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Spring is creeping from south to north, muddy ground to waving tree-tops. I am grateful. Poetry champion Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is hosting our round-up today at The Poem Farm. Don't miss her amazing Roll-the-dice project during National Poetry Month.
In our house we celebrate Gotcha Days--the days we met each child of ours. Twenty-years ago, we met our eldest in Wuhan, China. Yes, that Wuhan.
Our eldest's birth family, who we do not know, have been on my heart. If you are so moved, please think of them as we celebrate the day the child they could not raise became our family.
Our child was born in the Chinese Year of the Tiger...absolutely fitting. Tigers fierce and strong and loyal. Our tiger is a senior in college. They've done well in studies and have been fortunate enough to take a job at a great organization before Covid-19 shut down the university and graduation celebration. We are grateful.
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| Gotcha Day card from re-cycled books by Linda |
And of course, I am grateful for Passover and Easter! Happy Peseach and Happy Easter to all.
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| Easter Card from re-cycled book pages by Linda |
Next week, I'm reviewing A Hatful of Dragons: And More than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems (Wordsong 2020) by Vikram Madan. I was able to interview him about his new collection collection. Take a moment to think of your answers to the questions I asked. After all, we're all poets here.
Consider this an opportune moment of reflection. Pick any question(s) to answer in the comment section below. Our collective responses will make for wonderful Poetry Month reading.
I'll go first.
Interview Questions for Poets
Pick any question(s)
1. Where do your ideas come from?
3. What is a favorite poem you've written and why?
4. What do you read for fun?
5. Where do you connect with audiences?
6. What's next?
7. What is the first poem you wrote? How long ago?
8. How does your life inform your writing?
Where do your ideas come from?
ReplyDeleteI love to ask this question of authors…but the answers usually in some variation of “anywhere” confound me! Well, of course, anywhere! I love writing to prompts. Right now, I am writing to Laura Shovan’s #WaterPoemProject, Sarah Donovan’s #VerseLove, Margaret Simon’s This Photo Wants to be a Poem.
Tell me about an experience that shows your silliness.
Ha! I’m actually a pretty serious person – in person. I am a slower thinker than most silly people, I think. So, my silliness comes out best when I have the extra time that writing provides. Unfortunately, sarcasm comes super naturally to me. I can be wry waaaaay to quick and I try to muzzle that as much as I can.
What is a favorite poem you've written and why?
A favorite poem I’ve written is about the moon during Chinese Autumn Moon Festival. I think about my children’s birth parents and pray that they are well.
What do you read for fun?
I read historical fiction. I just love history and feeling history come alive with dialog and invented actions in historical situations. I’m crazy about WWII historical fiction.
Where do you connect with audiences?
Here! I don’t really have much of an audience beyond my amazing critique group, the SWAGGERS and this blog. I try to treat letters I write to loved ones as gifts from my heart. They are my favorite audience. Oddly, I’m shy to send loved ones poetry I’ve written. Not sure why.
What's next?
I aim to gather poems into collections and see about publishing. I haven’t been great at doing the work of this. Rejection defeats me more than it should and zaps my motivation to keep trying. This is something I need to work on.
What is the first poem you wrote? How long ago?
When I was about ten I wrote a poem in the back seat of my family’s car on a long road trip to my grandparent’s house. I compared God to a magnet and myself to a piece of steel. It very much went along with the serious side of my nature. But, tales of my one of my great-grandmother’s seriousness indicate I come by it naturally. I never met her…but I feel like I kind of know her.
How does your life inform your writing?
I’m very curious and a bit argumentative…always pushing for the reason, the answer or the source of something. This can be a hard thing for my loved ones to deal with. But, it helps me as a poet.
Who do you write for?
I write an unknown public. I find comfort in writing to the “great we” that I don’t know and yet understand that I have much in common with. I like making connections to others…it feels like making friends.
Your turn! Remember, you don’t have to answer all the questions! I did just for fun. Answer one as a poetic reflection gift to others during National Poetry Month.
Great questions--and I enjoyed your answers. I'm going to tackle the first one--Where do your ideas come from?
