Wednesday, April 24, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 24

  For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


We 
wonder
the shape of the world
gravity
spiders and their webs
dinosaur bones
bubble homes and fish farts
how the sea came to be
the stunning science of everything

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • We by Alice Schertle, illustrations by Kenneth Addison
  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio
  • The Shape of the World by K.L. Going, illustrated Lauren Stringer
  • Gravity by Jason Chin
  • Spiders and Their Webs by Darlyne A. Murawski
  • Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner
  • Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock, illustrations by Carolyn Conahan
  • How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures In It by Jennifer Berne, illustrations by Amanda Hall
  • The Stunning Science of Everything: Science With the Squishy Bits Left In! by Nick Arnold, illustrations by Tony De Saulles
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 23

  For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


Poem-Making

Look to the stars
listen to the wind
How do you feel?
Reflect and write
a river of words
Fearless writing
the arrow finds its mark

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston
  • Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin, paintings by Wendell Minor
  • Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth, collages by Susan L. Roth
  • How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne
  • Reflect and Write: 300 Poems and Photographs to Inspire Writing, compiled by Elizabeth Guy and Hank Kellner
  • A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, illustrations by Melissa Sweet
  • Fearless Writing: Multigenre to Motivate and Inspire by Tom Romano
  • The Arrow Finds Its Mark: A Book of Found Poems, edited by Georgia Heard, illustrations by Antoine Guilloppé
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.

Monday, April 22, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 22

 For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


Ten flashing fireflies
light up the night
counting the stars
dark on light
Small wonders
flip, float, fly
a sky full of poems
signals in the sky

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges, illustrations by Anna Vojtech
  • Light Up the Night by Jean Reidy, illustrations by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
  • Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrations by Raúl Colón
  • Dark on Light by Dianne White, illustrations by Felicita Sala
  • Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith, illustrations by Giuliano Ferri
  • Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move by JoAnn Early Macken, illustrations by Pam Paparone
  • A Sky Full of Poems by Eve Merriam, illustrations by Walter Gaffney-Kessell
  • Signals in the Sky by Candice Ransom
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.

Sunday, April 21, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 21

 For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


Firefly July

Marshmallow clouds
enchanted air
Yellow umbrella
one white sail
Ice cream summer
lemonade sun
Summer beat
see me run!

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
  • Marshmallow Clouds: Two Poets at Play Among Figures of Speech by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, illustrations by Richard Jones
  • Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
  • Yellow Umbrella by Jae Soo Liu
  • One White Sail by S.T. Garne, pictures by Lisa Etre
  • Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sís
  • Lemonade Sun and Other Poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
  • Summer Beat by Besty Franco, illustrations by Charlotte Middleton
  • See Me Run by Paul Meisel
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.

Saturday, April 20, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 20

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


A Writing Kind of Day

When rain falls
Splish! Splash!
The sky stirs up trouble
Tap, tap! Boom, boom!
When thunder comes
Flash! Crash! Rumble and Roll!
This is the rain
Drip! Drop!
What’s the weather inside?
Cloudy, with a chance of meatballs.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • A Writing Kind of Day: Poems For Young Poets by Ralph Fletcher, illustrations by April Ward
  • When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart, illustrations by Constance Rummel Bergum
  • Splish Splash by Joan Bransfield Graham, illustrations by Steve Scott
  • The Sky Stirs Up Trouble: Tornadoes by Belinda Jensen, illustrations by Renée Kurilla 
  • Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrations by G. Brian Karas
  • When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrations by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, Meilo So
  • Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll by Franklyn Branley, illustrations by True Kelley
  • This Is the Rain by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrations by Jane Wattenberg 
  • Drip! Drop!: How Water Gets to Your Tap by Barbara Seuling, illustrations by Nancy Tobin 
  • What's the Weather Inside?: Poems by Karma Wilson, illustrations by Barry Blitt 
  • Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, drawn by Ron Barrett
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.

Progressive Poem is Here!

Have you been following the progressive poem progress? I hope so! I'm happy to be number 20 in line for this growing tale. My couplet is at the boom and in bold.

cradled in stars, our planet sleeps,
clinging to tender dreams of peace
sister moon watches from afar,
singing lunar lullabies of hope.

almost dawn, I walk with others,
keeping close, my little brother.
hand in hand, we carry courage
escaping closer to the border

My feet are lightning;
My heart is thunder.
Our pace draws us closer
to a new land of wonder.

I bristle against rough brush—
poppies ahead brighten the browns.
Morning light won’t stay away—
hearts jump at every sound.

I hum my own little song
like ripples in a stream
Humming Mami’s lullaby
reminds me I have her letter

My fingers linger on well-worn creases,
shielding an address, a name, a promise–
Sister Moon will find always us
surrounding us with beams of kindness

But last night as we rested in the dusty field,
worries crept in about matters back home.
I huddled close to my brother. Tears revealed
the no-choice need to escape. I feel grown.

Leaving all I’ve ever known
the tender, heavy, harsh of home.
On to maybes, on to dreams,
on to whispers we hope could be.

But I don't want to whisper! I squeeze Manu's hand.
"¡Más cerca ahora!" Our feet pound the sand.
We race, we pant, we lean on each other
I open my canteen and drink gratefully

Thirst is slaked, but I know we’ll need
more than water to achieve our dreams.
Nights pass slowly, but days call for speed
through the highs and the lows, we live with extremes


Janet, hosted at Reflections on the Teche has the next couplet!
For the full schedule of participants, see the list below.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

Friday, April 19, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 19

Happy Poetry Friday! For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


This is just to say
poetry matters
Today and today
just people and paper, pen, poem
tiny dreams sprouting tall
Wonderful words
falling down the page
A lucky thing

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • This is Just to Say by Joyce Sidman, illustrations by Pamela Zagarenski
  • Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem From the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher 
  • Today and Today, haiku by Issa, pictures by G. Brian Karas
  • Just People and Other Poems for Young Readers & Paper/Pen/Poem: A Young Writer's Way to Begin, poems by Kathi Appelt, photographs by Kenneth Appelt
  • Tiny Dreams Sprounting Tall: Poems About the United States by Laura Purdie Salas
  • Wonderful Words: Poems About Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrations by Karen Barbour
  • Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems, edited by Georgia Heard
  • A Lucky Thing by Alice Schertle, paintings by Wendell Minor
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.


This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe. I hope you'll take some time to check out all things poetic being shared today.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

NPM 2024 - Book Spine Poem 18

For National Poetry Month this year, I am perusing my bookshelves and building book spine poems.


Subway sparrow
city hawk
honk, honk, goose
bird talk

Chatter, sing, roar, buzz
song of the wild
where I live 

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.

Sources
  • Subway Sparrow by Leyla Torres
  • City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy
  • Honk, Honk, Goose!: Canada Geese Start a Family by April Pulley Sayre, illustrations by Huy Voun Lee
  • Bird Talk: What Birds Are Saying and Why by Lita Judge
  • Chatter, Sing, Roar, Buzz: Poems About the Rain Forest by Laura Purdie Salas
  • Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies, illustrations by Petr Horacek 
  • Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, illustrations by Matt Phelan
I hope you'll come back again to see what new poem I've cobbled together. You can find other poems I've written this month at the links below.