Fall here in South Louisiana doesn’t offer much color change of the trees. The oaks stay green. The cypress turn brown. Crepe myrtles are still blooming. I found this yellow beauty near a sweet-gum tree. I picked it up and pressed it into my notebook.
I invite you to think about fall with all your senses.
One of my favorite forms is the zeno created by J. Patrick Lewis. Based on a mathematical sequence, the syllable count is 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 with all the single syllable lines rhyming. I usually decide on the one syllable rhyming words and write the poem around them.
As sun’s glow fades through purple clouds,
Margaret Simon
I walk alone
seeking
fall.
A yellow leaf
beneath
sprawls,
beckons to hear
barred owl’s
call.
Write your own musings in the comments and leave encouraging comments to others. With my students, today I plan to make Zeno Zines. Here’s a video of me sharing a Zine.
Margaret, you are on a roll lately with your helpful posts. I love stepping into your classroom, this time before you teach the lesson. The zeno is a new form for me. I enjoyed giving it a try today. Your “beckons to hear” made me think that little star was alive and making plans…
Westward glimpse toward the sunset
Gingerbread Star
makes a
plea
Leap-jumps away
from his
tree
Head over heels
tumbles
Home
Oops, I made a last minute change so my rhyme is off. That last word should be free. 🙂
Denise, what a wonderful first zeno. If you follow me on Instagram, I put a video of a zeno zine. My students love making zines. We are rubbing leaves with crayons and then folding the paper. I am loving my teaching time so much.
Oh, gingerbread star seems like he should be the star of a picture book!
The leaves are just beginning to turn in Michigan–and already some are falling!
Zeno at the Equinox
Autumn’s colorful spectacle–
arboreous,
brilliant,
brief.
Sassafras starts,
leaf by
leaf,
stealing hearts, a
golden
thief.
–Buffy Silverman
Wonderful. Some of my students wanted to use leaf as a rhyming word but couldn’t make it work. Thief is a great word choice.
I almost gave up on it–tell your students it wasn’t the easiest choice!
Buffy, I just returned from Minnesota. We were there in a perfect weather week over the equinox, but we saw some definite colorful changes in the trees. They really were “stealing hearts” and I took so many photos! Great rhyming word choices.
First Fall colors in NY today so this photo really spoke to me. I have been reading these posts for months and decided to give it a go today. Here is my first Zeno.
Slices of banana cream swirl
like confetti
through chilled
air,
gracing the green
with Fall
flair.
The first to fly
as trees go
bare.
I love it! The banana cream swirl all the way to trees go bare.
Thank you
Oh, Cathy, what a sweet image of “slices of banana cream swirl” perfect. Welcome on this day, and your first poem here. What a beauty.
Thank you for the welcome.
I love that zine! I have students that think the zine is so fabulous…they’ve been making dozens of them. My faith in students have been restored by some of these sweet sixth graders. Ooooooh that yellow leaf is a beaut. Walking alone to hear an owl’s call sounds like a treat. I struggle to write ‘This photo’ in the mornings. But, tonight I have just a few minutes to play with some words. Thank you.
What fun, Margaret! I hope you will bri g this form to the Open Write. I love your poem and your pressed leaf.
I saw a fish crow on a steeple on Monday, and you inspired this zine:
High overhead, sitting on a
church steeple, was
a fish
crow
giving off strained
vibes of
Poe
raven-like eyes
in the
know
Thanks for that suggestion. Now I have student samples to share. I’m not sure when I am hosting. Need to check the calendar. I love your Poe crow.
Kim, perfect rhyming words with the fun Poe allusion. I can see that crow on the steeple.
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