Haiku with apologies to Weird Al

I slaved by the stove
Creating a balanced meal
Eat it, just eat it.

Lean meat and veggies
Put a salad on the side
Don't want Leftovers.

New recipes stink.
If you don't like it today
Eat it tomorrow.

Amazing what happens when I demo for the class

These are partial ABC poems. Choose a letter from the alphabet and the four letters that follow. Write an acrostic using those letters. Here are a couple of examples.

Winter in Wisconsin
Extreme weather
Frost
Great sledding
Hills of snow
Icicles

Recess
Leaping
Making
Noise
Outside
Playing

Teachers can do and teach, too.

I wrote this to demonstrate/model the Acrostic Poem form for my class. They had brainstormed words pertaining to the citizenship theme of "compassion" and were preparing to write acrostic poems on the theme.
For a piece created spontaneously in front of an audience, it's not bad.

Across each line
Contains words or phrases
Rarely (really, almost never) rhymes
Only use words that make
Sense.
To write an acrostic,
It helps to think about
Compassion.
Poetry has many forms.
Others are Haiku, verse, and Cinquain.
Enjoy these examples.
Maybe you'll like this one!

Music soothes

Music soothes.
Breathing slows.
Shoulders relax.
Mind is open, yet restful.
The rise and fall of a phrase shapes a melody and a memory.

Music calms.
Blood pressure settles.
Pulse steadies.
Listening continues.
Listeners smile, relax.
Rhythm draws in the body.
Lyrics reach the soul in symphony and sympathy.

Music inspires.
A voice becomes an instrument
Produces more than sound
Reaches
Touches
Connects.

And finds
Peace.

Things to neglect while ill

Cleaning house -- as long as no one visits.
Laundry -- at least until someone runs out of underwear.
Redoing the fireplace mantle. It's not green and gold any more, it's hard to care.
Schedules -- it's 3:00, I suppose I'd better eat lunch before I think about supper, eh?
Cooking. That's what Lean Cuisine is for, isn't it?
Changing litter in bunny cage -- until I can't stand it any more
Opening mail -- if the pile isn't so high it falls over.
Socializing -- I don't feel social, no one wants my germs, we're even.
Quality time with teenager -- he'd rather surf YouTube anyway.
Discuss politics -- thought takes energy, one thing that really lacking in me right now.
Whining -- who wants to hear this anyway?

Chill. Just drink water, take a nap, and all will be well with the world. Eventually.

No more, please. No more.

One by one
Or five by five, they fall.
Another shooting.
Real people. Real people dying, real people killing.
It's not pretend.
It's not a video game.
It's not a reality show.
It's real. They are real.
Real people with real problems
Who chose an unreal way of dealing with them.
Solve? Not.
Writers didn't create these characters.
Society did.
And society can stop them.

But how? And when?
Until then, we mourn.
Weston, Wisconsin.
Virginia Tech.
Crandon, Wisconsin.
Omaha, Nebraska.
Kirkwood, Missouri.
And more.
Until the madness stops.

Six Word Stories

Six words. I found the idea through a link at Autismvox. Kristina shared the Smith site with its Six Word Stories and created one of her own. These Six Word Stories remind me of Haiku or Lune poems in their clarity and directness, although they're even shorter. Sometimes, a picture is worth exactly six words.

Small bunny, big love, our Peanut.

Shy bunny, but sweet, our Sadie.

Big bunny, spotted cowlike, that's Buttercup!

Winter Storm

Snow layers on the trees
The proverbial blanket of white
Too pretty to feel cold
Takes the shape of all it covers.

Stillness, early sunset comes
All muffled by the still-falling snowflakes
Not too windy, instead,
The kind of falling snow that
Holiday parade officials wish would fall as Santa arrives.

But not Christmas, now, despite the colorful lights
Still visible in families’ windows and yards
Just a lovely steady snowfall
Coating the houses, the porches, the trees,
And sending small animals into
Shelter.

Friday haiku

Sweet bunny still young
Died under anesthesia
Earlier today.

La Petite brought home a new little one a little while after Tiny died. She named him Darwin, and introduced him to Sadie and Peanut. They got along famously. She brought him in to be neutered today, and his heart stopped during the surgery. I'll share some happy Darwin pictures later on. He was a sweetie, a very loving little furry friend.

Here's a link to one of La Petite's photo albums. There are several pix of Darwin.

Recipe for Another Successful School Year

a co-op poem created by sixth grade students during their first week of school

Start with one gingerbread school with a chocolate bar roof.
Add gingerbread teachers.
Put in desks, chairs, and sugar cookie books.
Spray with sticky notes, cinnamon rolls, and caramel lunch money.
Slice and dice with scissors.
Mix the books with folders and cooks.
Drop in a couple of gym shoes.
Sprinkle with school supplies.
Deep fry all ingredients.

Spread some eagerness.

Place gingerbread kiddos in desks.
Fill the backpacks with goodies.
Frost with glue and chocolate chip cookies.

Serve with friends.

Recipe for a Successful School Year

a co-op poem created by sixth grade students during their first week of school

First, place nice teachers in a bowl.
Add well-behaved students.
Fill desks with pencils, markers, scissors, colored pencils, paper, and folders.
Add a couple brains and a Tablespoon of friendship. Add some kindness.
Combine with math facts.
Stir into full desk.
Bake for a year. Take out of oven.
Cut into 30 pieces. Sprinkle with focus.
Serve to 30 people and
Enjoy!

