Author: janice.scully

Christmas Poetry Swap

Merry Christmas and welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Buffy Silverman Here. Thank you, Buffy, for hosting. I’m looking forward to finding out what Buffy has in store for us!

In 2014, I published a story in the Holiday Issue of Highlights for Children entitled “Tulip Lane Holidays.” It’s the story about a little boy, who happens to celebrate Christmas, and how he befriends his next door neighbor, an elderly Jewish woman. I actually love this story and had been wondering whether it was available on the Internet. So I Googled the title and discovered that Highlights had made the story into an audio book that is available Here. So my little story lives on!

This week I received this lovely photo and poem “Into the Light” from Janet Fagel. It made me think of how “light” can be a metaphor for many things, emotional or intellectual, and we can let the light in or not. 

           Into the Light

           In dark moments
       Sparks of brightness shoot
           Towards hearts. 
         Candles’ glow sings
          Notes we can hear,
            If we listen,
          Light can change
             Everything
            If we let it. 

             Janet Fagel
            December 2021

My was finally decorated and this clown is my favorite ornament, hand made by the wife of a very sweet elderly man, the proprietor of an Irish pub, who I saw in my medical clinic in Syracuse, quite a while ago, when I was an intern. She made me two little clowns, like the one in the photo, and they show up every year to boost my Christmas spirit.

Merry Christmas to all, stay well, and thank you, Buffy, for hosting.

Winter Morning

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Jone Macullough Here. Thank you , Jone, for hosting. Be sure to stop by and see what she has for us today.

This has been a busy week and I didn’t post yesterday, on Thursday, as I usually do. I wrote cards, baked stollen with my friend, Leah, and spent a morning at a day surgery center in Watertown, NY, while my husband, Bart, had a carpal tunnel release of his wrist. It was a minor thing, though no surgery is minor to the person who has to have it. It went well and we are so grateful to the medical and nursing staff who continue to work, helping people everyday in the midst of this pandemic.

Now we are ready to move on and soon, this pine will be ready for Christmas.

I hadn’t prepared for Poetry Friday this week, but I wanted to share something. so I found an old notebook where I scribble down things, bits of poetry I write or find here and there. I found this:

WHY COMPLAIN ABOUT WINTER?

moan about snow
lament the howling wind
wishing you were elsewhere?

Here is a blank page
a pen full of ink
whole worlds to think,

thoughts that have nothing
to do with January.

©Janice Scully

For me, winter is a time to slow down. I look forward to it.

I have more time to read, and I want to share this book by Omar El Akkad. I heard him speak two weeks ago at Colgate University as part of their Living Writer’s series. If you don’t know about this series, check it out. All the author’s talks and readings are shared on line and it costs nothing.

El Akkad is a journalist, born in the Middle East, who has traveled and lived in several Arab, so many that he himself has always felt stateless. His amazing book, WHAT STRANGE PARADISE, is about a Syrian boy, Amir, who washes up on the shore of a Western European island (probably Greek) and rescued by a teenage girl. If you ever wonder what it might be like to be a refugee, this author makes you feel it and understand the terrible risk taken by so many who flee, so many who are children.

Have a healthy week, everyone and thank you, Jone, for hosting!

I AM SMOKE: A Non-fiction Picture Book

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Cathy at her blog: Merely Day by Day HERE. Stop by and find out what she has for us this week.Thank you, Cathy, for hosting!

I went for a browse at a local bookstore, thinking about picture books that would make good Christmas gifts. As I love non-fiction and nature, this caught my eye. I had heard the author speak recently about how long it took for him to find a publisher for this. It puzzles me, as it seems a fascinating topic.

I AM SMOKE, written by Henry Herz and illustrated by Mercè López, is engaging and beautiful. Smoke is, of course, an integral part of recycling in nature, but smoke also is was used throughout history in religious rituals, in such things as the preparation of food the calming of bees and more.

I like the poetic language and scientific fact combined:

I am smoke.
I twirl in dark dance from every campfire.
Flickering flames work their mysterious
magic on burning branches. 

I am born a whirling, roiling mist of
carbon dioxide, water vapor, and ash.

“I am smoke” is a striking beginning, personifying smoke, making it a character.

Fire and smoke is of course dangerous, too, but this book helps us get to see the other side, how it has served human beings as well. Below, we see smoke as a means of communication. Notice the colors in the art. I found the pictures haunting. 

For centuries, I helped Chinese,
Native Americans of the Plains and
Southwest, and others signal one
another over long distances.

You will have to see the rest for yourself, of course, but I hope I have peaked your curiosity.

