Calef Brown - Dream

Dream

I was seated at a table
on the candlelit terrace
of an atelier in Paris
having dessert food and wine
with Gertrude Stein.
When the clock struck nine
we went to stroll the avenue.
I said I had some questions,
and asked if she would field a few.
This is what was said to me
to culminate the interview:
“I like the feeling of words
doing as they want to do
and as they need to do”.

© Calef Brown 2020. All rights reserved.


The imagination of Calef Brown is something to behold - sometimes the words, sometimes his art, sometimes how they both mix. For all I know, this is also true in the kitchen or on the basketball court or elsewhere, too, but at least I get to appreciate the art/words combo when I check out his books (which, if you don't know them, I urge you to correct that ASAP).

Linda Sue Park - School Days: Spring 2020

School Days: Spring 2020 

by Linda Sue Park 

My parents are my teachers now. 

The kitchen is the classroom. 

Mom made me a homemade pass 

for going to the bathroom. 

I ask a science question. 

Their memories gasp and lurch. 

They grab their phones to institute 

a panicked Google search. 

They tried to teach math yesterday. 

Class ended when Dad hollered: 

“AARGH! YOUR TEACHERS SHOULD BE PAID 

A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!”

©Linda Sue Park. All rights reserved.

I truly don't know if I'm right, but this sounds like one of those poems ripped from the poet's life or something. (I was gonna Google search to find out, but that'd be way too on point!). I always, always love Linda Sue Park's poetry (and her novels, of course. Oh, heck - all her books!). If you somehow don't know her range, well, this is a wonderful month to be checking that out. Unless, of course, you're too busy teaching math....

Rebecca Kai Dotlich - Missing

MISSING 

I string 

             shell 

                     after shell 

                                     after salmon colored shell 

onto a string 

for my friend, 

for my friend when she misses the sea. 

A necklace of waves and tide, 

ship bells and seabirds, 

heart beats of harbors. 

Shell after shell after shell. 

For my friend, 

when she misses the sea. 

For my friend, when she misses me.

©Rebecca Kai Dotlich. All rights reserved.

Every time Rebecca Kai Dotlich sends me a poem, I cannot wait to read it. And I feel lucky - sure, all of us can go get her books (and you should), but everrrrrry now and then I get a first glimpse of some wonderful words. Reason enough to be happy that I dusted off 30 Poets/30 Days here in 2020....

Lee Bennett Hopkins - Spring

SPRING
by
Lee Bennett Hopkins

Roots
sprouts
buds
flowers

always--
always--
cloud-bursting showers

rhymes
April fools
fledglings on wing

no thing
is
newer
or
fresher
than
spring.


From SHARING THE SEASONS (McElderry Books).
©2009 Lee Bennett Hopkins. All rights reserved.

I am re-running this poem from the very first year of 30 Poets/30 Days - a poem written by the one and only Lee Bennett Hopkins.  Sadly, Lee passed away last August, but it didn't feel right to me not to include him here anyway. There was, I'd argue, no greater champion than Lee for poetry and the need for it at moments like we are having now.

I am sure, had I told him I was doing this event again, that he would have sent along new words to move and uplift us all. So, here on April 13th (his birthday), I offer up some older words... but still as fresh now as they were then. Here's to spring and to Lee, indeed.

Ellen Hopkins - Country Kids Exist On their Own Planet

Country Kids Exist On their Own Planet 

Incredible amenities there: cumulus ships 

afloat in a bold azure sea; dirt, pulverized 

by oversized tires, silk between the toes; 

pond fishing, bullfrog stalking, crawdad 

tug-of-war; the green perfume of alfalfa, 

fresh from the mow; brilliant cockcrow 

alarms, quiescent cricket lullabies. 

Growing up a city kid, seasonally 

countrified, such wonders captivated. 

Come evening, Daddy would saddle a trio 

of stout ranch ponies, colorful rocking 

horses, two paints and a palomino. 

