to make you sigh,"
wrote the poet, foremost anthologist of work for children
and teacher of us all,
Lee Bennett Hopkins.
*********************************
This poem is composed with two quotes from Lee--one from his own contribution to his most recent anthology I AM SOMEONE ELSE: POEMS ABOUT PRETENDING, "What a Poet Can Do," and another glorious quote from a 2010 interview with Tracie Vaughn [Zimmer]. Lee's words are in bold.
I also amused myself by including all of the titles offered for stealing by Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone a few weeks ago, and they must have been selected with precise premonition, because they all just worked right on in. The titles, by various poets, are in italics.
Our host for the #DearOneLBH celebration today is Amy at The Poem Farm, where Lee will be gently held in uproarious hullabaloo by our community. Happy New Year to the educators among us!
What a masterful weaving of words!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing! Well done, Heidi!
DeleteI agree with Margaret that you've created a "masterful weaving of words"! Leave it to you to create a moving tribute and to up the ante on the title challenge and then to combine the two into this beautifully crafted, moving poem. Fabulous job, Heidi!
ReplyDeleteNice job! Let's all echo...
ReplyDeleteThe 'echo' will not stop. I imagine Lee would love that you not only used his words, but those of other poets. He did that, too, celebrating other's talents with his own words 'to make us sigh'. Hope you've had a grand beginning to your year, too, Heidi.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. This. So powerful. Lee's echo sure rings far and wide, through poems and through strong words around what is right and important. You echo through your poetry and also through your climate change work, Heidi. Thank you. Happy Poetry Friday... xx
ReplyDeleteI feel like this post would strike Lee's fancy in a big way - brilliant and lovely, Heidi, with just enough of a pinch of salt.
ReplyDelete"words/we pickpocketfrom/the night city we love" - Sigh.
Brilliant, Heidi...this one takes my breath away. You are an echo and more.
ReplyDeleteYou're quite the seamstress, Heidi, and quite the echo. Brava -va -va -va!
ReplyDeleteSuch a stunning poem with your mastery of using white space to make lines and words just shine. Absolutely love the idea of echo and that the words echo on for all kinds of times we need them. Did I say brilliant already? No. Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, the weaver, the word retriever, the magic carpet maker. His echo, always. There in all that we have learned and can continue to learn from his work, his words, his wisdom and his legacy: poets among us who have learned from him, now teach one another. A fine poem. I think he would approve, I know he would. A beautiful gift. Happy New Year. While I don't have my own class, I share. And I hope to share even more this year. Janet Clare F.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, your words echo among Lee's in a stream of beautiful language and thoughts. Your poem is a moving tribute of words that have been beautifully woven together.
ReplyDeleteWow Heidi! Your poem is a gift that collates the words of others as masterfully as Lee collated his anthologies.
ReplyDeleteI agree, your poem is a beautiful gift. May we all echo Lee's devotion to poetry and keep weaving words in a way only we can. Thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this amazing poem. What a wonderful tribute!
ReplyDeleteThis is astonishing, Heidi! Your words, Lee's words, Molly's titles, all meld in some magical alchemy to create a poem that will echo through my day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteWow! I second everyone else with the masterful weaving of words. Just stunning. Don't you love how Lee's words echo through all the poems today?
ReplyDelete"Words we pickpocket from the night city we love" -- blown away by this evocative line, Heidi.
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