SALT CITY VERSE – Page 18 – Mostly Poetry for Children

Valentine’s Love

It’s Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Molly Hogan HERE at Nix the Comfort Zone. Thank you for hosting, Molly!

This week, I spent some time on the prompts Laura Shovan posted on Poetry Friday LAST WEEK. “Bodies” are the theme for her February Poetry Project. Thank you, Laura, for inviting us to be part of it. I found the prompts fun and challenging.

As I was choosing a subject for this week’s post I realized that Valentine’s Day is a few days off. I remember sending valentines like the one below made with paper lace doilies for my classmates. Be Mine, Valentine!

I searched for a love poem this week and on my shelves I found an old one, written in 1606 by Ben Jonson. Looks white, he’s not someone you would swoon over, perhaps, though that’s in the eye of the beholder. But I think he makes up for it in depth of feeling and earnestness. That’s really what matters.

Though four hundred years old, his love poem, in iambic meter, was immediately familiar, and so smooth to read aloud, maybe that’s why someone eventually put it to music:

SONG: TO CELIA

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
     And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
     And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
     Doth ask a drink divine:
But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
     I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
     Not so much honoring thee,
As giving it a hope that there
     It could not withered be.
But thou theron didst only breathe,
     And sent'st it back to me,
Since when it grows and smells, I swear,
     Not of itself, but thee.

I like the notion that the rose the lover gives to his love, Celia, could not wither. His love for her imbues it with life.

To write my own poem for this post, I found a Van Gogh painting, a picture that offered a possibility for an ekphrastic poem appropriate for Valentine’s Day.

The Dutch genius is one of my favorite artists, and I know I’m not alone. His yellows and blues, his skies and his flowers never fail to evoke strong emotion whenever I look at them. In this painting, Starry Night over the Rhône, at first I didn’t notice the two figures in the lower right. But there they were, with this fabulous backdrop, walking closely together as if oblivious to it. If they are lovers, maybe the stars and water are transformed by their love, like Jonson’s roses.

STAGELIGHTS  
(After Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhône)

 A starry night 
 at the river bend,
 
 constellations
 in green starbursts—
 fantastic fireworks
 sparkle down on the waves 
 flowing forever
 towards the sea, 
 
 while a man and woman,
 arms linked,
 cloaked against 
 the night air,   
 stroll in the ancient
 light as if it shimmered
 for them.
 
© Janice Scully 2021

I hope everyone has a good week. Maybe Valentine’s Day can provide momentary levity this week during the pandemic while teachers, health care workers, the government, and all essential workers continue to get the country back on track.

Do you want more info about Poetry Friday? Check HERE.

A.A. Milne and Syracuse Weather

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Jone Rush MacCulloch, here. I wonder what her muse has in store for us this week!

A snow storm passed through Syracuse yesterday and the world here is white- the trees, the roads, the yards and roofs of houses. I’m thinking about going out side later and what I will wear, so that I am cozy and warm when I do.

And while staring out at this new world and thinking about what to post this week, I stumbled upon A.A. Milne and his 1924 book of poems, WHEN WE WERE YOUNG, which is in the public domain. Such joyful verse! Hear these poems read on you tube here.

I love the innocence in A.A. Milne poems and his connection with the voice of a child. Being British, Milne no doubt understood well the importance of dressing for miserable weather, as in this poem:

HAPPINESS
by A.A. Milne

John had
Great Big
Waterproof
Boots on;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Hat;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Mackintosh--
And that
(Said John)
Is 
That.

What is it about this simple poem? First, the title. Who wouldn’t wonder what the poet is about to say about happiness, which is something we think of and search for, lately especially. The title draws us in.

Happiness is not about grand things. Rather it’s about things like being warm and dry when we’re out and about in the weather. It’s recognizing and appreciating basic things really do make us happy. Children seem to know this. Here’s a short ditty with my possible snow adventure in mind:

WHEN I GO OUTSIDE TODAY
 

 Turtle neck,
 A sweater
 A coat, all weather,
 
 Long johns
 Snow pants
 boots.
 
