Monday, April 11, 2011

Susan Marie Swanson - Art Space

Art Space
by
Susan Marie Swanson


When my brother writes stories late at night
under his blankets with a light,
he hides an entire stadium
under there—
hotdogs for sale,
baseballs slammed through the air—
and Mom doesn’t even care!

But the choir that I sing in
takes a lot of space.
It takes time to get us organized,
everyone in place.
Once we’re all where we belong
we put the words and notes
of our song
where they belong, too.
It’s tricky to do.
But when the piano starts to play,
we tell trouble to fly away.
Our voices are so strong,
they sweep away worry and gloom.
We fill the whole room!

©2011 Susan Marie Swanson. All rights reserved.

Can I just say how much I love that Susan Marie Swanson mixed poetry with art and music in Art Space, thus hitting the trifecta for me? Yes, it's my blog, so I can say it! Of course, the fact that it's about so much more - siblings, imagination, baseball, and stadiums under the bedsheets just to name a little - is what truly makes it so wonderful....

Susan's poetry sings... and if you follow the link here and click "Closer Look" you can hear her poem Trouble Fly sung by a children's choir in a piece composed by Patricia McKernon Runkle. And you can by the sheet music, too. How cool is that? Just like last time, when she shared her poem Wonders, I remain a huge fan and am so happy to have Susan here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days. 


Yesterday we gobbled up Soul Food from Jaime Adoff. Tomorrow... Elaine Magliaro with Dinosaur Dung! (I'm gonna type that again just for fun: Dinosaur Dung! Yep. That was fun.)  For more information on 30 Poets/30 Days and how to follow along, please click here.

6 comments:

BookChook said...

I keep having to revise my favourite poem in the 2011 collection! Loved this, AND Trouble Fly. Singing in a choir is a natural high for me, making each nerve ending vibrate.

Amanda Hoving said...

Loved this one! Those brothers -- always getting away with everything. ;)

tanita✿davis said...

I don't think I've ever read a poem about a kid singing in choir -- we choir folk don't get much airtime, but airtime for writing AND choir -- now, that is excellent.

Cathy said...

I love the new logo for 2011and the poetry posted so far. Congratulations on the entire enterprise.

I blogged about 30 Poets 30 Days today at Bookmaking With Kids. Here's the link.

Amy L V said...

Oh, I love the stadium under the blanket! This writer is so real...I want to read more from this child-voice. Thank you, both Susan and Greg! A.

Charles Waters said...

Just heard the children's choir perform Susan's poem. Wow!!!!! What an honor.