Poetpourri

There have been many poetry happenings starting up on social media lately. Writers' pens have been moving quickly across their notebooks and/or computer screens, sending messages of beauty and strength in response to nature and news. Haikus, free verse poems, image poems, blogs, and digital inspirations have been created and sent out to spark conversations. The movement has grown into a poetry in action initiative.

Last week, Donna Smith of Mainely Write posted responses to a challenge she initiative dealing with the topic ferocious women. You can find the different poems in response to the challenge here. Since I was preoccupied with hosting Poetry Friday, I left the penning of my poem to later. Sixteen writers participated initially by sending in lines that you can see below. From these a new poem was to be created.

1. Buffy Silverman: "ferocious women who never bring you coffee" - refrigerator magnetic poetry
2. Donna Smith: "always leave a wild song" - refrigerator magnetic poetry
3. Linda Baie: "dreaming women do art in poetry" - from her pile of poetry blocks
4. Buffy Silverman: "where wizards and wolves rush by in a blur of green and gold and gray" - patched together from Kate Dicamillo's Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln
5. Kay McGriff: "ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones" from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
6. Linda Mitchell: "waking the world to a new day"
7. Margaret Simon: "steam that climbs like smoke from a fire" - this was in the comments the first week, and I'm not sure if it is a comment or a line... but I'm using it! 
8. Carol Varsalona: "fearless women reach out, connect, and find joy in life's intertwined moments" - Connecting the word "fearless" that April had used last week.
9. Tabatha Yeatts: "little chest to put the Alive in" - Emily Dickinson
10. Joy Acey: "wear loose clothing and a smile" - from a thought and some connections
11. Jan Godown Annino:  "I feel like there should be more stories out there for girls, and I try to tell them" - a quote from Hope Larson from the book COMICS CONFIDENTIAL.
12. Mary Lee Hahn: "ferocious women do not exaggerate" - from Mary Oliver's UPSTREAM on page 109, "I do not exaggerate."
13. Brenda Harsham: "make a ferocious dinner that eats masks, drips truth and saves softness for dessert"
14. Keri Lewis: "radical at their core" from her husband's magazine, "Guns & Ammo"
15. Kiesha Shepard: "ferocious women would rather drink the wind" - a line from Mary Oliver's (Why I Wake Early) titled "The Arrowhead"
16. Diane Mayr: "out of endurance, exaltation" - a line from the poem "Monadnock" by Robert Francis.

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Eye on Women

Fearless women,

Alive with life,

Ferociously

Reach out

To drink the wind,

Ignore the awful times,

Exalt the good ones,

Connect and find life's

Intertwined moments

To tell the stories

That ought to be told.

Dreaming women

Alive with hope,

Do art in poetry,

Leave a wild song

For young girls who

Steam through life with

Energy that climbs like smoke

From fires, waking the world to

Yet another day of bold, joyful pursuits

Saving softness for dessert and dreams.
©CVarsalona, 2017

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

Ferocious women connect to wake a world from the awful times of past decades:

Under-paid roles, bringing in coffee as wizards and wolves rush by in a blur.

Radical at their core, ferocious women unshackled from rigidity of corseted clothes,

Don the garb of loose clothing to concentrate on a new day filled with exaltation.

Fearlessly, they drink the wind, smile in unity, and write stories for posterity,

Audaciously charging ahead, concentrating on good times to pave the way

For a bold new generation of brilliant, truth-bearing daughters

Who listen, lead, and build hopes and dreams

on the principles of democracy.

©CVarsalona, 2017

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Penny Klostermann is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-up at Penny and Her Jots.

Join in the fun.

#10FoundWords Project

There's a poetry in action movement that is growing on social media. #10FoundWords from the news is a writing project recently started by Laura Shovan. It officially opens today and will continue each day on Facebook during the month of February.

The first poem I drafted was inspired by ten random words from the 2017 Inaugural Address. 

Interested in joining. Contact Laura Shovan on Facebook
or at @LauraShovan on Twitter.

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Be a Difference Maker!

My recent blog posts about letting voice rise:

Write On

Let Kindness Spread

Kindness in 5 Words

Write On!

GREETING
Struck by the grayness of the winter sky but bolstered by the warmth of thoughts received, I bring a message of gratitude to all those who write from their heart. As host of Poetry Friday this week, I send out thanks to the writers who are contributing to this joyful Poetry Round-up. 

POETS AS ADVOCATES
During these past weeks, many voices from the Poetry Friday community have rallied behind causes and brought joy to life through verse. Poetic words have flowed from spaces of hope, advocacy, and social justice out into the world of social media, of which I am grateful. I applaud the poetic difference makers who feel the rhythm of life's balance, the pulse beat of positivity, and the energy emanating from bringing words to life. Your voices light up the page and screen, creating a tapestry of thought in a community of trust. Write on!

SIMPLE PRACTICE
When Mother Nature sends us gray days and the world is off balance due to dissonance and tension, flip negative vibrations. Engage in a practice that allows hope to finds its way back into our lives. 

We Thank Thee
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

FOND WISHES
I wish all the writers who join this Poetry Friday round-up, peace and joy. Continue to send your voices out into the world in poetic streams. As difference makers, your words will brighten children's hearts, illustrate the beauty of living things, soften the dissonance, and turn gray days around.

heartfelt words of joy

fill spaces of life's journey

poetic wings soar

©CV, 2017

POETRY FRIDAY ROUND-UP

Joyfully submit your Poetry Friday offering below, as I will submit mine to #haikuforhealing.

Celebrating a Learning Life

Dear Colleagues,

For several weeks I have been eagerly awaiting the 2016 National Council of Teachers of English Convention. Now today, the day after my return from Atlanta, I reflect upon the memories of NCTE 16.

Upon arrival, I sensed a celebratory spirit floating through the Georgia World Congress Center. Excited crowds of educators gathered for a visual feast of a bold rebranding, literary luminaries, book-filled halls, student musical ensembles, and lots of southern charm. Smiles were plentiful as people greeted each other in hallways or waved on the many ascending or descending escalators. Within the fast-paced motion of comings and goings, seven thousand educators moved joyously from one experience to another. 

In between hurried steps, I often paused for short conversations that extended learning from inside conference rooms to outer halls. There were also meet-ups originating from virtual relationships developed on Twitter. inspired by the novel NCTE mantra, "I'm a page turner!", many voices rose in a collective chorus-advocating for page-turning opportunities to build or enhance student-centered classrooms of wonder and joyful learning. NCTE 16 was joyous learning event with committed colleagues who shared a similar vision of a better educational future for all students. From the spectacular opening General Assembly to the last session I attended, magic happened at NCTE 16. 

Today, a bit tired from the energized convention pace, I return to life as I know it but remember that each day opens as a new page.


I join Ruth Ayres, who was at the convention with me, in celebrating this week at her blog,  Ruth Ayres Writes-Discover, Play, Build.

Ruth Ayres presented at NCTE16
"Engage Learners with Compassion and Empathy"