Yippee! In honor of Poetry Month, Easter, and all things rabbity,
my free-verse picture book, To Rabbittown is now only 99 cents
on iTunes, Kindle, Nook--yippee! (Picture me jumping up and
down like an over-caffeinated kangaroo…)
Download the free Kindle for PC if you don’t have an eReader.
.
And here are links to Poetry Month
in the Kidlitosphere–thanks, Jama!
Eli found Squirrel at the dog park.
Eli loves Squirrel.
Squirrel no longer squeaks.Â
Eli removed Squirrel’s squeaker.
He couldn’t help himself.
Howdy, Campers and welcome to my 2012 Poem-A-Day Challenge! Wowee–I can’t believe it’s here again! This means I’ve been writing a poem a day since I took the challenge in April 2010. Two. Whole. Years. Over six hundred poems.
Ask any writer and I’ll bet 98% of us wonder if we deep-down really ARE writers. Writing a poem a day has given me an amazing gift–I no longer doubt that I’m a writer.
This month, all the poems will be DOG POEMS, because the dog park is my new addiction. So, let’s get on with the dog show–arf, arf!
April 18
SPRING EVENING AT THE DOG PARK
SPRING EVENING AT THE DOG PARK
by April Halprin Wayland
Warm yellow light
spills over all of us,
dogs and humans.
A black setter, a tan lab and my own goofball
whirl around the park
like speed skaters in a roller rink.
Wildly happy eyes,
tongues flying behind
like pink flags,
long legs flying,
Eli in the lead.
Here they come!
Where’d they go?
Then—
bam!
I wake in dust,
open my eyes to faces
partly blocking a softening sky.
Exhuberant dogs
took me out at the knees;
I stay down for a few more minutes
to make the ground
stop waving;
the roll of an earthquake.
Someone
hands me my glasses…
then a dusty lens.
Someone
asks if I know my name
I do
I laugh
because I know
my goofball’s name, too.
Poetry Prompt: I love metaphors in poetry–in all literature–and don’t use enough of ‘em. Â So I made a point to stretch my brain and include metaphors in this poem (speed skaters and pink flag.) Â I find that if I’m tired, I can’t seem to find metaphors. Â A good night’s sleep and they come more easily.
It’s your turn. Describe a scene and include metaphors.  Break up the lines into short stanzas. Eliminate as many “the”s and “and”s as you can.  Does it feel like a poem?
poem © 2012 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved
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- Blog entries
- April 30
MAY DAY - April 29
WHAT HAPPENED? - April 28
OUR DOG’S ADOPTION STORY - April 27
THE HANDMADE DOLL FROM THE MUSEUM SHOP…MEETS OUR DOG - April 26
VETERAN DOG TO COCKY PUPPY - April 25
EVENING IN PARIS…IN THE DOG PARK - April 24
ADOLESCENT DOG — alliteration, assonance, and consonance - April 23
I HAVE NO - April 22
ENORMOUSLY TOUCHING REUNION FROM A DOG’S POINT OF VIEW - April 21
DOGSITTER - April 20
FROM A CAT’S POINT OF VIEW… - April 19
FOCUSING ON RHYTHM IN A DOG POEM - April 18
SPRING EVENING AT THE DOG PARK - April 17
WHEN ELI TURNED TWO - April 16
YOUNG DOG DASHING ~ imitating a poem I love - April 15
POOP PATROL - April 14
IN POLLIWOG PARK - April 13
TV COOKING SHOW - April 12
DOGS DON’T GO TO FUNERALS - April 11
SIX WORDS ABOUT THE DOG PARK - April 10
DOG PARK SPRING QUARTET - April 9
GROOMING - April 8
CIRCLING THE DOG PARK - April 7
PASSOVER AT THE DOG PARK - April 6
DOG PARK TREE APOSTROPHE - April 5
DOG BIRTHDAY - April 4
WRITE AN AUTOPILOT POEM - April 3
THIS BABY COMES TO THE DOG PARK TOO OFTEN - April 2
DOG WORD, GIRL WORD - April 1
WHEN I AM A DOG