Summer is moving on at a remarkable rate closer to my family's moving date. Quarantine life, a tropical storm, and sweltering heat add to the stress of the clock ticking. It is no wonder why I seek quiet time this summer. In honor of finding sacred moments of peace, I created a video poem using the Lumen 5 platform and a mix of original digital art and nature photos from Unsplash for my Embraceable Summer Gallery collection.
Quiet time has been on my mind so please kick off your sandals, find a relaxing seat, and watch my brief video poem. I am joining Two Writing Teachers for the Tuesday Slice of Life.
I have been watching the weather forecast and sweltering under the rising heat index just like many of my fellow Long Islanders. Each day, morning greets daylight with steamy heat. A sit on my front porch or patio to listen to the sounds of summer and watch the flowers with their blossoming colors but only for a few moments due to the blistering heat.
For the past month, I have thought of creating an etheree on summer but not until this week did I put pen to paper or stylus to digital notebook. The Poetry Sisters/Princesses invited everyone to create an etheree with the theme foresight or summer or both for this week's Poetry Friday edition. Poet Tricia Stohr Hunt, wrote a blog post on the poetic form and Poetry Sister Liz Ganlon created a video. My friend/author/poet Laura Purdie Salas, another Poetry Sister, sent me the blurb to join in the fun. I have never written a etheree so the outcome of my labors is a first. While sending it out for review and using the #poetrypals hashtag, I know that I need more practice in etheree writing.
I transferred my etheree into a video poem using Lumen 5.
Did you know that sharks like shallow water where swimmers are? My plan is to stay safe indoors with air conditioning. I have no desire to see the sharks of summer at my favorite beach site plus, I have the foresight to know how to stay safe at the beach, especially during COVID-19.
Now, I turn my attention to the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Catherine Flynnwho is sharing an original poem based on a picture from the book, The Imaginaries.
Recently, I was sent an email of distinction from Anuj Agarwal, #Feedspot Founder of Feedspot.com, a place to keep up with all your favorite blogs, news sites and rss feeds in one place.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog, Beyond LiteracyLink, has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 40 Children's Poetry Blogs on the web.
There are three questions that I have been reflecting upon lately. I throw these questions out to everyone to hear how you feel.
Do you feel that your "Quarantine Life" is in overdrive?
Is there tension in the air in your household?
Do you need a reminder to stay positive?
I created a poem, Tension in the Air, from a list of clunker lines that my librarian-poet friend, Linda Mitchell provided at her blog site, A Word Edgewise. I chose #13, Sounds of the pandemic and #15, a script we know by heart. Tension in the Air
screams of quarantine boredom slice through a silent house cabin fever woes rise too-hot-to-handle heat sizzles drenching drip-drops rain down pandemic sounds RAGE- as a script many now know by heart How can we end the maddening sounds?
Then, I transformed my poem into a Lumen 5 video poem using the title from the music the site provided that fit well as a title, Tension in the Air.
Now, it is my pleasure to give Linda a couple of unfinished lines to play with: "relentless seeker of life", "golden beam of luminous light" and "rainsoaked blossoms".
Since it is a hot summer day, I decided to bring an ice cream float to surprise my poet friend, Jan Godown Annino who is hosting Poetry Friday at Bookseed Studio. Check out her original poem Float as she reminisces about her mother.
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I am adding the link to Spiritual Journey Thursday where I am hosting. You will find more poetic goodness written by Poetry Friday friends there. Feel free to write a post on balancing your days or the word balance.
After reading Fran Haley's inspiring blog post, Ode to the Wind, I turned to write a Golden Shovel poem in response to her quote, "The universe Is a writer". There was such a lyrical quality to her prose and sensitivity in her ode that I decided to design a video poem. Unfortunately, the download of the Lumen 5 video did not work well tonight so I am offering the link. You can access the video poem here.
Yesterday, I wrote a skinny poem series, Look Into the Future, and decided to transform the first stanza into a reflective 38-second video poem. I used the Lumen 5 platform then, uploaded the video to my YouTube channel. You can access the link here. It's interesting how this quarantine time has left many people pondering what is now and what will be.
Since the onset of the concept of social distancing,
poems are appearing giving rise to the collective voice.
After writing my commentary on social distancing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my slicer writing friend, Kevin Hodgson, responded poetically to my poem. Several years agao, Kevin introduced me to the video-writing platform, Lumen 5. In gratitude for his gifts of Lumen 5-created video poems of my work, I am returning the favor. Below is the print version of Kevin's poem. You can view the video poem I created of his response to my poem by clicking on the word preview here.
Sharing our writing and creative spirit with friends is a way to bring voices together
and soothe the soul.
