forward...preaCH and unhitCH!

Welcome to Week Two of the Forward...MarCH CHallenge, in which I and other intrepid souls will compose five more poems using five more punCHy, active words ending in -CH.

Today's word is "preaCH," and here I go:

The Good News

Preacher stands in the pulpit,

reads the sermon for the day,

each word settling heavy and deep;

all our little gaps are filled.  We

carry those heavy words

home; they don’t carry us.

HM 2015

all rights reserved

My, that came out a little dark (don't take it personally, Dad).  I had some other ideas for today's word also--the birds singing over the melting snow this warmer weekend are preaching spring for sure--but lesson plans beckon.

Margaret Simon joins us for the first time this month with a lovely tanka, and wants us to know that a coulee is a ditCH in South Louisiana (not be confused with a coulis, which you pour over your dessert.  They both flow).  This is in response to the Ditty of the Month Club challenge to write a tanka with Margarita Engle.  Margaret will be posting this poem on her blog along with the description of how it came to be, inspired by a photo challenge from Kim Douillard.

Sun overlooks
blessing a lonely smoke stack.
Coulee wildflowers
preach yellow sonnets
while moon graces morning clouds.

--Margaret Simon

Donna Smith returns with TWO bonus poems: first a double acrostic reverso shape poem using the word churCH instead of preaCH.  Fancy stuff that works for me!

And from Saturday (flexing her poetry muscles in preparation for her rounds in the March Madness Poetry Tournament), Donna gives us a follow-up to her "Twitch of Sick" from last week:

Screw Medicine

I need a little medicine;
the stuff you said to use  -
not the grape-y liquid, but
the ones that look like screws.
I'm feeling somewhat better from
my knees down to my toes;
but my hunch is that I need to take
just one or two of those.
Screw medicine is really good
for when you're sick in bed,
It makes me feel much better
from my knees up to my head!

©Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved

And I owe an apology to both Diane and Donna for today:  their poems use the word "un/hitCH" because my original list of words included "unhitCH" before I revised it slightly.  They get full credit, of course, due to Operator Error.  I love the practical tone of this "take-the-bull-by-the-horns" poem by Diane.

Hitch Your Wagon

How's that expression go?
"Hitch your wagon to a star"?
Just how far is the closest star?
More years than you'll have.
Of course, if your goal
is procrastination, then
you'll shine, shine, shine!

Take my advice--step in front
of that wagon, insert your head
and buckle up the collar, attach
the traces. You can click
to yourself if you'd like--no
further motivation is necessary.
Lay back your ears and go.

         --Diane Mayr

And now for a ride in Donna's wagon...

Unhitch

Hitch up the wagon we're ready to roll...
hitch up your britches or you'll catch a cold...
hitch this to that so it'll be stronger...
hitch that to this to make it be longer...

Unhitch the wagon, put horses away...
unhitch your britches, it's been a long day...
unhitch the ropes and unhitch the ties...
unhitch the the sun, the moon's on the rise!

Joy also had  "unhitch" on her calendar--again, my apologies!  Look at this nice use of the idea:

broom sedge seeds unhitch
from their whiskery branches
floating in the breeze

Mary Lee DID have "preaCH" on her list, and takes me to task to leaving "teaCH" off it.  I guess I thought that would just be so obvious...but look how she got it in anyway!

A Note to My Students

Stop me if I start to preach.
That’s not my job;
I’m here to teach.

And if I talk and talk and talk,
remind me - gently –
I should stop

and listen more
and let you speak,
discover, wonder,

think,
think,
think.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015

And Carol's is almost a twin to Mary Lee's (and both make me notice that I DO sometimes want to preach in my classroom!).

When I prepare to teach

I don't want to preach.

Sermons are meant for church,

and deliberate soul search.

When I stand and teach

I don't want to preach.

I want passion to spill-

learners engaged in the thrill.

Learning is messy

and that is so.

Keep the students 

engaged, on the go.

Jone joins in with Selma on her mind, like so many of us...

PREACH

In Selma
thousands marched
in hopes of freedom
and equality.
Thousand march
still and
preach themes
of freedom and equality
only the choir
seems to hear.

© 2015 Jone Rush MacCulloch all rights reserved

 Play along by posting your "preaCH" (or "hitCH") poem in the comments or by emailing me!

backward...watch!

