Happy National Poetry Month!
Happy 2016 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem!
The Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem is hosted by poet, Irene Latham. Irene had this brilliant idea in 2012 and every year since words have wandered from poet to poet all through the month of April. A progressive poem is more delicious than a progressive dinner because the words are here to savor and enjoy over and over again. How does it work? Each day of the month, the poem lands at a different blog with a different poet adding a line. To follow the progress of the poem refer to the links listed in this post. I’ve also added them to my sidebar for easy reference.
Here are the first four lines of the poem from Laura Purdie Salas, Joy Acey, Doraine Bennett, and Diane Mayr.
A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky
A hummingbird holds and then hies
If I could fly, I’d choose to be
Sailing through a forest of poet-trees
When I read Diane’s line I felt the end of a stanza. I’m going to add a line break and start a new stanza. But the fun of a progressive poem is, that as it progresses, each poet can change things up. So I realize my line break may or may not remain.
Also, when I read Diane’s line I thought of two directions that I could take the poem. I could keep flying and start a new stanza with birds in mind. Or I could start a new stanza introducing new creatures. Of course, I had other choices but from the minute I read Laura’s first line, I imagined 30 lines wandering through nature and enjoying the wonder. Joy continued with another bird. And Doraine’s line had me imagining I was a bird—a part of nature. Diane’s line enhanced the wonder of a bird’s-eye view, but I felt new creatures on the horizon.
I’m adding my line and passing this on to Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink.
A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky
A hummingbird holds and then hies
If I could fly, I’d choose to be
Sailing through a forest of poet-trees
A cast of crabs engraves the sand
If you’d like to follow the progressive poem, here is the list of contributing poets.
Happy National Poetry Month!
Happy 2016 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem!
2016 KIDLITOSPHERE PROGRESSIVE POEM
1 Laura at Writing the World for Kids
2 Joy at Joy Acey
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Diane at Random Noodling
5 Penny at A Penny and Her Jots
6 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
7 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass
8 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
9 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
10 Pat at Writer on a Horse
11 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
12 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
13 Linda at TeacherDance
14 Jone at Deo Writer
15 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
16 Violet at Violet Nesdoly
17 Kim at Flukeprints
18 Irene at Live Your Poem
19 Charles at Poetry Time
20 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
21 Jan at Bookseedstudio
22 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
23 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Mark at Jackett Writes
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Mary Lee at Poetrepository
28 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
29 Sheila at Sheila Renfro
30 Donna at Mainely Write
As you can see, Penny, I’m very far behind in following the ProgPoem…but I wanted to discover it line by line without skipping ahead. I like your line break very much, and although we’re all a little obsessed by birds at the moment, I’m very happy to welcome “a cast” of crabs. It’s a great line because of the many ordinary and scientific meanings of “cast”. Nice one!
LikeLike
Ooh, a cast of crabs! What beautiful sound and imagery in your line, Penny! I knew you’d come up with something enticing….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Renee!
LikeLike
Love your line … Part of what I love about this ” casting a poetry net” and pulling in an ocean of talent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful comment! It’s very poetic which is appropriate for a progressive poem!
LikeLike
Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! You are leading us into a cooool structure! Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. I love structure 🙂
LikeLike
Oh, gosh we’ve recently returned from the sandy shore (well it was a few days ago)
& “cast of crabs” is so perfect!
Plus how did you summon the action of “engraves” for what their claws & feet do? It’s a mesmerizing idea. Brilliant, Penny. And now I’m excited to crabwalk over to Carol’s lovely site.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I first had graffiti but it wasn’t working as a verb. I loved the idea of it but felt it was confusing. Then my mind led me to other verbs for markings and I came up with engraves.
Thanks for coming by 🙂
LikeLike
Love your line Penny. What a fun event. I wish I wasn’t so afraid to even try to write poetry. I love to read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Pat. You should start toying around with it and see what happens. There are things I haven’t tried yet because my focus is on other genres. As long as we’re writing, it’s all good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wrote poetry as a child, but mimicked songs that I knew. And, my mother always read children’s poetry books to us. I did one poem for Susanna’s Christmas contest once, and then took it down immediately after the contest was over.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mimicking songs is a great tool. I use it a lot to hear meter and to copy meter since I never know if I’m writing iambic, anapest, etc.