Do the birds understand
the concept behind social distancing?
Neither flutter birds still sing of coming spring While we fret our days away on the heels of Winter I'm noticing the wire, the gathering point of convergence
feathers touching to remember the rains
before the presence of sound -- it's me, after all -- the flock gone, distancing the social norm of the scattering --a poem response --Kevin Hodgson
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Each year since March 2015, I have engaged in Two Writing Teacher's Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. Slicing allows me to ponder life, literacy, and learning, capturing small moments poetically through writing, photography, and digital art. Welcome to Day 19 of 31 days of writing with Two Writing Teachers.
It's National Poetry Month and I am taking every opportunity to #thinkpoetry. Come and take a peek at what I have been delving into this week. The week started off with an amazing combo chat between #WonderChat and #NYED Chat. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong were our esteemed poets/publishers/co-hosts. Their publicity flyer, questions, and ability to respond to attendees were commendable. I thank not only Sylvia and Janet but our Poetry Friday members who engaged in the chat. I am planning on writing a separate post about this awesome night of committed and passionate voices rising to #thinkpoetry.
Created by Sylvia Vardell-shown at the comboTwitter chat
When I read about Mary Lee Hahn's plan to spend the month PLAYING WITH POETRY at her blog, A Year of Reading, I decided to dip into my bag of paint chip samples and play along. After all, I had created an activity for teachers to create their own paint chip poetry exercises, so I set out to do the same. I dipped into my bag of samples and chose seven titles.
Splash Of Teal, Solemn Silence, Garden Vista, Cotton Sheets, Clear Sailing, Faded Denim, Winds Breath, were interesting choices for me to play with and create a poem, a Buncee, and a Lumen 5 video.
Creating a Buncee, a creation and presentation tool for students and educators is always a fun prospect. I added a background, a clothesline, and my poem to make my the Buncee more visually attractive.
Next, I created a Lumen 5 video, a fluid approach to blending poetry with media.
Now, after the 2nd poetry chat of the week at #ILAChat, I am off to connect with my Poetry Friday friends at Irene Latham's blog site, where she continues with her own National Poetry Month project, ARTSPEAK: Happy! series.
Playing with poetry is a delightful experience that allows me to try out different creative moves that are pure fun. Meet me on Instagram, FaceBook, and Twitterto#playwithpoetryNPM) and #thinkpoetry.
You are invited to join #NYEDChat and our team of moderators to find your greatness as we lift our voices on Twitter.
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Many connected educators, including #NYEDChat, joined together on March 24th at the Connected Educators of Long Island Summit, #CELI18, organized by Dr. Bill Brennan to connect, learn, and share.
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Day 27of Two Writing Teachers' March Slice of Life Story Challenge
How do you greet each day? Do you celebrate the moments that pass by or see the blades of grass as the rebirth of earth?
I reflected on these thoughts this week as I awaited news of a tiny new life about to be born. Each day seemed endless with anticipation. I needed to slow down, rest my mind on the breath, and see the world with new eyes to finally realize that joy will come. Then, I read a quote from Peter Sis: "How much do you visualize something you've never seen and just imagined...?"
While waiting for news, I started creating to visual joy. My colleague, Kevin Hodgson interpreted my poem, Strange Dreams, that I wrote last week. He created a visual poetry video. (You can view that here.) It is an amazing piece of work that made me wonder? How did Kevin accomplish what he did? What was the platform he used? Being a connected educator, Kevin gave me insight into how to create something that was only in my mind's eye.
A poem, Joyful Expectancy, evolved. Shortly after that, I began the process of creating a poetry video. I must have gone through ten iterations so far and I am still not finished. The credits do not note that the rainbow was created by my friend, Delia, who traveled recently to Ireland nor which photos are my originals. I am waiting for my last remake to correct my inputs. Lumen 5 is an amazing platform to create videos but when "playing" with a new format, I need time to work out the kinks. For now you can see the draft version here.
"There are words in the soul of a newborn baby,
wanting and waiting to be written."
-Toba Beta
Joy is soon to arrive with the new birth. Stories will arise. In the meantime, it is time for this week's Poetry Friday. Mary Lee Hahn is hosting at A Year of Reading and shares an original poem that holds my one word, joy. When I chose this word to guide my yearlong journey, I hoped it would find me. Thank you Mary Lee and Kevin for helping me visualize joy. I am looking forward to finding joy while reading my Poetry Friday friends' entries this week.
SPECIAL NOTE: Thank you to all my Poetry Friday friends who contributed poetic offerings for my spring gallery, Springsations. I have been working on the design and will send out announcements on when the gallery will be unveiled.
