Welcome Poetry Friday enthusiasts! We are glad to be your hosts today – Valentine Week no less!
While I am anticipating quite a number of romantic love poems, I shall prepare to be surprised by the poetry-loving community. No matter whether your poems are dark, heart-wrenching, spiritual, disturbing, creepy, romantic or totally-non-Valentine-related – leave your links in the Comments Section and I shall be continually updating this within the day, and givin’ you some luuuuvin’. Grab a chair, get snug and comfy – surfing through this week’s poetry collection will be …. interesting.
Delectable Morsels: Food for the Soul [Get One/Take All Valentine Treat]
The ever-lovely Robyn Hood Black is sharing an Eavan Boland poem entitled Becoming Anne Bradstreet. Apparently the poem was featured in a brand-new Folger Shakespeare Library’s exhibit and chapter book entitled Shakespeare’s Sisters. There are also generous links to an interview with the poet and soo much more – as Robyn shows us that two poets can come together across three centuries and one big ocean.
Diane Mayr has several posts for us:Â At Random Noodling Diane talks about being a judge for the Cybils Awards in
poetry. She also shared her thoughts about the 2011 Winner for Poetry: Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko. Continuing through WW II, at Kids of the Homefront Army, we get a glimpse of the poem “Bond Rally.” Diane also sends healing thoughts to Poet Mary Oliver who is ill as she shares “The Storm” in Kurious Kitty. More quotes from Oliver could be found in KKs Kwotes.
Kerry Aradhya from Picture Books & Pirouettes shares a reassuring read with us as she features a lovely picture book by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Matthew Cordell entitled “Leap Back to Me.” Kerry also noted how the enthusiastic leaps and hops of the young frog has captivated her. Glad to have you back, Kerry! You’ve been missed.
The indefatigable and the ever-inspiring Linda Baie from Teacher Dance shares a heartrending poem of loss by Elizabeth Bishop entitled “One Art.” Linda also makes us think once again as we explore the different nuances of loss and how it could mean different things to different people at various phases in their lives.
There are people who may not be aware that there are three of us running GatheringBooks (Iphigene, Fats, and myself). For Poetry Friday this week, Fats has managed to beautifully interweave our paranormal theme (this January/February) with love and zombies and flying saucers and waiting for a phone call that never comes with Neil Gaiman’s “The Day the Saucers Came.”
Our lovely friend Tabatha Yeatts from the Opposite of Indifference introduces a possible activity for National Poetry Month in the form of a very ingenious Poetry Hunt! As Tabatha noted: “The idea is this: Post poems –with a little info about the poets– around your building and then make a list of clues that lead from one to the next.” To find out more and to note fabulous recommendations to parents, librarians, 
teachers, and poetry lovers, visit her post to know more.
We are privileged to read through the original set of snow poem wishes of Liz Steinglass from Growing Wild entitled Flurries. Scoot on over to her website as ‘flurries’ of snow cats, snow girls, snow boys, and snow dogs are colored with a distinct longing for snowflakes and snowstorms in Washington DC.
Mary Lee Hahn from A Year of Reading shares with us Franki’s review of A Stick is an Excellent Thing by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. This lovely picture book by the prolific poet Marilyn Singer celebrates poems on outdoor play that would not fail to move nature-lovers and the little children in each one of us. Head on over to their site to reminisce about “the timeless games that kids have 
played forever.”
We send healing energies and a vial of hope to Laura Salas as she shares an Elizabeth Coatsworth poem entitled “On a Night of Snow.” She dedicates this poem to her sister, who is in ICU right now in a medically-induced coma. She discovered the poem as she was leafing through the book Good Poems for Hard Times. Laura also has the round up for 15 Words or Less here.
The luscious Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup has Presidential Morsels for us straight from the White House as she reviews
“The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub” by Susan Katz and Illustrations by Robert Neubecker. Have your fill of Thomas Jefferson’s Decisions, Decisions; George Bush’s Language Terriers (did you know there was such a thing?) and so much more as you dip your cookie in her tastefully-prepared tea in her Friday Feast this week.
Heidi Mordhorst from My Juicy Little Universe is rethinking pink as she shares her original poems with us celebrating what it is like to teach 5 and 6 year olds the wonderful universe of pinc-tuations and capitalizations. Heidi also went on to share her insights on what it is like to boss the poet about, take risks, and knowing the art of getting wiser as one gets older – and more impatient [or-excited perhaps?] with works in 
progress.
Teeming with profundity, as per usual, we are introduced to a cryptic verse by the ever-erudite Maria Horvath from A Poem a Day as she features Japanese Poet and Painter Yosa Buson’s A Haiku and a painting called Spring Vision by Kenojuak Ashevak. As you read through her post, do reflect on the behavior of the pigeon – not from the Skinnerian behaviorist perspective, but using the creative vision of the poet.
Katya Czaja of Write. Sketch. Repeat. (you have got to love the name of her site) talks about nothing else but birds, birds, and more birds this week. Put on your feathered (and sequined wings) and fly on over to her post as she provides us with useful insights on how to tell a lichen and a hen apart and how to appreciate artistry in woodcuts as we struggle to differentiate The Crocus from The Crow – and marvel at “Nature’s laws”.
Let’s enjoy some noodlin (nope, not spoonin’ nor snoggin, no siree – nothin’ like that on Valentine’s Week) with David Elzey from Fomagrams as he shares with us an original poem inspired by meat-filled ravioli, 
cheese and macaroni, and steamed zucchini!
The beautiful Tara from A Teaching Life (always brimming with joy and life) gives us a 2-in-1 treat as inspired by a young man out to see the world to ski, study, and ski some more: ‘grand new adventures’ await. I have read both the poems that Tara is sharing today as I was going through the anthology Teaching with Fire and these are two poems that I have earmarked: Lost by David Wagoner and Rumi’s Two Kinds of Intelligence. And I sigh, yet again as I say Rumi, oh Rumi – and 
remember what it is like to be a high school senior again.
Janet from The Write Sisters whispered that they trekked through the woods today and managed to discover (gasp) a fawn and Mary Oliver in their midst – and a mournful song to bring a frightened creature closer… closer… to one’s hands and knees.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater from the Poem Farm shares a sketch entitled Understanding and her poem Fear as she discussed the things that scare us, go bump in the night, and how these fears are transformed to wonders (alongside ball pythons and biology classes and the 2011 Cybils winner for the Poetry Category). She also shared a bit of happy news so do a little mouse click to visit her rich and wondrous site.
We get a delectable spread over at Anastasia Suen’s Friday Reads as she provides snippets from Mother Goose Picture Puzzles as written and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand and other activities that can be seen in the kidlitosphere 
community this week and the next.
Alice of Supratentorial highlights a book of dog-themed haiku by none other than a favorite of ours here in GatheringBooks, Michael Rosen in his The Hound Dog’s Haiku and Other Poems for Dog Lovers as illustrated by Mary Azarian. Alice also shared her insights (and struggles) as she introduces poetic elements to two young boys and how to make the cadence of verse more enjoyable and accessible to them.
We take a naughty, tiny peek at Take Two! A Celebration of Twins by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen with illustrations by Sophie Blackall as reviewed by Linda from Write Time. We also get a special treat as Linda shares her Q and A with the J. Patrick Lewis in her post and two of her favorite poems from the collection: We Learned to
Sing by J. Patrick Lewis and Twinfestation by Jane Yolen.
Martha Calderaro managed to make my mouth water with multi-colored, sugar-coated gumdrops that served as the perfect backdrop for an old Jump-Rope Poem that she has written quite a while back. She also extended a hard-to-resist invitation for us to be gloriously ridiculous as we jump on that trampoline and get entangled with the cotton candy in the sidewalks.
And heavens me, we get to read a sonnet this week. Shakespeare is alive in Ruth’s There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town. While Ruth decried the consumerism that seems to be part and parcel now of the Valentine’s Day Festivities, she also acknowledged (with a sigh) that ‘what the world needs now is love sweet love.’ Indeed. And what better way to express that than through Sonnet 64: “Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate,/ That Time will 
come and take my love away.”
Ed DeCaria from Think Kid, Think! is not five minutes too late as he checks in with an invitation for people to sign up for Madness! Writing 126 New Children’s Poems in Two Days and another invite for you all to share your favorite Bad Hair Day Story (caveat: I may have conveniently misunderstood this part) in keeping with his poem entitled The Mohawk. Not that I think a mohawk constitutes bad hair day at all, uh-uh. 
Charles Van Gorkom from Rainforest Soul silences our sensibilities with two reflective poems in Poet’s Prayer and Scrawled in the Book of Hospice. Much needed respite given moments of stressful deadlines, back-to-back meetings (I had four overly-extended meetings today plus a two-hour class), and multiple loose ends to tie up before the weekend. Charles’ vision of “an island/where tall pines/ shelter a cabin” was just the thing to put me at rest.
Shelley Shaver noted that she is sharing [no, not valentine love but] the everyday kind of love as seen in her website Rain: A Dust Bowl Story. Â
I also take a moment here to wave a cheerful hello to Joanna Marple who left a cutesie comment in our round-up post this week. Thank you, Joanna for dropping by.
Poetry Friday Winds Down on a Sunny Saturday Morning in Singapore
Okay, I’m back after a full eight-hour sleep and doing my chores at home. We welcome the late stragglers and the trailing poetic fragments 
into our little corner here as I continue doing the round-up this week.
We send bursts of sunshine packed in a bottle (ribboned with humidity) to Julie Larios from The Drift Record who noted that there is no Valentine’s Day chocolate hearts for her – she would much rather have a 
photo of sunny Italy and a poem by Robert Frost titled “Goodbye, and Keep Cold.”
The beautiful Renee LaTulippe introduces us to two unlikely lovers with her Pencil and Pen: A Composed Love Story. This is her entry to a quirky Valentine’s Day Contest – and her “ditty of 187 words” even includes a lovely video clip! Definitely worth checking out.
Carlie from Twinkling Along shares an original poem entitled Winter’s Tail – filled with vivid images of a quiet home “watching 
winter pass” with a “candle burning on the table” and “glints of sugar snow.”
Karen Edmisten from The Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title (can’t beat that, no ma’am) celebrates Love George Bilgere Day. No tea here, folks, just your good ole brewed coffee (no decaf, for what is coffee without the caffeine?) as Karen invites us to reflect on our [un]realized dreams, on writing bad novels while high on coffee, and capturing the hidden insights of life through carefully-filtered coffeebeans.
Janet Squires of All About the Booksalso celebrates the strangeness of leadership and Presidency as she gives more luuvin’ to Susan Katz and Robert Neubecker’s The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub. T’is Election Fever indeed among our Poetry Friday friends, this little fact can’t seem to be denied. If you wish to know who among the American Presidents had a penchant for skinny-dipping in the Potomac and pray tell who 
is this President who got stuck in the bathtub? Head on over to Janet’s site to find out more.
The lovely Laura Shovan from Author Amok (who just hopped on an airplane at 7 am) challenges us to go where no man has gone (or worn) with her writing prompt for high school students daring these young people (and us young ones at heart) to write an ode about something that is not normally read (or talked about in a poem) – said to be a current trend in Poetryville the last few years. And Laura’s poetry offering for us this week: Sharon Olds’ Ode to a Tampon. Hope you’re feeling better now, Laura. I love the QEII Royal Wave. Very… queenly indeed.
We get more Valentine thoughts from MsMac of Check it Out as she features their school custodian’s, David Owen’s original poem entitled: Love Is. It would be good for us to also jump in and share alongside David what 
we think love is, that would be interesting too.
Doraine Bennett from Dori Reads also sends us some Valentine romance with Dale Ritterbusch’s What the Light Would Say. If you’re up for some sensuous sighs and stars in your eyes as your warrior calls you beautiful daybreak woman – I suggest you pitter-patter your sweet little heart over to Dori’s site and read.. read to your soul’s content.
Lorie Ann Grover from ReaderTotz shares David Elliott and Holly Meade’s In the Sea reminding us of the “dark within” the seemingly-placid blues of the waters. She also has fourteen lovely words found in her other site On Point with her original poem Contrast – check out her lovely photograph too. Perfect play of light and darkness.
Sylvia Vardell from Poetry for Children gives us a veritable bounty with her Poetry  Award Updates. If you wish to know the Winners of The Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, The Lion & Unicorn Award, Cybils, CLPE Poetry Award in England, the Frost Medal recipient by the Poetry Society of America – head on over to Sylvia’s post to find out! A celebratory and warm cheer goes to the 2012 US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Gathering Books 
Thank you for hosting, Myra! Lots of love and chocolate to you. I’m featuring a new Eavan Boland poem, “Becoming Anne Bradstreet” with links to an interview with the poet and more. http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm?post=839685
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Hi Myra! All my posts will be up after midnight on the east coast of the U.S. Thanks for hosting and have a great weekend!
At Random Noodling I talk about being a judge for the Cybils Awards in poetry. http://www.randomnoodling.com
Continuing through WW II, at Kids of the Homefront Army, I have “Bond Rally.”
http://www.homefrontarmy.com
I recently learned that poet Mary Oliver is ill. Healing thoughts are sent her way, and I I’m sharing her poem, “The Storm.”
http://kuriouskitty.blogspot.com
You’ll also find a quote from Oliver at KKs Kwotes.
http://kkskwotes.blogspot.com .
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Hi, Myra. It’s been a little while since I had something to share for Poetry Friday, and I was delighted when I saw that you are hosting this week. I love the new look of your blog, by the way! This week I’m submitting a review of a picture book in rhyme–LEAP BACK HOME TO ME–which isn’t marketed as a Valentine’s book but is a nice read-aloud for little ones this week: http://kerryaradhya.blogspot.com/2012/02/leap-back-home-to-me-reassuring-read.html
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No sweet Valentines this time Myra, but a rather sad poem from Elizabeth Bishop. Thanks so much for hosting! http://teacherdance.blogspot.com/2012/02/poem-of-losing.html
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Hi Myra! Thanks for hosting 🙂 I talk about holding a Poetry Hunt today: http://www.tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-hunts.html
Happy Poetry Friday!
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We’re still wishing for snow in Washington, DC. I’ve posted an original set of snow poem wishes titled Flurries at http://www.lizsteinglass.com/2012/02/flurries.html
Thanks for hosting,
Liz
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Wow, Myra! The roundup is going to be a thing of beauty this week! Thank you in advance for all of your work — I can’t wait to come back and SEE the roundup, as well as tour it!
Today at A Year of Reading, Franki has a review of A STICK IS AN EXCELLENT THING by Marilyn Singer.
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2012/02/stick-is-excellent-thing-poems.html
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Pingback: Poetry Friday: On a Night of Snow (Elizabeth Coatsworth) | laurasalas
Myra, thanks for hosting. I’m in with an Elizabeth Coatsworth poem, “On a Night of Snow,” dedicated to my sister, who’s in ICU right now in a medically-induced coma. I am really feeling that “Outdoors the wild winds blow.”
http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/poetry-friday-on-a-night-of-snow-elizabeth-coatsworth/
I also have this week’s 15 Words or Less poems at http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/15-words-or-less-cauldron-of-earth/
Thanks, Laura
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Pingback: friday feast: the president’s stuck in the bathtub by susan katz and robert neubecker « Jama's Alphabet Soup
Good morning, Myra!
Again this week my “Overheard in Kindergarten” Tuesday feature has overflowed into Friday. I have a poem-in-progress on the (he)art of punctuation–a valentine to grammar. Thanks for hosting!
http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2012/02/rethinking-pink.html
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Thank you, Myra, for hosting this week.
Over at my blog we are still reading poems that give us pause for some contemplation. Today’s verse, a haiku, asks a pertinent question.
http://www.ghpoetryplace.blogspot.com/
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I’m celebrating President’s Day with a review of The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub by Susan Katz: http://jamarattigan.com/2012/02/17/friday-feast-the-presidents-stuck-in-the-bathtub-by-susan-katz-and-robert-neubecker/.
Thanks for hosting such a lovely Roundup, Myra! Extra chocolates and cupcakes for you ♥!
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Pingback: Birds and birds and birds – Poetry Friday | Katya Czaja
Good morning, thanks for hosting this week!
Over at Write. Sketch. Repeat., listening to a book about a passion for birding, reminded me of a favorite book of poems from my childhood so I’m sharing a couple of bird id lessons as a public service.
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Thanks for hosting, Myra. I have two poems today for an ex student heading west
http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-friday-two-poems-for-senior.html . Kids grow up so fast…there’s so much that’s bitter-sweet in this process.
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What a fabulous roundup. It will take me all week to work through these wonderful poems!
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Pingback: The Write Sisters: Poetry Friday: The Fawn « NESCBWI Kidlit Reblogger
The Write Sisters are in the woods this weekend, and (lo and behold!) we found a fawn and Mary Oliver.
http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-friday-fawn.html
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By the way, thanks for hosting! (and I meant to say we WERE in the woods TODAY.
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What a fun roundup! Thank you for hosting!
Today I have a poem and sketch about changing one’s mind as well as a bit of very happy news!
http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2012/02/fear-and-poems-about-changing-your-mind.html
Have a wonderful week!
a.
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Thanks for hosting this week! I’m in with Mother Goose Picture Puzzles by Will Hillenbrand http://wp.me/pa8jB-1mD
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Thanks for hosting!
I have a review of The Hound Dog’s Haiku by Michael J. Rosen.
http://supratentorial.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/poetry-friday-the-hound-dogs-haiku/
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Thanks for hosting! I’m in today with a review of TAKE TWO!, a new collection by J Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen. http://lindakulp.blogspot.com/
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Pingback: Odd « Martha Calderaro
I have some Shakespeare today, since I’m thinking about love. Here’s my post. Thanks for hosting!
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Hi Myra,
Since I’ll be without computer most of today through the weekend, I just want to remind/encourage people to sign up for Madness! 2012 at http://www.thinkkidthink.com, where 20 of the 64 tournament slots are already filled (see left sidebar) thanks to some much-appreciated word of mouth this past week. If you comment/mail/tweet me and don’t hear back for a few days, don’t worry, I’ll add you to the participant list by Monday night at the latest. First come, first served!
Also, in the spirit of the event (i.e., a new poem based on a single word), also check out my post “The Mohawk” (#2 on the front page slider). The hairstyle from hell is my muse for a new kids’ poem and your invitation to share your favorite mohawk story.
Enjoy!
-Ed
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Hi and thanks for posting. It’s been a while since I’ve been around for Poetry Friday, and I have missed it! I’m in with a jump-rope poem I wrote a while back because, well, why not? Thanks!
http://marthacalderaro.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/odd/
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Thank-you for hosting, Myra! You and the team do such a wonderful job! My poems for the day are “Poets Prayer” I posted this morning and “Scrawled In The Book Of Hospice” I had (scrawled) posted a day or two before. Enjoy!
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wow, you are awesomely proactive, linking to my poetry friday offering before i can even tell you about it! thanks for that, and for hosting!
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Thanks for being our gracious hosts. Not valentine love, but the more everyday kind, at Rain: A Dust Bowl Story, http://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.com
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Hi! No Valentine’s Day chocolate hearts for me. I’m still thinking about winter, and longing for sunshine, so over at The Drift Record I’ve got a photo of sunny Italy but a poem by Robert Frost titled “Goodbye, and Keep Cold.” Thanks for hosting the round-up!
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Thank you for hosting! I’m up this week with a writerly Valentine poem called “Pencil and Pen: A Composed Love Story.” http://bit.ly/zVGt0x
Thanks again!
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I hope you have room for one more late-comer….I have an original over on my blog, Twinkling Along.
http://twinklingalong.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-friday-winter-poem.html
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Myra, thanks for hosting! I’m in this week with George Bilgere, and it’s here: http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-love-george-bilgere-day-at-blog.html
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Thanks for hosting.
My selection is “The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub” written by Susan Katz with illustrations by Robert Neubecker.
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Hi, Myra. I’m late to the poetry party today (hopped on an airplane at 7 AM!)
I have a writing prompt for high schoolers and up, “Don’t Go There” Odes — writing an ode about something we don’t normally talk about or see in a poem. The model poem is Sharon Olds’ “Ode to a Tampon,” with a video clip of Olds reading the poem.
http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-friday-dont-go-there-odes.html
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I am late but finally here. Thank you for hosting. Here’s my link:http://wp.me/pG1xR-i0 an original poem from our school custodian. Love Joanna’s comment.
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You are a GREAT Poetry Friday host! Thanks for all the effort you put into this.
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I just checked back and realized that my post didn’t post. Ah, well. Here it is again. I seem to be on the same wavelength with the other birders on the list today.
http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-friday-love-poem.html
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Thanks for hosting today! At readertotz we have In the Sea and at my blog On Point, I have the haiku Contrast.
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What a bounty! Thanks for hosting. I know it may be too late to be included, but I thought I would try. My post is an informational update on poetry awards at Poetry for Children at http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/
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Myra, you’re an amazing hostess! Wow, what a round up!
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Thank you everyone for the lovely comments and words of affirmation – truly sorry I was not able to leave comments anymore on your sites. Casualty of being a hostess, I presume. I am glad though that you enjoyed the spread and the layout. 🙂
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Myra, I meant to come back last week and tell you how much I loved your roundup. You obviously put so much time and care into presenting everyone’s entry in the best way – and of course it didn’t hurt that you called me beautiful, haha! You are clearly the hostess with the mostest, and I’ll be following your lead if/when I am host. Brava!
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