Monday's Poem: The Dog

Photo by Keith Snell

The Dog

(After William Carlos Williams)

As the dog

dove over

the edge of

the patio

wall his legs

stretched out

determined

then his head

flew round

into the world

of the flying

frisbee

                    

                           Anne Knowles

Monday's Poem: Crickets

Crickets

The quiet dusk was gently starting stars

And we were unaware of spring and our content,

When old, familiar, winter-silent crickets

Chirped a burst of spring-content surprise.

Peter swung young Ralphie to his back

And I swung Sara up to mine and we--

With all our laughing--skipped outside

And stirred the dirt and danced to all the noise.

Monday's Poem: Quite So Sad

Quite So Sad

I wish I wasn't

quite so sad.

I'd talk about

The day I had.

No one cares

about my test

or how I spelled

the word conkuest.

It's boring, too,

To hear me say

I skinned my knee.

It hurt all day.

Dad scolded me

and we had liver.

The cake got burnt.

I got a sliver.

I'd talk about

the day I had

if it wasn't

quite so sad.

                             Anne Knowles

Monday's Poem: Cottonwood Seeds

Cottonwood Seeds

What did you see

in the park today?

Cottonwood seeds

all flying away.

I'd like them to stay

and whirl me a shirt.

The one that I'm wearing

is covered in dirt.

                                  Anne Knowles

My Friend, the Starfinder

Another wonderful picture book by George Ella Lyon is My Friend, the Starfinder.  George Ella is a poet, and her feeling for words makes this book a delight to read.  The illustrator is Stephen Gammell.  He's a Caldecott Medal winner, and the pictures in this book and in Come a Tide pull you right into each story.  I love studying them because they wrap George Ella's story in layers and layers of beauty and meaning.

Come a Tide

One of my favorite picture books is Come a Tide, written by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by Stephen Gammell.  It's a fun book to read with natural, easy rhythm.  Most of all, it is an important book for children to hear and later to read themselves.  It tells a story of how a family and a community overcome a disaster with perseverance, strong family ties, and community involvement.  In this book, people care for neighbors.  And, Come a Tide has one of my favorite lines in children's literature.  If you read the book, see if you can pick out what that line is.

George Ella was a friend from college days in Kentucky.  We both took a poetry course from Howard Nemerov.  I can see George Ella in class now.  She always sat next to the man who would become her husband and she was always writing.  Since then, she has published poetry, many picture books, and young adult novels.  Her heart and her heritage come through in her writing.   

MONDAY'S POEM: Chicken or Egg

Chicken or Egg

If I were an egg

I'd rather hatch

than be eaten

in a batch

of scrambled friends.

What scrambled ends!

I don't want to beg

to keep time a-tickin'

but if I were an egg

I'd rather be a chicken.

                             Anne Knowles