Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Bird Poem Challenge for Wondering and Wandering

Hello Poetry Friday Friend,

This week seemed to fly!  Thanks to our host for Poetry Friday's round-up,  creative and connected, Wondering and Wandering, Christie Wyman.

Christie challenged us to present a bird themed post today. Last week, Diane Mayer had a great post on using photographs from the Library of Congress as writing prompts. LOC has become one of my best friends. There is no end to what to discover from their online collection or at the physical library itself.

These two ideas seemed destined to meet on my laptop.

When I searched LOC for "bird" I found a cache of travel posters featured as a digital resource. I found an old poem. I found a prompt for each season....how could I stop at just one?



Spring


Indigo Bird. [No Date Recorded on Caption Card] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2002718964/>.


Summer


Rio - Braniff International Airways. [195] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2009632101/>.


Autumn


Chubb, Thomas CaldecotTurkey gobbler land. Thomas Caldecott Chubb. Decorations by Wharton Esherick. This poem first appeared in Poetry: a magazine of verse, August, . It is now published by the Centaur Press, Philadelphia, in an edition of 800 copies. Copyright 1. Philadelphia, 1934. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.16202900/>.

Turkey Gobbler Land
By Thomas Caldecott Chubb

Down in the south, where cornfields stand in rows
Of blond, stiff spears against a parched, brown earth;

Where the tall pine trees smell of turpentine,
And iridescent doves flash back and forth (read the rest)


Winter






18 comments:

  1. Oh man! I can't choose...I love them all! And such wonderful images you chose for each season. I've got to go with the Indigo Bunting for the win, as I saw my first on one of my Cornell birding walks. Breathtaking! Thanks for playing along. I knew you would! -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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  2. Such a wonderful assortment of poems! You were inspired! I'm especially fond of the rhythm of your cherita. It's such fun to read aloud. And in your haiku, I love the lines "windward drifts the snow" and "sky waits to blush." So lovely!

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  3. Wow. I love how these have given you a new voice! And each so different. That last! Like it's plucked from a page of an ancient anthology. And your first - those flowers for retelling. Beautiful!

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  4. I love your branch that's blooming with new memories–that stanza sings a song of now and then later too! Rich winter haiku medly and beautiful crow. Thanks for all these lovely poems and images Linda!

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  5. Wonderful finds and writing, Linda. That Turkey Gobbler Land is so mournful. I've never seen it in collections before. You are so clever in your differing approaches, love the "palatte knife to sky".

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  6. A whole year of birds! You really took flight with the prompts, Linda.

    I saw toucans in person once, and they really are convincing as a reason to come visit. Gorgeous, even when they aren't samba-ing!

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  7. What a beautiful collection you have created here and so diverse. I love them all, but I especially love the line 'sky waits to blush'.

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  8. These are greeat! Love the toucan limerick!

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  9. What varying birds, from blue blossom audubon, to tilted toucan to brooding crow. And that turkey poem gave me a warm glow for the turkeys that have adapted to suburbia in my neck of the woods.

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  10. Fun! What a great trip through the seasons with birds! "Taciturn" just isn't a word we use much anymore, but we should. I love its use here.

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  11. Wow, Linda! This is quite a collection! I love the idea of mining images from the Library of Congress to inspire poetry. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. I knew you would swoon over the LOC photos and here you are with a whole calendar of poems. And all different forms. You inspire me!

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  13. Thank you for sharing these wonderful poems! I lived in Brazil for a few years, so I especially enjoyed the limerick about the toucan!

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  14. Linda, I love that you chose the seasons as your theme once again. I am still in love with the paper collage poems you sent me for the poetry swap. I am definitely using the limerick for the summer gallery because it has such a summer flavor to it, especially since I am heading to Miami, Naples, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach for the NCFL Conference and visiting with friends. It is going to be a sweep of southern Florida and your toucan is getting me in the mood.

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  15. Not one not two not three but ALL four seasons of beaked, feathered friends to visit here, Linda!
    And the Library of Congress archived posters are great trips into intriguing spaces.
    I love all your poems, but am especially partial to "Spring Cherita" & love this line:
    " a branch for their story "
    You have flocked well, busy back-to-school Librarian!

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  16. Impressive! Four poems for four seasons. I think my favorite is the spring cherita. I wrote a cherita, too, this week.

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  17. What a treasure-hunter you are, LOCked and loaded with images and ideas. Your winter poem is the most striking for me-mysterious and atmospheric and not like your other writing.
    "sky waits to blush
    not a berry for hanko
    today westers home"
    not about the artwork, but OF it...

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Friendly, positive comments and feedback are always welcome here. Please let me know I'm not just whistling in the dark!