Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘#KidlitProgressivePoem2026’

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

My grandson Leo is in first grade. Wait? What? Time flies, doesn’t it? He is a little sponge absorbing all of the learning. He doesn’t even realize how fast he is developing his verbal skills, but as a teacher and proud grandmother, I am keenly aware.

His mother has always been good about thank you notes. She’s passing that on to her children. He wrote me a thank you note for his Easter gift, but he wrote it on the envelope and put another envelope inside it for me to write back.

His misspelling of thank you to “think you” charmed my husband to say, “You should write him a think you note.”

Who knows if our correspondence will continue, but I wrote him a note about what I was thinking about. (I should have taken a photo.) And enclosed a self-addressed envelope.

Leo’s “think” you note

I am writing poetry this month with Ethical ELA. Today’s prompt from Sharon Roy inspired us to write haiku about reading. I am reading Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. It’s my book companion when I can’t sleep, so I found this haiku.

Through my sleeplessness
gravity of rivers flow
hidden life below.

The Progressive Poem is with Irene Latham, originator of the idea, at Live Your Poem.

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jone Macculloch.
Map painted by Tabatha Yeatts.

So grateful to have Margaret host me again this year and for continuing to host the Progressive Poem! I always look forward to seeing how our poem develops. Like its Progressive Supper inspiration, it leads to appetizing anticipation, variety, community and feeds our souls, too. Makes it exciting as we watch the poem evolve, and finally we get to enjoy that delicious dessert.  Thank you to all KidLit Poetry Friday Blogosphere poets for your many posts and continued commitment to bringing so much poetry to all.  Margaret’s line opened ideas and I wavered between taking a train ride or leading a symphony, but the search for fantastic poems of all kinds seemed to call me.  

 Janet Clare Fagal

Here is the poem with my line added at the end:

On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,
I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings.
A world of words, wonder on wings, waiting just for me!
Birding for words shimmering, flecked in golden gilding.

Binoculars ready, I toured boulevards and side streets,
exploring vibrant verses, verses so honest and tender.
feathery lyrics, bright flitting avian athletes
soaring ‘cross pages in rhythmic splendor.

In the Land of Poetry, I am the conductor,
seeking oodles of poems that tug at my heart

(I left the punctuation for my line to the next poets.)

Next up is Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry. The full schedule is in the sidebar. If you are interested in participating, please leave a comment. There are 3 days left. Thanks, Janet for the word oodles and keeping our poem close to our hearts.

Read Full Post »

Painting by Tabatha Yeatts

The Kidlit Progressive Poem is here today. Tabatha started us off not only with a first line, but also with a beautiful map. Donna added place names to the map. Each year I am awed by the creativity that plays with this poem. The poem has taken on an ABAB, CDCD rhyme scheme. I’m happy that I don’t have to rhyme; I’ve been gifted the first line of stanza 3.

If you are reading and following, please come back to this site tomorrow for Janet’s line. Also, there are still 3 days left to participate. If I don’t fill those last three days, we will end the poem on April 27th.

The Land of Poetry

On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,
I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings.
A world of words, wonder on wings, waiting just for me!
Birding for words shimmering, flecked in golden gilding.

Binoculars ready, I toured boulevards and side streets
exploring vibrant verses, verses so honest and tender,
feathery lyrics, bright flitting avian athletes
soaring ‘cross pages in rhythmic splendor.

In the Land of Poetry, I am the conductor.

Read Full Post »

Rose Cappelli has the line from the Land of Poetry Progressive Poem today. She used her secret favorite devise of alliteration. It’s my favorite, too. As I tell students, it just sounds good.

At Ethical ELA, Luke Bensing prompted us to use alliteration in our first and last lines. The photo today is from my visit to the butterfly exhibit in New Orleans at the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium. I wrote a septercet, which is a small three lined poem of 7 syllables each.

Purple pops of salvia
nectar-seeking flutter by
season for saving scents

If you wish to write a poem today, please leave it in the comments and respond to other writers with encouragement.

Read Full Post »

Today is the first day on National Poetry Month and already the communities I am tapped into have connected with a map. For the first day of our Kidlit Progressive Poem, Tabatha Yeats has offered a map and a line to get us started on our monthlong journey.

At Ethical ELA, Sarah Donovan offered a prompt “Landscape of our Lives.”

The poetry book sitting next to me is “Map to the Stars” by Adrian Matejka. I am sensing a theme emerging.

My poem today is in response to Sarah’s prompt.

Bayou-Side

Inside me there is a sycamore,
a tall pine, a draping grandmother oak.
I can draw a map from Purple Creek
to Bayou Teche.
I’ve spent a lifetime walking near water
watching for herons, turtles, and honeysuckle. 

When it’s time for me to leave this land,
place me in a boat without a motor.
Let me float for eternity. 

(Margaret Simon, draft)

Louisiana blue irises and a brood of ducks near Bayou Teche.

Read Full Post »

April is National Poetry Month. Each year the #kidlit poetry community writes a progressive poem. The idea originated from Irene Latham. Each day the poem travels to a different blog, and the poet adds a new line to the poem. Past poems can be seen here.

If you’d like to participate in this year’s progressive poem, please comment on this post with your date choice and blog URL link. Come back to this post to copy and paste the schedule into your blog post. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

April 1 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
April 2 Cathy Stenquist at A Little Bit of This and That
April 3 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 6 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 7 Ruth Hersey at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
April 8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
April 10 Janet Clare Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
April 11 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 12 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 13 Linda Mitchell at Another Word Edgewise
April 14 Jone MacCulloch at Poetry Rocks
April 15 Joyce Uglow at Storied Ink
April 16 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 17 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 18 Michele Kogan at More Art for All
April 19 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 20 Buffy Silverman
April 21 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem
April 22 Karen Edmisten
April 23 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 24 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 25 Tanita Davis at Fiction, instead of Lies
April 26 Sharon Roy at Pedaling Poet
April 27 Tracey Kiff-Judson at Tangles and Tails
April 28
April 29
April 30

Read Full Post »