

Thanks for hosting a great poetry party this week.

Lorie Ann Grover said...

So fun to stop in today. Thank you for hosting!

At On Point I have my original haiku Retreat.

Samuel Kent said...

Thank you for hosting this week, Laura. L'shana tova!

This week was a short one because of the holiday on Monday. I posted four poems over at the lunchbox doodle blog (as well as 12 new cartoons, for those interested). This week my readership challenged me to write poems containing the words fisticuffs, slumgullion, troglodyte, centripetal force, and twerk. I'd love to hear what challenges my fellow poets come up with this week.

Karen Edmisten said...

I'm a little late to the round up, but my post (on Anne Porter) is here.

Thanks for hosting!

Keri said...

What a day you've had with such a grand turnout! I'm finally in with a poem by Ted Kooser and a deep breath at Keri Recommends: http://kerirecommends.com/2013/09/06/poetry-friday--a-poem-by-ted-kooser.aspx

Thanks for hosting!

Doraine said...

Hi Laura, Thanks for hosting. I'm coming in late in the day today with a new anthology of poems called "indivisible: poems for social justice."

http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2013/09/indivisible-poems-for-social-justice-is.html

Sherry said...

I'm late, late, late, but it is still Friday. Enjoy some Keats at Semicolon:
http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=21042

Jen Vincent said...

Thanks for hosting! i tried to add my link from my phone this morning but see that it didn't post. Better late then never, right?

I'm sharing lyrics to Katy Perry's new song, Roar. Super inspiration!

http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2013/09/poetry-friday-katy-perry-roar.html

Dia Calhoun said...

A poem called: Leaving Where Behind

http://diacalhoun.blogspot.com/2013/09/leaving-where-behind-poetry-friday.html

Ruth said...

Thank you. You were a fabulous host.