Poetry Friday - Meeting New Poets

It's Poetry Friday, it's March, the month when spring arrives, at least officially! We had snow last Monday, now all week wonderful warming. Welcoming us is  Rebecca Herzog at Sloth Reads.  She shares from Laura Shovan's birthday month poetry writing, first a lovely picture from Volcano National Park showing steam from a volcano known as "the breath of Pele" and her poem written from it. And she shares one of my prompts. Be sure to check it out. You may want to try it! Thanks for hosting, Becky!
          Many of you know I work at a volunteer-run used bookstore and there are times when I help with donations that I find an older book has just arrived in a box, an older book of poetry! This is one of those times. I have enjoyed Robert Bly's writing for a long time, but have not seen this before. Perhaps many of you know it? Through the years, he has been translating other poets' poems, and this time, he's gathered the translations into one book. Even the title brings excitement for what's inside, doesn't it?

      To Bly, translating is another joy. He writes: "Translating allows one to go deeply into the adventures taking place inside another person's poem; translating with friends is one of the greatest pleasures of the world." This introduction continues to share how his translation emanates, with whom he works and why it's a great thing. 

       The poem I chose is from Tomas Tranströmer, "who comes from a long line of ship pilots who worked in and around the Stockholm Archipelago. He is at home on islands." You can read more about him, including other poems and his friendship with Bly, here.  

Morning Bird Songs

I wake up my car;
pollen covers the windshield.
I put my dark glasses on.
The bird songs all turn dark. 

Meanwhile someone is buying a paper
at the railroad station
not far from a big freight car
reddened all over with rust.
It shimmers in the sun. 

The whole universe is full.

            The rest is found here.

      I am wondering if you feel some kinship with Tomas Tranströmer after reading this?

Non-Fiction Picture Books Show Nature's Wonders

   Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy -- hashtag #nfpb2020! Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

      

  

        I thought I knew quite a lot about bees, until I read this new book about "The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera". Candace Fleming takes us readers along with young Apis as she begins her life, as she "squirms, pushes, chews" out of her solitary cell, ready to begin life like thousands of others in the hive. 

        Does she dry off and fly out to start gathering nectar, becoming coated with pollen? It's a resounding "NO" from Candice as young Apis has other jobs to do before ever seeing the light of day! She first rests then crawls to a cell to eat and eat sticky, rich pollen, growing stronger as her wings dry. Then, does she leave to fly? NO! 

        The steps to doing what we know bees do, flying out into the world of flowers to gather nectar and to pollinate, don't happen yet. Denise cleverly leads us on by those questions about flying. Is it time, yet? Anticipation builds! While we're taught all the jobs Apis is first responsible for, Eric Rohmann's fabulous, up-close, double-page illustrations show every detail of this bee. Up close, we notice the soft browns turning to gold, the stripes and fuzzy fur-like coat (excellently suited to catch that pollen), the pink-red tongue, transparent wings, antennae made for versatility. Whether feeding the queen, nursing newbies, or cleaning, we have a "bees'-eye-view"!

building cells in the hive

        At last on a fold-out double-page, Apis enters the wider world and here her journey becomes vast, looking for the needed blooms, back to deliver nectar and messages to other bees as to where the "best" is found. Following this character feels like we've come to know a new friend; we marvel at her tireless work. Denise has given Apis a life of a lot of work, some little rest, all ending in about thirty-five days. Sadness comes at the end for this Apis Millifera and gratitude, too, for the honey we enjoy. However, there is hope, also. Back at the nest, "a brand-new honeybee/squirms, pushes, chews",

        The back matter is filled with more information: a page with further explanation of each part of a bee's body; sections about how to help and the communication of bees dancing, online links, and other books available. I loved meeting Apis Melliflora and learning all about her life's work!

It's Monday! Three to Meet

              Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with others who post their favorites.  Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading!
          Share with the hashtag #IMWAYR 









           It's been quite a busy week, having so little time to read made me miss it more than usual. But I am managing to share three books I enjoyed, in very different ways!

        Thanks to the author, Artie Bennett, for sending me a copy of this, his latest book. Artie used a storybook voice to tell us Zippy's story, a story I've never heard, but evidently, thousands of racehorse enthusiasts and those in the racing business have. He has a circle of fans all his own! By the way, Zippy Chippy is his real name, his claim to fame, but in reality, "zippy" does not exactly fit his record. He is a thoroughbred, is (was) destined to win, but in 100 races, he did not. In fact, sometimes he didn't even finish! And sometimes he didn't even start. He was a trickster, grabbed hats from some who passed by, returned them chewed. One page shows him stopping during a race at Belmont when he seemed to enjoy good smells in the air. Finally, the first owners gave up and Felix, a trainer from Puerto Rico, traded his old truck for Zippy. 

