Once again, we are very happy to host Poetry Friday this week. And since it is my birthday today, let’s make this round-up a veritable par-tee!
Do feed your spirit and sensibilities with our buffet of poetic verses that we have on spread for you today. As per usual, I shall be updating this post throughout the day and tomorrow. Do leave your links in the Comments Section as we are excited to gather these poems up for everyone’s delectation.
Bon AppĂ©tit – Appetizers to Whet your Poetic Palate
The amazing Robyn Hood Black is in early today with some delectable haiku. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Spanish moss, tropical colors, and Appalachian landscapes among others – as Robyn shares an original poem as well as another haiku from G.R. Le Blanc. Robyn also goes on to share that the spring issues of several haiku journals are out, make sure that you congratulate her for having several of her poems published!
April Halprin Wayland from Teaching Authors combines Women’s History Month and Poetry Friday as they 
celebrate the radiant beauty of Helen Keller’s life with “How easy it is to fly on paper wings!”
My beautiful baby girl Fats has given us such a treat today with a Double Feature of Mark Svendsen and Tim Burton.
Truly a girl after my own heart, she knows my fascination with the gothic, the dark, the strange, the creepy, the surreal, the in-between. She shares her thoughts about Mark Svendsen’s Circus Carnivore and an eerie video clip of a precocious seven year old boy who dreams of dipping his aunt in wax.
We get a sampler of tasty appetizers from the various posts of lovely Diane Mayr – which will be up by the witching hour (tick-tock) from your part of the world. At Random Noodling Diane celebrates a book of verse published circa 1915 entitled Are Women People? Kids of the Homefront Army shares “The News.” Kurious Kitty has “The Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimke while Kurious K’s Kwotes’ P.F. quote is by Amy Lowell who is also featured at The Write Sisters, with her poem “March Evening” – how fitting indeed!
The kind-hearted and inspiring teacher Tara from A Teaching Life combines Poetry Friday and The Slice of Life March 
Challenge with an Emily Dickinson offering. There is a lot to ponder as we reflect on being a nobody … or is it a somebody… or a someone to anybody? Tara also shares slices of childhood memories with her beloved grandfather – be regaled with stories about Pilgrim’s Progress, Bangalore India and cups of tea, as you continue to ask along with Emily Dickinson: I’m Nobody! Who are You?
On to the Main Course
The ever-dedicated and insightful mother, grandmother, wife, teacher and blogger extraordinaire Linda Baie from Teacher Dance also combines The Slice of Life March Challenge and Poetry Friday with a heartwarming Poem of Goodbye as she explores the nuances of childhood, growing up and letting go.
A congratulatory cheer goes to Laura Salas as she shares the wonderful news of her  BookSpeak! Poems About Books being a part of NCTE’s Notables list for 2012! Hooray! She tops this off with another delectable twins poem, “Fair Is Fair!” by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen. Laura also invites us to come play with a little bit of techno-trash in 15 Words or Less Poems.
Julie Larios from The Drift Record is in with two servings this Friday: the first is a page from Bob Raczka’s 
LEMONADE (yay! we have drinks now! and it’s family-friendly too), as well as links to Sylvia Vardell’s blog post about the Librarians’ Choices books [see post above about Laura]. Second serving is Julie’s own list of favorite 2011 poetry books for children at Books 
Around the Table.
We are serenaded by Rudyard Kipling’s A Smuggler’s Song as brought in by Polly Faber from The Little Wooden Horse. Polly also shares a huge slice of birthday cake (yes, we are having it for main course too, thank you very much) as she muses on the difficulties of reading poetry aloud – and performance anxieties (whether it be brother or husband-induced).
Our gathering would not be complete without the lovely Tabatha Yeatts from The Opposite of Indifference as she brings a video of Yew
Moon from John Siddique to the table and reminds us to reflect on the “solid seed of 
ourselves.”
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater from The Poem Farm joins the party with an original poem titled “What Are You Good At?” along with a few musings about what we value and how we define ourselves. Good topic during a lively party: what are you good at? Head on over there to share your thoughts. Amy also features a couple of great poetry books about families – Nikki Grimes and Mary Ann Hoberman, no less, make a cameo appearance.
