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 19
FOCUSING ON RHYTHM IN A DOG POEM
DOG LOOKING DOWN FROM A SECOND STORY WINDOW
by April Halprin Wayland
dog lifting ear
wrinkling wet nose
whistle of man
done with day’s work
twitching the tip of a tail
putting big paws on the ledge
shoes on cement
key metal gate
dog looking down
man looking up
wiggly rump
galloping over the hall
tearing down all of the stairs
bounding outside
tangle of legs
plough into man
crash to the ground
licking this most beloved shoe
Poetry Prompt:
Eli waits for Gary to come home every night.  Eli’s exhilaration lends itself to a short, clipped rhythm. In poetry, a stressed beat is noted with a slash (/) while an unstressed beat is merely a period.
The rhythm I use in this poem is mostly: /../ (Shoes on cement /../)
But sometimes I change it up: Putting big paws on the ledge /../../)
It’s your turn. Think about someone coming home.  Can you put it into a poem?  If the rhythm I used feels appropriate for your poem, try it yourself. (For more guidance regarding poetic meter and rhythm, see Myra Cohn Livingston‘s wonderfully clear and basic book, Poem-Making.)
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