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My goodness we are two-thirds through National Poetry Month. How are you holding up? I like Amy Vanderwater's description of this month for poets....it's like being at an all you can eat buffet after you just ate. Yes, yes it is like that.
Today I am excited to share some MISTAKES! Our host for this week's Poetry Round-Up, Tabatha Yeatts Lonske, is introducing her shiny new anthology, IMPERFECT: a poetry anthology for middle schoolers about mistakes. Today is the Imperfect anthology's book birthday--Hooray!
I am a Middle School Teacher Librarian in the trenches with those pre and young teens making, fixing and recovering from mistakes.
And...
Tabatha was kind enough to include a poem of mine in her anthology. (you would NOT believe the number of re-writes it took to get this very simple diamante just write---er, RIGHT!)
One of the coolest things about this anthology is how Tabatha likens it to the Japanese art of Kinsugi, repairing broken objects with gold rendering them unique and even more beautiful than before. If you are a pinterest pinner, you can see more on that here.
For me, the gold repair, is humor. Many mistakes that make me feel like diving deep into the nearest hole to the center of the earth are the source of bust-a-gut-laughing stories later.
My friend Deb likes to tell me....someday, you'll laugh at this. And, honestly I do!
One funny mistakes happened with my neighbor. We used to meet at the bus stop and chat while waiting for our kids to ride off to school. I marveled over her beautiful and smart little girl and she told me about her older son who I had never met.
One day, I was out walking and came across my neighbor walking with a handsome young man. I said,
Oh, this must be your son!
There was a long, looooooong pause before my neighbor could sputter,
This is my BOYfriend.
OOOOPS! Unbeknownst to me, my neighbor had started dating after a divorce and, I had never met her son...and he IS young and handsome and....well, let's just say the gold that covers this mistake is a lot ... A LOT of giggles years later.
I love Anne Lamott's words about a serious way of dealing with mistakes--simply letting it go:
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| Quotes, Anne Lamott. “ ~@ANNELAMOTT Pic.twitter.com/eog0sx8zoI.” Twitter, Twitter, 15 Apr. 2018 |
Isn't that what writers do? We try to turn our mistakes into writing gold? I hope that this anthology makes it into the hands of lots and lots of middle schoolers so that they can see it's not the mistake that matters so much as the response it it.
Below is my poem for Imperfect. Many, many congratulations to Tabatha for bringing this book into the world. I wish it lots of success.
We are book mates! This is great, Linda, "For me, the gold repair, is humor." So true, so true!
ReplyDeleteGreat message in your poem -- beginning with "mistake" and ending with "opportunity." Love this: "For me, the gold repair, is humor"
ReplyDeleteI love your insight: "it's not the mistake that matters so much as the response to it." Good advice to everyone--not just middle schoolers. I love how your poem moves from mistake to opportunity. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteHumor is always the cure-all in my house. Love the ending of your poem. Triangles are the strongest shapes. :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL! I guess that's TWO things you never say to a woman - "When are you due?" and "This must be your son!" - though they make good stories later!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Linda! Glad to have your hopeful and true diamante in IMPERFECT. Thank goodness for humor! I had to laugh at Donna's comment, so thanks for the laughs, Linda and Donna!
ReplyDeleteI imagine there will be lots of smiles today when everyone admits a few mistakes. It's great that you have your wonderful poem in this new book, hoping it will land in the hands of lots of students! I wrote something similar today, only in a haiku. The best thing about making a mistake is to use a bit of gold for fixing, I agree. Thanks, Linda!
ReplyDeleteMy life is filled with so many mistakes and missteps, I can't keep track! Your friend's advice is sage: one day you'll laugh at this. And we do! Congrats on your poem's inclusion in IMPERFECT. Terribly exciting! Amy's correct about NPM, and I think my tank is running on fumes. 10 more days! 10 more poems for her challenge! -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/bluebirds-and-lets-go-for-a-walk-nationalpoetrymonth-napowrimo-poetryfriday/
ReplyDeleteMortified is how I would feel in that instance! My poem today is not so much about mistakes, but about the joys of imperfect camping.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your poem's inclusion--and happy book birthday to Imperfect! I hope it finds its way into the hands of many readers--and gives them hope that mistakes aren't the end of the world.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your cool mistakes poem in the anthology! Enjoyed the story about your neighbor, too. That was a big OOPS :D.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right that often in middle school (and elsewhere), humor is the answer. I like your diamante!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post to share your poem and welcome IMPERFECT. Your diamante is wonderful and the story you shared is priceless. Laughter is key!
ReplyDeleteYes, Linda, as a middle school librarian you are in the thick of things but mistakes/missteps are steppingstones to success if we look at them as helping us reflect and move forward. I have stepped in them many a time. I enjoyed your poem. Congratulations that it is in Tabatha's book. I do understand your myriad of retakes on it as you tried to make it just right for the book.
ReplyDeleteYes, so fun that we are together (via poems) in this book!! Your diamante is a marvel of perfectly chosen words and that shift from the "grievous blunder" (I've made so many!!) to the "golden opportunity" is FABULOUS!
ReplyDeletePerfectly composed diamante! No mistake about it! I am happy to share this new book with my middle school teacher friends. Also, thank you for dropping by the ridge this week to offer some much needed writer's therapy!
ReplyDeleteSounds like some marvelous material to me in your "MISTAKE" poem Linda, if we don'e put ourselves out there and try and "tumble, venture, risk," we might never reach that "golden opportunity!" Wonderful poem, congrats!
ReplyDeleteOne of my mistakes from last week was not finding the time to make Poetry Friday rounds. Trying to make up for my errant ways by saying how happy I am that I didn't miss this post altogether! Love your diamante, Linda... I'll take an honest poem over a handsome, young boyfriend any day. :)
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