Penny Parker Klostermann

Happy National Poetry Month!

I hope you’ve been enjoying poetry this month. It’s said that April showers bring May flowers! But maybe even better — April brings poetry to the forefront for thirty wonderful days, showering us with a bouquet of language!

This year I’m participating in the annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. Thanks to Irene Latham for being host and organizer. She began the progressive poem in 2012 as a way to celebrate National Poetry Month. The poem grows line-by-line as thirty poets contribute a line each day of the month.

This year, Matt Forrest Esenwine started us off with a “found” line from a song. Then he challenged us to “continue this method and use only FOUND lines!” He did say, “But of course, your line is YOUR line…”

Believe it or not…every single poet so far has found a FOUND line! So onward! I’m following suit!

I’d decided I would turn to kids’ movies for my song since this is a KidLitosphere poem. Catherine preceded me and found her line from Curious George which makes me seem a bit like a copycat! But since I made this decision days ago and had been browsing soundtracks, I’ll just say “Meow!” and get on with it!

Of course nothing I’d found when browsing did the poem justice after Catherine added her line. But I was so excited about her line that I didn’t mind more browsing. Catherine’s line, “There’s no stopping curiosity” is perfect for kids! From the beginning this poem has been about adventure and curiosity is the beginning of adventure.

I’m not one to analyze poetry. I’d rather just enjoy it. But to add a line, I had to do a little analyzing/thinking about the poem thus far. So we have a set up for adventure…an endless summer with a child looking out on a sunny day. Once the adventure starts, another child joins in. Then after a bit of action, it seems the two ponder and reflect. That would be a nice way to wind down to an ending. But there has to be more because April isn’t over.

Enter Catherine and curiosity that can’t be stopped. To me that signals a question or questions that a child might pose about adventure as we build to a satisfying ending.

Awesome! There are so many songs that ask interesting questions! What kind of question/s fit our poem? About the adventure? About future adventures? About life as an adventure? I think my line can fit any of those scenarios.

The line is from Rainbow Connection (The Muppet Movie). The fact that it’s performed by Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) is a bonus in my mind. Take a listen if you like 🙂

Here’s the poem with my added line in italics.

2019 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem

Endless summer; I can see for miles…
Fun, fun, fun – and the whole world smiles.
No time for school- just time to play,
we swim the laughin’ sea each and every day.

You had only to rise, lean from your window,
the curtain opens on a portrait of today.
Kodachrome greens, dazzling blue,
it’s the chance of a lifetime,

make it last forever–ready? Set? Let’s Go!
Come, we’ll take a walk, the sun is shining down
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes
Tomorrow’s here. It’s called today.

Gonna get me a piece o’ the sky.
I wanna fly like an eagle, to the sea
and there’s a tiger in my veins Oh,
won’t you come with me waltzing the waves,
diving the deep?

It’s not easy to know
less than one minute old
we’re closer now than light years to go
To the land where the honey runs

…we can be anyone we want to be…
There’s no stopping curiosity.
What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?

Someone created a Spotify Playlist honoring our progressive poem. I hope they will add my song to the list. It can be found here.

Found Lines:

L1 The Who, ‘I Can See for Miles’ / The Beach Boys, ‘Endless Summer’
L2 The Beach Boys, ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ / Dean Martin, ‘When You’re Smiling’
L3 The Jamies, ‘Summertime, Summertime’
L4 The Doors ‘Summer’s Almost Gone’/ Led Zeppelin ‘Good Times, Bad Times’
L5 Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine “You had only to rise, lean from your window,”
L6 Joni Mitchell, “Chelsea Morning”
L7 Paul Simon, “Kodachrome,” “Dazzling Blue”
L8 Dan Fogelberg, “Run for the Roses”
L9 Spice Girls, “Wannabe”/ Will Smith, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”
L10 The Beatles, “Good Day Sunshine”
L11 The Carpenters, “Top of the World”
L12 Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Underneath the Lovely London Sky” from Mary Poppins Returns
L13 Carol King, “Hi-de-ho (That Old Sweet Roll)”
L14  Steve Miller, “Fly Like An Eagle”
L15   Don Felder, “Wild Life”
L16   Nowleen Leeroy, “Song of the Sea ” (lullaby)
L17   Sara Bareilles, “She Used to Be Mine” from WAITRESS
L18  Stevie Wonder, “Isn’t She Lovely”
L19 R.E.M, “Find the River”
L20 Carole King, “Way Over Yonder”
L21 Mint Juleps, “Groovin” by The Young Rascals
L22 Jack Johnson, “Upside Down”
L23 Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson), “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie

Here are our Poem Contributors:

1 Matt @Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
2 Kat @Kathryn Apel
3 Kimberly @KimberlyHutmacherWrites
4 Jone @DeoWriter
5 Linda @TeacherDance
6 Tara @Going to Walden
7 Ruth @thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown
8 Mary Lee @A Year of Reading
9 Rebecca @Rebecca Herzog
10 Janet F. @Live Your Poem
11 Dani @Doing the Work that Matters
12 Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
13 Doraine @Dori Reads
14 Christie @Wondering and Wandering
15 Robyn @Life on the Deckle Edge
16 Carol @Beyond LiteracyLink
17 Amy @The Poem Farm
18 Linda @A Word Edgewise
19 Heidi @my juicy little universe
20 Buffy @Buffy’s Blog
21 Michelle @Michelle Kogan
22 Catherine @Reading to the Core
23 Penny @a penny and her jots
24 Tabatha @The Opposite of Indifference
25 Jan @Bookseestudio
26 Linda @Write Time
27 Sheila @Sheila Renfro
28 Liz @Elizabeth Steinglass
29 Irene @Live Your Poem
30 Donna @Mainely Write

Passing the torch to Tabatha!