2012 Poetry Month « April Halprin Wayland – Children's Book Author & Poet

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.

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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.
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 16

YOUNG DOG DASHING ~ imitating a poem I love

YOUNG DOG DASHING
by April Halprin Wayland

Young Dog Dashing, how do you run
With Greyhound and Husky in the dust and the sun?
In circles and twisting around the trees
Gathering others for the widening game.

Young Dog Dashing, east and west,
How long do you race and when do you rest?
For ages, for eons, as long as we please
…..Deep in our bones we will never be tamed.

Poetry Prompt: I have copied the sound and meter of a wonderful poem by Russell Hoban, which, like my poem on April 6th, is an apostrophe poem–one in which the poet talks to an inanimate object.

OLD MAN OCEAN
by Russell Hoban

Old Man Ocean, how do you pound
Smooth glass, rough stones round?
Time and the tide and the wild waves rolling
Night and the wind and the long gray dawn.

Old Man Ocean, what do you tell,
What do you sing in the empty shell?
Fog and the storm and the long bell tolling,
Bones in the deep and the brave men gone.

Imitation is a marvelous teacher. Art students copy the masters, and I was taught to imitate the rhythm, meter and rhyme of poems I admired. I love this one.

It’s your turn. What poem do you love? Type it out. Then choose your own topic and imitate the sounds, meter and rhyme of the poem as closely as you can. After that, play with your new poem. In the end, you may stray from the original, which is fine. Sometimes it’s just a jumping off point. Enjoy the leap!

5 Responses to “YOUNG DOG DASHING ~ imitating a poem I love”

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater says:

April 22, 2012 at 8:30 pm

I love BOTH of these and may have to try an imitation of both of you. Our dogs will never be tamed in their bones either… a.
April says:

April 24, 2012 at 6:43 pm

Thanks for reading these, Amy
Tabatha says:

April 28, 2012 at 1:57 am

Yes, they are both wonderful! I’m enjoying browsing around in your dog month poems. We lost our 17-year-old dog this month, so it is a bit bittersweet.
April says:

April 28, 2012 at 8:43 am

Thanks for reading these, Tabatha. Two years ago we lost 17-year-old Rosie. I’m there with you. So empty…and so lucky to have known her.
April says:

April 28, 2012 at 8:44 am

Amy! I JUST learned how to comment on people’s comments in this newly set-up blog space. Thanks so much for reading these. <3

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5 Responses to “YOUNG DOG DASHING ~ imitating a poem I love”

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