Today I will share a poem about the Christmas weather outside my window. As I wrote it it began to remind me of THE PASTURE one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. 

DECEMBER DAY (Inspired by The Pasture, by Robert Frost.) 


Whistling wind.
Dusky sky.
Grass crunches under feet.
Snow flurries needle noses,

It's not a bad day, you say,
for a walk,

You come too. 



© Janice Scully 2021

Have a great weekend. My husband and I have been invited to spend Christmas away with a large number of family of all ages. Not sure what to do this year. I’m vaccinated and boostered. I wonder if others are unsure as I am.

Thank you, Cathy, for hosting!

Beginning

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by artist and poet, Michelle Kogan, HERE. Stop by and check out what she has for us this week. Thank you Michelle for hosting!

First of all, the tragic school shooting has to be acknowledged. I’m praying for those families that are experiencing the unimaginable, for the children crying for their lost friends.

This week, on and off at my computer, I have been thinking about beginnings. After all, 2022 is about to begin and none too soon.

The calendar, of course, is totally empty. There is no choice but to arrive at January and see what will happen when we get there. Everything has a beginning. New Years Day is my favorite day of the year because it’s a beginning and I am always hopeful. 

New buds on branches
Full moon rises in the sky
our calendar world. 

© Janice Scully 2021

© Janice Scully 2021

I have been writing poems on the prompt “beginnings” for a submission to an on-line journal. Human beings are always beginning something, and maybe children have even more beginnings in their daily life. I don’t know but it seems they must. But adults have more begin agains.

I didn’t submit this poem. I revised it this morning and thought it might speak to teachers. 

BEGINNER


Once, you didn’t know

how to read.

but you 

            learned words,

            turned pages.


One new word

led to another

            and soon you read

            sentences. 


Which led to reading 

your first book

and the next,

              which is how it is

              for everyone.


At the beginning 

is where everyone

              In the whole world
  
              begins. 

© Janice Scully 2021

I hope you find hope and joy in your week. Begin or begin again a few books.

Lastly, I have had good news this week. A short non-fiction essay I wrote from my childhood entitled SWIMMING TO PENNSYLVANIA, was published on line at RavensPerch.com here. I was thrilled. The piece began as a monologue for my playwriting group, but I turned it into an essay.

Thank you, Michelle, for hosting.

Thanksgiving Mouse

Happy Poetry Friday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This week we are hosted by Ruth HERE. Make sure you stop by and see what poetry goodness she has for us this week. Thank you, Ruth.

I was AWOL from my blog last week preparing for the holiday, but today is Thanksgiving Day and I would like to share a poem about a visitor we had. 

THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING
(After THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Clement C. Moore) 

On the night of Thanksgiving,
all through the house
my family was napping,
but not that gray mouse.

As I cleaned up the kitchen,
stowed the turkey away,
that soft furry creature
stirred up my day.

From out of the mud room,
past kitchen chairs
he dashed to the bathroom—
we cornered him there,

got out a trap,
anxious to get him,
but if I hurt that small mouse
I’d never forget him! 

So in a Tupperware bowl
we trapped the darn thing
and put him outside
for the relief it would bring.

He’s out in the snow,
that little field mouse.
We just couldn’t have him
inside our house. 

©Janice Scully 2021

He was actually tiny and cute and I’m not alone in writing about mice. Here is a well known anthology of poems about mice compiled by Nancy Larrick:

I found this charming poem by A.A. Milne:

MISSING

Has anybody seen my mouse?

I opened his box for just a minute,
Just to make sure he was really in it,
And while I was looking, he jumped outside!
I tried to catch him, I tried, I tried . . . . 
I think he's somewhere about the house.
Has anyone seen my mouse?

Uncle John, have you seen my mouse?

Just a small sort of mouse, a dear little brown one,
He came from the country, he isn't a town one,
So he'll feel all lonely in a London street,
Why, what could he possibly find to eat?

He must be somewhere. I'll ask Aunt Rose:
Have you seen a mouse with a woffelly nose?
Oh, somewhere about--
He's just got out . . . . 

Hasn't anybody seen my mouse?

A.A. Milne

Irene Latham posted several of Valerie Worth’s poems inspired by critters, including this one about mice, (the first two stanzas).

MICE

Mice
Find places
In places,

A dark
Hall behind
The hall,

READ THE REST HERE (AND OTHER POEMS ABOUT CRITTERS BY VALERIE WORTH)

Wishing everyone, and all critters everywhere, the best of the holiday!

Thank you, Ruth, for hosting Poetry Friday.

OUR CAPABLE COUNTRY

Welcome to Poetry Friday, hosted by thee capable and prolific Matt Forrest Esenwine Here. Thank you, Matt for hosting!

I simply have a short poem to share. It was inspired by the climate summit. Thank you to all the heroes who attended to work on the climate crisis.

I have always been optimistic that there are people in the world with the tools necessary to avert a catastrophe. So, when I think of the trouble we’re in, I think about past and it gives me hope. 

OUR CAPABLE COUNTRY

In the past 200 years: 

We have cured terrible disease.
We have inspired democracy.
We have walked the moon.
We have defeated dictators.

We have ended slavery.
We have inspired children to learn.
We have rescued boys trapped in caves.
We have fed the famished.

We have respected those different than us.
We have loved our neighbors.

We have erected the statue of liberty
We have built twin towers.

If we want to, we can save planet.

©Janice Scully 2021

Little Libraries, Big Heroes, by Miranda Paul

Welcome to Poetry Friday. Our host on this first week of November is Mary Lee Hahn HERE. Thank you Mary Lee! Be sure to stop by and see what she’s sharing this week.

Today, I read a pile of picture books at my local bookstore and would like to share one by a writer who is passionate about kids and books, Miranda Paul. She is one of the founders of the WNDB movement. Her book, LITTLE LIBRARIES, BIG HEROES, Illustrated by John Parra, is a book worth adding to your library. I have. It’s not just about little libraries. It’s also about following a passion, growing an idea, generosity and public service all in one. This book is for everyone.

Several weeks ago I wrote wrote about my hometown Carnegie Library Here. But one doesn’t have to have 350 million dollars to build thousands of libraries. In LITTLE LIBRARIES: BIG HEROES, we learn that some libraries can be built for much, much less and still make a big impact.

In this true story, a young man named Todd, an “ordinary guy” who had been inspired by his mom to love books, built the first little library, like the one above. Neighbors loved it. It caught on. He told his friend about it. 

     Todd felt his nifty box of books had potential. He called up his friend Rick, who was always chock-full of grand ideas. 

     Rick thought that they could 
build thousands of little boxes!

     Like Andrew Carnegie,
who once built 2,510 libraries! 

     They could take trips!

     Like Lutie Stearns, who brought
traveling libraries all over Wisconsin!

Rick liked the idea, but . . . 

WAIT A MINUTE!

     Andrew Carnegie had been a
wealthy businessman. Lutie Stearns
was a trained librarian. The two of
them were just ORDINARY guys.
(And they were particularly low
on cash.)

     How man libraries could two
ORDINARY guys create?

     How far could ORDINARY people
spread an idea?

     They agreed on one thing--
they wanted to find out.

So the two “ordinary” young men decided to explore their dream of creating a Little Library movement. This is their story. The result: as of 2019, there were 75,000 official, registered Little Free Libraries in eighty-eight countries.

I was touched by this book about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and making a difference. It’s an important story.

Before I close I’ll turn your attention to the changing weather and the holidays looming with three seasonal haiku: 

November winds howl.
Leaves rattle and acorns roll,
but winter still comes.


Holiday darlings.
Butternuts roast in ovens.
Hubbard waits its turn.


Christmas Spirit hides  
behind Thanksgiving's turkey,
practicing carols.

© Janice Scully 2021

Thank you, Mary Lee, for hosting today!

A Poem Inspired by Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala-Ša)

Happy Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Linda Baie at her blog, Teacher Dance. Thank you, Linda, for hosting! She has a ghoulish poem waiting.

I wasn’t sure what to share this week. I’ve been revising old work this week, so haven’t written a poem, at least not one that’s ready for my blog.

But this summer I was paging through my Norton Anthology of American Literature and discovered Gertrude Simmons Bonnin’s “Impressions of an Indian Childhood.” I had never heard of her. A citizen of the Yankton Sioux Nation, Zitkala-Ša was an activist who believed she could be both an American Citizen as well as a citizen of the Yankton Sioux (or Dakota) Nation.

Zitkala-Ša was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1938. She was eligible for burial there because her husband, Raymond, fought in WW l. He joined her later. On her tombstone is inscribed “Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Zitkala-Ša, of the Sioux’ 1876-1938.” On the reverse, a plains-style tepee is engraved, making it a symbol of both the United States and the Yankton Sioux Nation.

To learn more about her, I recommend an article entitled “Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Zitkala-Ša: Advocate for the “Indian vote”, by Cathleen D. Cahill.

