JoAnn Early Macken

JoAnn's Blog

Sunshine and Poetry Friday!

January 13, 2023

I'm so much more productive when the sun is shining, and this winter in southeast Wisconsin has been even grayer than usual. It's also notable for its lack of snow. Lucky for me, the temperature has been fine for walking. I can stroll to either Lake Michigan or the Milwaukee River, where nature's delights abound in any weather. On one sunny day, I drafted a stack of haiku, and I've been revising and posting one a day. If you'd like to see more, read the posts below.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Chicken Spaghetti. Enjoy!

16 Comments

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Jan 13, 2023 8:41 AM EST

Cheers for enduring Ol Sol's rousing skills. And coyotes! What an adventurous path your walk, bringing you these wonderful Haiku.

Happy 2023, Joanne.

- Jan/ Bookseedstudio

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 9:31 AM EST

Thank you, Jan! Happy New Year to you, too!

Jan 13, 2023 11:07 AM EST

"A stack of haiku." I love that idea and enjoyed the ones here. Thank goodness for sunshine, right?

- Susan T.

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:38 PM EST

Thank you, Susan! Yes, I appreciate sunshine more these days because we don't see so much of it.

Jan 13, 2023 11:32 AM EST

You capture a quiet threat in this haiku that one feels seeing animals in the wild. It reminds us that they are wild and they require or respect.

- Janice Scully

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:40 PM EST

True, Janice, although the kinds of threats we see around here are only to wildlife and small pets. I'm glad I don't have to deal with bears or big cats!

Jan 13, 2023 4:14 PM EST

I love when you post pics, & words, about your walks, especially Lake Michigan, am in awe that you are so close. We have a resident coyote in the neighborhood, never a pic, but he is there, as you wrote, probably watching us! Thanks, JoAnn!

- Linda Baie

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 13, 2023 4:42 PM EST

Thank you, Linda! I grew up a block away from Lake Michigan and have lived most of my life close enough to walk to it. It would be weird for me not to have it nearby as a constant landmark.

Jan 13, 2023 5:30 PM EST

Hello fellow Wisconsinite! I lived in Holmen (outside La Crosse) for the last 23 years. This year we moved to our cabin in the Northwoods - near Medford. I love that you are writing haiku! We had coyotes in the coulee behind us in Holmen - They would howl at 3 am when the kits were fed. I miss it! :)

- Carol Labuzzetta

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:15 AM EST

I've only heard middle-of-the-night howling on camping trips, and it is eerie! Life in the north woods sounds so appealing, with plenty of other wildlife to watch. Lucky you!

Jan 13, 2023 7:56 PM EST

How beautiful! I'm up to my elbows in gray and cold here. I'd love some sun to take my notebook out into. Your haiku are lovely.

- Linda Mitchell

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:16 AM EST

Thank you, Linda! Yes, we plan our daily walks around the weather forecast these days and try to get outside whenever the sun is shining. Hope you see some sunshine soon!

Jan 14, 2023 8:22 AM EST

Ooooh, what a fabulous moment captured. The double watching. <3 I've only seen glimpses of coyotes here and there, but at a park last summer, we watched one skirt the edge for several hundred yards before disappearing into the woods. Amazing to be in the presence of biggish wildlife.

- Laura Purdie Salas

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:29 AM EST

Laura, you just reminded me of another sighting. Every summer, we take at least one canoe trip down the Wisconsin River, camping on sandbars along the way. One day as we were watching a flock of sandhill cranes across the water on another sandbar, a coyote darted out of the trees, grabbed a crane by the neck, and carried it back into the woods. Hardly a feather was ruffled, but we were awestruck.

Jan 14, 2023 9:11 AM EST

Lovely haiku. I often hear coyotes at night but haven't spotted one on my walks yet.

- Kay Jernigan McGriff

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:32 AM EST

Thank you, Kay! We don't see them often, but we know they live in the parks where we regularly walk. Once in a while, someone spots one in our neighborhood, too. They keep the local rabbit population in check.

Jan 14, 2023 9:19 AM EST

Yes, watching us watching! I love sunshine too (and actually warm weather). This cloud, cold day is tough.

- Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 9:36 AM EST

I don't know if I will ever get used to the cold (although this winter has been mostly tolerable), but I try to appreciate the periods of dormancy that allow new growth--even in us!

Jan 14, 2023 10:55 AM EST

I love that your haiku celebrate the brown and grey of winter!

