 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect is hosting. She's offering a response to a prompt from her poetry sisters: writing "In The Style Of..." the triptych "August" by Louise Ireland, but with the general theme of diving into summer. One of my poetry pals, Shirley Thacker. I interviewed her here. She has a new book out, Farmku: Haiku Poems from the Heart of the Land. This is a project that is near and dear to her heart.  When I was teaching, I found it interesting to ask students where food and milk came from. Often their response was the store. Some appeared to not know about farms. Shirley Thacker knows farms. She grew up on a small farm with family, animals, and crops. Farmku takes through the seasons on a farm in a semi-autobiographical way. Thacker has artfully crafted haikus throughout the seasons on the farm starting in the spring through harvest. Farmku begins with Great Grandpa and ends with Grandpa. These were two very important people in the author’s life. Great Grandpa’s huge smile Outhouse, milk cows, told stories Creaking rocking chair Grandpa’s farm at dusk Safe, close to him on the glider Pipe smoke curls, love stays These two haiku as well as the rest of the book shows the importance of family and continuing the legacy. Shirley felt called to this project to shed a light on the importance of family farms when many are struggling. This book will be a fabulous addition to primary classrooms. It’s a great introduction to haiku. The illustrations complement the text and lend themselves for discussions about life on the farm. There is a farm glossary at the back of the book. The sales of the book will help support. Wes-Del elementary, the local school. Shirley intends to give each student a book. She's looking for local farmers to help support the project. Farmku can be purchase HERE. Save the Date: TomorrowJoin me tomorrow, Saturday, June 27, 2026 at 11 AM (EST) for a Poetry Pop Up Salon celebrating summer. If you can join me, please let me know in the comments.  Thank you for Tilt love.
I appreciate those who have taken the time to leave a review and also share their love of the book with our Poetry Friday community.
21 Comments
Buffy at Buffy Silverman is hosting this week where it's been a soggy spring.
I participated in The Stafford Challenge in 2025 and am continuing this year. Last fall we were asked to submit a poem for their anthology. I submitted my poem response to a prompt from Laura Shovan's yearly February Poetry Project. It was based on an article, "8 Mind Blowing Fact about the Big Bang" Turns out, I rather like writing surreal poetry with interesting images. The anthology chose not to align the poem to the right.
Searching at the Edges
Searching the edge of the known universe… -from 8 Mind-blowing Facts About the Big Ban It’s midnight and I’m searching, searching in your letters for the last words you wrote on the edge of a dream. We were in the middle of dancing in the garden. The | beets syncopated to our tapping feet, known as a cure for heartbreak in the outer realms of the universe. Jone Rush MacCulloch Save the Date
Join me Saturday, June 27, 2026 at 11 AM (EST) for a Poetry Pop Up Salon celebrating summer. If you can join me, please let me know in the comments.
Thankful for the Love
Tilt has been out for two months and I am humbled and honored at the love that has been shown for my love project.
It's been reaffirming to hear that readers have connected with the book. I have reconnected with former students and I am continuing to learn from the writing to it. One thing I discovered was the Northwest Independent Writer's Association (NIWA). It's been a great way to get Tilt in the world at festivals. They recently interviewed me and I'll include it below. I appreciate those who have taken the time to leave a review and also share their love of the book with our Poetry Friday community.
Linda at A Word Edgewise has hosting duties today. It's the end of the school year for her so please show her some love.
My former district (and the one I sub in) will get out on June 22. A few Fridays ago, I had the opportunity to sub in fifth grade. I brought Gelli plates in to create mono prints. Then we read color poems and wrote ones after Kaveh Akbar's “Orchids Are Sprouting From the Floorboards”. Granted, that poem isn't a color poem other than the word orchid and he was referring to the plant. Still, I figure it was a great opportunity for poetry play (and it was!) This prompt came from a post by Heidi Mordhorst in March. She found it on Audrey Gidman's Substack.
Fifth Grade Writes Poems ala Kaveh Akbar by Poetsplay5
SAVE the DATE
Join me Saturday, July 27, 2026 at 11AM (EST) for a Poetry Pop Up Salon celebrating summer. If you can join me, please let me know in the comments.
Carol is hosting SJT this week and asks to pause and reflect on our One Little Word. I think it's also a reflection for Poetry Friday. Linda at A Word Edgewise is hosting Poetry Friday.  My One Little Word for 2026 is LOVE. I have this piece of art by my front door as a reminder each day. I chose love as my OLW as I felt drawn to be more intentional in the world with it. It feels like the world is craving for love. One way is creating mixed media hearts and leaving them places. Another way is through bringing art and poetry to the students I work with when I sub. On Monday, my husband and I were talking. He asked the question, "Why are you still subbing?" My immediate response was, "Because I love it!" I do. When you do what you love there is joy. I subbed in second grade and kindergarten this week. We wrote "Summer Is..." poems and had a "Chalkabration", thanks to Margaret Simon's post. Here's a few pics from that. It's been a busy week and I'm keeping it short. |
AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
Categories
All
Archives
June 2026
|
