Charles Ghigna - Be Still

Be Still

Be still in the world wherever you are

listen to life’s lullaby

the heartbeat, the breathing

the giving, receiving

the sun and the moon and the star.

They all shine true through the essence of you

a beacon of boundless light

the father, the mother

the sister, the brother

all are within you tonight.

Let the flow of the seas, the lilt of the breeze

the rush and the calm of all time

carry your dreams 

along rivers and streams

and let you be still where you are.

©Charles Ghigna

from ILLUSIONS: Poetry & Art from the Young at 

Heart

 

 

 

 

Charles Ghigna (also known as Father Goose) returns to the 30 Poets/30 Days pages (Page? Screen?) with a poem from his book Illusions (with a cover illustrated by his son, Chip Ghigna). And as always I end up saying... geez, this guy can write. 

 

There's also range galore - not just Illusions but his Dear Poet: Notes to a Young Writer came out last year... and I bet if you take a spin through his books, you'll be sure to find something that sparks your interest. Honest! So, take a look... and then... I wish you moments of stillness today and all month long

I Want My Voice to be Heard - a poem about speaking up

I Want My Voice to be Heard
by
Greg Pincus

Yell.
Shout!
Be proud.
Let it out.
Speak aloud each word:
Yes, I want my voice to be heard!

That Fib is from The Homework Strike (as Gregory K., the protagonist, nears the end of his strike) and seems an appropriate poem for today as we're seeing students everywhere standing up, digging into issues, marching, and from all I've read and seen, having conversations that work towards solutions not focus on blame. We all want to have our voices heard, regardless of age, after all....

And today is Poetry Friday! You can see the roundup of posts over at Laura Salas's blog so you can check out all the poetic joys of the day. Always a good time.

Oh, and if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

OMP! (Oh My Poetry!) - Thoughts After WWU's Inaugural Poetry Camp

I am just back from Western Washington University's first ever Poetry Camp for Adults. It was awesome. I can't talk all the highlights, so I've picked the three that are tied in my head as "tops."

1) 38 poets!!!! On Friday, the day before the conference, 38 poets (camp counselors?) who have been part of the Pomelo Books Poetry Friday Anthologies gathered together to talk all sorts of things poetry-y. I've been to a lot of conferences and met a lot of poets, but his was a whole 'nother beast. And it was better than good. I'd met a few folks there before, and it was great to see them again. But there were mannnny who I only knew from email and social media and getting to meet in person was fantastic. It seemed impossible to top, really.

Poetry Camp Signage Tells What It Takes to Write Poetry

2) Except that on Saturday, it was the Poetry Camp itself, and there were 150 of us there... poetry lovers of all ilk. It was teachers and librarians - those who champion poetry and get poetry in front of kids. It was writers and parents and students. And it was so unbelievably satisfying that instead of being drained after a day of breakouts and keynotes, I was energized and excited and grateful. It would be hard to imagine anything matching the feeling... except the day before. And then...

3) Jack Prelutsky! I had never had the opportunity to see Jack Prelutsky perform, and I thought that would remain the case since he has retired from visits and the like. But the Poetry Camp got him to come. He was fantastic. He owned the room - all us kids from the age of 2 to 102 were eating out of his hand. It was like he had never taken a day off, let alone years off - singing, reciting, voicing, laughing, storytelling, playing guitar. It was the perfect end to the Camp.

I give my huge thanks to everyone who created and organized and volunteered and attended. More specifically, thanks to Syvlia Tag and Nancy Johnson at WWU who made this first time conference feel like it had been established forever. Plus they shuttled us poets around, as needed, going beyond the call.

And finally... huge hat tips and huzzahs to Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong for inviting me (and all of us), creating the Poetry Friday Anthologies, helping build our community, and celebrating poetry wherever they go. Thanks to all of y'all for including me in this weekend. I hope there are many others like it in the future!

Will I See You in Washington at Poetry Camp?

