Jone MacCulloch’s New Years Postcard Project

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Jan here at Birdseed Studio. Thank you, Jan, for hosting.

I’ve taken some time off during my visit to my grandson in California and have missed posting and keeping up with Poetry Friday friends. I was going to title this post HAPPY NEW YEAR, but I know it isn’t happy for many in America and is simply tragic for so many others. There seems to be no end to the shock and awe on tv. But somehow I know we can get through this.

Having had a one-year-old to play with has been a delightful gift to my family. He was born two months early, but has completely caught up. Baby Tommy is working hard to try to stand and take his first wobbling steps. He’s trying to talk and communicate in his way. He seems to know “up.” He’s enjoying board books. WHERE’S SPOT by Eric Hill has been a favorite with those little doors to open and rip off.

Since I returned last week, I’ve been thrilled to receive postcards from Poetry Friday friends. It’s so wonderful to get the mail. I’ve received four with poems and artwork and I want to share them.

From Tabatha:

The Year as a Horse

This horse is sure footed, even on pebbles,
and scrambles up dark, craggy days. 

She sways as she rests, still standing,
willing to carry us the whole way

with no saddle, a light sheen from' ceaseless service making her
slick beneath our grip.

We cling to her back
and listen to her breathe,

The horse of the year
nuzzles today
prying apart,
searching
for morsels of sugar.

Tabatha Yeatts

From Tracy Kiff-Judson:

Cherry Trees celebrate
Spring's arrival--
tossing petal confetti

Tracy Kiff-Judson

From Mary Lee Hahn:

Mountain, sky, water
between them a line is drawn
still, they connect

Mary Lee Hahn

From Molly Hogan:

         2026
A new year of mysteries to unfold
         will it be . . . 
     what tea leaves foretold? 

Molly Hogan

referring to the above poems, may we all search for find nuggets of sugar this year, celebrate cherry blossoms, enjoy mountains, sky and water and discover the unexpected and, I hope, uplifting mysteries that will unfold in 2026.

Have a great weekend and thank you, Jone MacCulloch, for the postcard project. You do so many things that I admire.

One of the mysteries yet to unfold is a subscribe button for my blog. I have yet to find a way for my friends to subscribe but am working on it.

Janice

Urban Sketching and a Snow Poem

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by poet and artist Irene Latham Here. I’m so excited about the anthology she and Charles Waters are creating, and grateful like so many poets for this opportunity to submit this weekend..

This week I’ve been busy revising old work and didn’t do much new writing but I did take a walk today and came home with a poem. A sudden snow squall, sent me rushing home a little early:

ON MY WALK

Snow Squall.
    White out.

footprints
coming at me- 
my only guide back home. 

© Janice Scully

For a few weeks I have also been practicing what is called Urban Sketching. It involves a loose drawing in black ink with a loose wash of watercolor. I discovered this on YouTube, and have been following Toby Urban Sketcher. I am a novice to drawing and painting, but I find that the “loose” inaccurate drawings I produce are so much fun. It’s a stress reducer for sure. There is no pressure to reproduce something true to real life. It’s just and idea of an event or anything that you want to remember.

Here is a sketch from the recent No Kings demonstration in Syracuse.

neighbors, colored signs,
casting shadows on the street
in afternoon sun. 

© Janice Scully

Enjoy December, everyone. Thanks Irene for hosting!

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here: YOUR ONE AND ONLY HEART

Welcome to Poetry Friday!

What is Poetry Friday?

Find out HERE. Basically, every week a host is assigned who rounds up all the bloggers ,who want to share their poems, book recommendations, and much more. Most are posting about the world of literature for young people.

I hope everyone is enjoying the seasonal change from fall to winter. Yeah. Cold weather, I know it’s not for everyone. But I enjoyed the snow fall we had this week in Syracuse, enough to make me feel and to anticipate the holidays’ arrival. I even did some baking and holiday planning.

I have a Christmas deadline for this Christmas Stocking for my Grandson. I have a long way to go so I have an excuse to watch too much television.

So today I want to recommend a non-fiction picture book,

While I attended the Highlight’s Poetry Palooza two weeks ago, I discovered a mentor text that informs the non-fiction poetry picture book I am revising about digestion. The mentor text Georgia Heard recommended is YOUR ONE AND ONLY HEART, by Dr. Rajani LaRocca and colorfully illustrated by Lauren Paige Conrad.

This picture book, about our very important heart, is able to teach us about the hard working part of us, without technical, cold, and frankly boring terms. Somewhere in my past I learned that scientific terms don’t elicit emotion. Think pericardium, aorta, systolic and diastolic. These words are difficult to relate to. especially for very young people.

LaRocca doesn’t use cold scientific terms but instead writes poems about the function of the heart in vocabulary a child might more easily relate to, words for example like ENERGETIC, MUSCULAR, COOPERATIVE, CHANGABLE, SELFLESS, AND SELFISH. The heart is all these things.

The poem below writes about how the heart is HIDDEN and protected because it’s so important.

Your heart is HIDDEN

Tucked in your chest
between pillowy lungs
in a protective cage of ribs.
Your heart is hidden because
it's so very
vital.

That the heart is hidden reminded me of the pancreas, the part of the digestive system that is protected by the stomach because it houses powerful enzymes. Kids can understand why something important might need to be hidden and maybe protected.

Your heart is CHANGEABLE

In response to 
moving
sitting
thinking
playing
feeling
sleeping,
your heart speeds up
or slows down,
squeezes more 
or less,
working like a hidden engine
or calm beating
while you rest.

All the poems tell us a lot without weighing the reader down with scientific jargon that they are too young to understand.

So why is it important for kids and adults to learn about their bodies, whether it’s about their heart, their digestion, or about other organs like the brain? I think it teaches us to empathize with our bodies, to respect the parts unseen, and to take care of them. Kids might understand why healthy food is important, get off the couch and move, and understand why taking certain drugs might hurt them.

Speaking of Mentor Texts, Irene Latham thought I might like to check out SCIENCE COMICS: The digestive System.

It is written by Jason Viola with art by Andy Ristaino. It’s very informative and well done, dealing with the complicated issues of digestion often at the molecular level. Written by a gastroenterologist, it is for a YA audience, not for the younger audience I’m writing for, fourth grade.

To all those at NCTE, have a fabulous time! Everyone else have a great weekend, too and best wishes for a joyful Thanksgiving.

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A Thank You

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the talented and prolific Laura Purdie Salas HERE. Thank you for hosting. Laura. Your books and your work was frequently mentioned this weekend at Highlights Poetry Palooza.

I just returned from the Poetry Palooza led by poets Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard. It was a thrill to be in the presence of these inspiring, accomplished, and generous artists, but also to meet so many new poets, some who I already know from previous Highlights conferences. Thanks to the all for a wonderful weekend. It was also so great to finally meet Rose Capelli, who I knew only from her posts here on Poetry Friday.

I’ll share a few photos.

This is the Delaware River I crossed on the way from New York to PA at Hancock, NY. I grew up just down river from here. It was wonderful to see the river.

Our poetry mentors, Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, editor Rebecca Davis, Charles Waters, and Irene Latham.

A full moon over the Highlights Barn. It was much clearer and more lovely in real time.

I spent my time revising my non-fiction poetry collection and thinking about my writing life which needed a boost. I rewrote the beginning of my picture book manuscript, a series of poems about “Team Digestion.” I am so grateful for Georgia’s critique and guidance. 

THE MOUTH 

Munch
Crunch

I always have to go first. 

chomp
slurp
Gri i i i nd

I am the only one 
on Team Digestion who can taste!
How lucky am I? 
 
Bite 
Chew, 

Yum!
I am the team eater. 

© Janice Scully (draft)

RAIN ALL DAY

Welcome to Poetry Friday!, this week hosted by the amazingly creative artist and teacher, Jone McCullough Here. Thank you Jone for hosting and Happy Halloween!

I am excited to be leaving tomorrow for the Poetry Palooza and Highlights and a little preoccupied with what I will take on my journey. Weather: fifties with the chance of rain. I hope to see and get to know better several of my Poetry Friday friends. My plan is to sit back and listen. I’ll enjoy the company and hope to revisit a collection of poems I haven’t thought of for a while.

It’s been a lovely rainy day, perfect for the eve of halloween. 

RAIN ALL DAY

A day to wear your plastic raincoat
and listen to the thump of
heavy drops on your arms and head.
A day when it might be
nice instead,
if you could,
to curl up in a warm bed
and read.
 
