Persistence

Any Poetry Friday poet has permission to use this image

Happy Friday!

Thank you, Janice, at Salt City Verse, for hosting this week's poetry round-up. I so enjoy her poems and have shared at least one with students.

Heidi challenged the Inklings to write a poem of persistence. I kept thinking I had more time to write a persistence poem. Time tomorrow or the next day...and look! It's July 1st. Uh, oh. It's time now! And, the prompt is not procrastination.

This draft will certainly change as I persist in revision.

Gladys is the star of show in the newest padlet poem. We are halfway through the year. I'm celebrating 26 poems written. Wheeeeeeee!

More Inkling responses to Persistence:

Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Catherine @ Reading to the Core
Heidi @ MyJuicyLittleUniverse
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Mary Lee @ A(nother) Year of Reading

Gladys in a mood
https://padlet.com/mitchellhubeimom/4bzbfu2cg5k7awk5

Star-Catching, Poem-Chasing

Hello Poets,

I'm on the road and on my way home from a fantastic vacation full of fun and family. My heart and suitcase are bursting with memories. I've been star-catching too -- see?

This week's reading, between naps and visiting, has been Shirley McPhillips'  Poem Central. Word Journeys with Readers and Writers (Stenhouse 2014). It's fantastic! There are lots and lots of practical tips for immersing humans of all ages in language through poetry. 

Reading Poem Central relaxes me as a teacher and student, writer and reader. It's information at a pace that pleases me and gives me rest. Poem Central is packed full of poems and references to poems and all kinds of practical writing tips. Even if you don't teach language arts or poetry...this book is a keeper. 

McPhillips, Shirley. Poem Central: Word Journeys with Readers and Writers. Stenhouse Publishers, 2014.

Even though it's been a busy trip, I managed to get a tiny new star poem up on the padlet. 

https://padlet.com/mitchellhubeimom/4bzbfu2cg5k7awk5/wish/2228779702

I hope you are enjoying summer! Three cheers and thanks to Catherine at Reading to the Core for hosting our round-up this week. 

Spark Arting with Jone II

Star collage--you have my permission to use for PF. Linda M.

Hello June Poets,

It's lovely to see you. Thank you, Michelle Kogan, for hosting our round-up today.

This post is part two of Spark-Arting with Jone Mc Culloch. Spark is a creative exchange that invites artists to share an inspiration piece with a partner, then respond. Last week, I shared Jone's inspiration collage and my responding pantoum.

This week, I share Jone's inspiration pantoum, Silences, and my responding mixed media collage also titled Silences. 

Silences. Mixed media collage by Linda Mitchell. 2022

This weekend, we are celebrating my Mother-in-law's eightieth birthday. Her stars are now on the padlet. 

Spark Arting with Jone I

Hello, Hello, Hello! 

It's Poetry Friday and early June. Is there a better combination? I don't think so. Thanks to Buffy S., for hosting our round-up today. Did you know Buffy and I were at Ithaca College together? She was teaching, and I was earning a bachelor's. Our paths didn't cross then. But, isn't that cool?

This post is the first of a two-parter. 

Several weeks ago, Jone McCulloch reached out and asked if I wanted to participate in a Spark art exchange. If you don't know Spark, it's pretty fun -- especially when you can choose your partner. 

The way it works is that each artist sends an inspiration piece to their partner. The receiving artist responds artistically during the ten calendar days of the challenge.

Jone and I broke the rules. We wanted to send a poem and a collage to each other...resulting in four final response pieces to share.

The image below is Solstice Blessings an inspiration piece by Jone. It is a mixed media piece of paper, paint and acrylic paste on board. Furthermore, she created this piece as a response to a separate poem that I've never seen. My role was to respond to Solstice Blessings.

Solstice Blessings by Jone MacCulloch May 22

When I opened the image, I immediately thought of the upcoming Summer Solstice and of Jone's Scottish heritage. I looked for some Scottish solstice traditions, words, and phrases that I could tuck into a poem. I chose a pantoum because the inspiration poem she also sent me was a pantoum. We pantoumed each other!

 

*byre means barn. Dochas means hope and, beannaichte gu robh means solstice blessings in Scottish Gaelic. 

The star padlet has been updated with an ekphrastic of an amazing photograph. Have a peek. You'll have to click on the photo to see the poem.  https://padlet.com/mitchellhubeimom/4bzbfu2cg5k7awk5

SJT June -- a little thing

A little thing I am grateful for is the pool at my local fitness center. Technically, the pool isn't little. I try to stop by and swim at least once a week on my way home from school. I'm grateful for the routine of suiting up, warming up while I wait for a lifeguard to begin duty, and I can jump into the water.

Swimming laps has become one of my joys and a tremendous stress release. While I am swimming, I am counting, focused on where I am in my lane, and tremendously happy when I finish lap eight. 

Before the pandemic, I was swimming ten laps each visit. Now, I'm building back up to ten laps. To a practiced swimmer, ten laps are just a warm-up. I am a novice. I learned to swim when I was a child in summer recreation. I have no experience beyond that. I swim to exercise and to let the water soothe me.

Yesterday, I swam nine laps. 

I'm getting there. I am grateful.

photo from Getty Images. Pixabay

Ramona is hosting our SJT round-up today. I am grateful for her as well!

A Sink Half Full

Hello Poetry Friday,

It's good to see you here. Make sure you don't miss the full round-up at poem curator extraordinaire Karen Edmisten's today. 

It's June and I'm all for that! Molly gave the Inklings a challenge to write a poem about spring cleaning because it's more fun writing about cleaning than cleaning, right?

My take...

Check out how other Inklings addressed the challenge:

Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Catherine @ Reading to the Core
Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Mary Lee @ Another Year of Reading

Last weekend, I had some much-needed quality time with my sisters. We went to the cemetery as a family. So many flags were waving for Memorial Day. Those flags reminded me of my veteran Father in Law. A poem for his stars is on the star padlet. 

https://padlet.com/mitchellhubeimom/4bzbfu2cg5k7awk5