,

2013 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem

bricks.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the second year running, Irene Latham, of the blog Live Your Poem, has organized a unique celebration of National Poetry Month. Each day a poet contributes one line to a slowly unfolding poem. Today, on the 16th day of the month, I am honored to contribute one more line.

 

When you listen to your footsteps
the words become music and
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.
Your pen starts dancing across the page
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until
smiling, you’re beguiling as your love comes shining through.

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers
of the words, one dancer to another, saying
Listen, that’s our cue! Mind your meter. Find your rhyme.
Ignore the trepidation while you jitterbug and jive.
Arm in arm, toe to toe, words begin to wiggle and flow
as your heart starts singing let your mind keep swinging

From life’s trapeze, like a clown on the breeze.
Swinging upside down, throw and catch new sounds–
Take a risk, try a trick; break a sweat: safety net?
Don’t check! You’re soaring and exploring

 

Here’s the month’s calendar so you can follow along:

April

1  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

2  Joy Acey

3  Matt Forrest Esenwine

4  Jone MacCulloch

5  Doraine Bennett

6  Gayle Krause

7  Janet Fagal

8  Julie Larios

9  Carrie Finison

10  Linda Baie

11  Margaret Simon

12  Linda Kulp

13  Catherine Johnson

14  Heidi Mordhorst

15  Mary Lee Hahn

16  Liz Steinglass

17  Renee LaTulippe

18  Penny Klostermann

19  Irene Latham

20  Buffy Silverman

21  Tabatha Yeatts

22  Laura Shovan

23  Joanna Marple

24  Katya Czaja

25  Diane Mayr

26  Robyn Hood Black

27  Ruth Hersey

28  Laura Purdie Salas

29  Denise Mortensen

30  April Halprin Wayland

 

 

15 replies
  1. lsteinglass
    lsteinglass says:

    Thanks, everyone. Those were exactly my goals–to keep the internal rhyme and open things up for Renee. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

    Reply
  2. Mary Lee Hahn
    Mary Lee Hahn says:

    I am so glad I didn’t cause you dire problems with my wacky line! Like a trapeze artist, and like my line itself, I took a risk, reached out a hand/line…and you caught it with the greatest of ease and SOARED onward!! YAY!

    Reply
  3. Janet F.
    Janet F. says:

    Oh, could not find a way to leave my comment this morning, too early. I second all these comments. Looking forward to the rest of the journey of this poem.

    Reply
  4. Heidi Mordhorst
    Heidi Mordhorst says:

    This line is so full of confidence and, well, LIFT! I love it. And thanks, Liz, for joining in at mjlu–I’m really enjoying watching these two similar-but-different experiments.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to Irene Latham Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *