SOL: From Hammocks

Gentle reader, you thought I was silenced, but you thought wrong. lol. I haven't written a whole lot this past year. But I've kept up occasionally with a notebook. It helps. The school year has been incredibly trying. But yesterday inspiration struck. And it was a slice. And it was Tuesday. Enjoy: From Hammocks From hammocks …

Poetry Friday: Poetry is…

Poetry is such a great way to build community! This week concluded the bonus week of Christie Wyman's course and I enjoyed it so much. I was able to reflect on how much I learned in a very relaxed setting. And I had to think: "Do I make time in class to allow students simply …

Poetry Friday: Thunder on the Green Horizon

Don't forget to visit this week's round up. I really hope I can read and respond to more participants this week. Here's hoping. As part of Christie Wyman's "Playing with Poetry" workshop, we explored "Text-based poetry." Forms that I've admired but honestly did not think were all that difficult. I was in for a surprise …

Poetry Friday: Change Can Be:(Explorations with Ekphratic poetry)

This week we did explorations with Ekphratic poetry: poems written based on, inspired by images. Google tells me one of the most famous examples is Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." I love that poem, but I'm not sure what it all means no matter how many times I read it. And that's okay. I …

Poetry Friday: “A List of”

"Finding safe online spaces for writing is invaluable to me as a poet-teacher..." so begins this weeks poetry roundup post (visit here) by margaretsmn. I'm repeating her words because they ring so true. This week was also my 3rd week and of summer and it was the first week of Pondering Poetry with Christie Wyman. …

Poetry Friday: An Old Friend Came to Visit

Be sure to visit this weeks roundup. An Old Friend Came to Visit Listlessness, my old friend let us walk down the well-worn road where I remain flustered and balk at even the minutest of tasks. With so much great TV and film today it’s a wonder you get any reading and writing done? Right? …

Poetry Friday: Where do words come from?

My mother says, words, like all things, come from GodMy father, just as religious, is certain it comes from study,Kneeling at the altar of reading. Words come from books, my son says. Although after thinkingHe concludes they come from cave dwellers.Maybe he has a point. The grunting of my 3-year-old, who knows words but prefers …

Poetry Friday: Follow Through

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit this weeks roundup! Follow Through In basic training the drill sergeants were obsessed with follow through. Barked commands expected immediate execution. Even when the order was confusing. Strange. Like when we were told to look for the soft spot of the tank. For drill sergeants Obedience …

In Silence

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit the roundup! Been a while since I posted. As the school year is now winding down I'll will be trying to post more. ~ In Silence I am thankful that time, can wear things away. Like the sting of what my mother calls the private indignities …

Sun and Moon

(This week in the classroom we wrote sonnets here is one I wrote with my students.) My wife’s eyes are like the sunI love her more than words can sayBut yet I’m compelled to give it a runI love being with her every day When I see the glow of her faceTime comes to a …