Last Friday I visited two elementary language arts classes at a local school in Washington, DC. I knew beforehand that the students had already done some work on haiku and had written winter animal haiku. I also knew that the teacher was hoping we could discuss poetic language and perhaps some other forms of poetry. […]
watching the snow fall furloughed caught in a web of branches government shutdown I wrote these senryu earlier in the week for my many friends and neighbors who work for the federal government. So many people are struggling from the shutdown–employees, contractors, restaurants and other local businesses, lyft drivers, spouses, children, and on […]
Welcome! I am so glad you are here to celebrate poetry and community. Poetry Friday is a perfect way to celebrate. As is J. Patrick Lewis’ anthology The Poetry of Us. I love this gorgeous book because it uses poetry […]
Vote! Make your mark. Poke a hole. Pull the lever. Vote! People fought. People died. So we, the people, can decide who’ll represent our point of view and do the work we need them to. Claim your right. Raise your voice. […]
Once again Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong have demonstrated their profound commitment to getting poetry into the hands of children with their latest anthology Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud. Not only are Sylvia and Janet wonderful advocates for children’s poetry, they are also incredible strategic thinkers. “How can we […]
The Day After How do we go on? I ask those who came before and have gone. How did you keep going over lifetimes of losses seeing how easy it is to be cruel? Child, the voices whisper, though I have children nearly grown we acknowledged our losses, wept from the pain, sat together, sang […]
What a joy to receive the day’s mail and find a trove of poetic treasures from Irene Latham. Thoughtful and clever, Irene had been to my website, so everything she sent had special meaning just for me. I had written a “Why I’m […]
World Refugee Day Who would choose to leave their home— the place they live with those they love? Who would choose to leave their beds, their alters, their ancestors’ graves? Who would choose to leave their lives? No one. Only a man running from a gun, only a woman running from starvation, only a child […]
Happy National Poetry Month! In 2012 Irene Latham launched the first Progressive Poem to celebrate the month, poetry, and community. Every day in April, a different poet adds a line, and together we compose a poem. It’s a mysterious and surprising process that results in […]
Now here’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. Each spring the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District runs a haiku contest and then prints the winning entries and many, many honorable mentions on signs and posts them in tree boxes all over the neighborhood. They […]
Snowfog is the perfect word and this poem is just all-around...December 27, 2020 - 8:50 am by Liz Garton Scanlon
So beautiful, Liz. Love the haiku and the sense of peace...December 26, 2020 - 11:36 am by Michelle Barnes
Beautiful, Liz, in every way.December 26, 2020 - 10:14 am by Laura Purdie Salas
This year I have wished for some blending of the before...December 26, 2020 - 8:37 am by Linda Baie