Month: March 2024

Pantoum About the Dodo

Welcome to poetry Friday, this week hosted by Tricia, HERE. Thank you, Tricia, for hosting this last week in March. Honestly I’m glad March is nearly over. It’s not my favorite month. April is a different story, a joyful one.

This month we were given a Poetry Peeps Challenge. I found in on Tanita Davis’ blog. I thought I’d take this on at the eve of April which is National Poetry Month.

I find pantoums difficult, the repetition can feel dull, and today I must have spent six hours on two different poems which I scrapped. That is the process, however, as frustrating as it can be sometimes. I finally wrote this, my final attempt, about an animal that captures my imagination even as it’s been extinct for 300 years. 

IMAGINING THE DODO AFTER THREE HUNDRED YEARS

Only clues remain.
Head and foot displayed in Oxford.
What did the dodo look like?
Piece of skin in Copenhagen,

head and foot displayed in Oxford,
upper jaw in Prague,
skin in Copenhagen,
bone caches in Mauritius,

upper jaw in Prague,
we reconstruct this flightless bird.
Bone caches in Mauritius—
the dodo was an island bird.

We reconstruct this flightless bird
that fell prey to cats and rats.
The Dodo was an island bird,
alone, the bird had thrived. 

Sailors brought the cats and rats,
only clues remain.
What did the dodo look like?
In our past the bird remains.

Janice Scully 2024

Photo by McGill Library found on Unsplash.

This flightless, island bird was no match for species of animals introduced by sailors in the 1600’s.

Have a great weekend! Thank you, Tricia, for hosting!

OSKAR’S VOYAGE, By Laura Purdie Salas

Welcome to Poetry Frida! This week Rose is hosting Here, at her blog Imagine the Possibilities. Thank you, Rose, for hosting!

I finally arrived home after a five week absence visiting my family and was greeted by snow upon my arrival. Not much, only an inch, but today, it is 26 degrees. Spring is holding out a little longer.

Today I received Laurie Purdie Salas‘ new picture book OSKAR’S VOYAGE! It was a Copy signed by the author and the book’s talented illustrator Kayla Harren.

.

Oskar, the main character, a squirrel, is adventurous, sweet and engaging and the setting is also like another character. As Oskar leaves the comfort of his oak tree and finds himself on a Great Lakes freighter, we follow along, trying to spot him. The boat’s route is revealed on an engaging map, the first thing the reader sees after the front cover:

Tracing Oskar’s voyage through the Great Lakes will be fun for kids, and so will the boat with its various machines, the galley and even the mail bucket. Salas’ poetry will inform and entertain:

Rumble. Movement. Oskar wakes.
Climbs four stairways lined with gear. 
Pilothouse holds charts and screens:
tools to help the captain steer.

And indeed the illustrator takes the reader to the stairways and the pilothouse as we follow Oskar and try to locate him on the page, reminiscent of “Where’s Waldo.”

The back matter defines the boat terms and an interesting detailed map of this freighter, known as a “footer” because it is 1,ooo foot long. My oldest son, who loves all things maps would have loved this book.

While I was away the last five weeks, I took out my novel in verse to tweak it some more. My WIP, WHEN MY BROTHER WENT TO WAR, is historical fiction, that takes place during the Vietnam war in the year 1969-70. This is how the novel begins, in the voice of my main character Maddie.

SEWING
                                        
Just before I turned fifteen,
the end of eighth grade,
I began to stitch together 
what I knew about

my family,
my town,
and the War, too,
just like I stitch a dress
at my Singer sewing machine
on our dining room table.

except 
just before I turned fifteen
only stitching a dress
made sense.


Janice Scully 2024

I have doubts whether publishers would be interested in a book set in 1969, especially in verse. And I am told by a friend that a novel in verse as a debut novel might be a hard sell. Still reading it through, I still like it and it seems relevant in many ways, though there are no cell phones or computers. So I’ll keep trying to find a home for it. I enjoyed the process, and for me, that has meant a lot.

Well, everyone. Have a great weekend! I’ll close with a ground squirrel I encountered in Pacifica, California. A cousin of Oskar? 

Ground Squirrel on the beach
eyeing the sea and bright sun--
seeking adventure.

Janice Scully 2024

A Dinosaur on My Mind

Welcome to Poetry Friday! Today we’re hosted by Tanita Here. She has a fabulous poem to share which, though she didn’t say it, made me think of the 1920’s when women threw away their restraining fashion, like corsets. She also offered a prompt for the end of the month. Thank you for hosting, Tanita!

This week I’m in Texas visiting my sister. We like to cook and made something I’ve never made before: Pierogies. They are like raviolis filled with potatoes and cheese, an ambitious project, not for the faint hearted. We made over 60 of them. It is a blessing that I’m not wearing any constriction clothing!

So I’ve been away from home for over a month now and will be home soon. I was so glad I visited my sister’s eleven year old grandson, Ezra, because he shared some drawings. His take on a T-Rex is awesome and I got permission to share it and wrote a poem inspired by it. Thank you Ezra!!!

HOW DO YOU DO?

I love showing off!
See my pointy black spine!
See my pointy black teeth?
All the better to dine.

Sure, most dinos are dull—
but I’m bright bluish green!
Out and about
I love to be seen

and would like to say,
though I know you are wary
I swear if you meet me,
you’ll see I’m not scary.

© Janice Scully 2024

I appreciated this project today because it took me to a different place and time, the Mesozoic Era which was 252-266 million years ago. No TV, no phones, no computers! Just the crunch of big feet in the Mesozoic Earth and the misty light perhaps filtering down into the marshes and prehistoric seas. What would I hear if I were there?

Many poets have written about dinosaurs. Here’s another written in a different style written by Walter Sykes, a playwright who was born in 1969. 

O, ANCIENT RULERS OF THE EARTH
by Walter Wykes


O, ancient rulers of the Earth,
O, race of mighty warriors,
O, evolutionary giants,
 
I sing your praise.
 
You were powerful creatures of incredible diversity.
 
Elaborate skeletal modifications.
Numerous adaptations for social interaction.
(No Facebook, though.)
Elevated metabolism.
 
You were formidable foes.
Savage in battle.
Unforgiving to your enemies.
 
Even the shadow that remains of you is terrifying.

There is more. Read the rest here:

Tanita tells us she’s seeing signs of spring. When I return to Syracuse maybe I will. Hope you all have a great weekend!