I'm so excited to be heading to Western Washington University (in Bellingham, WA) at the end of this month for Poetry Camp - a day about sharing, teaching, and understanding poetry. Yeah, it's a one day camp/conference about children's poetry - be still my heart (and thanks to Janet Wong, Sylvia Vardell, and the folks at WWU for putting it together). I'm part of a presentation (on blogging and poetry along with the fabulous Jone and JoAnn) but I'm also an avid attendee who is kinda giddy with anticipation.

You really gotta check out all the people going and talking... culminating with a performance by Jack Prelutsky!

If you're gonna be there, please say 'hi.' If you think you could go... please check it out!

Rules of Writing (Part One) - a poem about writing

Rules of Writing (Part One)
by
Greg Pincus

There are many rules of writing,
But here's one that's a myth:
You can never end a sentence
A preposition with.


It's true. I mean, it's true that it's a myth. That's something I'm sure of. I'm also sure it's Poetry Friday here in the blogosphere, and you can check out this week's roundup of posts over at Amy's amazingly awesome Poem Farm.

Plus, if you want to get all my poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Blog Flashback #3 - Visitors and Guests

Continuing to think about my 10 years of blogging here, one of my favorite, unexpected experiences has to be the guests and visitors who've come traipsing through these parts. And I'm not really talking about guest posts or things like that. I'm talking the more surprising.

For example, if you spin through the comments on GottaBook, you'll end up finding a veritable who's who of children's literature. This is true on many other blogs as well, by the way, and speaks to the fact that we're a community in the best sense of the term. But it was certainly unexpected when I started here. (You'll also find a who's who of my relatives! But I expected that cuz they rock.)

You'll also find an amazing array of voices who have supported children's literature through blogs and Twitter and online and offline publications - librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, editors, reviewers, historians, you name it. I had started blogging in part because I also wanted a seat at the table - a voice in conversations about a subject I care about. From my blog, I went out and talked elsewhere... but sometimes that conversation took place here!

And I also always flash back to this post from the 2006 SCBWI Conference. I live-blogged the conference that year, and at the Golden Kite Luncheon (the SCBWI awards show), I passed my laptop around and had everyone at the table I was at say something. Looking back now I see Don Tate and Jay Asher and Robin Mellom and Leslie Muir and Eve Porinchak - all now (or very soon to be) published, but at the time, I think only Don among us all had anything out in the children's book world. Now, 10 years later....

This topic will come up again, in a couple different ways, as I talk more about my 10 years here. So I'll end it for today with thanks to everyone who's been kind enough to share themselves here in any way. Because y'all rock!

Poetry Re-issue: I Wrote The End

Since I'm celebrating 10 years of blogging here, I figured I'd re-post my very first blogged poem on its exact 10th anniversary.

I Wrote the End
by
Greg Pincus

I wrote the end of this short verse before I wrote the start.
I wrote the end because I knew the end by heart.
I wrote the ending first since that’s my favorite part.
I wrote the end of this short verse before I wrote the start.


In full disclosure, when I posted this back in February of 2006 the word "verse" was actually "post" as it was a more self-reflexive blog post poem. Both work. (Also, if you check out that original post, you'll note that a friend of mine left a comment in Fib form weeks before I blogged about Fibs. I'd forgotten that!)

It's Poetry Friday (which also didn't exist when I figure posted that poem), and you can see the roundup over at Elizabeth Steinglass' blog. Go check that link out for tons of amazing poetry fun.

And if you want to get all my poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

The Shared Lament of Students and Teachers on the Passing of Time - a back to school poem

The Shared Lament of Students and Teachers on the Passing of Time
by
Greg Pincus

It's the end of summer.
Bummer.


(For those of you for whom this sentiment and/or the season do not apply, my apologies.)

It's Poetry Friday, even as the summer dwindles away, and you can find this week's roundup of posts over at My Juicy Little Universe (where Heidi, too, has a poetic commentary about summer and school).


And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Three End of the School Year (or Summer Vacation) Poems

Happy Poetry Friday... and happy "school is almost over!!!!"

I figured it was the right time of year to link to the three end-of-the-school-year type of poems I've written and posted here. And just for fun... I'm including the first couple lines or so of each. Just click on the titles to see the whole poems.

(And if you're already done for the year or not dealing with school anymore, well, just try to enjoy 'em anyway, I say to you. And don't gloat!)

