Instructions Ignored: NPM26 #28

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Some people are genius at following directions. Me, not so good. And the first graders in my care, they take a sideways route. Today’s Verselove prompt was about instructions for writing poetry. That made me think about the way students often start with energy and ideas that seemingly evaporate just when it’s time to begin writing. Luckily, more often than not, they are able to grab those vaporized ideas and allow them to condensate onto the page once the pencil begins to work its magic.

How First Graders Write a Poem or Instructions Ignored

Start with a puzzled look

To keep your teacher on her toes

Then burst into talking

About anything and everything 

Redirected and reminded

Consider action

Add in metaphorical thinking 

Don’t forget your senses 

and a sprinkle of color

Open your notebook

Draw a blank…let all those ideas

Vanish, evaporate, disappear

Pick up your pencil

Trust the magic

Delight in your own ideas 

Push past the spelling worries

Until that poem

Blooms

Delight in your words 

Read them to your classmates

And smile in satisfaction

@kd0602

Interrupted: NPM26 #27

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After a day of serious, serial interruptions, Dave’s Verselove invitation was to write about…interruptions. Classrooms are notoriously places of interruptions (at least from my insider point of view)…and I’m not even talking about technology!

Questions bombard me

missiles propelled

From every direction 

     Is she dead?

     Can I have a bandaid?

     My dog is named (fill in the blank) too

All in the course 

of reading a book to my class

Hands in my face

A tug on my hem

My name called over and over and over

     I need help

     Is this good enough?

     What’s next?

As I launch into today’s lesson

Not to mention

vibrations, bells, unexpected

visitors

     stops and starts

     emotions overflowing 

     phones that ring and ring and ring

Send her to intervention

He’s being picked up to go to the 

     dentist

     doctor

     Disneyland 

Wait!

It’s time for lunch…

@kd0602

Rain Joy: NPM26 #26

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Today’s Verselove prompt was to describe your place…down the dirt road, and my mind immediately went to the raindrops on the windshield as we drive down the freeway last night, to the music of rain on the roof overnight, of the evidence in the backyard after another shower this morning. Rain is rare here, so it commands attention, not just from people, but from plants and animals too. I spent some time this morning tiptoeing around the backyard in my pajamas and flip flops, listening to the birds, noticing light on water droplets, watching the backyard plants smile and snapping some photos to remind myself it was real and it happened today.

Streaking down car windows 

tiny rivers filling

snaking in search of the parched

finding a path through dips and crevices 

Taps of wind and water

serenading me in my sleep

moistening memories

drip dropping into my dreams

Damp streets and random pools

reminders of liquid treasure

gathered in succulent bellies

hiding beneath aloe spears

polka dotting blueberries 

hanging teardrops cling

as backyard plants cry happy tears

rain is here, if only for a moment

@kd0602

Bookstore Day: NPM26 #25

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Imagine this as spoken word poetry, find the rhythm in the sound of the words, say them loud and clear. Books matter, words matter, libraries matter, poetry matters…even when it’s not perfect. Thanks Verselove and Ashley for the push to try something different.

On bookstore day

reading rules 

stories sing

poems play

words somersaulting 

dancing together

to the rhythms of syllables 

and sentences

On bookstore day

book lovers gather

writers and readers

uncovering treasures

buying books and borrowing books

making long lists TBR

to be stacked teetering 

on bedside tables

On bookstore day

protest library cuts

postcard the mayor

appreciate books

shoulder to shoulder

with bookstore crawlers 

not in search of a bargain 

but to celebrate bookstores 

book doors

openings to worlds

only books unlock

on bookstore day

@kd0602

Dandelion: NPM26 #24

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Today in my first grade classroom we wrote under the influence of William Carlos Williams and his red wheelbarrow. We gazed out the window, noticing the ordinary and imagining those “ordinary” things in 16 words.

Giant puffball of

seeds

White moonbeams reflecting 

light

Parachutes floating in

air

Planting the next

generation 

@kd0602

Umbrellas: NPM26 #

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Walking UCSD’s campus is always interesting. Unexpected art pops up in surprising places. Today it was bright orange umbrellas. This is a place where our average rainfall comes in just under 10 inches annually. Some years it’s less. Occasionally we get a bit more–those are the “super bloom” years. At my last meeting today we had an invitation to write Haiku…with an emphasis on a single breath. I’m not sure I achieved the single breath, but I did write something resembling a Haiku–about umbrellas!

Umbrellas blossom

rain hides deep inside white clouds

rainy day without raindrops?

@kd0602

My Place: NPM26 #22

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Inspired by both Verselove‘s onomatopoeia poem invitation by Margaret and NWP’s Write Out Write Where We Stand Challenge, I took a mental walk on the beach this afternoon. The beach is truly my place.

Funky fishy salty smells

feel like my favorite pair of jeans,

an old friend, familiar and cozy and comforting.

Whistles and squawks harmonize,

sea songs narrating bird stories

from water to shore.

Pop, pop, crunch

kelp floats explode under my feet.

When I hear the rumble-whoosh

whisper of waves lapping the shore,

I know I am home.

@kd0602

Head in the Clouds: NPM26 #21

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As we headed out the classroom door to head to the playground for recess, the clouds stopped us in our tracks! We immediately started to generate some metaphors (none of which are here). My head stayed in the clouds all afternoon. Every time I stepped out the door, I was drawn to the sky.

Cumulus stratus cirrus which will we see today?

Levitating lowering leveling just above the horizon 

Over the buildings, shape shifting, floating on air

Umbrellas? Maybe not today 

Day dreaming distractions, just look up

Some day are simply made for clouds 

Gone Fishin’: NPM26 #19

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I caught the flicker of feathers out of the corner of my eye. Osprey! And then it dove. Wait, was that an osprey or a pelican? Then up it came with a fish in the talon–a big ol’ heavy fish. Down went the osprey, back into the water. I’ve never seen an osprey tread water–until today. It seemed to be riding the waves, flapping when the wave lifted, an enormous fish still firmly in its grasp. When up didn’t work, the next step was to surf in toward the shore. Using the fish as the surfboard, it glided onto shore. Then took a bit of time to adjust, not risking losing that prize dinner, before lifting off and heading north to find a place to sit and dine on fresh seafood.

Ocean bird of prey

battling to land enormous fish

lifting back to sky