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Step Happily...into a poem - with Marsha Diane Arnold

9/13/2013

5 Comments

 
Recently, I was accepted into the Poet’s Garage. I’m not sure what possessed me to send my application when I learned they had an opening, but luckily, they accepted me. So here I am, in the Garage, a place where William Peery, founder, says "poems go to undergo repair and body work."

I soon realized these folks’ vocabulary includes words like amphibrach, caesura, quatrains, and anapestic meter. WHAT? My poetry highlight is rhyming letters written by a cow. 
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Not only that, Poet’s Garage has requirements, a certain number of poems you must critique per month and a certain number you must write and share.These folks are serious. It’s like attending a poetry workshop every day.

So in honor of these serious poets, and all serious poets, I’m writing about poetry today. I know my blog theme usually involves character-driven stories and sometimes the environment. You’ll see them. I promise.

Let’s begin with Nasty Bugs, a children’s book of poems, selected by the iconic Lee Bennett Hopkins.  Lee’s a master poet but he also celebrates and showcases other poets. He’s in the Guinness World Records for most prolific anthologist of poetry for children! Happily, Lee’s love of theatre brought about a meeting and a friendship. He often attends a theatre where my daughter performs, choreographs and directs. He wanted to meet my daughter, but there I was, tagging along. And so the meeting happened and the friendship began. 


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Nasty Bugs is a disgusting book ( I say that with the greatest admiration) filled with poems about things kids find fascinating, like stink bugs, bedbugs, and fire ants! 

The poems tell us about amazing, if sometimes repulsive, insects. Insects live in the environment. And wow! Talk about fascinating characters. (Told you I’d hit the character-driven and environmental themes. Everything is connected.)

Maggot tells us this about himself:

“I’m a comma
In a drama
Of disgusting devastation,”


In Fran Haraway’s Cockroach, we read:

“This tribe is tough; it perseveres.
It’s lived three hundred million years.”

Watch out when you read the Lice poem. You’ll definitely start scratching your head!

In an effort to help my meager attempts at writing poetry, Lee advised that I study the best, one of which is Myra Cohn Livingston.


Myra wrote a wondrous book on how to write poetry, published in 1991, entitled Poem-Making - Ways to Begin Writing Poetry. Her writing feels as if she’s taking the reader gently by the hand, saying, “No need to be afraid. Making a poem is joyful and exciting.” The book is out-of-print, but copies are available online. I think it should be on every poet or would-be poet’s bookshelf.

Much of Myra’s poetry feels similar to her Poem-Making book, as if she was taking your hand and saying sweetly, “Come along.” She made every word spring to life. 

In Earth Songs she begins:

“Little O, small earth, spinning in space,
face covered with dizzy clouds, racing,

Soon she follows with these words:

Patched together
With land and sea,
I am earth,
Great earth.
Come with me!

No reader could refuse such an invitation and so we follow the most majestic of characters – Earth. Yes, the poems are driven by the character, earth itself.


A more recent book that marries poetry and photography, nature and character, is Step Gently Out, by Helen Frost, photos by Rick Lieder. Frost, like Cohn Livingston, gently encourages the reader to slow down and appreciate our natural world.

Step gently out,
Be still and watch a single blade of grass.
An ant climbs up to look around.
A honeybee flies past.

Frost is speaking to you, the reader. But as you gently turn the pages, you meet other characters, including spiders, ants, and moths, up close and personal.

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So, tentatively, I joined the poets of Poet’s Garage, many of whom love poetry so much that I’m sure they write a poem a day, just as the amazing Jane Yolen does. Jane shares her daily poems with anyone who asks. If you want to be on Jane’s list to receive a poem a day, you may write her at janeyolen@aol.com and request to be added to her mailing list. She adds people at the beginning of the month, so you’ll need to be patient and wait until October to receive your first “Jane poem.” 

One of the best suggestions from a fellow Poet Garage member was to pick up a copy of Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled. This has got to be the best book on unlocking your inner poet around. Mr. Fry is an actor as well as novelist and comedian. You may remember him from A Fish Called Wanda. His sense of humor makes the study of enjambment and quaternary feet not only bearable, but fun.

And the poet master Lee Bennett Hopkins? His suggestion is that “if you want to write poetry for children, read poetry, particularly works of the NCTE Poetry Award recipients. It will give you a crash course in the best work by America’s finest writers.” 

Go ahead and try it. Step happily…into a poem.


5 Comments
Mary Nida Smith link
9/13/2013 09:35:48 am

Marsha was kind enough to invite us to read her poem on your blog. I love her poem and her books and your blog post.

Reply
Teresa Robeson link
9/13/2013 09:45:35 am

Congratulations on being accepted into the Poet's Garage! You will be great (channeling Lily!). ;) I have the lovely Helen Frost's Step Gently Out and now I'll check out Nasty Bugs too. Thanks for recommending it!

Reply
Tina Cho link
9/13/2013 03:11:42 pm

Thanks for sharing about poetry, Marsha. Congratulations for being accepted into the Poets Garage! That Nasty Bugs poetry book would be perfect for my kids, as they're studying insects right now in science.

Reply
Carrie F link
9/16/2013 08:25:56 am

Hi Marsha! I love what you had to say here about poetry and character. I read Poem-Making this summer and felt that same sense of joyful excitement - but also loved how calm and inviting she was, a true master.

Reply
B.J. Lee link
9/16/2013 09:46:21 am

So nice to see you blogging about poetry, Marsha! I've simply got to get the Kohn Livingston. Keep meaning to...

Reply



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    Meet the Friday Blogonauts

    First Fridays will feature Bryan Patrick Avery, published writer , man of mystery, and professional magician among other things.

    Second Fridays will feature  awesome multi-award winning author Marsha Diane Arnold who will be writing about character-driven and/or nature-based books and/or anything she likes :)

    Third Fridays
    will feature independent Aladdin/Simon & Shuster editor Emma Sector who has helped bring many books into the world.

    Fourth Fridays will feature the great Christine Taylor-Butler who has published over 70 award-winning fiction and non-fiction and nonfiction books including the acclaimed new middle grade series - The Lost Tribes.

    Fifth Fridays will feature the fabulous Carl Angel award-winning multi-published Illustrator and graphic designer.


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  • Home
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
    • Mastering Graphic Novels
    • 2022 Kidlit Palooza >
      • 2022 Palooza Program
      • 2022 Palooza Faculty
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • NEW!! Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship