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JoAnn's Blog

Small Seed Scrounger & Poetry Friday!

November 22, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Field Mouse, Scrounging Around

 

Scrounging Around

 

I'm a brown field mouse,
and I live outside your house.
From my burrow underground,
I can scurry all around,
finding everything I need.
I flourish on the seed
that falls from your feeders.

 

Birds are very messy eaters.

 

 

We try to remember our feathery and furry friends with extra treats when the temperature drops like it has around here lately. It's a pleasure to watch the birds on the feeders and the creatures that clean up around them. I hope you find a moment to stop and look, too.

 

Happy Poetry Friday! Irene has today's Roundup at Live Your Poem! Enjoy!

 

 

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A Pep Talk for Poets & Poetry Friday!

November 15, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Pep Talk for Poets, The Poem I Threw Away

 

The Poem I Threw Away

 

Chickens are chuckling. Cows guffaw.
Donkeys hee-haw and bray.
What are the animals laughing about?
A poem I threw away.

 

A goat pulled it from the recycling.
Now horses rear up and neigh
as a rooster reads aloud to the crowd
the poem I threw away.

 

So don't you give up too quickly.
Ruminate for another day.
Someone might find hilarious
the poem you throw away.

 

I've been working on a collection of silly middle grade poems, many of which got their start on this blog last April for National Poetry Month. As I dig way down into old computer files and notebooks, I sometimes unearth a draft I still like. This is one from summer (ohh...summer!) that doesn't fit the theme of the collection. I'm posting it because I need pep talks from time to time. Maybe you do, too.

 

Linda has today's Poetry Friday Roundup at TeacherDance. Enjoy!

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Walking Poem & Poetry Friday!

November 9, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Rosy, walking

 

Walking

 

Fresh paper,
new pen,
same old thoughts
again.
Though I'd like
to hide,
I'm heading
outside.
I listen
for birds.
New thoughts form
new words.
Cold snow in
my face.
Those words start
to race.
Keep walking.
Get clear.
The rhythm
I hear
and feel in
my feet—
that regular
beat—
turns into
a poem
before I'm
back hoem.
Fresh paper,
new pen—
inspired
again.

 

Today's walk in the first snow of the winter was a surprise even though we had seen it in the forecast. Rosy had to fetch her flying disk instead of the whistling ball she chased all summer. She made the switch like a champ. 

 

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Today's Little Ditty. Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday, a Poem for Travelers, & Poetry Friday!

November 2, 2018
Tags: Poetry Friday, Happy Birthday, Travel Poem

 

Thanks to our thoughtful husbands, my twin sister Judy and I got to celebrate our birthday together last month. We all ate dinner at a fabulous vegan restaurant in Boston, walked along the coast in Maine, and went leaf peeping in New Hampshire. We had a wonderful time, and then we were glad to be home again.

 

Here's a poem I wrote for travelers and for those who wait for travelers to return.

 

 

Travel Prayer

 

Let those who travel have an easy flight
and chat with pleasant strangers on the way.
Let those who stay behind not feel bereft
but find some helpful task to fill each day,
to occupy their hands, their thoughts, their hearts,
not miss too terribly the ones who left.

 

While those who were together are apart,
let those who travel, travel without fear
and find their journeys worth the efforts made.

 

Let those who stay at home wait unafraid
and carry on with grace and hopeful cheer
until at last all loved ones reunite.

 

JoAnn Early Macken

 

 

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Enjoy! And if you haven't voted yet, please vote. If you've already voted, please help someone else vote. Our democracy depends  on it!

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