The Progressive Poem 2014 Is Here!

I'm taking a break from the Source Poem series today to participate in another National Poetry Month tradition: Irene Latham's annual progressive poem.

The Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem lands at a different blog each day in April. As the poem travels around the blogosphere, each poet adds a line. With thirty minds cooking up a rhyming recipe, you know there are going to be some surprising flavors in this poem.

I decided to give the poem a little "Bam!" a la chef Emeril Lagasse.

Sitting on a rock, airing out my feelings to the universe
Acting like a peacock, only making matters that much worse;

"Acting like a peacock,"
from National Geographic

Should I trumpet like an elephant emoting to the moon,
Or just ignore the warnings written in the rune?
Those stars can’t seal my future; it’s not inscribed in stone.
The possibilities are endless! Who could have known?
Gathering courage, spiral like an eagle after prey
Then gird my wings for whirlwind gales in realms far, far away.

"Spiral like an eagle,"
from All About Birds

But, hold it! Let’s get practical! What’s needed before I go?
Time to be tactical— I’ll ask my friends what I should stow.
And in one breath, a honeyed word whispered low— dreams —
Whose voice? I turned to see. I was shocked. Irene’s
“Each voyage starts with tattered maps; your dreams dance on this page.
Determine these dreams—then breathe them! Engage your inner sage.”
The merry hen said, “Take my sapphire eggs to charm your host.”
I tuck them close – still warm – then take my first step toward the coast
This journey will not make me rich, and yet I long to be
like luminescent jellyfish, awash in mystery.

"I long to be like luminescent jellyfish,"
from Wikipedia

I turn and whisper, “Won’t you come?” to all the beasts and birds,
and listen while they scamper, their answers winging words:
“Take these steps alone to start; each journey is an art

You are  your own best company. Now it's time to depart!"

The Fairies in Spring
Arthur Rackham (public domain)

Next up is Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at the Poem Farm. Perhaps the speaker of our poem will at last take flight with Amy at the controls.
You can find past and future entries in the 2014 Progressive Poem here:

1 Charles at Poetry Time
2 Joy at Joy Acey
3 Donna at Mainely Write
4 Anastasia at Poet! Poet!
5 Carrie at Story Patch
6 Sheila at Sheila Renfro
7 Pat at Writer on a Horse
8 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
9 Diane at Random Noodling
10 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
11 Linda at Write Time
12 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
13 Janet at Live Your Poem
14 Deborah at Show–Not Tell
15 Tamera at The Writer’s Whimsy
16 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
17 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
18 Irene at Live Your Poem
19 Julie at The Drift Record
20 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
21 Renee at No Water River
22 Laura at Author Amok
23 Amy at The Poem Farm
24 Linda at TeacherDance
25 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
26 Lisa at Lisa Schroeder Books
27 Kate at Live Your Poem
28 Caroline at Caroline Starr Rose
29 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
30 Tara at A Teaching Life

Tomorrow, Author Amok returns to a month-long series on Source Poems. Baltimore-based poet Shirley Brewer is sharing a favorite poem by Eavan Boland.

National Poetry Month 2013: Amok with Irene's Progressive Poem

I've got drama on my mind.

It was a dramatic week at our house. My son (16) jetted off to California for the VEX Robotics World Championships. It was exciting to watch his team's robot battle on Livestream.

My daughter (13) came down with stomach flu. During her school musical's opening week. I had one unhappy stage manager on  my hands. But she battled through and made it to opening night. The show must go on!

And the show must also go on in Irene Latham's 2013 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. We wouldn't have a progressive poem without Internet and blogging technology, so it's a perfect feature for today's "Welcome to the TechnoVerse" post.

In just its second year, the poem has become a National Poetry Month tradition. It starts with a single line on April 1. Each day, a poet/blogger loans his or her talent by coming up with the next line.

I love how this year's group effort began with writing as a form of dance. Soon, we were full-on "Dancing with the Poets" (ballet, samba, tap and jitterbug made appearances). Then, we made a stop at "The Kidlitosphere's Got Talent," with our protagonist poet balancing in a death-defying trapeze act.

Baltimore Ravens' superstar Jacoby Jones is on this season of
"Dancing with the Stars." From sbnation.com

According to several sites (here's one), the idiom "the show must go on" originated with the circus circa 1941. (Wasn't there a clown in stanza three of our poem?) Ringmasters would say the phrase to a big top audience if the lions got loose. Comforting, I'm sure.

In the progressive poem, we last saw our dancing, clowning, daredevil of a speaker recovering from a tumble, learning from a mistake. ("All part of the act," Tabatha wrote in yesterday's line. Spoken like a true theater person.)

I'd like to see our speaker back on her nimble feet, ready to perform. With one last thank you to Irene and the other progressive poets, here is the 2013 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem as of 4/22:

When you listen to your footsteps 
the words become music and 
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too. 
Your pen starts dancing across the page 
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until 
smiling, you’re beguiling as your love comes shining through. 

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers 
of the words, one dancer to another, saying 
Listen, that’s our cue! Mind your meter. Find your rhyme. 
Ignore the trepidation while you jitterbug and jive. 
Arm in arm, toe to toe, words begin to wiggle and flow 
as your heart starts singing let your mind keep swinging 

from life’s trapeze, like a clown on the breeze. 
Swinging upside down, throw and catch new sounds– 
Take a risk, try a trick; break a sweat: safety net? 
Don’t check! You’re soaring and exploring, 
dangle high, blood rush; spiral down, crowd hush– 
limb-by-line-by-limb envision, pyramidic penned precision. 

And if you should topple, if you should flop 
if your meter takes a beating; your rhyme runs out of steam— 
know this tumbling and fumbling is all part of the act,
so get up with a flourish. Your pencil's still intact.

A list of stops on the 2013 Progressive Poem's tour of the blogosphere is posted here at Author Amok. You'll see the full roster of poets on the right. I've had a great time following along: Not only each new line, but also reading what each blogging poet has to say about contributing to a group verse.

Tomorrow in the TechnoVerse, Poetry Friday blogger Diane Mayr (of Random Noodling) tells us about Archive.Org.

And...Curtain!

From PBS.org