A (Found) Ode to Signed Books

This week, I went to a reading by the esteemed poet Rita Dove.

1. It was free. Thanks, HoCoPoLitSo!
2. There was music by young composer and violinist Joshua Coyne.
3. RITA DOVE

Poetry Friday

Today's Poetry Friday round-up

is at Cathy's blog,

Merely Day by Day.

I'd been meaning to buy and read Dove's historical novel-in-verse Sonata Mulattica for several years. (Read the NY Times review here.) She spoke about the book and its subject, child prodigy George Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860), on the Diane Rehm Show when Sonata Mulattica was first released.

The selections she read at the event were beautiful. Some of the poems include multiple voices. They are funny, piercing in their portrayal of the society that celebrated Bridgetower, then erased him from history.

But what I really want to talk about is signed books. I did buy a copy of Sonata Mulattica last night and Rita Dove signed it.

Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove

That got me wondering. Why do we love signed books? I have dozens of them. Some were already favorites when I sought out the author to have the book signed. Others I had never heard of, but fell in love with at a reading or writers' conference. They were bought and signed on the spot.

Are these books a little more special than their unsigned shelf-mates?

I think so. A signed book is similar to a photograph. Every time I open the book and read the personalized dedication, I remember meeting the author and sharing a word or two. I remember asking poet Mark Doty to sign a book and wanting to hide in a giant hole when he pointed out that I'd handed him someone else's book by accident. I remember meeting children's poet Heidi Mordhorst, now a dear friend, for the first time.

Today, I'm presenting a gallery of dedications for you to enjoy. Following the photographs is a little found ode that I wrote. It combines titles of these signed books with words and phrases borrowed from the dedications.

The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth: A Celebration of Music
by Jaime Adoff

Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems
from the Other Side of Nature
by Heidi Mordhorst

The East-West House: Noguchi's Childhood in Japan
by Christy Hale

I Am the Running Girl
by Arnold Adoff

She Had Some Horses
by Joy Harjo

And here is my found poem. Words I added are in bold. Everything else is strung together from the dedications and the book titles.

When You Sign My Book

by Laura Shovan

The song shoots out of my mouth

with great appreciation for everything:

Gr8 to meet you!!

Enjoy!! God bless!!

Looking forward to your next book!

(and thanks for the new horizons).

I am a pumpkin butterfly,

flying East-West in a celebration

of word music.

I am the running girl,

watching with joy,

listening for your sonata.

Poems journey like childhood ghosts

or horses

from the other side of nature.

And, following poet Brenda Hillman's example, here are some drippings -- phrases from the titles and dedications that I wasn't able to weave into the poem.

The House: Noguchi’s in Japan

at SCBWI 3/6/10 Poems

Keep for

She Had Some

Some horses for your

Enjoy

Mulattica

I'd love to hear your thoughts on signed books and book signings. If you have a treasured signed book, or a memory about a book signing, please share in the comments.

Dark Earth, Cosmic Sky: 2014 Poetry Project

Writerly Friends, it's DAY 2 of Author Amok's 2014 Poetry Project. Throughout February, I invite you to write (or draw) in response to Pantone® paint colors.

If you'd like to participate in the project, read the full the instructions at this post. I'll share your flash fiction, poetry, snippets, couplets, doodles, sketches -- whatever floats your boat -- via email, comment or link to your blog.

Today's colors are:

Peyote
Pantone® 14-1106

Dark Earth
Pantone® 19-1020

Cosmic Sky
Pantone® 15-3909

We also had the option of using SuperBowl team colors to juice up our creativity.

I thought for sure "Cosmic Sky" was going to inspire some star-gazing creative work, but "Dark Earth" wins the day, two responses to one!

Here is Linda Baie's poem in response to that rich brown:

Dark Earth


It’s a comfort to think about the seeds
pushed into dark earth, expectations known.
They will become what’s theirs alone.

Yet, I wonder while I plant,
like humans given the gift of choice,
would violets prefer a rose’s voice?


Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved

Linda blogs at Teacher Dance. I love how she worked February's traditional color, violet (birthstone: Amethyst, flower: Violet or Primrose) into the poem. Thanks for sharing the poem, Linda.

I started working on a "Cosmic Sky" sketch. I have a habit of dragging my poor family outdoors at 2 am for meteor showers, with lukewarm results. The comets always seem to streak just beyond where we are looking. But I settled on something more grounded -- earthworms and chocolate.

Dark Earth

by Laura Shovan

There are tunnels under our feet.

The earth’s been crumbled,

riffled through by earthworm muscle.

