Welcome! I'm honored to be a participant in Irene Latham's 2014 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. Irene has gathered thirty children's poets and we are writing a poem together as part of the National Poetry Month celebration. Each day our poem grows by one line. I've been enthusiastically reading along since the beginning and today it's my turn!
Before I committed to my line, I considered several possibilities based on the first stanza which sets up a journey, and the second stanza which begins with a call to action for what is needed for this journey. So much rich detail to consider! I am also intrigued by the many animals that are appearing here. At first, I took tactical and practical literally and planned to send our traveler some useful basics...but this poem has an other-worldly quality, I think, (wings, dreams, inner sage, honeyed whisper, tattered maps!) and so I decided to add something that I hope might be useful when traveling, as Matt suggests, "in realms far far away."
Here you go - the first fourteen lines of the 2014 PROGRESSIVE POEM, plus mine for the 15th:
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Sitting on a rock, airing out my feelings to the universe
Acting like a peacock, only making matters that much worse;
Should I trumpet like an elephant emoting to the moon,
Or just ignore the warnings written in the rune?
Those stars can’t seal my future; it’s not inscribed in stone.
The possibilities are endless! Who could have known?
Gathering courage, spiral like an eagle after prey
Then gird my wings for whirlwind gales in realms far, far away.
But, hold it! Let's get practical! What's needed before I go?
Time to be tactical— I'll ask my friends what I should stow.
And in one breath, a honeyed word whispered low— dreams —
Whose voice? I turned to see. I was shocked. Irene's
“Each voyage starts with tattered maps; your dreams dance on this page.
Determine these dreams—then breathe them! Engage your inner sage."
The merry hen said, “Take my sapphire eggs to charm your host.”
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Thank you, Irene, and Progressive Poetry Poets; what fun! Okay, take it away tomorrow Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge!
If you would like to continue following along, the full roster of poets and their websites are listed on this page to the right. Have fun, and Happy National Poetry Month!
Tamera
04.15.2014