2011 Poetry Month
Hiya—here are the poems from my 2011 Poetry Month Poem-A-Day Challenge (below), where I shared a poem, the story behind it, and a poetry prompt so you can write your own.
When I first took the challenge of writing a poem a day in April of 2010, it was so exciting, so raw and so life-changing, I’ve been writing a poem a day ever since. I send them, every day (by sailmail!) to my dear friend, author & poet Bruce Balan, who sails around the world.
Check out TeachingAuthors.com , where I blog every other Friday and usually include an original poem.
Now…buckle your seat belt, clip on a pair of wings, and hold onto your four-legged friend!
I Heard My Cat Cry
Can you write your own poem based on the structure and rhyme scheme of Herford’s poem?
How Easy It Is to Fly on Paper Wings
I am reading Charlotte’s Web for the ten thousandth time.
I have read this book over and over,
so the words are worn and pressed—
I can scarcely make them out.
There Are Other Ways to Poems
They find phrases hidden in this grass.
They find verses, songs—all delicious.
Rings
I finger Mama’s golden ring,
remembering when I ruled as king
Riddle
I was in a waiting room. Waiting. So I pulled out my favorite pen. The barrel is pink but the ink is not. I adore this pen beyond reason. I found it abandoned a few month ago, and ever since I adopted it, my heart goes all pitter-pattery when I zip open my backpack and see it.
Birthday Boy
I was born underwater
and they thought I’d be a daughter.
Surprise! A boy!
This Is Just to Say, Cat
After a day chasing my tail, looking for poems in all the wrong places, Jenna’s poem inspired me to create my own THIS IS JUST TO SAY poem …
In the Beauty Parlor
Today’s poem is a good example of the fact that most poems need more than a day to cook—at least most of my poems do!
Long Walk
Wearing sturdy shoes and wide-brimmed straw hats,
my big sister and I trudge across our farm’s sandy soil,
through Johnson grass, to the river.
Two Turtles
“Oh joy!” one new turtle seemed to say, swimming off. The other tucked his head into his shell and sat on a rock.
Generosity
For this Friday’s post, I needed a poem about generosity.
How Do You Describe a Smell?
X PUPPY PERFUME by April Halprin Wayland It’s powdery— cotton candy and dust from a carnival midway It’s musky— leaf litter of an old oak grove It’s all mixed up— crackers and couch pillows: your own furry fragrance your downy dogness as I burrow into you each morning. (c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights
Villanelle
Did I pretend? Perhaps a dream…or was it true?
Thirteen. I was thirteen. It was July.
I swear I didn’t make it up…that night I flew.
Mask Poem
CAT AT MIDNIGHT by April Halprin Wayland Night. She pads out to the porch, I hide. “Come sleep with me,” she says, while turning off the light. I wait. She goes to bed. Then mastering my fright, I slink inside. I’m careful where I tread I tiptoe past his plate and cross a rope he’s
How Does it Feel?
My body after the hike felt so…so what? It was vibrating from the exercise and from the green of the day. This is what I tried to put down in a poem.
Alchemy
What toy or party favor do you remember fondly from childhood?
Envelope Poems
There’s gotta be a word for this.
For that thing that happens
when I need new tennis shoes
Personification in a Poem
Think of an inanimate object and then write a poem using personification.
Sounds Like a Poem
Take your notebook to a park or a restaurant or a school or the beach and write down the sounds. It may help to close your eyes to hear them. Select the most interesting; write a poem.
TeachingAuthors.com turns 2!
We six who ride our blog horse here
are rather like that Paul Revere
“One if by land, two if by sea,”
was revolution’s poetry
Playing With Rhythm and Rhyme
I’m suspended in midair
like there’re wings on me
in my lifeguard chair
by the avocado tree
Be an Animal!
I’ve become somewhat of a dandelion connoisseur …
Nonsense Poem!
Wake up! Are you a Jabberwock?
your head has nodded to the desk
at first I thought ’twas writer’s block
Oh, beamish boy—you’re hair’s askew!
I kick your shoe—I think it best
before our teacher catches you.
Sign a Song!
Xx Oops! This poem was set to post on April 23rd…but never actually appeared. So…here it is…listen to this under-one-minute clip before reading the poem… x CALLING ALL FOLKIES by April Halprin Wayland X People, listen to the friends all singing Come, bring your guitar, share a song People, listen to the friends all singing
Thank You Poem
HEADLINE, DEADLINE, END-OF-LINE by April Halprin Wayland X There are no ants who climb these lines to hoist up every front-page word— absurd. X No crow flies low to drop in twos the sentences which caw the news. X Occasionally a friend will send a music essay which informs (though silence seems to be the
Imitate Your Favorite Poem
x x Who’s coming in the dog park gate?!?!?! Okay…first read this poem: x THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE by William Butler Yeats x I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for
How Do You Haiku?
x METRONOMES x by April Halprin Wayland x In this stifling heat, two dogs meet, pant. Their tails wag a slow hello. x c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved x The story behind the poem: x I was at the dog park, watching Eli sidle up to a new dog. They stood side-by-side,
Metaphors Be With You
x DON’T TRY TO FIX ME by April Halprin Wayland x Just let me be. Just for a while. Some big, dead animal presses down. I don’t know why I feel like this. x Don’t try to fix me. Just let me be. x I have no breath. There isn’t anything to give— there’s nothing
Reverso Poems
x BLOOMING by April Halprin Wayland BLOOMING A poem grows from scattered seed in muddy soil— a muddle. x One green leaf, a vine meandering, winding around, climbing towards light. Me: gardening poetry. x Poetry: gardening me? Climbing towards light? Winding around? A vine meandering? One green leaf? x A muddle in muddy soil from