Poetry Friday, Week 16: What a Week!

 Heidi at my juicy little universe is hosting this week.  I'm happy to say that she's has an informative video, "We Teach Poetry". She invited Margaret Simon and me to share our thoughts.  It was a lively discussion.

---

Happy Book Birthday!  Tilt is in the world.

It's here.  In the world. Twenty years of work with the bulk of it done these last five years after I retired. Born out of tragedy that impacted the lives of many, I have made good on a promise made to fifth graders who lost their classmate in second grade. 
The hard cover and Kindle are available now. The soft cover will be available April 18th.
On Saturday, April 25, I'll launch the book.
It means so much to me to have this debut book finally out.

---

My Poem from the Pop-Up Poetry Salon, April 11th.

Poetry Pop Up, April 11 was a lively gathering,
It probably had the most participants yet.  

The prompt/invitation was "quake" from the Oregon Writer's Colony.

On Friday, I had a day that seemed so unfocused. I suspect that it was the anxiety that was bubbling about the return of the Artemis II thus this tricube.

2026 Midterm Videos from Texas Women's University

The midterms from my TWU students are finished and I'll be sharing them over the next few weeks. The poems are made available from Heidi Bee Roemer and STEAM Powered Poetry Contest.  I highly encourage the students to submit to the contest. 

My Shadow video by Carrie Brown
Welcome to the Science Lab video by Jennifer Davman
Wash You Hands video by Danette Diaz
Moon Faces and Phases by Sallie Wolf, video by Talia Sifuentes
Farmer’s Market by Heidi Bee Roemer, video by Katherine Sullivan
​Mew for Milk by Heidi Bee Roemer, video by Zayde Ortiz

2026 Kidlit Progressive Poem

Tabatha Yeats started us off not only with a first line, but also with a beautiful map. People have added place names to the map.
April 1 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
April 2 Cathy Stenquist at A Little Bit of This and That
April 3 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 6 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 7 Ruth Hersey at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
April 8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
April 10 Janet Clare Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
April 11 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 12 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 13 Linda Mitchell at Another Word Edgewise
April 14 Jone MacCulloch at Jone Rush MacCulloch
April 15 Joyce Uglow at Storied Ink
April 16 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 17 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 18 Michele Kogan at More Art for All
April 19 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 20 Buffy Silverman
April 21 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem
April 22 Karen Edmisten
April 23 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 24 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 25 Tanita Davis at Fiction, instead of Lies
April 26 Sharon Roy at Pedaling Poet
April 27 Tracey Kiff-Judson at Tangles and Tails
Also, there are still 3 days left to participate. If we  don’t fill those last three days, we will end the poem on April 27th. 

The Land of Poetry
On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,
I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings.
A world of words, wonder on wings, waiting just for me!
Birding for words shimmering, flecked in golden gilding.

Binoculars ready, I toured boulevards and side streets
exploring vibrant verses, verses so honest and tender,
feathery lyrics, bright flitting avian athletes
soaring ‘cross pages in rhythmic splendor.

In the Land of Poetry, I am the conductor.
the trees quiver, the audience looks up. Raven lands,                               
singing Earth's message of the sage.                                                   
 "Poetry" Poetry in motion will be forevermore, from forests to sands."

Visit  Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge Friday, April 17, to see where Robyn takes us..

---