The intriguing Donna Smith from Mainely Write brings another original poem into the table with her Dictionary Poem. Drop by and be captivated, titillated, fascinated, charmed, riveted, entertained by this unique verse – and it comes with a recommendation for 
teachers too!
More original poems and photographs fill our sensibilities as Liz Steinglass of Growing Wild celebrates spring with Blue Ribbon Nest – makes you wonder not only what fills up your year but also what makes up your home – the twig and the branches, the trimmings and the feathers that make a house your haven.
I squint a bit and fix my eyeglasses a little bit more as the amazingly-erudite Maria Horvath from A Poem a Day asks us to sit back and contemplate on forgiveness as she shares a classic W. H. Auden poem Who’s Who, a fitting art work called Lost Time by 
Annelisse Molini, and a quotation from CS Lewis. Enough contemplation indeed to take us through the entire weekend.
Mary Lee Hahn from Year of Reading brings fruits (“after apple picking” and a little bit of madness!) to the table as she joins a group of 64 poets to play around with words and fruits and apples and oranges.. and yes “Of the great harvest I myself desired.” Thanks Mary Lee for sharing these delectable fruits with us – the ‘scent of apples’ linger in the 
air.
Katya Czaja of Write. Sketch. Repeat. – adds a dose of humor to our poetry party as she shares a poetry-related comic that she got off the internet this week. Find out why she chooses not to be compared to a summer’s day. And do feel better soon Katya! Sending you healing energies and positive vibe across the seas, a few mountains, an ocean, and several 
islands. 🙂
An invitation is extended to all party-goers by Irene Latham from Live Your Poem to sign up for National Poetry Month. Imagine a poem traveling daily from blog to blog during April, with bloggers adding a line. Sounds like fun indeed! Looks like something we can do for April at GatheringBooks! Count us in, Irene!
Everyone, wear your party hats and pose like a queen for Laura Shovan from Author Amok as she gives each one not a spoonful, not a plate, but a pot of fudge. She also shares an original poem entitled Feel what I’m Singing as we dance a 
little bit to some jazz music. After all, what is a party without a bit of dancing.
Fuse #8 from School Library Journal joins the poetry party with an incisive and in-depth review of Marilyn Singer’s A Stick is an Excellent Thing. Filled with gorgeous page-spreads and thoughtful musings laced with nostalgia, I am certain you would want your own copy of this picture book after you’ve read this post.
Doraine Bennett from Dori Reads asks everyone to get ready for a poetry tournament as she shares Lord Alfred Tennyson’s The Tournament to warm us up and Sydney Lanier’s The Tournament. Looks like this party is in for a few games 
with verbal jousting and fencing with lines and pentameter.
Karen Edmisten from The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title gives us a taste of spring with Luci Shaw’s Revival. Visit her to check on moles, cedars, and complicated ice and fog.
Persephone seems to be up and about as Janet from Across the Page also celebrates spring’s lifting her head 
with E. L. M. King’s “Robin’s Song.” It comes with a beautiful photo of a vividly-purple crocus.
Joy Frelinger from Poetry for Kids reminds us to keep warm as she celebrates her original poem Breezy Nights with dust aflying and the full moon all-aglow. She also shares that The Festival for the Book is in Tucson this weekend! Sounds like a lot of fun! Hope you find a lot of great reads.
Sally Ito from Paper Tigers asks us “to be not defeated by the rain” as she shares Poetry for Tsunami Survivors in Japan of 3/11. This is part of the Tomo anthology – the brainchild of writer Holly Thompson of Japan as a fundraiser for teens in the Tohoku 
region.
Charles Van Gorkum from Rainforest Soul gives us a buffet of poems to choose from, take your pick with Pool of Siloam, Song’s End, and Idyll of a Bootmaker Poet among others.
Back for Tea and Dessert (More Wine, anyone?)
Travis Jonker from 100 Scope Notes ushers in delectable dessert with a trio of book spine poems (or centos) in preparation for National Poetry Month! Get in on the game and check out your book spines for some poetry possibilities. Don’t forget to take a picture!
We are graced today by the presence of Greg Pincus of Gottabook who deftly noted that there is No Poem Today (a poem). 