But it is a school day,
a perfect morning to think 
how the world might
be changed by the gray
pools and puddles,
as you watch them
cold and wet, 
gathering, gathering
outside the lunchroom window. 
 
© Janice Scully 2025

You can’t see the rain but you can see the inflated pumpkin in my neighbor’s yard, making up for my quieter Halloween celebration, mostly colored leaves this year.

I have had difficulty putting a subscription widget on my blog. I called WordPress, and am exploring inexpensive ways to install a subscriber button. Maybe someone at Poetry Palooza will have some advice.

Thank you Jone for hosting!

San Francisco and Coit Tower

Welcome to Poetry Friday! Today we are hosted by Patricia Franz on her blog Reverie, which is HERE. Thank you, Patricia for hosting. I look forward to reading your blog and others this week.

I have not been posting regularly because of travel to see my grandson in Pacifica, California. I just returned after three weeks and have too many things I’d like to share. I have been planning to go to a certain site for a while, but last week I finally made it to Coit Tower in San Francisco.

Coit tower was built in 1933 with money bequeathed by Lillie Hitchcock Coit to be used to build the tower as well as a monument that would celebrate San Francisco’s fire fighters. As a young girl she was rescued from a burning building and her life saved by fire fighters. She never forgot it. If you like, see a photo and read more about it Here.

After the tower was built, In 1934 a group of artists employed by the Public Works and Art Project, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), filled its walls with murals. They depict Americans doing all kinds of work and living diverse lives. The murals are inspiring, a celebration of workers during the Great Depression.

Part of a mural named FARMER by Clifford Wright (1900-1996)

Part of a mural of industries of California by Ralph Stackpole. These women are canning.

A small part of the mural LIBRARY by Bernard Zakheim (1896-1985) Libraries were an important part of life in the early 20th century.

There was too much for me to take in! There was too much to see. These pictures are a small part.

And this is the view of San Francisco Bay from the top of Coit Tower. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena island are in the distance.

My trip wasn’t all sight seeing, we spent a lot of time with baby Tommy. But would like to report that San Francisco was peaceful, beautiful, and a welcoming place even if it’s a little foggy.

San Francisco Fog

Thick grey fog layers
on ocean, beaches, bridges--
so you feel your way.

©Janice Scully 2025

Halloween is next week and I’m heading to Poetry Palooza at Highlights. It’s been a while since I’ve hung out with a large group of writers, except, of course, on Poetry Friday. Happy Halloween!

A Rictameter and a Changing World

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the amazing Amy Ludwig Vanderwater Here at The Poem Farm. Thank you, Amy, for hosting! I look forward to what you are sharing this week.

School starting in September is a time when children learn about change, learn to look forward to it. New friends, new books. But as I wrote this short poem, the one below, about change, I realized that I’ve imbued it with my current adult feelings about change, about current change all around us that isn’t normal. Leaves turning took on a deeper meaning. So maybe my poem is a little melodramatic. I can’t tell.

The RICTAMETER, a form that I heard about on Poetry Friday. It is a poem of nine lines with the syllable pattern:2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2. The first and the last lines are the same.

TO MY SUMMER FRIEND

Leaves turned. 
From green to red, 
rattled in the blue sky, 
broadcasted: fall is on the way.

I shiver and run to catch the school bus,
thinking of our summer hide out, 
sharing books under trees,
laughing before
leaves turned. 

© Janice Scully 2025

A tree painting exercise I recently did. I have a great respect for those who paint trees that are realistic. That will definitely take a while.

Real trees at Green Lakes State Park in Upstate New York. There are scattered benches and it might be a nice place to read on a summer day.

Have a happy Poetry Friday,

Back to School Golden Shovel

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted hosted by poet Rose Capelli HERE. Thank you, Rose, for hosting. I look forward to what you share. Also I wish all teachers and librarians the best as they begin a new year of teaching. And so are students.

Last week on my neighborhood walk, I passed our local high school and found messages in chalk on the sidewalk. School started this week. These words expresses the hope that beginnings are about, that anyone who has ever begun something, or loved a clean slate, understands. I thought it would be a good phrase for a golden shovel poem.


A NEW SCHOOL YEAR 


Everyone hopes for this:

that we might will

this year to be

an unusual one. The

year when the best

of us is revealed and seen. A year

that we might remember forever.


