#DearOneLBH

This week the Poetry Friday community is celebrating the life of Lee Bennett Hopkins at Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's The Poem Farm. I am happy to join the celebration for Lee Bennett Hopkins. Lee has been our poetry champion, a grand anthologist, and talented poet throughout the years and will remain so in years to come.

I offer my humble septercet poem written for a poet extraordinaire who entered my life years ago when I was a young teacher.

poet extraordinaire
anthology creator
grower of poem gardens

you filled many children's minds
with imaginative thoughts,
leaving your heart-print on lives

we honor your legacy
as a beloved writer
who made space for poetry
©CVarsalona, 2019

*****

Last year, Robyn Hood Black held a Poetry Friday celebration for Lee's birthday at her blog site. I created an invitation to the party and the short poem below.

To Lee,
You have been the consummate poetry champion.

↓

poetry passer
pens crafted thoughts on pages-
master word packer
©CVarsalona, 2018

******

Jone MacCulloch suggested finding a line from one of Lee Bennett Hopkins' poems and writing a new poem based on the line chosen. I am using Lee's opening line from a poem in his anthology, I Am the Book, and answering my question, "How should we promote the back-to-school hashtag, #StartStrong, for elementary school children?"

It's poem o'clock
school starts strong-
sing-song
up-down
verb-noun
poems belong!

Ready to rock
to the beat-
read-write
ring-sing
song-ding
Poetry's our treat!
©CV, 2019

******

When should we highlight poetry in the curriculum? As Lee said in I Am the Book:
It's poem o'clock.
Time for a rhyme -
tick-tock
ding-dong
bing-bong
or chime.
Poems are
wistful
wish-filled
sublime-
Come.
Unlock a minute
for
poetry time.

******

This afternoon, I added my #ditty #poemsong for Michelle H. Barnes' August Ditty of the Month. It was written for my granddaughter and is about waking up in the morning. You can read my poem below but please check out the ditty video I created here.

sweet darling

behind clouds of gray

comes the sun

welcoming

you to greet another day

peek-a-boo hello

©CV, 2019

A New Month, A New Challenge

A new month unfolds today. It fills my heart with the anticipated pleasures of word weaving as I continue the poetic journey I started. 

April ends.

A sigh of relief-

All is accomplished!

May blossoms.

New thoughts grow

into a bouquet

of rainbow wonder.

I once again invite ALL to LISTEN - OBSERVE - REFLECT - WRITE for the new gallery that I am designing. Spring's Symphony is dedicated to the sights, sounds, and colors of the season. It is my hope that this month will see the blossoming of a garden of poems from across the globe. 

How does the garden grow? 

with scents of spring,

a sprinkling of creativity, 

the chorus of nature's tunes, 

and the colors of an artist's palette 

May all who read this post, be inspired to weave their own tapestry of poems as the season of spring finally finds a home on earth. Whether you have written for Winter Whisperings Gallery or previous ones is not a prerequisite. An open heart, an observing eye, and a love of language are the essential components needed to compose a poetic expression that reveals your perspective on the topic, spring's symphony.

When I found a trio of lovely perennials standing upright from the cracks of a enduring winter season, I felt the eternal longing for hope to prevail. With optimistic hope for a season of warmth, I  discard the clothes of winter and wait for the earth to be robed in brilliant hues.

May your spring days be filled with observations that crystalize into budding gems of thought.

****************************

I want to extend a special THANK YOU to my fellow, inspired colleagues at various sites that I frequented during National Poetry Month for their creative challenges and multi-faceted poetic gems:

Jone Mac Culloch - Double "LL" Challenge

Laura Shovan - What Are You Wearing project    

Mary Lee Hahn - PO-EMotions

#digipoetry site created by Margaret Simon

and

Jama Rattigan for publishing news of my Winter Whisperings Gallery at her 2015 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup