My Words Echo

Sometimes in life, our words, meaningful in their intent, are uttered and fall on deaf ears. At other times, they find a listening ear. At those times, a listener not only hears but responds. 

My poet friend, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, hosts a ditty challenge each month. April's creative project is to write an echo poem. My first attempt at this poem type based on reversos by Marilyn Singer is written in two voices, a speaker and a responder who warmly receives a floating message. 

"For those new to this form, reversos are poems that can be read forwards or backwards to express two sides of one story." ~Michelle Heidenrich Barnes at Today's Little Ditty. (You can read the discussion between Marilyn Singer and Michelle about the reverso here.)

In the pair of poems below, I played with the verb brush and its various synonyms to echo a thought. Another Poetry Friday friend, Margaret Simon, created a synonym poem as a model for us to create our own so I decided to take up that challenge as well.

My image for the poem pair started as cloud formations in the sky but I decided to digitalize them to allow the words to "brush" on by.

While a Marilyn Singer reverso stays true to the backward form, mine deviates a little to add a new line. (Please remember that this is my first attempt.)

For Today's Little Ditty April Challenge:

Speaker 

 

                                                                

   

                                                                                                          Responder

Now for a Marilyn Singer's reverso from her book of reverso poems, mirror mirror. I was fortunate to not only meet Marilyn at her NCTE 15 book signing but to end the conference listening to an engaging workshop presented by her. 

 Reverso poem by Marilyn Singer

You may be interested in trying your own echo poem and offering it to Michelle Barnes at Today's Little Ditty.

Full Moon Rising

During the Thanksgiving holiday, November's full moon struck a striking pose as it nestled in a darkened sky. Intrigued by the beauty of its glowing light, I researched its history and found that it was referred to as the mourning moon. You can read the article, Why You Should Care About Tomorrow's Full Moon, to find out why. With information from the text and the image I captured on my iPhone, I created a quick digital composition. From an old tale, wise thoughts about life evolve.

Advice from November's Mourning Moon

Speaking of the full moon, I was excited to meet the award-winning author and poet Marilyn Singer at two NCTE 15 author signings. Attending her session with a few Poetry Friday friends was a marvelous way to end the conference experience. 

Marilyn is small in stature but her voice rings loudly with the love of poetry and the game-like nature of poetry. During the sessions she shared several poems from various books; read aloud to the group and carried her theme, Game of Poems, from her award ceremony to her session where she shared several

poems from her various books; read aloud to the group; had others in the audience read the best picks of the various books she showcased. I especially enjoyed hearing about her book, A Full Moon Is Rising, that is filled with poems about the full moon in various lands around the globe.  

While my poetry about the full moon is a little echo in a big sky, Marilyn's poems on the same subject are a big ripple in the world of children's poetry. There are many reasons why Marilyn was honored and applauded at the conference last weekend. Her love of research, the craft of writing, and the art of the read-aloud were exemplified during her NCTE 15 session. No wonder that she was announced as the winner of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award. I cannot wait for my copies of Marilyn's books to arrive at my house. In the meantime, we can search through Marilyn' website here.

Now please turn your attention to Poetry Friday hosted by Carol at Carol's Corner.