Hush, Don't Tell Nobody Giveaway

Happy Poetry Friday, everyone!

February is almost here. I promised to post prompts for this year's month-long poetry project by January 25. (Read about the project here.) However, revisions for THE LAST FIFTH GRADE are due on Monday, January 26. So ... priorities.

When I need a break from revision work,
I make fake book covers with
the Pulp-O-Mizer cover maker.

Look for the list of 28 sound clips -- they will be our writing prompts -- by Wednesday. Friday at the latest. I swear!

I'm taking a short break from novel revisions to Poetry Friday with you. Yes, I just verbed a noun. Twice. That's what happens when you've been eating words for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Tara at A Teaching Life
is hosting the Poetry Friday
round-up today.

I'm excited to introduce all of you to poet Kyle Doty. Although he lives and teaches middle school in Florida, Kyle's first book will be published by Baltimore's Apprentice House Press in February. Apprentice House is a unique publisher, associated with Loyola University. It is the country's first student managed publishing house, and they do some pretty amazing books.

Kyle Doty has been kind enough to send an ARC of his chapbook, HUSH, DON'T TELL NOBODY, which one lucky commenter will win today!

You can pre-order at Amazon now,
or wait to buy the book directly
from Apprentice House.

Several things impress me about Kyle's poems. Many are drawn from his work as an educator. The poet is both a mentor to and a keen observer of his students. As the title of the book makes clear, Kyle takes on some tough issues in these poems, but they are issues that real teens face. He also has wonderful descriptions of place in the book. Indiana and Florida come to life in the imagery and details of Kyle's work.

I’m declaring a war on apathy!

– Dr. Kim Worth, year 1999/2000, 9^th grade Drama teacher.

by Kyle Doty

I hope for rain in the evening,

for clear sky to give way

to low-hanging clouds, black

like rotten fruit swaying from

summer Maples. I ask for wind --

tempest strength -- and the crooked

rod of electricity that cuts through

twilight. For the sound of thunder

like a herd of elephants trampling

from the distance.

I pray for a storm that cleanses,

like wire brush on metal,

the ebony mood of indifference.

From HUSH, DON'T TELL NOBODY

Kyle Doty is a Middle School English teacher. He lives in Southwest Florida--Tropicalia--with his family, where he is at work on his next collection of poetry. His new website will be up soon at www.kyledotypoet.com

Thank you for sharing this poem, Kyle. I can't wait to pass your book along to one of the Poetry Friday readers.

Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win the ARC. Feel free to send Kyle Doty a thumbs up or congrats on his first book.

See you next week with our February poetry project prompts!

National Poetry Month Issue 8

Happy Poetry Friday! It's the second Poetry Friday of National Poetry Month 2011.

Last year for NPM, I profiled the state poets laureate. This year, I'm keeping it close to home -- featuring a different Maryland poet every day.

Ann Bracken is a poet and a special education teacher. She has been writing a series of portrait poems, character sketches of the teens she works with in a self-contained classroom.

Liam Sits Folded 

by Ann Bracken  

Liam sits folded on the floor

outside my classroom,

his six-foot  frame  crumpled

like a discarded origami bird.

Liam waits next to the lockers,

head back, mouth open, eyes closed

with his backpack propping him up.

Everyday he wears too-short pants,  

shirts faded and full of holes, 

and white, threadbare socks.

Liam’s glasses, thick and brown,

help him make sense of what he reads,

but cannot provide the necessary clues

to help decipher a grin from a grimace.

Without words of explanation,

Liam sees threats

instead of invitations.

“I can’t do this,” he tells me

over and over again,  stabbing

 the erase-end of a yellow lead pencil

into his arm.

When I reach my hand out to stop him,

Liam smiles in relief.

“I really don’t want to hurt myself,” he tells me.

“I just get so frustrated,”

and the stabbing starts again.

Liam sits folded at his desk

feet tucked up under him,

backpack ever strapped

and sagging on his back.

Folded into his world of contradictions are

piles of papers 

with words  running together

like melting crayons.

Yet when he draws a cartoon figure

I instantly recognize it as

Mama from A Raisin in the Sun.

“You see, the plant in the picture stands for hope,”

Liam tells me.

“To everyone else, it is a worthless, scraggly stalk with leaves.

To Mama, it’s a rich, red geranium.” 

Posted with permission of the author.

You can read more of Ann's work at the online journal Praxilla, and see a video of her reading her poem, "Wine and Water" at a Little Patuxent Review launch.

HS Writing Prompt
One of Ann Bracken's favorite sayings is: you could love anyone if you knew their story.

Write about the moment when you learned something surprising about an acquaintance or classmate, something that shifted your view of that person. Try to use at least one line of dialogue.

Lesson Extension
Use "Liam Sits Folded" as a companion to Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. Which character in the play does Liam most resemble?

Our Poetry Friday host today is Madigan Reads. Stop by to check out other poetry bloggers' National Poetry Month projects.