National Poetry Month: First Day Budding
Spring has sprung, and I wish I had a cherry tree. | Cherry blossoms at POSTECH (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
April is National Poetry Month. So, I thought I would attempt to scratch out at least one new poem this month as my contribution. With that said, today I am sharing an original poem inspired by spring:
First Day Budding
A blush of white on trees
on the way
to work.
Ice?
Not when it’s raining
like this.
Pink tinged,
as though every tree
on Earth
is about to burst forth
with cherry blossoms.
Tomorrow,
the whole world
will be green.
By Amanda L. Webster (more…)
My tips for winning the Mega Millions jackpot (hint: I don’t have any)
Mega Millions tickets (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With the Mega Millions lottery jackpot at half a billion dollars, everyone is talking about how best to win. So, I thought I’d write my own little list of tips. However, unlike every other blog post or news article you may have read on the subject, I will not be giving you tips on how to win (per se.)
I hate to break it to you sunshine, but all those tips you’ve been reading in the news are B.S. The lotto is, by nature, a crap shoot. The lottery is not designed for you to win. It is designed to generate revenue for the government.
#bettingonthegovernmentisalosinggame
The lottery is a game. Like any game, there is a good, clean, fun way to play. There is also a horrible, bad, spend yourself into the poorhouse way to play. (Don’t play that second way.) In case you don’t know the difference, here are my top 5 tips for playing the lotto. (more…)
I need to write something
This is how busy I am right now, in case you wondered. I have a bag for each day of the week so I can keep everything organized!
Please feel free to skip this post, as I have nothing to say today.
One of the secrets to running a ‘good’ blog is to blog often. So, I feel the need to write something today, considering I have posted nothing since Friday. I hate when life gets in the way of writing.
I’m back to school – playing both student and teacher, for the semester – so I’ve been fairly busy lately. Not to mention the fact that my kids have been sick this week, and I am trying desperately not to get sick myself until at least tomorrow. I teach two classes on Wednesdays, so I just can’t afford to be sick today. I’ll be sick tomorrow and get well in time for my Friday morning class. (more…)
Emily Dickinson’s To-Do List on Poetry Friday
Image via Wikipedia
I’m crazy right now with NaNoWriMo, so for today’s Poetry Friday, I’ll be sharing a quick poem by Andrea Carlisle from I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You: A Book of Her Poems & His Poems Collected in Pairs, collected by Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul B Janeczko.
Emily Dickinson‘s To-Do List
Monday
Figure out what to wear—white dress?
Put hair in bun
Bake gingerbread for Sue
Peer out window at passersby
Write poem
Hide poem
Tuesday
White dress? Off-white dress?
Feed cats
Chat with Lavinia
Work in garden
Letter to T.W.H. (more…)
The writer’s life on Poetry Friday
Image via Wikipedia
9:47 a.m.
This is this writer’s life today on this beautiful Poetry Friday:
- Kids dressed and fed and off to wherever it is they need to be today: Check
- Morning walk and shower: Check
- Breakfast and coffee: Check
- E-mail reviewed and inbox somewhat emptied: Check
- Facebook caught up on for the moment: Check (BTW, go check out my Facebook Fan Page and like me.)
- Morning pages written: Check
- Write a poem for my poetry class and get it done quick enough to share on Poetry Friday, hosted today by Random Noodling, thus killing two birds with one stone.
- Write and post this blog post, which will not be complete until I have that poem ready to add. (more…)
Poetry Friday: “Rules for the Dance”
Cover via Amazon
This week’s KidLitoSphere’s Poetry Friday Round-up is brought to you by Jama’s Alphabet Soup.
11:37 a.m.
Friday rolls around once more, and once more, I am attempting to participate in KitLitoSphere’s Poetry Round-up. If only I had a poem ready to share this week. But alas, I have yet to look at my homework for my kids and YA poetry class. I did just check out my syllabus, and it looks like I need to read pages 87-99 in Mary Oliver‘s Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse. So, I think I’ll talk about this for now instead of trying to pop out an off-the-cuff poem that will likely just fizzle and flop.
In addition to Rules of the Dance, we are also reading Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook. Each week, we must read a selection from one or both of these books, and then write a poem based on the reading. For example, last week I had to write a metered poem (didn’t go so well, in case you’re wondering.) This week’s reading will require even more metrical verse, and this is why I’m not in a hurry to try to pop out my poem for the week. This is going to take some time and thought. (more…)
