JoAnn's Blog
National Poetry Month, Day 1!
April 1, 2022
Happy National Poetry Month! Happy Poetry Friday! Heidi Mordhost hosts today's comprehensive and luscious Roundup at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!
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What Burger? A THINGS WE EAT Poem
March 10, 2022
Today's poem is from THINGS WE EAT - A BOOK OF ALPHABET POEMS FEATURING FOOD, a Children's Book Council "Hot Off the Press" Selection by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. It's a collection of ekphrastic poems written to photo prompts of diverse children eating, cooking, picking, growing, or (in one case) warning about foods. All profits from the book go to the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Children in Crisis fund. It's available now on amazon.
Hamburger
What burger? Hamburger,
nutburger, yamburger,
mushroom-and-beanburger,
biggest-you've-seen burger.
Burger with pickles
and onions and cheese,
ketchup and mustard
and lettuce? Yes, please!
© 2022 by JoAnn Early Macken
A hamburger is an odd topic choice for me. I quit eating meat when I was 16, and I've been a vegan for more than five years. But when I started thinking about all the different kinds of burgers available, I gave myself a challenge to include a variety of plant-based options. I found the rhythm as I walked the dog, and then the challenge became fun!
My favorite burger is adapted from this recipe for "BEEFY" VEGAN BLACK BEAN WALNUT BURGERS. I try to keep a stockpile in the freezer.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to submit a poem after I took Janet and Sylvia's Anthology 101 and Anthology 201 classes. You can find out more about this anthology in today's Poetry Friday Roundup at Sylvia's Poetry for Children blog. And you can find out more about Janet and Sylvia's poetry anthology classes, too. I found them comprehensive, well organized, and inspiring!
JoAnn
Wordplay Poems for Poetry Friday
October 28, 2021
Happy Poetry Friday! I'm participating in the wordplay challenge presented by the Poetry Sisters. Today's poem is based on the exercise suggested by poet Nikki Grimes in this interview with Michelle Heidenrich Barnes.
RAIN (a wordplay poem)
RAIN is a vertical word.
Its letters are streaks down a window—
except for proud R with its chest puffed out.
RAIN hangs out with CLOUDY and GRAY,
TORRENTS and BUCKETS,
CATS and DOGS.
RAIN is a glittery word.
It glimmers. It glistens.
It gussies up TREES and UMBRELLAS.
(c) 2021 JoAnn Early Macken
These wordplay poems remind me of the brilliant animal poem collection Words with Wrinkled Knees by Barbara Juster Esbensen. Twenty years ago, I received the Barbara Juster Esbensen Poetry Teaching Award for my work with a third grade class using Esbensen's book A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children to Write Poetry. With the prize money, I was able to buy a copy of Words with Wrinkled Knees for each student in the class. I have such fond memories of the experience that it's hard for me to pick a favorite poem, but here's one:
What a moonstruck
word. O W L !
Such round yellow lamps
for eyes and the hoot
built into the name
Beaked and taloned
it leaves the page
at dusk When blue light
turns to shadow
and wind moves
the empty paper this word
O W L
opens soundless wings
s a i l s o u t
to where the smallest letters
cower in the dark
--Barbara Juster Esbensen, Words with Wrinkled Knees
Linda has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at TeacherDance. Enjoy!
JoAnn
Chimney Swifts Drop In!
September 10, 2021
Chimney swifts roost together in fall before beginning their long migration.
Dusk. Look up. Listen:
whirling, chippering bird cloud.
Chimney swifts drop in.
You can find out more about chimney swifts from All About Birds or Audubon.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Enjoy!
These Days
September 3, 2021
These Days
Six in the morning
my neighbor's radio
interrupts dove's soft coo,
crickets' bright chirps.
I once had
obligations.
These days I just putter,
hands plunged in holy soil,
heart full of birdsong,
believing in miracles,
watching them grow.
© 2021 JoAnn Early Macken
It's been a summer, hasn't it? I took a step back from writing and spent more time gardening, reading, and sewing, hoping that a bit of a break would help me refocus and the annual back-to-school hubbub would invite me back to work.
The night before our neighborhood school started, we spotted nighthawks flying over as they do at the start of every school year. In the morning, excited kids and parents walked past our house to the elementary school down the block just like they used to. And I woke up excited about writing again.
Just what I needed, I guess. Lucky me!
Be sure to visit the Poetry Friday Roundup with Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!
Backyard Visitor, 8.30.21
August 31, 2021
hummingbird dashes
between socks and pajamas
clothesline obstacles
Hillside Gardening, 8.22.21
August 31, 2021
perfect weeding day
except I keep misplacing
my garden trowel
Morning Walk, 8.20.21
August 31, 2021
first one up the stairs
breaks through all the spider webs
after you, my dear
April 30 Poems & Poetry Friday!
April 30, 2021
Happy Poetry Friday! In honor of the final day of National Poetry Month 2021, I'm posting three gardening haiku. Alas, this blog format allows only one photo per post; trust that they are all based on my personal experience.
annual promise
I will pick my own tulips
before squirrels do
before it's too late
cage erupting peonies
corral the glory
whatever we plant
in our homemade compost
tomatoes come up
I'm happy to report that I've written and posted a poem each day for National Poetry Month. Please read on to see more!
I also wrote a guest post for Rochelle Melander's Write Now Coach blog about how you might turn a poem into a picture book.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Enjoy!
April 26 Poem
April 29, 2021
Must all kitchens be
built for tall people? Forget
stepstools. Make them duck!
April 23 Poem & Poetry Friday!
April 23, 2021
hugs from my sister
+ 45 dinners packed
= well-spent day
I'm posting a poem each day for National Poetry Month. Read on to see more!
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Reading to the Core. Enjoy!
April 21 Poem
April 23, 2021
Rhubarb's growing.
My, oh, my!
Guess I'll bake
a rhubarb pie.
Snowflakes in April?
Guess I'll try
a Snowflakes-in-April
Rhubarb Pie!
April 19 Poem
April 23, 2021
giant snails return
weather forecast mentions snow
good thing they have homes
April 18 Poem
April 23, 2021
Red-winged blackbird, from up in a tree,
announces himself trillingly.
His song sounds to me
like "Tweedle-dee-dee!"
Ornithologists might disagree.
April 16 Poem
April 16, 2021
skull-and-crossbones signs
would give a clearer warning
of the danger here
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Visit, read, enjoy!
Read on--more National Poetry Month poems below!
April 15 Poem
April 16, 2021
favorite gardens
+ view of water =
daily walking routes
Today's Equation Poem was inspired by Laura Purdie Salas. She's posting one every day on her website for National Poetry Month. And don't miss Laura's brilliant book Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations.
April 13 Poem
April 16, 2021
I.
I raked the front hill
still some weeding to do but
the front hill is raked
II.
I slept well last night
remarkable clarity
this morning's thinking
April 9 Poem, Poetry Friday, & Book Giveaway Reminder!
April 9, 2021
just a little bit
out of my way this fine view
neighbor's hellebores
Tabatha Yeatts is hosting today's Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. Enjoy!
And remember to enter the Book Giveaway of my new picture book Grow, illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman and published by Boyds Mills & Kane, at the Teaching Authors blog. Good luck!
April 6 Poem
April 7, 2021
oof I'd forgotten that
raking takes muscles my
arms not as strong as they
once were I fear
but
oh what a joy to be
working outside this is
truly my favorite
time of the year