Hello, Summer!

Goodbye, classroom!
Goodbye, Teach!
You can find me at the beach...
Or in the park or at the pool
Or any place that isn’t school.


Counting Down (Always)

Counting down
Time goes slow...
Six long days of school to go.


It's June (And I Am Still In School)

I’ll tell you something most uncool –
It’s June… and I am still in school.


Not enough poetry? Too much? The wrong poems? Why not go check out the Poetry Friday roundup this week, hosted over at Reflections on the Teche.

And  if you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Me and Sasquatch (No Fib!)

I'm honored, excited, pleased, and many other adjectives to learn that The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. is a nominee for the 2015-16 Sasquatch Award, courtesy of the Washington Library Media Association!

Being recognized by librarians totally rocks... and to find myself alongside these other authors and their books? Flattering beyond words. I mean seriously... check these out (image of the covers put together by Librarian Arika (on whose blog I first saw the news)):

Yes, honored indeed. And to know that kids will be exploring our books (in order to vote for a winner) is rather incredible gravy. Because really, at the end of the day, I think I can speak for all the authors and librarians involved in this or any similar award: kids + stories = win!

I've Bean Too Quiet....

I've been a little quiet here on the blog this poetry month, but if you've run into me elsewhere, you have likely heard me talking about S&W Premium Beans fantastic poetry book giveaway.

Yes, you can win 17 autographed poetry books (including my novel with poetry, The 14 Fibs of Gregory K., as well as books by Nikki Grimes and Linda Sue Park and Lee Wardlaw and and and!!!!!). How can you have a chance at winning 'em?

Submit a bean poem by the end of the month for a chance! It's that easy!

Details are at their Facebook page. It's Super&Welcome that a big company is pushing poetry, don't you think? I do!

That Was Then.... - a language poem/a stressed out poem

That Was Then...
by
Greg Pincus

I worried and tutted. My muscles contracted.
I stressed and was anxious.  My nerves felt compacted.
I got quite upset, and it didn't make sense....
I'm present right now but back then was past tense.


Would you believe that today marks 9 full years of blogging here at Gottabook? Yep. My first post was February 21st, 2006, so this is the end of year nine. Where does the time go???? Thanks to all of you who frequent these parts. Blogging wouldn't be much fun without you!

I can truly think of no better way to celebrate my blogoversary  than by jumping into Poetry Friday, a community event that keeps me happy week after week. Go check out the roundup of this week's Poetry Friday posts over at Teacherdance and you'll see why.

And if you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe:

Me! A Podcast! And Alley Cats Strike!

Did you know that there is a podcast called the DCOM Podcast, all about the Disney Channel Original Movies (specifically the ones that hosts Eve and Matt remember and are now re-watching and analyzing)? Well, it's true! Why am I mentioning this, you ask?

It just so happens that I wrote the movie Alley Cats Strike for the Disney Channel, and I had a great conversation with Eve about it. It's now available and worth a listen (if, that is, you have any interest in Alley Cats Strike, the old Disney Channel movies, and how many writing decisions get made for different projects, and, very specifically, how I came up with "Delia's shot" towards the end of the film. Or if you're my mom or a relative, of course!).

It was great fun to revisit an project from the past and think about what I might do differently now and, honestly, what still works well. Thanks, Eve, for finding me. And I hope y'all will check out the podcast in general and its tumblr.

As Easy as ABC: Awards, Best Sellers, and Critical Thinking

The author with one of his many awards.

Award-winning,* best-selling** author Greg Pincus here. I wanted to write a little today about the ABCs - awards, best sellers, and critical thinking.

This past week, Rush Limbaugh won Author of the Year at the Children's Choice Book Awards, an award sponsored by the Children's Book Council. Much as when his nomination as a finalist was announced, there was much gnashing of teeth inside (and outside) the children's book world with the award announcement, including many comments about how the award and even the CBC had lost credibility.

It's easy to feel outraged when there's a sense of being snookered or betrayed, but the reality is that the Author of the Year award has always been determined the same way - qualification is based on sales, then there's a popular vote to pick the winner. That didn't change this year.

