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Archive for May, 2025

Poetry Friday: Poetry Speaks to Children

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , on May 2, 2025| 11 Comments »

Mary Lee Hahn has the Poetry Friday Round up at A(nother) Year of Reading.

Today is the first Friday in May which means it’s time for another Inklings challenge. This month, Linda Mitchell asked us to consider a line borrowed from poet Whitney Hanson, “In poetry we say…”

I took out an old favorite anthology of poems in my classroom, Poetry Speaks to Children, and created a cento poem using lines from other poems. The process was interesting and fun. You may even recognize some of the lines.

Lines from these poets:

Rita Dove
Robert Frost
Gwendolyn Brooks
Carl Sandburg
Lewis Carroll
Maxine Kumin
W. S. Merwin
Jane Yolen
William Shakespeare
J. R. R. Tolkein
Joy Harjo
Langston Hughes
John Ciardi
Nikki Giovanni
Sonia Sanchez

The 2025 Kidlit Progressive Poem is complete! See the poem as a whole along with all the participating poets archived here.

To read how other Inklings approached this challenge:

Heidi @my juicy little universe
Mary Lee @A(nother) Year of Reading
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Catherine @Reading to the Core

I invite you to join me on Instagram for #smallpoems, #poemsofpresence, inspired by Georgia Heard’s calendar.

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Spiritual Journey: Blossoming

Posted in Gratitude, nature, Photography, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , , , , on May 1, 2025| 16 Comments »

Carol Varsalona is rounding up this month at Beyond Literacy Links.

 “A world of grief and pain, flowers bloom—even then.” -Kobayashi Issa

Carol’s husband died recently and as she navigates her grief, I am pleased that she still wants to be involved in the wider world of blogging. I love the quote she offered by Issa. I received Georgia Heard’s newsletter in which she invites us to write small. Writing that is small can carry a large load or it can capture a small moment. Here’s Georgia’s May calendar of invitations.

Gardenia power
scents the whole kitchen with breaths
of grandma’s perfume

Flowers have brightened my daily walks this spring. With the sun rising by the time I head out with Albert, I’ve had more light to walk in. Sunrises, too, delight me. A spiritual journey is a daily practice of presence.

I invite you to write #poemsofpresence this month. I will post daily on Instagram. I will also give myself grace if I miss a day or two. May is about keeping myself grounded as the whirling ending of school presses upon me.

This desert rose thrives at my front door. Another blossoming welcoming spring.

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