Find out why (or why not) and visit him with a few words (or more – or none!).
Delzey of Fomagrams brings a little bit of music [Feelings, nothing more than feelings] and (not one but) two poems from the same source – “centos created from the lyrics of a Morris Albert song” – Join in Delzey’s sentimientos. 🙂
A party would not be complete without some yummy marshmallows! Thank you Heidi Mordhorst from My Juicy Little Universe with three tasty
marshmallow treats! Heidi shares some Kristine O’Connell George, an Ode to the Burning Marshmallow by Marie Freudenberg and an original poem entitled Marshmallow, what Marshmallow? Do send Heidi some more love as she also 
celebrates her birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday, fellow Piscean Poet!
Elaine Magliaro from Wild Rose Reader brings cake to the table and lovely photographs too as she shares an original poem Things to Do If You Are a Grandfather Clock. Celebrate four generations of loveliness in Elaine’s post.
Books 4 Learning joins the fun with Eric Carle’s Dragons Dragons and Other Creatures that Never Were. The Pegasus, the 
Kracken and Mermaids are just one click away. Teaching opportunities and links are also provided! Amazing review.
We are taken to more threaded elements of the fantastical while on a writing retreat in a rustic cottage with Lorie Ann Grover’s haiku Pulled Dreams. You can also find her jamming Elvis Costello and Elmo at ReaderTotz.
And let’s have it for some Joyful Noise as Janet Squires from All about the Books shares a personal favorite of ours here in 
GatheringBooks: Paul Fleischman and his Poems for Two Voices. And there shall be grasshoppers and autumn-laid eggs in spring.
More thoughts of spring come from Ms. Mac of Check it Out who is in today with Robert Frost’s A Prayer in Spring – perfect companion for some piping-hot tea and a bit of contemplation as we smell flowers coming up the ground like “ghosts by night.”
As Frost says a quiet prayer, Carlie from Twinkling Along continues this spiritual meanderings with an original poem I am the Following as 
she lets go with a bit of stream-of-consciousness in her writing. Find out why she has decided on trying something new in 
her writing.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow makes an appearance (as a good companion post to Frost) as SemicolonSherry features The Village Blacksmith. Methinks we all need “a mighty man…Â With large and sinewy hands …Â And the muscles of his brawny arms” oh dear, oh dear, this party is rockin’ and rollin’!
Anastasia Suen of Booktalking shares her Friday Reads and a snippet from the North Star as could be found in I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery by Cynthia Grady (Author) and Michele Wood 
(Illustrator).
If you wish to know what the Secret to Life is as our poetry party mellows down, head on over to Ruth’s There is no such thing as a Godforsaken town with a bit of light music from James Taylor. We do need that beautiful voice and guitar strings in this party.
Finally we have Betsy from Teaching Young Writers – once again, combined with the Slice of Life Challenge as she shares an original poem entitled The Chapter Beyond Pain.Â
If there are any more late comers to the party, just share your links below and I shall try to update within the day, as I head on over to do Sivananda Yoga (for real) as this party has made me filled to bursting! Thanks for all the well-wishes everyone!
Gathering Books 
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Happy Birthday Myra
I have a nocturnal poem posted today with a poetry prompt. http://www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com
Have a great Friday and a super weekend. The Festival for the Book is in Tucson this weekend.
Joy
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Oh, Myra, Happy Birthday! I hope it’s full of delights, poetic and otherwise. I’m sharing a little good haiku news today at http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm?post=843529
Have a wonderful day!
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Thanks for hosting on your BIRTHDAY, Myra!
TeachingAuthors.com is in with a collision of Women’s HIstory Month and Poetry Friday. My poem is from Helen Keller’s perspective, based on her quote about reading, “How easy it is to fly on paper wings!”
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Happy Birthday Myra! May your day be filled with sunshine!
My posts will all go up after midnight, EST. At Random Noodling I look at a book of verse published circa 1915, Are Women People?
Kids of the Homefront Army shares “The News.”
Kurious Kitty has “The Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimke. Kurious K’s Kwotes’ P.F. quote is by Amy Lowell.
Amy Lowell is also featured at The Write Sisters, where I have her poem, “March Evening.”
