Nostalgic Thoughts

Educators are in back-to-school mode, so providing students with a fresh perspective on the curriculum is important. My back-to-school thoughts are ignited by a conversation with my granddaughters. 

How was the beginning of school, Sierra (2nd grader)? What did you learn? 

             Obviously, I learned, Grandma! 

                   Then, I turned to Aurora our PreK student. What did you learn at school?

                       I don't know!

To step into the back-to-school mood, I blended mathematics with simple poetic formats to bring back the wonders of summer. I chose the Fiib poem format which has a syllable count following the Fibonacci series (1,1,2,3,5,8,13...)

Nostalgic Thoughts

sand

tucked

in toes

remnants of

sand-blown, childhood days

whirling in fabulous, sun-baked

shorelines, swishing alongside

a school of baby fish

©Carol Varsalona, 2024

Then, I found a lovely quote from a Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis poem that provided a title. You can read the rest of her poem here.

Nostalgia - that's the Autumn

Dreaming through September

Just a million lovely things

I always will remember.

There are many other simple formats for students to remember their summer memories. There is a haiku below.

Happily, we bask in this warm September sun, which illuminates all creatures.

-Henry David Thoreau

For more poetic formats for students, please peruse the new book, Picture Perfect Poetry, An Anthology of Ekphrastic Nature Poetry for Students designed by Carol Labuzzetta. You can see my book review here. 

Carol Labuzzetta, editor self-publisher, poet

I turn to the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by a fabulous author, poet, and nature lover, Buffy Silverman.

New Publication: Two Truths and a Fib Poetry Anthology

Truth be Told:

Bridget Magee, teacher, poet, author, editor, and publisher opened the door to a new kind of poetry anthology in January 2023. Her Two Truths and a Fib Poetry Anthology is an imaginative idea based on an ice breaker game, Two Truths and a Lie. In her introductory invitation to writers, Bridget said, "One goal of this anthology is to have an instrumental element as well as be a joyful celebration." 

Inside this unique anthology, there are 29 poets writing on 30 different subjects using 32 poetic formats. Each subject has two poems that are true and one that is a fib. Each writer's poems flow in such a way that it is difficult to decide where the fib lies but there is a Poet Fact Check in the back of the book for clarification.

To celebrate the writers of her new book, Bridget created a Fib-O-Rama to her wee words for wee ones on Facebook. It is a trailer type of teaser for each poet's work in the anthology. Each day, a new author is celebrated. I am honored to be one of the 29 poets included in the book. My poems on Kindergarten are based on a first-day-of-Kindergarten experience. While I took some ideas from my granddaughter's first days, the poems are universal to many children. 

Fib-O-Rama

I congratulate my Poetry Friday friends, Margaret Simon, Molly Hogan, Mary Lee Hahn, Heidi Mordhorst, Linda Baie, Linda Mitchell, Michelle Kogan, and Rose Cappelli, who are also Two Truths and a Fib authors.

Truth Poems and a Fib Poem

a seed of an idea took root over a year ago

grew

with

poetic

flair

grew

into

a

book

grew

over a year ago, a seed of an idea took root

©CV, 2023, skinny

✎

when you wish upon a star

imagination soars

seeds of spontaneity burst

an anthology

evolves from different poets

publisher edits and smiles

after publication

quiet reading time

thirty poems to savor

©CV, 2023, tricube poem

✎

all

poems

written

were added

to the collection

by the excited publisher

©CV, 2023,fibonacci poem

(Can you tell what is the fib in the above poem?)

It's Poetry Friday time. This week Molly Hogan is the host of the Roundup. You can view Molly's winter photos that inspired her poem. Click here.