Friday, December 31, 2021

Poetry Friday - Starting Wild


Thanks to Carol Wilcox at Carol's Corner for hosting today. Like Carol, I am far from the terrible fires in the Boulder area, have been watching the news all last evening. More will be revealed today, including how to help. 

I'm beginning prep for Cybil's Poetry Judging - Round Two. Round One judges have given our group a marvelous list of finalists. Stay tuned! All the lists will be shared tomorrow, January 1st!

         Sorry that I missed the Poetry Sister's "Bell" challenge but I'm looking forward to reading how everyone responded! 

         


          All year, I've been reading a lot of poetry, and every day a new poem from this book, published by Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press, Fiona Waters collected the poems for each season, thus the title. Lovely illustrations by Frann Preston-Gannon walked hand-in-hand with the poems. That last poem, for December 31st, is one I guess most of you know, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers' "Keep A Poem in Your Pocket", thus setting a goal for 2022!






       Fiona Waters has created a new one for the coming year, out for the first time in 2021 in the U.S. This time, she's selected 365 poems about animals. I don't recognize all of the names and perhaps that is because it's from Great Britain, but she has chosen some from America's past like Valerie Worth and  Emily Dickinson and those still writing like Jack Prelutsky, Elaine Magliaro, and Jane Yolen. From the titles, I see familiar poems, all animal antics from varying points of view. There are indexes of the poets, the poems, and first lines at the back. Britta Teckentrup's illustrations add to the lure of each poem. If you don't know much about an animal, you'll want to know more after reading the words and viewing each lovely page. Along with other anthologies and poets' collections, it feels like 2022 will be a special one for poetry!
            Thanks again to Candlewick Press for this copy!

       I've chosen some beginning lines from each month. Can you guess who the poet is?

January - "Have you heard her yipping/when the moon is down?"   

February - "Imagine overturning/The teeming anthill"  

March - "Make your home/in the damp darkness"  

April - "The air is like a butterfly"  

May - "Pigeons are city folk/content/to live with concrete/and cement."

June - "A hedgehog's hug is mainly hid" 

July - "A narrow fellow in the grass" 

August - "Giraffes/I like them./Ask me why."  

September - "The buffalos are gone." 

October - "Ploffskin, Pluffskin, pelican jee." 

November - "Allow me just one short remark" 

December - "I saw the two starlings" 
 
        Way back in 2015 I wrote this 'first' poem of the year. It seems apt for our beginnings tomorrow. Wishing you all a joy-filled 2022! 

With past power

and future hope

I navigate

the tangle-covered

threshold to the year.


Linda Baie ©

22 comments:

  1. Thank you for letting us know you are safe. My goodness...what an awful situation right now. And, thank you for letting us know how to help when it's time. I'll be holding CO in my thoughts and prayers today. Oh, that tangle-covered threshold is such a great image. Yes, we navigate...such a nerve-wracking entry into the new year. Love the first lines...you give me an idea!

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  2. Dear Linda, thank you for your lines for the new year! I have to get this anthology, esp. as I (think I) have selected Animals as my ArtSpeak theme for 2022! More on this next week. Appreciate your service to the Cybils award, too. xo

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  3. Thanks for dharing the news about this book, Linda - I'm familiar with her "I Am the Seed That Grew," which was her UK version of "Sing a Song...", but I didn't know she had another one coming out.

    And talk about tangle-covered thresholds - very appropriate for the end of this year!

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  4. I love the illustrations in SING A SONG...The poems were somewhat of a mixed bag for me, but that's true in every anthology, I suppose. I'll have to check out TIGER, TIGER. Thanks for the intro, and so glad you're safe. Happy New Year!

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  5. I love "tangle-covered threshold." That is perfect. Thanks for sharing these books, Linda. And take care. So sorry so many have been so horribly affected by this fire.

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  6. Linda, I'm with all the others, that "tangle-covered threshold" is the perfect image for what we are all experiencing right now. I hope your 2022 is the best year ever!

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  7. Both these books look and sound enchanting Linda, thanks for sharing them. Perhaps we won't have quite as few tangles in the upcoming new Year–I do like your
    "past power
    and future hope"
    Happy New Year!!! xox

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  8. I am grateful for all of you and wish you a poem every day in 2022! We need them!

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  9. I have been heartsick for the past thirty hours, watching the news of the fire unfold. For some reason, the information about people's missing pets, especially in this cold, has made me cry again and again. A book of animal poems seems a little soothing. Will definitely have to look for this one. Thank you!

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    1. I haven't seen about the pets, Carol, will look for that. I imagine that there will be many as people left, thinking they would be okay. It's a horrible end to what was a tough year again.

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  10. I don't know either of the anthologies, but they definitely sound interesting. I'm going to have to look for them. I was surprised to learn that your poem was written in 2015. That tangle-covered threshold feels like it could have been written today!

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    1. All I could remember was that 2015 was my final year of teaching, one that became so challenging because I took over a class when a teacher left. It's not easy "starting" after a few months! Thanks for coming by!

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  11. Thank you for all these poetic beginnings, Linda. My favorite of the ones you've shared is "A hedgehog's hug is mainly hid" - don't know who wrote it, but feels apropos considering the prickly state of the world with goodness (hugs) there, but mainly hidden. I echo the appreciation of your "tangle-covered threshold" line...well said. Happy New Year! :)

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    1. It's a favorite of mine, too, from a Liz Brownlee. Thanks, and Happy New Year to you, too, Bridget!

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  12. Happy New Year, Linda. I hope 2022 is wonderful and I really hope those terrible fires are no where near you. I have a copies of both Sing a Song of Seasons and Tiger Tiger and just love them. I'm also looking forward to the Cybils poetry discussions. Your 2015 poem feels so apropos for today's world, we are a tangled mess right now. Let's hope for the best in 2022.

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    1. I'm hoping for our untangling, too, Alex, & 2022 is one we can make better! Looking forward to working with you in our Cybil's group! Happy New Year!

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  13. Linda, I am so glad that you are safe from the horrific fires in Colorado. I kept thinking of the families who had to endure this tragedy at this time of year. Love
    the line, "Imagine overturning/The teeming anthill". That would be a good lead into a story. Your personal poem sounds like a great intro to a story or poem. Once again, I am falling asleep as I finish my comment so I will bid you goodnight. Smile right into the beginning of a new year!

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  14. I'm thankful you are far from the fires and hope those affected are now safe. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about Tiger, Tiger. We surely are stepping over a "tangle-covered threshold." I will keep your words in mind as I navigate the coming weeks!

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  15. I love how you culled the collection for a list of lines for each month. I imagine a calendar of these lines with images. I usually make a calendar of photos from my year and this year it didn't get completed. I guess there is still time. Thanks for inspiration to "make it happen."

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  16. Thanks, Carol, Catherine, and Margaret. You've given me some new ideas & some hope for stepping over this new 2022 threshold. Those affected by the fires are receiving much help, yet nothing will lessen the terrible loss. Wishing you all a better year!

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  17. I love your poem. Let us not forget that we don't come into a new year as a clean slate. We bring our "past power!"

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    1. Yes, we do! I will remember! Thanks, Mary Lee! Happy New Year!

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