Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: Poems for Your Pocket and Poetry Month Project

Our host for the week is Irene at Live Your Poem. If you don’t subscribe to Irene’s newsletter, you MUST. This past week, she sent out a newsletter FULL of links to so many great poetry things for poetry month. 
 
 

Poem in Your Pocket

 
 
I have been wanting to put together some poetry printables for this occasion.
 
Here they are! If you click on the image, there are four different poems in the download. 
 
Feel free to send the link to a teacher or librarian you know or print them and give them away.
 

Poetry Project for 2024

 
Last week we were traveling, so I didn’t get a chance to post about my project for Poetry Month.
 
I keep a stack of interesting articles. Most of them are ripped out of magazines that I subscribe to. Sometimes, I’ll print an interesting article I read online. I’ve been shoving them into a folder for a long time thinking I’d go through them at some point.
 
For Poetry Month, I decided I’d dig through the file each day and write a poem inspired by a nugget of information.
 
I stumbled across Consilience Journal and loved how each poem has a science note along with it. 
 
I was a little worried I’d bitten off too big a project (and maybe I have). However, two of my top 5 strengths in StrengthsFinder are Learner and Input, so this is really bucket filler for me! I get to explore something new everyday.
 
I’ll try to share one poem a week (doing a daily post isn’t doable for me). This is just a draft that still needs work!
 

A Pocket for Rock

 
Otter has a pocket—
a pocket for her rock. 
It’s like a little tool belt 
for her finest tool in stock. 
 
The rock inside her pocket
can crack a tasty snack.
She hunts for scrumptious shellfish
then gives them a quick whack. 
 
With a rounded belly,
otter puts her tool away
and stores her shellfish crumbs
in her pocket-sized cafe. 
 
Otter has a pocket—
with rocks and yummy scraps
now all she needs is some time
for a sunny, floaty nap. 
 
Science: Sea Otters have loose skin under their forearms where they can store a favorite shellfish-cracking rock. They can also store food to eat later. 
 
Source: National Geographic “These Creatures Come with Specialized Storage” 
 

Haiku of the Week

 
lone beauty
among curmudgeons
crocus springs up
 
Photo Taken: March 8, 2024 in our yard
Haiku Written: April 3, 2024
 
 

Poem as Picture Book

by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Beth Krommes
Clarion Books, 2023
 

This is a 169-word poem told from the point of view of branches, using the collective we voice.

Poetry Connections

  • Persona/Mask Poem
  • Repetition
  • Alliteration
  • Assonance
  • Imagery
  • Word choice (verbs!)

Links

 
 

Grow

I’m pushing myself to write a poem a day (besides my normal haiku-a-day practice). It’s been good to stretch myself into writing a DRAFT of a poem, trying new things, even when I know it will need lots of work later.

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