30 Poets/Day 29 - Douglas Florian and Liz Garton Scanlon

It's a good day when you have Douglas Florian and Liz Garton Scanlon gracing your blog, I say. (And I say this even though back in 2009, due to my executive functioning skills, I didn't end up with a previously unpublished Douglas Florian poem so went into improv mode and shared a poem of his that's always stuck with me.) Riddles, laughs, beauty...  I will miss this month when it passes, I must say....

Styropoem
by
Douglas Florian

I think I've never
Seen a poem
To praise a piece
of Styrofoam.
I've waited years -
I'm waiting still.
I guess I never
Ever
Will.

I was inspired by that poem (from Bing Bang Boing). So I sat down and wrote the following:

Ode to a Piece of Styrofoam
(For Douglas Florian)
by
Greg Pincus

Styrofoam's good -
There is no debate.
And Styrofoam won't
Disintegrate!

(click here to see the original post and comments)

---

Reflecting
by
Liz Garton Scanlon

I’m your moody friend with a changing face
looking out from deep in space.

I’m peppermint candy, cold but sweet,
and lantern light on a sleepy street.

I’m not afraid of howling dogs,
I cut through morning’s thickest fogs.

I brighten baby’s lullaby
with a twinkle in my eye.


I conduct the ocean tides
and set the stage for midnight rides.

A calendar for keeping time –
sharp as a sword, round as a dime.

I tempt the astronauts each night
while I rob Sun of extra light.

Golden as an apple pie,
but twice as big and twice as high.


Waxing now but soon I’ll wane,
then always come around again.

Friend to possums, hungry bats,
spotlight for the prowling cats,

I share my shine, for what it’s worth,
with everyone upon the earth.

I’m your companion in the sky
but do you know me? Who am I?

© 2010 Liz Garton Scanlon. All rights reserved.
(click here to see the original post and comments)

Yesterday we had poems from April Halprin Wayland and Francisco X. Alarcón. Tomorrow, we finish up the month with Walter Dean Myers and Pat Mora.

Please click here for more information about this year's edition of 30 Poets/30 Days, including how to follow along.