Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts

Friday, October 15, 2021

happy friday the 13th

That's Poetry Friday and THE 13TH ANNIVERSARY of my juicy little universe!  Yes, the earliest post you can see on this blog was posted on this day thirteen years ago in 2008.  

Yes, that time now seems blurry & far-off...

Before that I blogged at LiveJournal about our year in France when the kids were 5 and 8, and I am pleasantly surprised to discover that the Internet indeed never forgets and that you can read approximately 20 photoillustrated posts from that year here.

A couple of years ago I used BlogBooker to download my entire juicy little universe as both Word doc and PDF, so that I could cull all the poems I've published here over the years.  It was definitely worth the $20 I spent and it resulted in a document--a book--of about 2100 pages!  That's an oeuvre to be proud of for its sheer volume, and you all helped to write some of it, since comments were included in this tome.

Not every post has been earth-shatteringly brilliant, but occasionally I find one that I only barely remember writing and which seems to me to be notable.  These Big Idea posts usually include a poem, but having culled the poems, they aren't surprising; the "essays" are, however.

Shall I share them with you, as a way of cataloguing them for myself?* Or shall I resort to the tried-and-true acrostic commemoration of this part of my poetic life online?

Oh wait--I already did that in 2016 on the 8th anniversary.  Here's the acrostic, and it still holds true.

So I'm absolved from writing an anniversary poem this year, and instead I'll just drop a few links for those fans of my writing who have time on their hands--but not before repeating that none of this--just about none of my later writing life--would have happened if I hadn't had a Poetry Friday audience to share it with. 

For a performative person (I think performative has not entirely become a dirty word, has it?), knowing that someone might read, comment, appreciate, critique has made an enormous difference to my motivation and commitment to write just about weekly.  And equally important is the knowledge that, even when I have skipped a week or stepped back for a time, I'd be welcomed back. Thanks to all of you who make this forum, this community.  I'm grateful to know you all--some of you even in person!!

Our host today is Bridget over at Wee Words for Wee Ones, and although TEN is technically a wee word, it is a very big deal because Bridget's 10*10 anthology has become a reality!!!   

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*Here are a few I think are worth rereading.

On this one, my first bloggiversary, Tabatha is the sole commenter--some while before we realized that we were neighbors and that our kids went to the same middle and then high school magnet programs! 

https://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-dishwasher-of-my-mind.html 
Some science, some psychology, some education policy, plenty of connections. 
 
I consider identity and visibility.
 
This is the one where I interviewed Irene Latham and Liz Steinglass about the history, trajectory and themes of the Progressive Poem.

My first dedicated climate action post, I think, and I'm proud of the list near the bottom of what we as communicators (writers, poets, teachers) can do to make change.



Friday, April 13, 2018

hb to the mayor of poetrytown!


For so many years I had known his name, read his work, heard how the children's poetry world revolved around this venerable voice for children and their reading needs.  But it wasn't until 2009 that I had any opportunity to actually meet Lee Bennett Hopkins, and that was no small moment--it happened in front of dozens of the bright lights of children's poetry, gathered to celebrate Lee's receipt of the NCTE Poetry Award.

I posted about that event here and mentioned the poem that I shared at that festival in the "town square" which was really a large but windowless conference room.  What town do I speak of?  Poetrytown!  And who is the Mayor-by-Acclamation of that town?  It is Lee!


What did I read that day?  A poem which coincidentally--for I knew little of this feeling of community or of Lee's leadership until I walked into the room and felt it--described both my desire to invite others "into the house of my poem" and to be invited in.  And here is that poem, dedicated to Lee Bennett Hopkins on his birthday!



Stanza Means Room | Heidi Mordhorst
  for Lee Bennett Hopkins, again


Come into the house of my poem.
Knock on my title,
I’ll open the door--
Knock on my door and come in!


This stanza’s my parlor.  Come in.
Hang up your hat,
Settle in, stay a while—
I’ll tell you my story and you tell me yours.
Sit down in my poem and chat.


This stanza’s my kitchen.  Come in.
Are you ready to eat?
Belly up to the bard—
Sip at a simile, munch on a metaphor.
Dig into my poem and feast.


This stanza’s the playroom.  Come on,
Unpuzz all the packles!
Chant or sing, whisperSHOUT---
Giggle the riddles and chime all the rhymes!
Join in with the juggling and jokes!


This stanza’s the bedroom.  Come in.
Recline on my lines,
Doze off in my drift…
Pillows of imagery wonder your head.
Relax in my poem and dream.


This stanza’s the back door.  Farewell.
You aren’t the same now
As when you came in—
A guest in my poetry house.



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There you are, and there I am, and there are all of us, citizens of Poetrytown--and all over this virtual town today (thanks to Robyn Hood Black, our host today) the houses of our poems will be festooned with balloons and environmentally-friendly confetti and colorful hoopla in honor of Lee!





Friday, December 5, 2014

hair of the dog

http://msfindlater.blogspot.com/2013/05/playing-with-poetry.html
I've got the sweetest hangover, and I can't shake it.  It's two full weeks since NCTE and I'm missing the pleasure and positivity of being with poetry people.  The cure is traditional: hair of the dog that bit me.
......................................


first…

a promise of poets
preparation of poets
a packed-up perambulation of poets

a pop-up of poets
pronouncement of poets
a purplypinky profusion of poets

and then….

a perusement of poems
proclamation of poems
a pepperpiquant percolation of poems

a patter of poems
a pageant of poems
a plentiful participation of poems!

HM 2014
all rights reserved

More pleasure and positivity over at Booktalking with Anastasia today!

Addendum:  If you were at the CLA Breakfast and heard Jon Klassen talking about I Want My Hat Back, you will enjoy this poem by Nathan Hoks!