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Happy Birthday lovely Myra!!! How fitting that it should fall on Poetry Friday! My contribution is an old favorite by Emily Dickinson with a story explaining how it figures in my life (my post is doing double duty with the March Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers:
http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2012/03/slice-of-life-challengepoetry-friday.html
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Wow, Myra, happiest of birthdays to you today! I hope the day brings pleasure all the day. My post today is a double duty with the Two Writing Teachers challenge too, like Tara’s. I have been working on a project of children growing & changing, those moments that we so hate to let go & doing it through poetry. Here is my first poem. http://teacherdance.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday-plus-two-writing-teachers.html
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What a wonderful birthday party, Myra. Thank you for inviting all of us!
I’m in with some lovely news about my book BookSpeak, plus another delectable twins poem, “Fair Is Fair!” by J. Patrick Lewis, at http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/two-two/
And 15 Words or Less Poems (come play) are at http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/15-words-or-less-techno-trash/
Happy Birthday!
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Happy Birthday, Myra, and many happy returns of the day! Thank you for hosting the Poetry Friday round-up. I have two different posts going up this Friday. The first at The Drift Record posts a page from Bob Raczka’s LEMONADE, and also links to Syvia Vardell’s blog post about the Librarians’ Choices books (Laura Purdie Salas, congratulations!) The second is my own list of favorite 2011 poetry books for children at Books Around the Table
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Happy Birthday! I offer you a very big slice of (virtual sadly) chocolate cake with smarties on the top and everything.
Thank you for hosting a Poetry party.
I am sharing my brother- provoked performance anxiety initiated by Rudyard Kipling’s ‘A Smuggler’s song’ today.
http://thelittlewoodenhorse.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday.html
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Happy Birthday, dear Myra! So glad to share a birthday week with you. 🙂 I am sharing a poetry video today:
http://www.tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2012/03/solid-seed-of-ourselves.html
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Happy Poetry Friday Birthday to you!! Thank you for hosting!
Today at The Poem Farm, I have an original poem titled “What Are You Good At?” along with a few thoughts and too, a couple of great poetry books about families.
http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2012/03/what-are-you-good-at.html
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Happy birthday! I am combining my March Slice of Life Challenge with Poetry Friday today with my original “Dictionary Poem”, a found poem called “Intrigued”.
http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2012/03/dictionary-poem.html
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Happy Birthday! and Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks for hosting.
At Gathering Wild I have a photo and original poem titled “Blue Ribbon Nest” in celebration of spring:
http://www.lizsteinglass.com/2012/03/blue-ribbon-nest.html
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Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Myra!
Happy Birthday to you!
(sung to the tune of “Happy Birthday to you!”)
And thank you for hosting.
Over at A Poem a Day, today’s post looks at forgiveness. It’s part of the theme of contemplation.
Maria
http://www.ghpoetryplace.blogspot.com/
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Happy Happy Poetry-Filled Birthday!!
Thanks for hosting…again! How did I not notice that you got two slots so close to each other?!?! Oh, well. It’s kinda fun (for us, at least!!) to come back again so soon!!
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday-madness.html
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Pingback: Humor — Poetry Friday | Katya Czaja
Happy Birthday, Myra!!
I’d like to offer you a little amuse-bouche — a quick poetry-related comic I found this week on the internet.
http://www.katyaczaja.com/posts/humor-poetry-friday/
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Dear Myra – happy happy birthday! Wishing you a poetry-filled year! I invite you and everyone to sign up for some National Poetry Month fun — 2012 KidLit Progressive Poem. It’s a poem that travels daily blog to blog during April, with bloggers adding a line! Who knows what twists and turns our poem will take?? Hope you’ll join me. http://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2012/03/sign-up-here-for-2012-kidlit.html
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Happy birthday, Myra. I hope everyone treats you like a queen, or a celebrity today.
Celebrities are my theme this week. I was so inspired by the poem “Fudge Pot” — a celebrity found poem at Found Poetry Review, that I’m trying my own found poem, taken from a celebrity interview. I won’t reveal the secret celebrities here, but you’ll laugh out loud when you read the source for “Fudge Pot.” http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday-celebrity-found-poems.html
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Happy birthday! I’ve A Stick Is an Excellent Thing by Marilyn Singer over at A Fuse #8 Production: http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/03/09/review-of-the-day-a-stick-is-an-excellent-thing-by-marilyn-singer/#_
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Happy Birthday, Myra! I hope you have a wonderful, poetry-filled day.