Zitkala-Ša

Reading her detailed writing about her childhood gave me a glimpse of what daily life was like then. Of course, there was much heartbreak and loss in her writing, about stolen land, murders of close relatives by white Americans and more.

But there was childhood play, too, in her work. In “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” she describes something universal to childhood, trying to outsmart her shadow. I found her writing charming and sweetly evocative of when I was seven or eight years-old. 

 Zitkala-Ša writes: 

"Faster and faster I ran, setting my teeth and clenching my fists, determined to overtake my own fleet shadow. But ever swifter it slides before me, while I was growing breathless and hot. Slackening my speed, I was greatly vexed that my shadow would check its pace also. Daring it to the utmost, as I thought, I sat down upon a rock imbedded in the hillside. 

So! my shadow had the impudence to sit down beside me!


MY TRICKSTER FRIEND

 (A poem inspired by “Impressions of Indian Childhood.”by Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)

This morning
I walked,
the sun 
behind me.
My trickster friend
walked ahead.

As we danced down
the street,
she copied my 
dance moves,
leading
the way. 

When I turned 
to come home,
she disappeared.

But soon 
she was there again!
Sitting on my front steps
sharing my 
ice cream. 

© Janice Scully 2021, Draft.

On a different note, Happy Halloween! It’s almost here and thank you, Linda, for hosting.

THINGS WE DO, A “Hot off the Press” Poetry Anthology.

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Jama at her sumptuous blog, Jama’s Alphabet Soup. Thank you Jama for hosting! Stop by and check out her post for Poetry Friday.

As I write this, tomorrow, 10/22 is the the date that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong’s new poetry anthology THINGS WE DO, for kids age 4-6, will be available on Amazon, Here. The title is on the Children’s Book Council’s list of new books for October Here.

Inside are poems contributed by well-known as well as lesser-known children’s poets. As listed in the Children’s Book Council page, the poets in this anthology include:

Beth Brody, Joseph Bruchac, Jen Bryant, Mary E. Cronin, Linda A. Dryfhout, Margarita Engle, Janet Clare Fagal, Marilyn Garcia, Nikki Grimes, Carol Labuzzetta, Marty Lapointe-Malchik, Grace Lin, Molly Lorenz, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Pat Mora, Linda Sue Park, Moe Phillips, Jack Prelutsky, Janice Scully, Linda Kulp Trout, Padma Venkatraman, Leslie Stall Widener, Carole Boston Weatherford, Janet Wong, Jane Yolen, and Helen Kemp Zax. 

Those of us attending Sylvia and Janet’s on-line workshop, “Anthology 201” had an opportunity to contribute to the collection and learn about the details required in publishing work such as this.

Each poem is inspired by a photo that illustrates a letter of the alphabet.

I will share my poem here. I love this action photo. It really captures the focus and determination of a child kicking. I know others will be sharing their poems, too. From actions such as eating, to inventing to yawning to zooming, these poems are fun and it was an honor to work with Janet and Sylvia, as well as fun to be part of this creative group of children’s writers. 

KICK

Grass Shaker
worm waker

High popper
cloud topper

Ball smasher
goal crasher

Tie breaker
score maker

Watch me
KICK!

© Janice Scully 2021

Have a great day, everyone! Stay well and warm, too, as the autumn chill slowly creeps in for Halloween, as it is where I live in Upstate New York.

Water Strider and Surface Tension For kids

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Bridget Magee, Here.

Thank you Bridget for hosting. Also, I’d like to congratulate Bridget on the release of her new poetry anthology for kids, 10*10 Celebration 10 in 10 Different Ways. In it, you will find the work of many poets who write for kids, including many Poetry Friday friends.

Two of my poems about science, about the phenomenon of surface tension, are included. One is about the Water Strider, which is, as many know, a bug that can walk on water. I found the photos below free on Pixabay. This picture actually shows visually what surface tension is. The water looks like a trampoline.

THE FLOATING WATER STRIDER

Skates on the pond;
it never sinks.

Water is helpful
to bugs when you think

how molecules huddle
together to float

the six legged strider
like a little bug boat.

©Janice Scully 2021

Surface tension also makes a raindrop possible because of the forces that hold water molecules together on the uppermost surface of water. 

WHY RAINDROPS ARE ROUND

Water rains down
from clouds to the ground--
plump silver droplets
bounce all around,

each housed in a shiny
watery skin,
keeping its treasure
tightly within.

©Janice Scully 2021

I hope everyone gets a chance to read all the diverse poems, 100 in all, in this collection.

Thank you, again Bridget, for including me along with the work of so many poets I admire, and for hosting today.