Friday, October 18, 2019

OIPK: prereading

Before the poetry, a climate action PSA:  
Black Friday is your next opportunity to stand with youth and 
call for policy to recover our global climate.


I do plan to participate, but I have learned through my Drawdown.org workshop that we are likely to accomplish more through action at the level of our local organizations, and that governments can't pay for the scale of change that is required.  We have to press wealthy entities like corporations to make the change.  May I challenge you to research which is the most powerful corporate employer in your area?  What are they doing to reduce emissions and reverse climate warming?  Mine is Marriott, and they just decided NOT to provide a million little plastic bottles of shampoo.  So I'm thinking of asking them to do more and fund food composting in my county schools!

*********************************************************************************
This post represents my 11th bloggiversary.  Thanks to you, Dear Readers, for steadfastly sticking with me all this time, and for welcoming me into the Poetry Friday community.

And now, welcome to the next installment of Overheard in PreK.  Each of my kids has a laminated photo name card with a velcro dot on the back.  We use it on the Attendance Board and then they take it with them to stick on posters for each play center as a way of showing who's working where.  They often forget to retrieve them, meaning that PM kids will then find an AM card still stuck on a poster and vice versa.

My readingest AM kid is Kyng.  He found PM Francisco's card in which Francisco is smiling broadly in a coral-pink striped polo shirt.  "I found Flamingo's card in the Dollhouse!" said Kyng, handing it over.

It took me a few seconds to guess what had just happened.


How Reading is Like

I found a Flamingo at school, a Cassowary
and three Allisongators and a Bryonlyon,
plus a Nayanabanana and Nayelyjelly.
When I read I read with my whole head,
my eyes and my memory of every book I've read,
things I know and things I like.
When I see the color it helps me think.
Words are made of more than ink. 

flashdraft ©Heidi Mordhorst

BONUS MUSIC: "Flamingo" by Kero Kero Bonito 

This poem is brought to you by Kyng, Francisco, Cassidy, all three Allisons (yes, three), Bryon, Nayana and Nayely, and also by the complexity that is the reading process.  The Poetry Friday round-up today is brought to you by Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

11 comments:

  1. Yes, that happens to me. Also, when I hear people say things...if what they said was too indistinct for me to understand, my brain makes connections anyway. Generally not the right connections, but interesting ones! Nice ending. (I assume that Marriott must be the biggest employer near me too? Guess I'll look it up.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the snapshot of the reading process. And as always, you're an inspiration in the fight against climate change. Bon courage!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy bloggiversary, Heidi! 11 years is impressive—what awesome thoughts you've thunk in all that time, what wonderful words you've written! Up to and including any number of Flamingos, Cassowarys, Allisongators, and all the rest. Rock on! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fun poem and backstory -- and Happy Blogiversary!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy blogiversary. Love the flamingo/francisco and more! So cool to watch those lights go on, and your poem shows the process.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ha! I want to meet a Flamingo in my school, please! I'm fairly sure the largest corporation in my locality is micron. They microchips. I used to take my students on tours there. They are hyper-clean in the whole process and actually put water that's "too clean" out. But, I will poke around and see what I can find.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So. Much. Fun.

    These Littles are getting an AMAZING start with you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations on 11 years of blogging! You are an inspiration! This OIPK is priceless. Thank you for capturing it and reminding us that "Words are made of more than ink."

    ReplyDelete
  9. What joy to spend your days with little sponges of learning. Your poem is delightful.
    Your challenge, however, is huge for me because I live in a state that does not believe in climate change. All roads point to oil production. I've developed a "why bother" attitude which I feel guilty about. How could I start smaller?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy blogiversary! I love what you do with the snippets you overhear. This poem is so much fun. We just moved, but I suspect the largest employer is the one where my husband works--a naval base. At least they grow lots of trees at this base.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!