ReplyDeleteI find that ideas are a bit mysterious as to where they come from. Sometimes they are quite abundant--floating in the air waiting for my to pluck them out. Other times they make themselves scarce and my hands/mind come away empty. I have found that the more I write, the more ideas seem to come. When I am the most desperate, I start by writing about not having ideas. I also love writing to prompts--from DMC to Laura Shovan's poem project to books to the Advent/Lent photo prompts each year. And of course, there are lots of ideas shared through Poetry Friday!
Wonderful answer, Kay. Yes...the prompts are plentiful right now. I need to remember them during the rest of the year when I'm looking for one. I so enjoy your responses to the Advent/Lent photos. Thank you!
DeleteHi, Linda. Happy Gotcha Day to your family. I will send healing thoughts to your kid's birth family. I've been working a collection of silly robot poems. To answer your "Where do your ideas come from" question -- these poems wouldn't have happened if I hadn't started doodling robots about two years ago.
ReplyDeleteWell, look at where doodling took you! I've been collaging...sometimes, I wonder if I might, maybe someday collage illustrations for a story or a collection.
DeleteLinda, Missing My Peeps is a lovely Easter card. I do love your paper collages. They are always a bit of whimsy to brighten my days. I am tackling #2 Question because I do not do enough that I deem silly. I think the best example of when I do act silly is when I am with my granddaughter, Sierra. We think up silly little rhymes, play why games (really she does because that is her favorite question-I used to ask that question too when I was little). I can be silly with her because she loves to play along. I think children allow us to dig deep into our fun side of life. For the most part, I am serious and often obsessive about things. That does not leave much room for silliness. That is why I love to watch comedies so I can laugh out loud and enjoy moments of being connected with others who laugh out loud, too. Abbott and Costello and Mary Poppins are favorites because their silliness scenes are sources of joy.
ReplyDeleteOh, Carol. I get that! I think a lot of us poets are quite serious...but we enjoy things that help bring our sillies out. I hope you can be silly with Sierra and Aurora over zoom or skype a bit.
DeleteI actually was silly with Sierra through hand gestures while her mother was talking to my husband. It was so funny seeing us doing a silly dance on Zoom.
DeleteHappy Gotcha Day to you and your Tiger! Lucky kid, lucky family! One of my favorite poems I've written was for Madness Poetry back when it was new. The poem is about redbuds, which are just beginning to bust out here in Ohio!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love redbuds. We were on a long drive to/from one kid's dorm recently. The redbud looked like they were holding the line for advancing spring. I swear they looked like a very pretty military. ha!
DeleteI love your homemade cards. Ah Peeps! I'm missing so many peeps! Happy Gotcha Day to your oldest. I love that you have so many multi-cultural celebrations in your home.
ReplyDeleteI can still remember the first poem I ever wrote while swinging in a tree outside my piano teacher's home waiting for my mother to pick me up. I may have been 12.
Spring is my favorite time of year
when the air is fresh and clear.
Flowers blooming all around.
No more snow on the ground.
Isn't it the worst??
Not the worst at all! You were a poet from the get-go! None of us knew how much bad and bleh poetry had to be written to get to the good stuff! And, you've got some good poetry.
DeleteThe idea of Gotcha Days is brilliant! Is that something you came up with or is that something that many adoptive families celebrate? Anyway, big CONGRATS to your Tiger for the outstanding accomplishments! You know, I spend so much time interviewing others at TLD, I've never even thought to turn those questions on myself. I would need to think hard to answer any of your questions honestly. But as for what's next... a collection of my own, I hope! I don't know when it might happen, but I'm feeling more and more hopeful that it will.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad you are pulling a collection of your work together. I will be first in line to pre-order. We didn't invent Gotcha Day...lots of families use that term. But, more and more I hear "Adoption Day," "Family Day." But, when our youngest was born to us (the old fashioned way---holy moly were we surprised) I made sure that I the first thing I said to that little face was, "I got you." I'm glad you took a stab at a question. It's good to think about these things from time to time. Thanks!
DeleteSo much love to your Tiger and to your Tiger's birth family and to all of you. The first poem I remember writing was in sixth grade...it was about mothers. I had a wonderful teacher and still draw on his kindness and too, he gave me a thesaurus as a gift! Peace and health. xx
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing, the wisdom of those special teachers?! That teacher knew a thesaurus would be a gift for you. And, look at the beautiful words you work and play with and share with everyone. That is a story that needs to be told. Consider the see planted.