- Mary Lee

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:34 AM EST

Thanks, Mary Lee! We have to either celebrate or despair, right? I'd rather focus on the positive!

Jan 14, 2023 11:12 AM EST

JoAnn, I thought all of Michigan was snowy but you enlightened me with your thoughts, photo, and poem. A few years ago (while living in Long Island) we heard that coyotes were going to swim across the Long Island Sound from Connecticut and infest our land. I can't imagine waiting for them to come. Thanks for bringing sunshine. We have had gray days in Virginia.

- Carol Varsalona

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:39 AM EST

Thank you, Carol! I think Michigan is snowy--the wind blew all our Wisconsin snow across the lake! I've never seen a coyote swim, but the one we saw was on an island. It might have walked across the ice, but the river won't stay frozen all winter, and no doubt it travels there in summer, too. I'd like to see it!

Jan 14, 2023 11:13 AM EST

I love the implied threat in this haiku, a reminder that we are witnessing an animal in the wild.

- janice scully

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:40 AM EST

Thank you, Janice! That coyote was certainly a threat to any rabbits on the island!

Jan 14, 2023 11:18 AM EST

Beautiful haikus. Felt like I was out walking with you. Would've loved to see that dried hydrangea cartwheeling!

- PATRICIA J FRANZ

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 14, 2023 11:42 AM EST

Thank you, Patricia! It was a sight to remember! I could have scrambled for the camera, but I decided to enjoy watching it instead. It rolled for a good long distance!

Jan 14, 2023 4:47 PM EST

I read through many of your haiku, Jo Ann. They are lovely and inspiring! I'm trying to write a haiku a day. Love that you wrote a whole stack from one walk.

- Rose Cappelli

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 15, 2023 8:20 AM EST

Thank you, Rose! I think a haiku a day is a great habit to keep. I've done it for a month at a time for National Poetry Month, which can be both exhilarating and exhausting. I look forward to trying again!

Jan 15, 2023 8:23 AM EST

I'm the same when it comes to sun. Good on ya for continuing to walk in the gray, and to haiku your way along. I love that final line, "watching us watching."

- Heidi

Jan 19, 2023 6:18 PM EST

JoAnn, this series reminds me of a book I love -- Haiku Hike, which was put out by Scholastic. That coyote watching/watcher is lovely

- Laura Shovan

Reply by JoAnn on Jan 20, 2023 1:06 PM EST

Thank you, Laura! I'll have to look for the book!

Walking in Sunshine Again

January 12, 2023

Tags: haiku, sunshine

This one's from a walk to Lake Michigan, my favorite destination.

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Invitation

January 9, 2023

Tags: haiku, sunshine

On sunny days, I am compelled to write poems. I've got at least a few more to share. Join me? Feel free to add yours in the comments. Have fun!

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National Poetry Month, Day 1!

April 1, 2022

Tags: National Poetry Month, haiku, sunshine, birch

Happy National Poetry Month! Happy Poetry Friday! Heidi Mordhost hosts today's comprehensive and luscious Roundup at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!

9 Comments

Day 11: Sunshine! Book Giveaway!

April 11, 2018

Tags: Book Giveaway, National Poetry Month, Write a Poem Step by Step, sunshine

Sunshine! Oh, sunshine!
Good morning! Hello!
You wrap up the world
in your warm, soothing glow.
Shine on all creatures.
Make everything bright.
Sunshine! Oh, sunshine!
We all need your light.

Last night, I heard Jack Prelutsky's "Homework! Oh, Homework!" in a TV commercial. With that sound in my head, I thought it might be fun to use it as a model for a new poem. Mine ended up going in a different direction (as poems do), but the exercise was fun!

Jack Prelutsky's poem appears in The New Kid on the Block. Some of the poems in the book (but not "Homework! Oh, Homework!") are included in a sampler here.

I'm giving away a copy of Write a Poem Step by Step every day in April. The book is based on my school visit presentations and includes a simple plan you can follow to create your own poems. I wrote it for students, teachers, and writers of all ages.

Post a comment here to enter. I'll choose one at random tomorrow and drop a copy of Write a Poem Step by Step in the mail—U.S. addresses only, please. I’ll email you for your mailing address if you win. And if you don't win right away, please check back again. I'll have 31 copies to share!

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JoAnn Early Macken

JoAnn's Blog

Sunshine and Poetry Friday!

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Walking in Sunshine Again

Invitation

National Poetry Month, Day 1!

Comments

Day 11: Sunshine! Book Giveaway!

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