I am in this week with a few tournament poems to get prepared for the March Madness poetry tournament.
http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2012/03/gettin-ready-for-march-madness-poetry.html
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Thanks for hosting — I’m in this week with Lucy Shaw. The link is here: http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday.html
Thanks!
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Oops — Luci, not Lucy. Hate when I misspell a name! 🙂
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Thank you for hosting! I have a spring poem in celebration of the sight of crocuses this morning.
http://www.acrossthepage.net/2012/03/spring-lifts-her-head/
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Pingback: A Versified Birthday: Poetry Friday Round Up « – Gathering Books | Books Palace
Hi, Sally here with PaperTigers on a post of poetry for tsunami survivors in Japan: http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/poetry-friday-be-not-defeated-by-the-rain-poetry-for-tsunami-survivors-of-311/
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Happy Birthday, Myra! Browse my selection, and take any one of them for your special present! http://rainforestsoul.blogspot.com
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Thanks for hosting! In preparation for National Poetry Month I posted a trio of book spine poems (or centos): http://100scopenotes.com/2012/03/09/poetry-friday-three-of-them/
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Happy Birthday, Myra! I think hosting Poetry Friday is a great way to celebrate.
I’m up with a new poem today: No Poem Today.
http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2012/03/no-poem-today-poem.html
Thanks for hosting!
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birthday greetings and salutations! i bring you gifts of two poems from the same source, centos created from the lyrics of a morris albert song.
http://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/poetry-friday-once-more-with/
and thanks for hosting such a wonderful party!
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Happy poetry party, birthday girl! I offer up marshmallows today: powerful fluff!
http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-got-up-this-morning-with-plans-to.html
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Thanks so much for doing the roundup this week!
At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original list poem titled “Things to Do If You Are a Grandfather Clock.”
http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2012/03/things-to-do-if-you-are-grandfather.html
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Thanks for hosting. Please add my review of Eric Carle’s Dragons Dragons and Other Creatures that Never Were.
http://books4learning.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-dragons-dragons-and-other.html
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Pingback: Books 4 Learning: Poetry: Dragons Dragons and Other Creatures that Never Were (by Eric Carle)
Happy birthday to you! What a wonderful job you do rounding up. Thank you!
Today at On Point, I have the haiku Pulled Dreams.
At readertotz we are jamming with Elvis Costello and Elmo!
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Thanks for hosting.
My selection is “Joyful Noise: poems for two voices” written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Eric Beddows.
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Thank you for hosting, I hope your birthday is frabious. I have a Robert Frost poem about spring: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/poetry-friday-4/
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Joyeux anniversaire, mon amie. I feel nourished and full, on such a poetic feast!
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Happy Birthday! What a wonderful way to celebrate. I hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you!
I have an original poem on my blog at:
http://twinklingalong.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday-personal-collage.html
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Happy Birthday! My poem post features Longfellow’s The Village Blacksmith: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=17266
Thanks for hosting.
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I hope you had a happy birthday, Myra! 🙂
I’m sharing I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery by Cynthia Grady (Author) and Michele Wood (Illustrator) at Booktalking: http://wp.me/pa8jB-1nI
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Happy Birthday, Myra! What a beautiful spread you’ve laid out here. Hope you have a lovely weekend celebrating :)!!
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Happy birthday! How selfless of you to host on your birthday! I need some mellowing today, so I’m sharing a little James Taylor. Here it is.
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Hope you are enjoying a Happy Birthday. I am sharing a short chapter of my life and I look forward to reading some great poetry today. Thanks for hosting the round-up!
http://teachingyoungwriters.blogspot.com/2012/03/chapters-in-life-shape-our-story.html
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Hey, Myra! I’m back! Here’s the link:
http://www.teachingauthors.com/2012/03/womens-history-month-collides-with.html
Thanks for the beautiful way you shared your birthday with all of us 🙂
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