In eighth grade Bio, it was a delicate thing

tunneling through muscle to find

an earthworm’s tiny brain: the prize

a piece of chocolate from our teacher,

kiss of dark earth, a seed crumbled,

calibrated to melt on the human tongue.

Diane Mayr of the blog Random Noodling had a late plea for the beauty of "Cosmic Sky." She said...

"Cosmic Sky is too pretty a color to let go by, so here's my take on it."

Q: And the Chances Are? 

This sky, some are quick to say,
is a gorgeous shade of blue,
others will insist it's violet.

We each prefer our different hues.

Let's establish a name
for the color of the firmament,
and while we're at it, we'll decree

peace for humanity, too.

A: Slim and None.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Margaret Simon of the blog Reflections on the Teche has worked three of this week's colors into her poem, Bronze Mist, Cosmic Sky, and Sugar Coral.

The bronze mist lingers over the morning bayou.
A great blue heron, 
hidden in the fog, wades 
boastful in his grey cloak.
He takes flight--winged warrior--
rising into a cosmic sky.
The sun breaks 
the horizon into petals
of sugar coral, that perfect pink
silk tulip drops into an earthen vase
Calling for spring.

--Margaret Simon

"The Homecoming." Photograph by Kevin Fleming at Wild Delmarva.

And one of my critique partners, Patricia VanAmburg, who teaches at Howard Community College, chose "Peyote."

She writes: "Though I actually liked the color, I came up with a dark little haiku."

Peyote hated
her name and skin half bred
color of mushrooms

by Patricia VanAmburg

All poems shared with the permission of the authors.

Want to play along? You still have time. If you'd like to  share a response to "Peyote," "Dark Earth," or "Cosmic Sky," (or your SuperBowl team colors) leave it in the comments. I'll update the post later today.

Tomorrow, we have two color choices for DAY 3 of the Pantone® Poetry Project. Baltimore Ravens fans, I know you'll love this one:

Purple Reign
Pantone® 19-3620

Monument
Pantone® 17-4405

Suggested prompts are at this post. Let's add one to the list. "Dark Earth" made me think of chocolate. What food does the color remind you of?

The rest of the colors for this week are:

Tuesday -- Hushed Violet, Demitasse

Wednesday -- Zinc, Bronze Mist, Aloe

Thursday -- Kombu Green, Sugar Coral

Friday -- Jazzy and list of next week's colors

Fellow chocolate lovers, if I've awakened your sweet tooth, check out Arnold Adoff's book Chocolate Dreams for more delicious poetry. You can also read an interview with Adoff at Tricia's blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Poetry Friday: Wrestling The Beast

Two things on my mind these days.

The poet in me is all about teaching ekphrastic poetry for the Maryland Humanities Council. (I did my first -- and the program's first -- workshop yesterday. A photo from my class is up on the MHC home page. So cool!)

As a mom, I’m coping with wrestling season. Holiday shopping will have to wait. Unless you’d like a Vipers Wrestling t-shirt.

Our eleven-year-old son began wrestling in second grade. We signed him up because he needed to do something and it was only $50 for a season of clinic! He fell in love with the sport. You’ll get a sense of why if you check out my article on kids’ contact sports in SI Focus Magazine.

I love using Arnold Adoff’s book “Sports Pages” with 5th grade and older students. The book has a poem for just about every sport kids do. Adoff’s style is sensory and playful.

Here’s the beginning of his wrestling poem:

Wrestling The Beast

This guy is an animal. A pig? Squealing sinus breathing. A bear? Hair on his fat arms. A dog? No, not biting, but his chin digging into my collar Bone. A dragon. Easy. Dragon breath. An anaconda snake. His mistake: Choke hold around my neck.

The poem turns (along with the match) in the last stanza. Check out "Sports Pages" to find out what happens. I'm sure the kid's mom is biting her nails.

DJRobMan is wrestling for a travel team this year. Last weekend was his first competitive tournament. He lost in a single elimination round. It was a major achievement to make it to the end of the match without getting pinned.

As for me, I’ll be recommending “Sports Pages” as an extension for my “Totally Ekphrastic! Picturing America Through Poetry” workshop on Thomas Eakins’ image of an athlete: “John Biglin in a Single Scull.”

Kids love writing about the activities they do, whether it’s riding horses, gymnastics, art classes, or practicing trombone. Eakins’ watercolor is sensory in its own way – I hope it will be a great jumping off point for some active poetry.

I’ll let you know how the lesson goes. Today, I’m off to a much-needed writing retreat with our SCBWI Asst. Regional Adviser, Edie Hemingway & hope to write some poetry of my own.

Speaking of favorite books, this week’s Poetry Friday Round Up is at Mommy’s Favorite Children’s Books.