So, if the award had credibility before, it has credibility now, even if the winner seems "unworthy" somehow. If you weren't aware of the criterion for the award and how it was picked, at the end of the day that's on you, not the award. And not liking the results doesn't change that at all.

If we ask who gave this particular award whatever credibility it has, I'd say that the answer is that we did, collectively. Perhaps, in this case, it's trust in the creators of the award or the fact that it's part of a mission that we love (celebrating children's books!) and that talented authors have won it before. Regardless, our celebration of award winning status in general definitely is a factor. And that, again, is on us.

Awards for creative endeavors are a tricky thing. In a blog post that's well worth a read, Emma Dryden touches on some of the challenges and pitfalls of them and how we value them. Yet it's not easy to change this - there's all sorts of psychology in play here (including confirmation bias, social conformity, and more), and it's hard to overcome. Awards should mean something, we've decided, so when we see an award (particularly from an organization that seems legit and good), we give it value.

And yet that's abdicating our personal responsibility to practice critical thinking and view each situation individually.

*For example, I honestly am an award-winning author. I'm not talking about awards for my debut novel The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. (which, I note, was a finalist for the Cybils and Crystal Kite... but not a winner) or my screenplays. Nope. I won an award in middle school at the Ready Writing Contest at Mansfield State College. My Punt Pass and Kick trophy from when I was eight could count, too - it's an award for me, after all, and I am an author. Context and critical thinking matter again, clearly.

How we view the status of "best seller" falls into this same arena, at least to me. Best-selling sounds "good" and "impressive," and it's easy to see why an author would link that to his/her name. And yet...

Best Seller!

**I can legitimately describe myself as a best-selling author: upon release, my ebook of poetry, The Late Bird, topped Amazon's Kindle Children's Poetry best seller list for over a month.

I also know that my sales during that period tapered off rapidly and included weeks of single digit sales. (10 of you feel free, as a social experiment, to buy The Late Bird and watch me top the same chart again. Go for it. I'll wait here :-)).

So, does Best Seller by itself really carry any weight? Again, we collectively have given it status and credibility, but perhaps we've done so without always considering context.

It's very easy to accept that statuses like "award winner" and "best seller" are impressive and meaningful, but if we don't think critically - asking questions like who gave an award, what was the purpose, what were the qualifications, what was the process, how were "sales" measured, where was it a best seller - then we're following blindly and not thinking for ourselves. And that? Well, that's sad no matter who has won what.

What do you think? Do we trust awards, best seller lists, reviews, and the like too much? Is the recent outrage only political in nature and not about our responsibility to think critically? Or...? I look forward to your thoughts.

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.

30 Poets/Day 26 - Joan Bransfield Graham and Jacqueline Woodson

Once again, with these works by Joan Bransfield Graham and Jacqueline Woodson, here are two totally different types of poems, both of which will knock your socks off.

I AM THE POEM
by
Joan Bransfield Graham

I am the poem
out
of reach
I make you
spin
and leap and
stretch
and when you're
just
about to
catch
me
off I twirl
in clever
choreography
but we are
never
far apart
I pirouette
around
your heart
and head and
tease
with all the
mysteries
I can employ:

it is the dance
that is the joy.

© 2009 Joan Bransfield Graham. All rights reserved.
(click here to see the original post and comments)

---

One of the Many Stories
by
Jacqueline Woodson

When the puppy in the road was
mine, life didn't stop
for the driver. That evening perhaps
he read his son one of many stories
grownups write for children
about dogs. Perhaps
this one found its way
Home. The End. Then kissed his child
center crown as always, the meat
his wife was roasting, nearly done
by the time the vet pronounced
Bella dead at four months, one half
hour before my daughter, at six, discovered
a new way tomorrow could get here
tears to whimpering then finally sleep
a plastic bone beneath her pillow from this moment on,
safe still from towers burning, a car moving fast
against traffic as the children inside squeal
themselves to death. A pan of oil too close
to an open flame     She Is, I think
safe still from other stories.

