Saturday, April 03, 2010

Laura Purdie Salas - Anaconda

Anaconda
by
Laura Purdie Salas

I slither through the swamplands--
A sneaky, silent slayer.
Survival is a deadly game
And I’m the longest player.

I’ll wrap myself around you,
I’ll squeeze in nice and snug,
Then share your final moments in
My anaconda hug.

Submerge, surprise, and swallow:
My favorite active words.
Jacanas, herons, screamers:
My favorite lunchtime birds!

© 2010 Laura Purdie Salas. All rights reserved.

Laura Purdie Salas has written over 80 books for children, but I actually came to know her and her poetry from her blog. In fact, it was from reading so many wonderful poems of hers from villanelles to free verse to short and funny gems that I knew I had to buy her book Stampede (illustrated by Steven Salerno) when it came out last year. Good call! If you don't have it, let me urge you to get it and a bunch of kids together. Mix well. Laughter and conversation will ensue.

Besides being a fabulous poet and writer, Laura is also generous with information and support for her fellow writers. Her website is full of resources, her blog is full of insight and honesty, and her weekly 15 Words or Less Poetry feature is a great, no-pressure source of inspiration. You can learn more about her and her work at her site and blog and at Tricia Stohr Hunt's Poetry Makers profile of Laura from last year. And from me, well, Laura exemplifies what I love about children's poets and poetry, and I'm really thrilled to have her here today as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday's poem was Bear Path by Joseph Bruchac. Tomorrow... Re: Me by Calef Brown! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.

17 comments:

Mary Lee said...

The anaconda is, indeed, the "longest player" in the game of survival!! Laura has such a way with words!

Carol Grannick said...

Oh, Laura! What a delicious, slithery, slurpy way to start a Saturday!

Anonymous said...

I agree 100 percent on Laura's Stampede! It is all sorts of fun. Love the new poem--gulp!

Anonymous said...

I'm always happy to read a new poem from Laura and Greg, you nailed her to a "T".

tanita✿davis said...

Hah! Anacondas have favorite verbs. Who knew?! Also: Laura? OVER EIGHTY BOOKS!? Who knew???

This poem is delightfully disturbing!

BethMooreSchool said...

Love it! What a slick, slithery poem!

Laura said...

Laura,

This is an A+ poem. You have an excellent poem, plus you used so many poetic devices including: onomatopoeia,perfect rhyme,and my favorite: the double entendres.

Laura Evans
all things poetry

Violet N. said...

How gorgeous a poem. I have shivers!

laurasalas said...

Thanks, Mary Lee, Carol, Deb, Susan, Tanita, TinyReader, Laura, and Violet! So glad you stopped by :>) Thanks for all the kind words.

laurasalas said...

Oops! And thanks, Greg, for inviting me to participate and for all the nice things you said about Stampede! It's a pleasure to be here.

Irene Latham said...

Love the specificity of the lunchtime birds. Nice!

Marilyn Singer said...

I second what Irene said--that specificity is great!

Kelly Polark said...

I love Laura's poetry!

Anonymous said...

Great poem, Laura - so much fun to digest!

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Delightfully slurpy! Great to see Laura sliding by here.

laurasalas said...

Irene, Marilyn, Kelly, Kelly, and Andi--thank you! Always fun to hear which parts readers like best. And hehehe on the digesting and slurpy!

Anonymous said...

Love the playfulness combined with the sinister: "Then share your final moments in/My anaconda hug."

I found Laura through the poetry world, but had the pleasure of taking one of her nonfiction classes. She's a wonderful instructor!