        As I read this further story, I saw Zippy becoming an escape artist, figuring out how to get out of his stall. I learned that he bit trainers and bucked riders off. But, finally, he became part of the family, played hide and seek with Felix's daughter. We don't really know what animals are thinking, but this horse clearly is unique, wants the joys in life that he chooses, not that others choose for him. In a letter from Artie at the back of the book, he shares that Zippy is now in a retirement facility for former racehorses, receives more visitors than any others there. Fans buy cups and t-shirts and take selfies. He's earning more than he ever did racing. He is the horse that some called a 'running joke', but the slogan on the shirts reads "Winners Don't Always Finish First". Living one's life the way one chooses might be a lesson here, and it would be interesting to read this aloud for a lively discussion. Dave Szalay's illustrations fill the pages with Zippy's antics and expressions, help the story show this unique horse. He never stood in a winner's circle, but he is a winner! 

        Here are a couple of favorite pictures of Zippy's intriguing personality.

Poetry Friday - All Month Birthday Celebrating!

It's Poetry Friday, final week of February, here with Karen Edmisten at The Blog With The Shockingly Clever Title.  Karen is sharing a beautiful poem by Jane Hirshfield that will start your weekend with heart!














             February is Laura Shovan's birthday month celebration. In a group together, for a lot of years, some of us have been writing to a daily prompt. This year, each chose a date and posted a picture connected somehow to "water", our daily inspiration for a poem. As I think everyone would say, it's fun, a challenge, and some poems certainly are better than others to each of us personally. Perhaps it's because the picture really did bring inspiration or a memory from our lives? Perhaps we just wanted to try a new poem form? Laura's even posted a page for us to share a poem form! However the day goes, I've managed a poem for each day, so far. I'm not pleased with all, revision calls! But there are a few that are my favorites. Here are two!
            Thanks, Laura, I hope you've had a marvelous birthday month. This group writing feels like icing on a cake!

This picture, which I don't have permission to share, but think you can imagine a river in winter, banks snow-covered, trees bare, from Ruth Lehrer.

The Prescription

R ancor  (which often sends me reeling)

E ases    (what I have been feeling) 

F ollow   (trails of a river’s path)

L uminous  (sights remove the wrath)

E arth.  (a blessed gift for all)

C alm   (if I only heed the call)

T ransition (occurs when walking free)

I ntimate   (whispering with the trees)

O blation  (gift offered – water born)

N eeded.   (now no more forlorn)

                                           Linda Baie ©

Here is the picture from number two, of Kay McGriff's husband on a river crew. She wrote that her group has collected trash from this river for fifteen years!  

Liege Lord Earth

Not wooing Lady Fairs with sash,

this courageous knight is wooing trash.

Canoe glides o’er his favorite stream,

gathering tires, nightmare, not dream.

His task accomplished, honor soared –

 “Order of the Bath”, a just reward.

Yes, I imagined this short story,

no knights here, but there is glory.

For a cleaner world, we need to fight

all should mimic this good knight.

                                  Linda Baie ©

      I guess you might say I love nature and want to help preserve it! Spring is coming!

Non-Fiction Picture Books Show us Heroes

   Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy -- hashtag #nfpb2020! Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

      

  
             No one, I think, starts out to be a hero, but sometimes it happens. An event so strong that one leaps into the start, and the actions become heroic. The two men in these biographies has different beginnings, yet it really all came to doing what was right. 

          "Kum aher. Sit Down, I want to tell you a story!" Thus started the story told to Aaron Lansky by his grandmother, who had carefully packed her suitcase for her voyage to America. Upon arrival, her older brother greeted her and threw that suitcase into the Hudson River. Aaron did not forget, studied Jewish history in college and learned Yiddish because so much of that history was written in that language. His goals were about to change! He visited his rabbi and noticed a bunch of books in a basket, books written in Yiddish! They were about to be buried, no longer useful. Aaron took them home, beginning his journey for more and more. I liked that Macy has included Yiddish words and phrases throughout the story.

           Sue Macy tells the story of this mensch, now an English word from the Yiddish mentsh, meaning a 'person of good character'. There are other words that have move into English, found on a double-page spread in the book, words like bagel, schlep, and klutz. But Aaron wanted the history, the stories, the books! He put the word out, soon had so many books in his apartment in Montreal that he feared the floor would collapse. He said that because Jewish people were really homeless until the creation of Israel, these books were the "portable" homeland of the Jewish people". That was the start, but eventually, with so many books collected, he founded the Yiddish Book Center, collecting always, earning acclamations. This center is digitized, with free downloads, and conducts educational programs.  In her illustrator's note, Stacy Innerst writes that she follows the path of Marc Chagall, who was a poor Jewish boy born in Russia.  She shows a faded style as if it's an old story, only found in people's memories and in books. There is an afterword by Aaron Lansky, notes from Sue Macy and Innerst, a glossary of Yiddish words, and added information.