DeleteHappy Gotcha day to your Tiger, Linda, and blessings to his birth parents, too. And congratulations on his graduation, too. I've seen others share Vikram's new poetry book & it looks like loads of fun. What was my first poem, at least that I remember? It was titled 'The Pattern', written when I was about 8 & published in the local paper. (It was a little town, remember!) I was learning to sew from a pattern & wrote about it being a puzzle! This is going to be fun to see everyone's questions/answers! Thanks, and best to you and the family!
ReplyDeleteI love that the glimmer of what we become is in us as children...sewing patterns ARE like puzzles. What a wonderful memory that must be for you. It would make a lovely story...including the poem if you can find it.
DeleteHappy Gotcha Day, Tiger. And like others, I love your cards.And questions! I chose
ReplyDelete8. How does your life inform your writing?
I think poetry should come from our lives. I don't mean we have to write about ourselves all the time, but that through living we know the emotions we write about, as well as the sights, the sounds and so on. When I write long form poetry in versenovels, the stories are not about me, but the emotions my characters feel, and which I then try to craft into verse, come from my own knowings - from empathy with how it might feel to be that character going through those times.
Sally, I love your answer. I'm actually quite sick of writing about myself...but I do like writing from the point of view of someone or something else. Of course, myself is in there somewhere. But, I like learning through writing.
DeleteHappy Got Your Tiger Day to you and yours. I appreciate the way you share about your lovingly created family, and I'm so glad your senior has something to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteLinda,your questions are interesting and wide-ranging, expressing your curiousness and your push for the reason, the answer, the source!
I'd like to address silliness: nothing makes me laugh more easily, nothing inspires me more often to new writing ideas, than misspeech and typographical errors. When a kid calls it "sandihantizer" or I accidentally type "sleeking bag," my whole body smiles with the braintickle of my next poem....which may turn out to be rather serious and heavy, since like you, I also have that streak of "momentous import" built into me.
Happy springidays to you, Linda, my dear Partner in Swaggery!
Awwwww, Heidi. I love your careful reading of my responses and YOUR responses to them. Braintickle has to be a new word for a new poem. It's so perfect! Mwah!
DeleteMy oldest joined our family via adoption and we just celebrated her Gotcha Day this past week! Congrats to your Tiger. Your questions are intriguing, but I think I'll probably need more think time to do them justice. But on the matter of how does your life inform your writing, I feel like it goes both ways...my writing informs my life as much as the other way around. Be well. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Gotcha Day to you and yours! I love that your writing informs your life. Wonderful answer.
DeleteHappy Gotcha Day to you and your Tiger! I will think of their birth family and carry them in my heart as well. I love your decision to share your questions for Vikram with us. I remember my first poem--my memory says it was 2nd grade, but who know how accurate that was. I still remember every word:
ReplyDelete"On your birthday, don't be lazy,
open your packages and go crazy.
When you open one you'll scream.
Joy and happiness fill the scene!"
Ha! I look forward to reading your book review.
What a wonderful poem. You enjoyed rhyme from an early age...of COURSE you are a poet now. Thanks for the good thoughts. I hear China is starting to send kids back to school in the next few weeks.
DeleteHappy Gotcha Day to your fierce and loyal Tiger! Leave it to you to come up with this clever post! Like you, I have to think about things for a while and let my ideas percolate. That's true for both my answers to your questions and about most of my writing. I don't remember the first poem I ever wrote, but I did write some very bad poetry the winter right after college. We had just moved and it took me a while to find a job. The weather was terrible--it seemed like it snowed every day, so I sat at my typewriter and poured out my frustrations. I have no idea what happened to those poems. I'm sure it's best that they stay lost!
ReplyDeleteOh, those bad poems in college. I think a lot of us have them. I'm fine with mine being lost too.
DeleteCongrats to your tiger on his Gotcha Day–and what a fun phrase! I'm thinking well thoughts for his birth family. I love your tiger card, it looks fierce and strong. Ideas are a constant for me, many come from my loves and interests, nature, animals, caring for our environment and endangered species, caring for each other. Then they just float through the air and land in front of me. I never seem to be short on ideas, only time. Excellent questions Linda, looking forward to your review next week, thanks!
ReplyDeleteWell, then you are in the right profession! Creativity creating more creativity. It's a treat to know you and benefit from your creative sharing.
DeleteHappy Gotcha Day to your Tiger. <3
ReplyDelete