Poetry Friday, Week 17: Twenty-Two Years Ago

Here we are the last Friday of April. ​Irene at Live Your Poem. 

Twenty-two years ago, I woke to the news that a second grader from my school had be mauled by dogs and died.  I didn't know it that day but in the coming weeks and talking to his classmates, a seed was planted for a story.
On Saturday, I'll be doing my book launch for Tilt.  I'm excited and nervous. I'm also deeply moved that the real Jackson's family members will be in attendance. It seems fitting to be reading poetry the last Saturday of the month.

---

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
Art Smart by Ravel Howell, video by Isabel Valderas
Moving Art by Heidi Bee Roemer, video by Amy Mihok
​The International Space Station by Linda Kulp Trout, video by Lauren Vincent

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.  I'm writing on Thursday, April 23rd, so the poem is updated with  Heidi Mordhost's inviting line.





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,
seeking oodles of poems that tug at my heart,
a musical medley of sound and structure,
An open mic in Frost Forest! Wonder who’ll take part?

There’s a pause in the program; no one takes the stage
the trees quiver, the audience looks up. Raven lands,
singing Earth’s message of the sage.
“Poetry in motion will be forevermore, from forests to sands.”

“Scatter,” she croaked. “Beyond Wilde Pond, to each and every beach.”
Meek Dove mustered courage and sang, “Instill humanity with compassion and peace.
Let Thackeray’s middle name, from this thicket, hearts reach!”
Her gentle coo-ooo-ooos reverberate, soft as fleece.

Words dart, dimple—Do I dare warble what's in my soul?
I’ve inhaled inspiration…yes, I’ll risk my refrain.
I fly to the mic, chanting "Tadpole, mole and oriole!

Check out Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading tomorrow for the next post.

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

---