So, let's take stock of the riCHes shared during the first week of the MarCH CHallenge, an introduction to whiCH you can read here.  These were our words for March 2-6, along with a summary of contributions (not counting my own).

march - 6 poems contributed on two meanings of m/March
stretch - 5 poems contributed on the stretching of various human, animal and plant parts
twitch -   6 poems contributed on the twitching of fingers, weather calls, tummy bugs  and tails
punch -  again 6 poems contributed with punches of sun, wind, storms and of course, brothers
fetch -  5 poems contributed with dogs, dogs, dogs and one old lady

That's a total of 28 poems so far, and with my own 4 originals (I'm not counting my previously published ones) we've hit 32 new poems already in March! (And for those interested, dogs are winning withwith 6 poems, cats in second with  2 poems, 1 for the birds, 1 for rabbit, 1 for squirrel--and Don Ho scores one too (scroll to the bottom)!

Our poets include (in alphabetical order by first name, as is the wont of kindergarten teachers): Carol Varsalona, Charles Waters, Diane Mayr, Donna Smith, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Joy Acey,  Mary Lee Hahn, Matt Forrest Esenwine,  and Robyn Hood Black.  Mary Lee, Joy, Donna, Diane and Charles wrote every day last week--huzzah!!!

I won't be able to round up your contributions as easily this week--I'm quite sure we will have fewer than THREE snow days--so please read the comments to enjoy others' efforts.

And finally, huge apologies to Charles, whose terrifically immediate piece was left out of Wednesday's post, and to Joy, whose jump rope rhyme was left out of Thursday's.

SPEECH

Clothes doused in perspiration,

Right leg twitching like an

Over caffeinated squirrel,

Steady hums of monotone murmurs

Surround me, until my name,

Clear as a Wyoming sky, is called;

Lumbering toward the podium,

Clasping crumbled pages,

I look out, swallow,

Whisper out the words …

“Good morning.”

(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

Jump with Me

Ice cream soda,
Delaware punch
won't you be my
own honey bunch?

If you love me
here's what to do,
come jump with me
one and two.

forward...fetCH!

Greetings, all--it's Poetry Friday, March 6th, and our word of the day is "fetCH."  There have been a number of cat responses so far in our Forward...MarCH Poetry CHallenge (read the introduction to the project here), so I went ahead and did the obvious thing with "fetch" and wrote about a puppy.  I hope my effort is less trite and more fetching than it currently seems, after 45 minutes of work!

Before we get to it, though, I have to give a shout-out to a really great PBS show that lived all too short a life:  Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman.  Of course, I always wanted to be on ZOOM ("Z-double O-M, Box 354, Boston, Mass., 0-2-1-3-4. Send it to ZOOM!"), but Fetch! was even better because of the real-time, out-and-about challenges.  It only ran for 5 seasons, but I loved it.  Possibly even more than my kids.

And here's  my poem:

Fetching

My new puppy’s very cute—

He lies down when I tell him to.

I’m as fetching as my puppy

and I’m pretty useful, too.

I fetch the paper for my mom;

I fetch the tennis balls for Dad;

I fetch remotes for my big brother;

Fetch the book I thought I had.

Gramma needs her reading glasses;

Grampa left his phone downstairs;

Baby sister needs her binky;

Big Sis wants her shoes in pairs.

I’m glad that I am good at fetching.

When they ask me I obey.

But now it’s Puppy’s turn to fetch—

I’ll throw, he’ll catch—it’s time to play!

HM 2015

all rights reserved

Charles (who, incidentally, won the distinction of being the Top Contributor to Laura Shovan's Sound Poem Challenge with THIRTY-ONE poems contributed in the short month of February!) is in again today with another doggy take on "fetch."

MORNING EXERCISE

Fetching this morning’s paper,

Dog collar dangling its daily tune,

Scooping it into my jaws

I scamper back on chilled concrete.

Upon my arrival, I get smiles

 Plus a scrubbing behind my ears,

(Always a bonus)

Shivering in delight

I plop on my bed,

Ready for a nap.

(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

Donna had to do it too.  She and Charles should meet up at the Dog Park!

Catch, Fetch, Lunch

I'm going to snatch this snowball

And bring it back to you!

I love to play fetch all the time;

I know just what to do!

I'm catching it - it's coming!

I've got it in my sights!

But it's so cold and tasty;

It's in such nice sized bites!

I'm sorry I can't fetch it;

I feel the need to crunch;

Next time just throw a real ball

So I won't think it's...

CRUNCH...

lunch!

Robyn also wants to know what time you'll be there...

"Compulsion"

She threw it –
right under my nose in an underarm scoop of a toss.
It a-r-c-e-d, slow motion, into the sky-sun-sky
(blinding me for a sec).
Before I knew it my haunches had sprung
bounding me over the ground in little arcs to fetch
the prompt
(and shake shake shake it
in my snappy jaws).

