National Poetry Month Issue 29

Happy last Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month 2011!

All this month, I've been featuring poets from my home state, Maryland.

We've been feeling at sea in my house lately. Both of my children are winding down at their schools and getting ready for their next adventures: high school and middle school.

It's meant ups and downs as frequent as the tides. My son auditioned for his future high school's band and was thrilled to be accepted, but is so over 8th grade projects.

My daughter can't wait to join her middle school TV studio and book club. But today, she was embarrassed when all the fifth grade girls were lectured about appropriate dress (if you have cleavage, keep it to yourself).

In Lalita Noronha's poetic hands, "At Sea," has a very different meaning from the one my family is experiencing. The ocean in her poem is real -- alien, but comforting in the sense of welcome the speaker feels.

AT SEA

by Lalita Noronha

Buoyed by memory,

we float a hundred feet beneath the sea,

arms spread wide to glide past years that

disappeared into a long good night.

Beating like soft hearts,

clouds of jelly fish rise.

Sea lions come to tickle our hands,

whiskers soft as hair.

Behind the kelp,

suspended like a question mark,

a sea horse stares

and dares us to forget.

And in this blue cosmos,

at least for one moment,

the skin of a sea-tulip blooms pink,

a hundred feet beneath the sea,

without corners,

without edges,

without ends.

Published with permission of the author.

This poem first appeared in JMWW, Winter 2008; http://jmww.150m.com/Noronha.html (A great journal to submit work to, by the way.) 

Writing Exercise (Upper Elementary - Adult):

Many of us have had these "without corners/without edges/without ends" moments when we connect with animals.

When the speaker in "At Sea" touches sea lions and comes face to face with sea horses, it gives him or her a sense of timelessness.

Write about a time when you connected with an animal (or other living creature -- a tree?) and felt this way. 

One of my favorite poems on this theme is "A Blessing" by James Wright. It's posted at the Poetry Foundation.

Another Maryland poet is hosting Poetry Friday today! I can hardly stand the serendipity. Please visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for the last round-up of NPM 2011.

It's a Dance Party, Hon!

I'm dancing today. The children don't find it amusing. Maybe if I put on my streamer headband, they'll play along.

It started with happy feet.

Fellow Maryland children's poet Kerry Aradhya -- who happens to be a real dancer -- just started a new blog: Picture Books and Pirouettes.

Kerry will be writing about dance-related picture books. I know my daughter went through a huge Angelina/ballet phase. It began at age two and didn't end until she found out she couldn't join her dance school's "Company" unless she was willing to miss soccer games for dance rehearsals. Commitment to your art is a lot to ask of a six year old.

Please help me encourage Kerry to join us for Poetry Friday when she's got a verse PB to share.

The happy feeling crept along, until I was shaking it like a beehived Baltimore Hon.

Next week, the fabulous Shirley Brewer and I are speaking to the Maryland Writers Association, Howard County Chapter. We'll be talking about preparing your work for readings, and about fear and bravery in the writing process.

Shirley's got enough inner glow to light up Charm City, and the accessories to match.

I've been a huge fan of her poetry since we took a class together years ago. Come see us at Howard Community College, Thursday, August 19 at 7 PM. We've got some tricks up our sleeves! Both of us are selling and signing books. Meeting info is here.

Finally, I had a huge smile dancing across my face this morning.

Today, JMWW Journal posted a poetic conversation between me and Barbara Morrison -- also a local poet. 

Barbara and I sat down to talk about putting together a chapbook, writing in the voices of characters, using poetry as an entry to prose and using poetic form as a means of revising poems.

She also asked me about my experience publishing a chapbook with CityLit Press. I hope you'll visit the JMWW Blog and read my answer (putting the book together was an amazing experience!) will encourage you to submit to the 2011 Harriss Poetry Prize.

I'm determined to finish my MG novel-in-verse this week. It's undergone a huge expansion and some surprising discoveries about the characters. I hope the kids take that caution sign to heart and give mom some work time.

See you on Poetry Friday!