Night and the driver
couldn't see a black puppy bolting
Didn't know
that deep in her German Shepherd blood
was a desire for the only story she knew
Let's call it "Home"

so when the door was cracked
she saw the promise of black night
caught scent of her recent journey
thought she knew the way
back to us
One half mile away from where I stood
packing, now pondering black linen shorts
now folding a Mama For Obama t-shirt into my bag
now smiling over our daughter's first
pink bikini as our dogsitters searched and found
our number. Already, our trip
to the Caribbean was becoming another story
of another almost-thing, puppy-blood warm
freezing fast for us into
On the corner of Pacific and Bond that February

©2010 Jacqueline Woodson. All rights reserved.
(click here to see the original post and comments)

Yesterday, we had poetry from Julie Larios and George Ella Lyon. Tomorrow... Kenn Nesbitt and Graham Denton.

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

30 Poets/Day 16 - Betsy Franco and Bobbi Katz

I love the different perspectives that Betsy Franco and Bobbi Katz write from in these two poems... and how each perspective rings so true. Which, of course, is part of the fun I have each year putting 30 Poets/30 Days together - I get to see the world through other eyes. And today... so do you!


Me and Joe Lining Up After Recess
by
Betsy Franco

We race
for the front

   bunch up
      and bump,
           wiggle,
                 giggle,
          push,
      pull,
           trip,
                 tease,
                       jab,
                           grab,
                 poke,
           pinch,
   squish,
squeeze.

Then teacher gives the quiet sign.
Says,
"You two go to the end of the line!"

© 2009 Betsy Franco. All rights reserved.
from Messing Around on the Monkey Bars, and other school poems for two voices
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

---

Lesson (working title)
by
Bobbi Katz

On this daffodilicious day
I am judging a community poetry contest
               in a distant city
swimming on waves of words.
A tsunami of images and emotions
     is carrying me
               deep,
so deep
        into other lives: Lives of children
who hear things no child should hear.
Lives of adults aching for lost loved ones.
Wounded veterans invisible to passers-by.
Kids fearing death before college.
Teens fenced-in by peer pressure…
or parents living through them…
I do not know their names or faces.
Poems have introduced me to their hearts.

And how to choose just three “winners”
  for each category
  and just three “honorable mentions”?
Each poet is a winner. Each is honorable.
I winnow the piles
      Down
down,
      down
         until I too
            am
                down.
Sadness swells over my head
sweeping me off my feet.
I know I must take a break.

I walk outside.
Earth sings green and yellow spring songs.
I stretch my arms out and look up.
A young child's poem appears.
Each letter written in a different color:

The sky is in

the sky is in

the sky is in

   the sky.

Imagine a sunshined heart of many colors
Blossoming beneath the poem,
completing it.

 Yes! I'll remember this fine lesson:
   this fine poem
written by a child in a distant city.

© 2010 Bobbi Katz. All rights reserved.
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

Yesterday we had poems from Mary Ann Hoberman and Eileen Spinelli. Tomorrow... Jon Scieszka and James Carter.

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

30 Poets/Day 14 - Linda Sue Park and Arthur A. Levine

I can remember the moment when I first read each of these poems - by Linda Sue Park and Arthur A. Levine, respectively - because they both struck me with some serious oomph. Other poems grow on me, some I never connect with, but when I read one that just zings me right away... yeah, those are good things, I tell you. So... here are two good things!


Villanelle: Why I Love Libraries
by
Linda Sue Park

I lose myself within the book-walled maze,
with no end to the promises in sight,
through passages to many worlds and ways.

The aisles meander pleasantly. A craze
of unread pages beckons, tempts, invites;
I lose myself. Within the book-walled maze

a googolplex of lexical arrays
for exploration flanks me left and right.
True passages to many; worlds and ways

that lead to corners sharp with turns of phrase,
and tales both commonplace and recondite
to lose myself within. The book-walled maze

reveals its pleasures slowly, but repays
the debt of time in thousandfold delight—
through passages to many worlds, in ways

mapped out by words. A sudden blink of light:
It's checkout time—they’re closing for the night.
I'd lost myself within the book-walled maze,
through passages to many worlds and ways.