Mama so loved the sunset, Heaven’s 

invitation, magenta fire over the vineyards, 

slowly cooling to soft rose embers. 

Astride his golden charger, puffing 

a fine cigar, Daddy drank up youth 

in the dusk. Years fell away, autumn sequins. 

We’d climb into Daddy’s Way Back Machine, 

whisking back before jets made the planet 

too small and pavement made it too fast. 

I understood the world then, he’d say, 

when a man’s word meant everything. 

Sentiment carved in the marble of time. 

Now, when deep of night straightjackets 

me, denying dreams’ sweet release, 

I loose memory’s magic carpet to fly 

between cumulus ships, over summer 

alfalfa and autumn vines to the back of a paint 

rocking horse, and a planet where I belonged. 

© Ellen Hopkins. All rights reserved.

Sheesh. The way Ellen Hopkins strings together words and images always gives me a case of the gasps or ahhhhs or both. And a Way Back Machine!!! Imagine that now... or truly, any time in our past. A wonderful idea, indeed.

For more wonderful words... across a range of issues, at that... you really oughta check out Ellen's books for yourself of for folks you know for whom they'll resonate deeply....

Bob Raczka - Squirrel

SQUIRREL 

(a skinny sonnet)

 

Gray    

face.     

Plays    

chase.  

Thick   

tail    

flicks,  

flails.   

Meal    

needs? 

Steals   

seeds.

Crime   

time!   

© Bob Raczka. All rights reserved.

The clever and creative Bob Raczka gives us a skinny sonnet - a single word (and syllable, for that matter) per line but following the classic sonnet rhyme scheme:

a b a b

c d c d

e f e f

g g

That's... I mean... that's remarkable. I don't think I can do one... but heck, yeah, I'll try. Meantime, I recommend you head on out and find Bob's latest books - Like Best Friends and Beware! - to see more clever wordplay on display. 

Liz Garton Scanlon - Look Around

Look Around 

By Liz Garton Scanlon 

Notice 

bird song, breakfast, 

morning sun at a slant. 

Observation experiment 

right here.

© Liz Garton Scanlon. All rights reserved. 

"Hi everyone… My offering is a poem and a prompt in one! 

First, familiarize yourself with cinquains. I talk about the form here , but there are also lots of descriptions, instructions and templates online."

(Then you can re-read the poem above, which, when sent to me here at Gottabook was still dripping with fresh ink (metaphorically)!)

 

"Finally, try your own observation cinquain. 

Let me know how it goes and, most importantly, stay safe and well."

Ahhh, a cinquain, you say, Liz Garton Scanlon? I shall observe as I go walking today and see what sparks me... or if thinking of a cinquain sparks me to observe....

Kenn Nesbitt - Dizzy Dottie's Dog Salon

 Dizzy Dottie's Dog Salon

At Dizzy Dottie’s Dog Salon
we’ll fix your fido’s fur.
We will clip and comb his canine coat
and color his coiffure.

We will primp your pomeranian
and gussy up your pug.
We will brush your beagle’s back
and scrub his scruffy little mug.

Could your poodle use a crewcut?
Does your boxer need a bob?
Want an afro for your spaniel?
Come let Dottie’s do the job.

Get your setter new extensions.
Send your shepherd for a shave.
Bring your harrier for highlights
or your whippet for a wave.

From a bouffant to a beehive,
from a buzz-cut to a bun,
all the hair-dos here at Dottie’s
are affordable and fun.

Drive your doggy down to Dottie’s
for our groomings and shampoos,
where we don’t do cuts for kitties
but we do do doggy dos.

Copyright © Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved.

The inimitable Kenn Nesbitt is back at 30 Poets/30 Days with a delightful doozy. And he's also celebrating National Poetry Month by launching GiggleVerse - a site dedicated to, as you might imagine, the funnier side of poetry. It is worth a daily visit (at the very least) so you can see "the funniest kids poems in the universe." (For the record, I read on the internet that there's a site on Mars that has pretty hilarious verse, but I have not yet found the URL so can't be sure it's true).