2015 Poetry Month
I write a poem each day; during Poetry Month 2015 I’m sharing *PPPs
Welcome to Poetry Month 2015!
Eli and I will be feeding you one PPP per day for Poetry Month this year. What is a PPP, you ask? A *Previously Published Poem. I have so many poems in so many anthologies, books and magazines, Eli thought I should snap a leash on one each day this month and give it a walk around the block. So that’s what we’re doing this year. Enjoy!
(once you click on the title of the poem to the right,
the post shows up below ↓ )
My Father Whistles the Hills
He follows the natural notes of the land, and
the wheel moves in his hands …
The Big Picture
The dirt is a loamy red.
My shoes will need a cleaning, I think.
Or maybe I’ll leave them, a soft-stained souvenir.
Those School Dances
At the dance,
I wander into the
cold-tiled bathroom:
fixing, fixing, a line
of fixing girls,
making sure.
Float
… and there is still daylight left when Daddy comes home …
13 Ways of Looking at Peace
“It is an historic milestone of immense proportions. It has never happened before—never in human history—and it is happening now—every day—every hour—waging peace through a global conversation …”
Santa Fe, New Mexico
up dusty red Canyon Road
in and out of art galleries
ducking out of the heat …
Bussssssssssss
Brakessssshisssssss
wheelsssssssssqueal
busssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssto-ops.
Says the Seagull
Who are these people on my pier?
I sail above them, then fly near.
World Wide Wag
… if your big goofy paws
were seen racing on air …
Cat Act
The scruffy house cat
aches to fly–
she dreams all day of
wings and sky!
Bongo
With bongo, blanket and Panama hat,
I went to a special drum store.
There were drums and drums and drums and some
I’d never seen before.
Cleaning Out
this big shirt
used to fit
but today I swim around in it—
out go all my give-away clothes …
I Like That Night Follows Day
What if there was never night
if it was always light…and light?
Symmetry
This form is called a Mirror Poem by Joan Bransfield Graham, from whom I learned it in the early ’90s, or a Reverso Poem by Marilyn Singer.
In the Word Woods
I’m sure there’s a found poem somewhere here.
There usually is this time of year …
Music Critic (The Ocean’s Opinion)
This guy drags his drum set onto the sand
so that I have a front row seat …
Budding Scholars
Welcome, Flowers.
Write your name on a name tag.
Find a seat …
The Peanut Guy—A Limerick
This one appeared as a group of four as an example of limericks in Paul B. Janeczko‘s book,WRITING FUNNY BONE POEMS (Scholastic, 2001): THE PEANUT GUYby April Halprin Wayland The Peanut Guy, he had a dreamWhenever he threw, fans would screamWith each bag he soldA great throw he’d unfoldThey watched him, ignoring their team. This
Fire Ants
Flood waters rise!
Quick, form a ball—
our larvae, pupae, eggs and Mother Queen inside!
The Glove Box
Today, while we were driving home
The glove box opened on its own …
I Am Standing
Girl on Land…………………….Boy at Sea
I am standing…………………….I am standing
Rock Solid Friendship
thought about it
saw how deep it was
thought about how cold it would be …
Procrastination
PROCRASTINATION by April Halprin Wayland Ancient dog circled in the grass round and round to tamp it down I am dog circling, too round and round as all dogs do round my homework, round my desk finally, working then I rest. published in Cricket Magazine December 2002 also published in my novel in poems, GIRL COMING