happy earth week

 PSA #1:  My April NPM project, inspired by the excellent experience of participating in Laura Shovan's February Poetry Projects on Facebook, is to host a group called PARADISE, PAVED, for the purposes listed below. All are welcome to participate--just let me know in the comments or by sending me an email.

"We are poets who need a place to park the results of our daily writing practice. We're looking for accountability, community and feedback. It may not be grand or glamorous, but it's practical--and private. There are just two rules, beyond the basic rules of civil discourse and internet decency:
1) Any day that you post a poem, please offer comments to at least three other poets.
2) If you used any kind of prompt, share! 

It's private so that our efforts can't be considered previously published on the web (which prevents submission to many journals and anthologies)--but it's open to whomever.  We'd love to have you if you need a place to post! Just drop me a note and I'll invite you. 

 PSA #2: It is Earth Week, of course, and I am grateful to our new administration for centering the climate emergency in its virtual summit of world leaders where President Biden called combating climate change “a moral imperative.”  I'd call it equally moral and PRACTICAL, and although it's easy to feel the daily overwhelm (for example, I can't find a way to get sufficiently out from under plastic waste in my life), just as we are beginning to feel a sea change in racial justice, there is a LOT positive going on in climate rescue too.  Here's a newsletter from the Washington Post that I receive weekly called THE OPTIMIST: STORIES THAT INSPIRE, and here's this week's leader: 

"You may have noticed that I’ve included a lot more stories about climate change in this newsletter lately. If you’re new, you might find that odd — isn’t that a rather depressing subject? It can be, certainly. But at The Washington Post, we’ve decided to invest in both news and solutions coverage; we’ve hired new people to write about visionaries trying to save the planet, how individuals can lessen their carbon footprint and the organizations tackling our biggest challenges. And that’s not even mentioning our incredible reporters relentlessly covering the politics and science of climate."

I encourage everyone to look out for the visionaries--my favorite as of last night's truly delicious Beyond Meat burger are the people who are trying to help us all eat more plants and less meat--and feel uplifted and inspired by their efforts!

And now for the poetry...PreK wrote collaborative poems this week about the parts of the Earth they are finding especially beautiful.  It bothers my eyes but this formatting is how I make sure that 4-5's are connecting those capital letters we keep practicing with meaning in writing.

We Love You, Plants

a poem by AM Pandas

 

Could You Please 

Grow, Sunflowers?

Grow, Corn?

Grow, Beans?

We Will Put Water

En Las Semillas

We Will Call "Sun, Hello!

Shine Down On Our Flowers!" 

 

Dogs

a poem by PM Pandas

Soft For Hugging

We Give Them Naps

We Give Them Food

We Give Them Water

(The Babies Drink Milk)

We Give Them Squeaky Toys for Playing

Una Pelota Para El Perrito

Enjoy the round-up with Catherine at Reading to the Core, and let's all check in with the progress of the Progressive Poem over at Salt City Verse with Janice!