 Angora Socks,
 none warmer than that,
 mittens 
 and my Russian fleece hat.
 
 
 © Janice Scully

Stay warm, cozy, and well everyone, and have a great weekend.

Irene Latham’s Nestlings

It’s Poetry Friday, this week Hosted by Jan Annino at Birdseed Studios. There, you will find links to information about poet Amanda Gorman, including info about her upcoming picture book CHANGE SINGS..

Today I tried writing a few nestlings. If you don’t know about Irene Latham’s book, THIS POEM IS A NEST, definitely check it out.

In this book, the author has written a long four part prose poem, each part about a season. This is the “nest.” Then, using only the words from that poem, she writes “nestlings.” A long poem is a good idea when composing your nest, as it gives you lots of word choices to write nestlings. And you want your nestlings to take you in different directions. Her nestlings cover topics such as time, colors, animals and much more.

Here is a poem I posted a while ago that I again revised. It’s my “nest.”

This happens to be the Bratislava Symphony

PLAY!
 

 Wind blows in from nowhere
 and the orchestra prepares.
 Leaves swirl on dry cracked dirt.
 Wind gusts louder and louder. 
 
 Pine trees sway to beckon 
 the dark clouds to play.
 Caterpillars hide. 
 Bees go away.
 
 All around, crows caw 
 like stage hands before the curtain.
 Fat drops dot the ground
 like tiny mirrors.. 
 
 Then . . . 
 Rain thumps.
 Leaves rattle like snare drums.
 Thunder booms!
 Cymbals clash!
 Lightening bolts flash.
 
 After, 
 the sun returns
 with the crows and bees.
 Maple trees bow, heavy with water
 
 And high in the balcony, 
 a rainbow applauds.
 

 © Janice Scully 2020

And below are my few nestlings. I found it challenging, but titles can be put to good use, and you can employ any word you like in a title.

 AUTUMN PLAY
 
 swirl and hide
 in rainbow 
 leaves—
 
 
 SUMMERTIME 
 
 dirt 
 on tiny hands
 

 OUTSIDE, IN WINTER
 
 sun flash
 in 
 mirrors
 

 IN SPRINGTIME WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
 
 On the ground-
 fat caterpillars.


 SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE TO DO
 
 snare 
 rain 
 drops
 

 THE BEST THING TO DO IF YOU BOUGHT SOME:
 
 return
 cracked 
 cymbals

Writing nestlings gets you to think about words closely, a good thing for a poet. In Irene’s book you will find inspiration for all sorts of poems beyond nests and nestlings. It’s full of good ideas.

I just finished a three session workshop with Georgia Heard on revision. It was a wonderful group of poets, among them several Poetry Friday poets. Janet Wong attended one session adding her expertise. We spent much time discussing looking for places in a poem that are too abstract and replacing them with more evocative images. Georgia is a master at critiquing poems and is always kind and generous.

Have a good weekend and good luck as you try to get on the vaccine list. I am so happy scientists are front and center. Bless those working so hard to get the country going again. Yay science! Yay poetry!

THE GULLS OF APPLEDORE ISLAND

Thank you, Laura Shovan, for hosting Poetry Friday today Here.

First, what an amazing and stunning star-studded inauguration! It brought me so much joy to see the performing arts and music back on the national stage.

Here’s a link to a highlight of the day, the inaugural poem, by lovely and brilliant Amanda Gorman.

Acceptance of others was one theme of the day, so it reminded me of. . . . the gulls on Appledore Island. Bear with me.

A host in the past to the likes of Blackbeard and Captain John Smith, Appledore Island is a half mile wide, made of rock and shrubs. It is the largest in an archipelago seven miles off the coast of Maine known as the Isles of Shoals.

Research student Mary Caswell Stoddard from Yale arrived on Appledore Island in 2007 and found many hundreds of Herring Gulls, like this one, nesting:

Great Black-backed Gulls liked the one below, lived among them, too. They delighted in dive bombing researchers with a Kek Kek and bites to their legs and heads. Helmets are required gear.

But one day a newcomer was observed in a nest on a ledge on the island. It had yellow feet! It didn’t belong in Herring Gull territory. The new bird was a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

This yellow footed gull was soon observed “cavorting” on a cliff with another species, a Herring gull. Mary Stoddard, the researcher, noted that the newcomer was gradually accepted by the ornery Herring gulls nesting all around just as she herself, sitting in a makeshift blind, was accepted with time. The newcomer gull lived peacefully with the Appledore gull population.

Stoddard writes :

“. . . the initial excitement and the subsequent dullness eventually gave way to a satisfying equilibrium: At some point, I realized that I knew gull-speak. I understood the patterns and peculiarities of the Lesser Black-backed Gull and his mate–what times of day they preferred to incubate, which neighbors they particularly disliked, how they communicated with one another using mew calls and head tosses.”

Stoddard wrote about the gulls in Birdwatching Magazine. From 2008 to 2011, this same male Lesser Black-backed Gull (sex determined by DNA testing) returned to the exact same spot on Appledore to breed with his Herring Gull mate. They had chicks that survived, something that interested researchers, as the gull parents were of different species.

Nature is an endless well of stories about living things, like the Lesser Black-backed Gull, finding a way to live and thrive among others who are different.

This haiku might describe what the researcher saw through her binoculars.

Different kind of gull
stranger with bright yellow feet
preens on rocky ledge.

© Janice Scully 2021

If you’d like to hear the sounds gulls make click here.

I hope everyone is well and may we all get vaccinated soon.

After the Insurrection

Margaret Simon is hosting Poetry Friday today at Reflections on the Teche. Thank you Margaret.

I received a postcard from Diane Mayr this week celebrating the year of the ox, which portrays a bold hard working creature. Thank you, Diane.

A NEW YEAR--
HONEST DAY'S WORK NO LONGER
AN OXYMORON

By D.Mayer

I came across an article in the Syracuse Post Standard today about a family experiencing their garage floor caving in and I thought I’d use the article as a prompt. That seemed to resonate this week.

JANUARY 2021
 

 Below the floor 
 of her one car attached garage
 existed an empty space,
 unknown until
 

 today while she ate breakfast,
 her red Ford hatchback
 dropped with a crash through the floor,
 in a heap of cement dust,
 destroying the car. 
 

 The garage man had seen this before.
 Over time, road salt had weakened
 the floor, he said, as they stared down
 at the dusty red roof.
 

 They made arrangements
 to excavate the debris
 as she wiped tears
 and raged at her house,
 unexpectedly hollow.
 

 © Janice Scully 1/2021

In spite of all the fault lines and hollow people revealed in Washington, I do have hope and think that the government will weather it. I am thrilled that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will soon be in charge. Welcome!

I hope everyone is safe.

Welcome 2021!

It’s Poetry Friday and my thanks to Sylvia Vardell for hosting at POETRY FOR CHILDREN. There you will find a wonderful and useful sneak preview of 2021 poetry books for kids.

It’s been a long few days. But I was thrilled to receive some lovely New Year postcards, a yearly event on Poetry Friday. Thank you Jone Rush Macculloch for organizing this. The result is that I received some gorgeous photos adorned with joyful poetry .

The following card and haiku by Mary Lee Hahn filled me with hope, perfect for New Years.

recently minted

shiny coin of here and now

ready to be spent

Carol Varsalona’s card reads like an invitation:

Upon the lake

silverdrops dance

as a new year arises.

breath in winter’s freshness.

exhale earth’s frostbitten bite.

Evolve!

The haiku on Jone’s card held a haunting moon and a haiku in Irish (I think), translated into English on the back.

first full moon

makes poetry wishes

happy new year

This lovely bookmark created by Linda Mitchel had a poem on the back celebrating the year of the ox.