A Very Special Author

When we were young
And could pick up a book,
A man with a gift
Made us all take a look

At a cat with a mission,
A feline with style,
Dressed up in a hat
With a hint of beguile.

The cat made us smile,
The Grinch brought a tear.
While the Whos down in Whoville
Inspired a cheer.

Those red fish and blue fish
Or green eggs and ham
The Star Bellied Sneetches
And that Sam-I-Am

The poor little boy

Wearing five hundred hats

Got caught in the oobleck

That fell and went splat.

His stories had morals,
Were strong with conviction,
Even though written
As young readers' fiction.

A clear point of view,
The compassion he saw,
Like"...a person's a person,
No matter how small."

The elephant Horton
Who said what he meant,
That he could be faithful,
One hundred percent.

And think of the Lorax,
The one who said, "Please,
Oh, Please stop destroying
Tha Truffula Trees!"

His creatures were special,
Both comic and tragic,
Some small and some large,
With an aura of magic.

Think of the characters,
Ageless and timeless,
And how he could make
Something rhyme that seemed rhymeless!

The point of my story,
I'm sure you have reckoned,
Someone quite special
Was born on March second.

Creator of Yertle,
And Thidwick the Moose,
A talent unequaled:
The dear Dr. Seuss.

Free Fall

A ribbon in the wind
The lace curtains blow
Serene in their motion
The waves softly flow.

Dancing so slightly
The cool ocean breeze
Gently caresses
The leaves on the trees.

Pale purple dreams
With shades of cool blue
I'm drifting, free falling
But safely -- with you.

Happy Valentine's Day, dear.

Countdown - or - Drink a Toast to Life

Contemplation of a New Year
Fill in the blanks.

Five Significant Memories: Look back
1
2
3
4
5

Four predictable events to come: Look forward
1
2
3
4
5

Three Highlights of the Year that's Ending: Reminisce
1
2
3

Two Good Habits to Continue and Enjoy: Look ahead while looking back.
1
2

One -- just one!
One Goal for the year to come

Think it over.
Declare the goal real. Relevant. Possible.
Now drink a toast,
Whether champagne or grape juice
Promise yourself it'll happen.
Then make it so.

The New Alert System

Dear, please replenish the woodpile
For the fireplace
While I shop for
Bottled water, analgesics, thermometers,
Batteries for the flashlights and radios,
And emergency rations, enough to last six weeks or more.

Remember,
Viruses are everywhere, and
Quarantine is inevitable.

Wait. Stop.
What’s this knee-jerk reaction?
Tuition money spent on freeze-dried whatnots?
Closets packed with canned food,
Over-the-counter meds,
And cases of bottled water?

No.
Shop, yes. And replenish the woodpile, too.
But I’ll buy a bottle of wine
A sweet CD
Cheese and crackers.
Not stockpiles of panic.
We’ll cozy up by the fireplace,
In our favorite blankets and quilts,
To enjoy each other,
And take care of our family.

We’ll continue living our lives,
Resisting the propaganda.
Common sense, love and caring,
And family
Make survival
Worthwhile.

Homecoming Haiku

After the football game
Hot cocoa feels so cozy
And tastes so good, too.

Stealing Headlines

In attempt to make sense out of the recent shocking news, I "borrowed" headlines from articles covering the two school shootings this week. The two events are interspersed in pantoume form so that some headlines could apply to either one.
I'm not satisfied with this poem at all; maybe these incidents aren't supposed to make sense.

Principal targeted
In second school shooting this week
Innocence lost
Small town unaccustomed to tragedy.

In second school shooting this week
Details of attack emerge
Small town unaccustomed to tragedy
Mourns victim killed in siege.

Details of attack emerge
Another campus shooting
Mourns victim killed in siege
Teen charged in school shooting.

Another campus shooting
Hostage sent love to her family
Teen charged in school shooting
Hero prevented more deaths.

Hostage sent love to her family
Vigil held to mourn
Hero prevented more deaths
Died after shooting.

Vigil held to mourn
A victim used as a shield
Died after shooting
Critical condition.

A victim used as a shield
Principal targeted
Critical condition
Innocence lost.

A Teacher's Lament in Haiku

Labor Day has passed.

Back to school we go again.

Where did summer go?

Patience

Patience is
Waiting
Breathing slowly
Or Holding my breath
Biting my tongue
Thinking before I speak.
Meanwhile
Hyperventilating,
Tongue bleeding,
The words simmering inside
Slowly come to a boil.
Pressure rises
Steam escapes
And the lid
flies
off!!

How I Write

Personal reflection on writing poetry

I write what I think.
I write what I feel.
I write with a pen on loose leaf paper
or in the tiny spiral notebook pulled from my purse.
I write on my laptop computer
-outside on the deck
-on the couch in the den
-at the kitchen table
-in the backseat of the family van on the highway
I write to organize and clarify my thoughts
I write down the bones, the beginnings
then I revise with Xs and arrows and notes
written vertically in the margins
I write best with a structure
or goal in mind.
Random doesn’t work for me.
Leaving rhyme behind was hard; its structure was comforting, familiar
So I challenged myself with other structures
that let me grow
My angle is more literal than metaphoric -- often more prosaic than poetic.
Reality checks in more often than fantasy.
I write from my heart, but not too much,
Because if I write about those closest to me
It can hurt,
So I don’t look inward as often as I could.
I write for me.
Though others might enjoy the pieces on occasion.
I don’t write for the masses.
I write what I think.
I write what I feel.
I write for me.