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 9
GROOMING
GROOMING
by April Halprin Wayland
One mud-spotted,
monkey-vomit-yellow,
XXXXL, men’s hooded sweatshirt:
check.
One pair of paw-stained,
dull blue,
quilted men’s sweatpants:
check.
One pair of
indeterminate-colored
extra-thick men’s socks:
check.
One pair of dusty grey,
fifteen-year-old running shoes,
tossed in the Goodwill bag, then retrieved:
check.
One pair of old guy
scratched black, wrap-around plastic sunglasses
that Uncle Davie gave me when he moved:
check.
One bouncing-off-the-wall,
lanky, licky,
too-tall teenaged dog:
check.
There’s no disguising it:
I’m a dog park dork.
Poetry Prompt:
Observation, said my mentor, Myra Cohn Livingston, is the key to good writing. One day I looked, really looked at what I wear at the dog park in winter–oy!  Check all fashion sense at the double gate. Your best friends there are wacky, passionately friendly, and they have big, muddy paws.
It’s your turn. Slow down. Be present. Observe one facet of your life. How do people in your galaxy dress? Or look for one color all day long. What’s bright yellow? What’s your attitude about this thing you’ve observed? Does it make you laugh? Make you feel self-conscious? Make you want to run out of the room howling? Write a poem so that we see it through your eyes.
poem © 2012 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- 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