© Robyn Hood Black

And Mary Lee's acrostic is so full of action:

What to do if You Are a Retriever

Freeze until the command is given.
Explode from the down-stay.
Tear across the lawn at lightning speed.
Catch the frisbee, mid-air.
Hustle back, tail high, ready for more.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015

Joy's acrostic has a tasty double meaning:


FIDO, my
English Cocker
Tries to play
Catch with a
Hot Dog

And Jone has stopped by with a late entry!

FETCH

on sunny days the dog
and I race
to the park a few blocks
away.

I throw a ratty tennis ball.
he fetches
until the slobber slimed ball
is dropped
at my feet. His tongue hangs
out tired.

(c)Jone Rush MacCulloch, 2015 

Isn't it great how many ways there are to become The Dog Within?  And I'm enjoying how many extra -CH words are appearing in these poems!  I'll need to calculate these usages in my wrap-up at the end, I can see.

Diane takes us into a whole new territory, no dogs in sight (and bonus points for "kvetch"):

Fiscal Therapy

The old lady spends
her days online
religiously checking
prices on eBay. 

A born kvetcher
she tells her son that
everything she
has labeled will fetch
a good price

when the time comes.

"Okay, Ma," he says.

The labels are only
a warm-up.

She crosses out $6.99
and re-marks the
Xavier Cugat LP, $8.99.
All the while
humming "Perfidia."

--Diane Mayr

She also offers us Xavier Cugat performing "Perfidia":  http://youtu.be/nYvjFS8wV2E

Please add your "attractive, appealing, sweet, pretty, good-looking, lovely, delightful, charming, prepossessing, captivating, enchanting, irresistible" poem to today's fetching collection!  Paste it in the comments or send me an email.  Remember, the "StretCHiest MarCHer" will win an enCHanting prize at the end of the month.

Today's roundup is with Robyn Campbell, a newcomer to our community.  Go fetch yourself some juicy poetry bones!

forward...punCH!

www.sinfulcelluloid.com

Good morning on this snowy day in suburban DC!  We're marching along briskly in our first week of the Forward...MarCH Poetry CHallenge (read the introduction to this project here) and our word today is "punCH"--another one with several meanings most delicious to the poet.

I'm posting my one previously published poem for the week, but first I'll share one from Donna of Mainely Write.  You'll see why...

A Punch of Sun

Packing a wallop

Up in the sky 
Noontime it reaches
Cerulean;                                                  
High

--Donna Smith

Really tight, really strong, really great!  And how's this for a coincidence? 

Solar-Powered Sun Puppet

the dark side of me

glowers inside

drags at the tips of my toes

it feeds on clouds

on rainy skies

and only my shadow knows:

how heavy

the day is

how low the horizon

how sodden

and sad

I am

then sweet sun punches a hole in the clouds

sizzles and swims in my eyes

my shadow spills out through a hole in my sole

my darker side hung out to dry

howbrilliantthedayis! 

howhighthebluesky!

how sudden and mad I am!

I’m sunny-side up

I’m pumped full of light 

my silhouette dances on walls

now I can see clearly:

my dark doppelganger
freed by the sun's high call

        my demon cast out, my shadow of doubt
        is the shadow that proves that I am

HM 2009
Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other Side of Nature (Boyds Mills/Wordsong)

I don't know Donna well, but clearly we have sunthing going on.  Go visit Donna's blog--there's a LOT going on there!

Diane of Random Noodling has gone in a different direction with one of her senryu.  Love this marriage of words and image! (Too bad about Punch and Judy's marriage.)

 And Charles Waters is back, too--reminding me of all the "punch buggy, no punch-backs" that I've lived through in the car.

THE GOOD LUCK ALTERNATIVE

I bash my brother on his arm

I did this as a good luck charm

Until he punches my arm, whack!

 I then decide to pat his back.

(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

Mary Lee gets whacked and walloped by the wind:

Pre-Dawn Walk, Winter Edition

It's more than just a punch.
I'm hit by a powerful blow
as I turn north
into the bitter wind.

It slams me back,
rakes my face,
tears away breath,
tears up my eyes.

Seventy steps,
head bent,
then I turn west
and am sheltered.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015 

Carol's is short and light:

The storm raged on-
punCHed the sky,
letting more snow
flit and fly.

2015 CVarsalona

Joy's punch is eggnog...

Please
Use the
New
Cups to
Have eggnog.
 
And Matt's will quenCH your thirst for a laugh:

Some years ago
I met Don Ho.
He took me out to lunch.
His date was hot;
that's why I got
a nice Hawaiian punch.

-© 2015, Matt Forrest Esenwine

Join us tomorrow for "fetCH"!