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Posts Tagged ‘Pantone colors’

Slice of Life Day 4.  Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Slice of Life Day 4. Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Today must be “Opposite Day.” While yesterday I posted a joyful Mardi Gras celebration video, today I am sitting in bed with a glass of tea, a decongestant that hasn’t started working yet, watching the cold rain mixed with sleet come down. If we didn’t already have the day off for Mardi Gras, I would have called in sick or the superintendant would have cancelled school due to icy bridges. The bayou is steaming. The flowers are drooping and saying, “Hey, what gives?”

While I was driving to New Orleans on Sunday, the clouds were billowing, a warning of this day to come, I suppose. As I watched the clouds, I was struck by a metaphor of a bridal gown. Who knows why. I looked up some bridal gown terms and wrote a poem. Laura Shovan has been doing a poetry writing challenge at her blog, Author Amok. She posts Pantone colors every day, and we are invited to write a poem and submit it to her. This has been great practice for me. Her colors for today include Stormy Weather, how appropriate.

Partly Cloudy

The bride was dressed in billowing waves,
blue-grey Chantilly lace layered
over a white-topped empire waist.
Her scalloped neckline accented by rays
of sunlight peering through a cathedral train.
Her attendants, those high Mississippi kites,
flew with utmost grace
announcing her imminent arrival.

–Margaret Simon

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Find more poetry at the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Anastasia.

Find more poetry at the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Anastasia.

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

For February, my students and I braved the cold temperatures to chalk some poetry on the sidewalks. The prompt came from Laura Shovan’s month long birthday project with Pantone colors. I have been participating along with my poet friends Linda Baie and Diane Mayr. Head over to Laura’s site, Author Amok, to read some great poetry.

I bought a new box of chalk and the pieces were labeled with interesting color names. Brooklyn picked out Sky Blue:

Brooklyn sky poem

The sky shines sky blue
The way the summer pool invites me
The way blueberries taste
The way hydrangeas take your breath away
The sky shines sky blue

–Brooklyn.

Vannisa wants you to imagine the colors and how one becomes another in her list.

vannisa colors

Vannisa's colors

I selected the colors sunflower and golden glow to add a little sunshine to the day.

spring chalk poem

We will be on break for the Mardi Gras holiday next week, so my students got a jumpstart on the Slice of Life Challenge. Consider stopping in and leaving a comment on our public blog site: http://kidblog.org/SliceofLifeChallenge/

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A new button for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge!

A new button for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge!

Being a part of this community of bloggers introduces me to new challenges every day, in a good way, like exercise. At Laura Shovan’s site Author Amok, she is working on her birthday challenge by writing poems to Pantone colors. Each day in February, she posts colors to prompt her own writing as well as those of us readers who want to give it a shot.

I started a poem from the color bronze mist while looking out at the bayou on a foggy morning. That led me to the sun bursting the horizon into color. Thanks, Laura, for prompting and challenging me as a writer. Laura also found this beautiful photograph by Kevin Fleming to illustrate my poem.

the homecoming by Kevin Fleming at Wild Delmarva

the homecoming by Kevin Fleming at Wild Delmarva

The bronze mist lingers over the morning bayou.
A great blue heron,
hidden in the fog, wades
boastful in his grey cloak.
He takes flight–winged warrior–
rising into a cosmic sky.
The sun breaks
the horizon into petals
of sugar coral, that perfect pink
silk tulip drops into an earthen vase
calling for spring.

So far, I’ve been able to write a poem each day. Not sure how long that will continue, but hope on over to Laura’s site and check out the colorful poetry wheel.

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