©Janice Scully 2025

As I wrote this I thought of my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Belsten, who saw, I believed, the best in me and encouraged me to read and read.

We could all use a boost of hope given all the worries adults and kids might be sharing this September.

I missed Poetry Friday last week. I’ve catching up with routine appointments that I put off all summer and attending a family wedding, etc. . But I have taken the time here and there to practice painting watercolor birds. I am a total beginner but I have enjoyed these simple exercises. It does give my mind a mini-vacation when I sit and think only of a bird, or the color of feathers.

Chicken, of course.

This hummingbird illustrated what can happen if you paint close to a flower I didn’t let dry enough. I love the colors. Is there a hummingbird that looks like this? I have no idea.

Have a great weekend and I hope you have some lovely fall weather to enjoy, like I do here in Upstate NY. Thank you, Rose, for hosting!

Each State Brings Something Different, for Example, Wisconsin and Minnesota

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by writer Karen Edmisten Here. Thank you Karen for Hosting. Karen shares with me a deep love of coffee.

I am happy to say I submitted a poem to the Gyroscope Review this week. It made me feel good to participate. Submissions are open until September 1st, if you happen to be a poet and a woman over fifty.

I have spent a lot of time this week watching YouTube videos on watercolor. I find it all fascinating and isn’t creativity good for one’s mental health? It’s good for mine.

But today I’d like to celebrate our fifty states. Why? Because they are all different and anyone who disparages diversity might reconsider if they knew more about the individual states.

Looking through my phone for photos to paint, I found photos from my drive out west with my husband two years ago. Bart and I rode through a state I’d never been to : Wisconsin was one. Like most states, its citizenry is made up of native peoples and those with immigrant backgrounds. We visited the beautiful capital, Madison.

Wisconsin State House

We also drove through Minnesota. The town of Blue Earth, Minnesota, is the home the Jolly Green Giant, celebrated by a very tall statue. Who knew? He looked oddly like my husband.

I learned facts about Wisconsin on a road sign.

Minnesota facts: There are fifteen thousand lakes in Wisconsin, 65 towns with the word “lake” in them and many more in the Chippewa or Dakota languages. There are 13 falls. The one called Minnehaha inspired the Song of Hiawatha, by Longfellow. There are ten rivers and five rapids, not to mention isles, bays, and beaches. I was very impressed! There are many more facts and I’d like to return. What an amazing state!

I love New York and my home in the Finger Lakes region as much as those from Wisconsin and Minnesota love their states’ beauty.

Last week at the New York State Fair, I visited prize livestock, chicken and rabbits. I met a farmer who told me that a calf gains two pounds a day and eats grains two days after birth. A year old calf I met, weighed two hundred pounds! I loved hearing about his life as a dairy farmer.

Calves at the New York State Fair

If we can see the beauty and understand the history and people in each state, that can only help build respect for our differences. Is that too preachy? 

ABOUT OUR FIFTY STATES

Each one different
in origen and people,
every state belongs

© Janice Scully 2025

Thank you, Karen, for hosting!

A Picture, Stolen, and a Poem

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the wonderful and talented Heidi Mordhorst HERE. I look forward to seeing what she will be sharing with us. This week felt like a good week to keep busy doing things that bring you joy.. I am cherishing my principals in the light of the Smithsonian news and so much else, and try my best to be kind to others. It’s hard to fathom the kind of people who would remove Harriet Tubman’s prayer book from the Museum of African American History.

I sat on my porch earlier this week. It was about 90 degrees and I was looking for a poem. I found this and drew this picture:

.

THE BRINK

My pen is heavy, full of ink,
while on a shady porch I think.
Ice in my coffee melts and clinks,
and a poem peeks across the brink. 

Janice Scully 2025

For some reason I was trying to write a quatrain with the end of each line rhyming. Something fun, trying to create images.

I mentioned I love the work of Wayne Thiebaud. In the book WAYNE THIEBAUD: Art Comes From Art, published by the the De Young and Legion of Honor fine arts museums in San Francisco. He painted with oil. I found this painting entitled “Coffee” from 1961:

So I painted a small watercolor copy which didn’t turn out well but tried again, remembering to wet my paper first, which I’d forgotten to do on my first try.

But I liked my second try:

I’ve feeling a bit on the brink, and finding even a small poem helps me feel more positive.

Thanks for this place of community. Have a great weekend! Thank you, Heidi!