Here’s a haiku from me this week:

cardinal hunting

frozen seeds under a hedge–

crow on icy bough

My thoughts have been with the thousands of people who have been dying everyday with the Coronavirus. It breaks my heart. So much unnecessary suffering. God bless them and their families.

Ode to Messenger RNA

Welcome to Poetry Friday, today hosted by the very talented artist and poet, Michelle Kogan. Stop by to see what she has for us this week. Thank you Michelle for hosting!

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a safe, quiet, peaceful week.

I am hopeful and exited about taking a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s how we get our lives back. The first vaccines to roll out are composed of Messenger RNA.

The science behind the mRNA, vaccines is miraculous! You can read about mRNA on the Moderna Pharmaceutical cite here. I am in awe of the scientists who created the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines.

In a nutshell the science goes like this, with some illustrations:

DNA is the genetic “code”, the famous Double Helix, that resides in every nucleus in every cell in the body (In every living thing. ) This “code” is the information needed to make all the millions of proteins that power our body. We need proteins for growth and all functions. (such as digestion, breathing, and fighting infection).

Diagram of animal cell anatomy illustration

Inside the nucleus, the code for a particular protein is copied from DNA onto smaller molecules called mRNA.

This mRNA skedaddles from the nucleus. It floats off in the cytoplasm of the cell to a ribosome, which is a protein factory. Here, the code carried by the mRNA is used by the ribosome to build a protein. Then the protein goes where it’s needed.

That’s amazing, but what does that have to do with the vaccine?

Consider COVID-19:

COVID-19 WITH ITS CHARACTERISTIC SPIKES

The red objects on the virus are called “spike proteins.” Humans have never these or any other part of the virus in our bodies, ever. That’s why it’s called a “novel”virus. Our bodies are defenseless against it. If we want kill this virus before it can harm to us, we have to create antibodies.

What are antibodies? They are immune molecules that can recognize this spike protein. These antibodies will see and attach to the spiky protein. Then, other immune cells will know to gobble it up and say adios!

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines contain mRNA that codes for the spike protein. After is injected into an arm, it will get into the ribosomes inside our cells and actually go to work making copies of that spike protein.

This is important! Once our bodies makes this this spike protein, the cells of our immune system will learn to make antibodies to it. Armed with the antibody, if we are exposed to Covid-19 when we are out and about and it is seen inside the body, the antibodies will attach to those spike proteins. Then, zap! Our immune cells will destroy the virus before it can make us sick.

The mRNA vaccines are VERY fragile! They are kept cold at 112 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit! When the vaccine is made, each mRNA is surrounded by “lipid” or fat molecules, like boats that help it get where it’s going.

MRNA vaccines are not the only ones being developed. There are other vaccines by other companies that will be somewhat different, but all are intended to kill Covid-19. Hopefully everyone will be as excited to take it as I am. It’s been proven safe and effective.

The science behind this has taken years of research. That was why, when this novel virus came along, scientists had the technology to work quickly to create a vaccine. It’s important to continue to support science because you never know when a bit of knowledge can save millions of lives and even our planet.

Here is my silly ode to mRNA:

ODE TO MESSENGER RNA
 
 It takes a clever
 molecule
 To play a virus
 for a fool.

 Wrapped inside 
 a bag of fat? 
 Who would
 ever think of that?

 You sleep inside
 a tiny vial
 we keep you frozen
 for a while,

 then warm you up
 you do your thing
 Thank you for
 the hope you bring!

© Janice Scully 2020

Democracy and THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

Welcome this week to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the talented Buffy Silverman Here. Be sure to stop by for a visit.

This month, I have been thinking about Democracy and what a real life lesson we are all receiving daily, and discovered this wonderful 2016 middle grade novel in verse, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY, by Laura Shovan. It was waiting on my desk, actually. It seemed so relevant at this moment in history, that I wanted to post about it.