©2009 Linda Sue Park. All rights reserved.
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

---

These rules are here for your protection
by
Arthur A. Levine

Banging on the windowed door
to J. Carberry Middle School
the sick green tinted glass bending to my fist
I can SEE the Hall monitor
who can surely see me
though she is staring ahead
as blank and stiff as if she were the Queen’s Guard
and not a guard in Queens.

Good for her. She’s protecting the school from me
the kid who left the building
(which no one seemed to mind)
to avoid the shock and awe offensive
being carried out in our lunchroom.
I just wanted two blocks of sun.
I wanted the one close sound
to be my sneakers
squeaking their plan of escape,
to buy yogurt
and eat it with no risk of collateral damage
from the insults and objects thrown.

Oh sure, I say to her, a whisper, a breath; ignore me.
That’s original. You think I WANT
To come back in here? Well.
With my glasses and backpack
my dangerous hoodie
I’m sure I look just like a terrorist threat.
Keep me out here; yes, please.
Keep the student body safe
from sarcasm.

© 2010 Arthur A. Levine. All rights reserved.
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

Yesterday we had poems from Lee Bennett Hopkins and Kurt Cyrus. Tomorrow... Mary Ann Hoberman and Eileen Spinelli.

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

30 Poets/Day 8 - Adam Rex and Ralph Fletcher

Ahhh, day eight of National Poetry Month, when thoughts turn to Christmas and weeds thanks to Adam Rex and Ralph Fletcher. Or maybe your thoughts turn to Christmas and weeds every April day, but even then, it takes poetry to help you see them in new ways like those we get here.....

The Flight Before Christmas
by
Adam Rex
(author's note: I've been trying to make this idea work off and on for years. This is the closest I've come. -Adam Rex, 2009)

'Tis the flight before Christmas. Our aircraft today
is a Boeing C-25 JingleBus sleigh.
At this time I would like to say "welcome aboard"
and please ask for all luggage and toys to be stored
in the space by your feet or the overhead sack.
Use caution untying the sack when you pack
as the toys may have shifted about during flight.
Santa gets a bit…dazed by the end of the night.
It's hardly surprising for someone who stares
for twelve hours at eight tiny reinderrières.
Plus the eggnog. Our point is, expect a rough ride,
but in two thousand years not one passenger’s died.
In the likely event of a freefall or dive
there’s an oxygen mask that will keep you alive.
We ask that you first find a mask for yourself–
put it on and pull tight before helping an elf.
Get your safety belt buckled, and keep it that way–
no standing or stretching at all in the sleigh.
Not a soul should be stirring, not even the mice.
Our pilot is quite the flotation device!
If we land in the water, hold onto him tight.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good flight.

©2009 Adam Rex. All rights reserved.
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

---

Weeds
by
Ralph Fletcher

Weeds in the sunlight,
swaying in the breeze.

Weeds pollinated by
hordes of hungry bees.

Weeds softly whispering,
spilling secret seeds.

Weeds multiplying:
weeds, weeds, weeds.

Dandelion, ragweed,
Queen Anne’s lace.

Weeds in my dreams,
weeds in outer space.

Weeds on vacation
but more staying home.

Sneaky little weedlings
sprouting in this poem!

© 2010 Ralph Fletcher. All rights reserved.
(Click here to see the original post and comments)

Yesterday brought poetry from Marilyn Singer and Susan Marie Swanson. Tomorrow... Joyce Sidman and Alan Katz.

Click here for more information on this year's edition of 30 Poets/30 Days, including ways to follow along. 

Missed it By Thaaaaat Much.

I love the stats that Goodreads shares from time to time, including in their year-end infographic posted below. I was bummed, though, cuz I'd had this unofficial, unstated anywhere dream goal that The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. would have the most reviews of the year, but instead it's Dan Brown's Inferno, which has over 17,000 reviews on Goodreads! Drat. Missed it by thaaaaat much.

Maybe the big miss is because my book came out in October? Probably :-) (I love the Goodreads reviews of Fibs, by the way, and my thanks to all who have taken the time to talk about Fibs there or on their blogs or in their classes or on Amazon or in bookstores or ANYWHERE at all!!!!!)

Anyway, here are the Goodreads stats. As always, I'm curious about your thoughts....