LikeLike
Join us next year! We are very not-scary! xx
LikeLiked by 3 people
Penny I love how you decided to take the next line down to the ground and bring us your “cast of crabs”. The line is beautiful, and I read above how you found out a group of crabs is called a cast, I love when google searches turn up gold!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree! Google turns up some wonderful details to add to our WIPs. Thanks for coming by, Jean.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, Penny, I’m having line envy. This is beautiful and follows the dance steps to faultlessly. This is a beautiful line. I love the verb engraves. Wow-zer this is going to be a great poem. Thanks for the line break and extra breathing space.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Joy. When I made the decision to go a different direction I first considered the ocean and the forest floor. I started underwater and then the beach came to mind and I thought that was perfect. Maybe the poem will make it underwater or to the forest floor…it will be fun to watch and see.
LikeLike
Brilliant, Penny! Alliterative, assonance too, even – and what a wonderful image, engraving sand!! Perfect. :0)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for noticing, Robyn! I was going for similar sounds 🙂
LikeLike
I love this, Penny! You’ve set up a great pattern by starting a new stanza, setting, creature family here…I’ll be interested to see whether it holds. Fingers crossed:>)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m hoping the pattern holds, too, Laura. Is that control freak-ish of me??? LOL
LikeLike
Love your line, Penny! Beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Susanna ❤
LikeLike
Love your musical line, Penny :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate you describing my line as musical, Maria! Smiling 🙂
LikeLike
Penny, I held off reading the comments here until I finished thinking about my line for Day 6. Last night while I was envisioning where you would take the poem, I imagined a continued forest route. I am absolutely delighted that you took the poem to the beach for it is one of my favorite spots to daydream and reflect. I often see the crabs at the Atlantic Ocean. They float, they land, thy delight. I can only imagine what a cast of crabs looks like so I too googled to find out more about crabs on Long Island. Wondering is one of the advantages to writing. Our minds can take us to places near and far. It is my hope that my wondering leads to another turn in the poem.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Carol, I’m glad you like the direction I chose. I’m heading over to you blog in just a few to see what you’ve added. Can’t wait!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Diane 🙂
LikeLike
Love your cast of crabs, and how the poem is evolving!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Buffy. I like how it’s evolving, too. I just love this progressive poem. It’s something I look forward to every year.
LikeLike
And now you’ve opened still another path for Carol and those following. Out of the forest, onto the beach! I see those little waving claws in that “cast of crabs” ready to perform, Penny. Wonderful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Linda. I didn’t know what a group of crabs was called so I Googled it and was delighted to learn that a group is a cast! I just had to go with it once I knew that fun fact.
LikeLike
Yes, I actually know that, have read too many children’s books with animal groupings! It is perfect though, isn’t it?
LikeLike
Beautiful line, Penny!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Catherine!
LikeLike
A beautiful addition, Penny.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
A cast of crabs! So, so lovely and unexpected and a great way to start a new stanza. Love reading your process. You’re right: it could go so many ways! Which is what makes it so much fun. Thank you! xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Irene. And thanks for the Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. I look forward to it every year!
LikeLike
Love your vision and your line, Penny! Crabs engraving the sand is an wonderful image.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Michelle. I had a whole list of lines. My first thought was that crabs leave graffiti in their wake and I was inclined to use graffiti as a verb.
A cast of crabs graffitis sand
But it just didn’t seem to flow as well and I was afraid it would be confusing as a verb. Also, engraves seemed more elegant and purposeful. Isn’t if funny how much thought can go into six or seven words?
BTW, I do love the thought of crabs leaving graffiti in their wake 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was envisioning more animals added like this, too! And I love, love the “cast of crabs” and “engraves the sand”! Wonderful! Let’s see what’s up next. It’s a long month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Donna. You’re right…it’s a long month. And it will be filled with surprising and wonderful lines!
LikeLike
Following the progressive poem each year fascinates me. I love the addition of a new cast of characters to observe. Does that mean in 4 days I’ll be able to add a new animal group? Something to think about, but as you pointed out, you never really know where the poem will go.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder that too, Margaret. That’s the way I would finish the poem if I were writing the remainder. But the fun of this progressive poem is that we don’t know where it will go. Creative minds could take it anywhere!
LikeLiked by 1 person