It is possible that the teachers on Poetry Friday have already read this, but maybe not. I hope middle graders are reading it and talking about it.

I was so impressed with the author’s craft: 18 memorable character, yikes! And all different, the use of different poetry forms to reflect character, and the engaging story.

A full discussion of the plot as well as an excellent teacher’s guide can be found here.

The main plot briefly goes like this: The Board of Education of Emerson Elementary wants to close the beloved school and the students are determined to stop it. The themes include Democracy and the right to protest.

Students protest with the following poem, which is a petition to the school board, recalling the words of our Founding Fathers in our Constitution:

PETITION
George Furst, Edgar Lee Jones, and Rennie Rawling

We the People of Ms. Hill's Fifth Grade,
in order too give a more perfect Understanding
of the importance of our student voices
here at Emerson Elementary,
seek to establish a Protest by our Classroom,
which hath Studied the U.S Constitution and Civil Rights,
to Provide our United opinion
regarding the fate of our beloved Emerson Elementary,
and Demand that the Board of Education
promote general Knowledge about its plans,
and share the Blessings of Facts
with ourselves and all Emerson
and Montgomery Middle Students.
Thus we do create and Submit this petition
to halt the razing of Our School
indefinitely.

Signed in Equality on this 6th Day of January.

In the study guide, the first question posed is this:

“Have you ever found yourself in a situation that seemed very unfair and you were unsure what to do about it? How did you handle it?”

This is exactly the question I have been asking lately. What can I do to have any impact given what’s going on in America today? But this book gave me hope that children are learning about the fundamentals of Democracy, and how important their voices are. The book is an opportunity to appreciate our rights as Americans, especially, the freedom of speech.

Thank you, Buffy, for hosting. I hope everyone is safe and anticipating with excitement the vaccine that just might restore our ability to be with friends and family.

Cows in Winter

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Mary Lee at A Year of Reading. Thank you for hosting! Make sure to stop by to see what Mary Lee’s got in store for us this week.

Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Look HERE.

Going for a ride for pleasure has become a rather rare thing lately, as there are few places to stop. But this week my husband and I drove south of Syracuse on back roads. The snow was gently falling, and we encountered a few cows in a pasture. They stood like statues, stopped by the cold. Or maybe there was another reason they were so quiet. They inspired a poem.

COWS

Lingering
this morning,

hypnotized 
by snowflakes, 
that perhaps, 
like a swarm
of fire flies
at night, sparkled
in their eyes

or was it the grass 
all around
d i s a p p e a r i n g
in white?

© Janice Scully 2020

I hope everyone is healthy. I’m looking forward to the vaccine, which really is a truly amazing accomplishment, though we must be patient. My gratitude to all the brilliant scientists that are helping us get past this pandemic!

Pie and other Endings

Thank you, Carol, for hosting Poetry Friday on your blog this Thanksgiving week at the beginning of the 2020 Holiday season. Check out what she is sharing this week at Carol’s Corner!

I have a lot to feel thankful for. My family is well, there is a vaccine and a new government is being assembled. It’s like hearing hoofbeats of the calvary just as a battle is about to be lost.

When I took this photo of the pie I made today, I thought about endings beyond simply my dinner.

ENDINGS

The end of a dinner
The end of the month
The end of a season
The end of the year
The end of a Presidency.
The end of veering away
    from the North Star
The end of believing it's the right course.  

© Janice Scully 2020

Today I spoke to a good friend who is a family practice doctor in the panhandle of Florida. He has many geriatric patients and is concerned about their safety as well as his own. A number of his patients have refused to wear a mask when they come to his office. I could tell it was exhausting for him to deal with just as Florida is on fire with Covid.

So, what will this ending mean? How persuasive will an empathetic and steady hand be? Is there a fast forward button to 1/20/21?

Thank you, Carol, for hosting! My best to all and a Happy Thanksgiving