Category Archives: poetry

Slice of Life Day 27: The Days are Numbered

(a triple-nonet for a triple-nonet type of day) Today seems like it’s the perfect timeto play with nines and their nine-ness:perfect groups of threes, bundledin three more groups besides:three by three by threetwo and seventidilysummed upthere. Maybe it’s because I love numbersjust as much as I cherish my wordsthat I sit and ponder thepoetry ofContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 27: The Days are Numbered”

Slice of Life Day 25: Golden Shovel

Today’s post is a golden shovel, inspired by a quotation from Sylvia Plath. I heard someone say it in a podcast, and the words stuck with me all day. It’s a keen observation on what words can – and cannot – do in times of grief and struggle. Mix in the grief that keeps poppingContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 25: Golden Shovel”

Slice of Life Day 20: All it Takes

When you get up on the wrong side of the bed,And you’re a crabby ole patty,And your worries And your anxietiesBall up in your belly,And you want to say nice thingsAbout people,Or you want to say nice thingsLike hooray! the forsythia’s blooming!But your mood is a dark cloud looming,And you’re pretty sureThat even if theContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 20: All it Takes”

Slice of Life Day 9: Letting the Nerd Flag Fly

I ama puzzler, a worder,a counter of things(though I can’timagine anyonesurprisedto knowthat’s mentioned in myanswer key) I ama planner,a thinker,a system worker-outer(because I gave youtwo guessesand the first onedidn’t count) I am a watcher,a wonder-er,a looker at skies(and I admit that’s the “C”of myall-of-the-above) I started this post thinking it was going to be aContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 9: Letting the Nerd Flag Fly”

Slice of Life Day 7: Planning and Plotting

Today, I took advantage of a rare day of light classes and meetings to work with a fellow colleague (co-conspirator?) to develop poetry units for a couple of grade levels. Sure, we knew we needed to use the Common Core Standards as the basis for content, but c’mon. It’s POETRY. We want our units centeredContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 7: Planning and Plotting”

Slice of Life Day 9: Current Conditions

Here we are at day 9 of the Slice of Life Challenge! Today had me thinking: you know, even though it seems corny for stories to have the weather reflect moods in characters, I have to admit that sometimes…well, sometimes the weather gets it right. Oh!,perhaps,she pondered,upon seeingthe weather outsideas it rained, snowed, threatenedto growContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 9: Current Conditions”

Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’

Hooray for the Slice of Life Challenge! This is year 4 for me – which is pretty tough to believe. I’m maybe a little proud of myself for sticking with it. Now…this is a year where life is a little…googly-eyed, shall we say. So, I’m not confident I’ll make it every day. I’ll sure giveContinue reading “Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’”

Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along

Each year, I have my students craft forced association poems, where they pull together a poem that’s written about one thing…but it’s really about another. We start by thinking of places or things (usually in nature) important to us: that one lilac bush, the park we love to play at, a favorite tree. Then, weContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along”

Slice of Life Tuesday: The Big Five-Oh

Fifty. So this is fifty. I’m taking a look at this gal. She’s been through stuff.She has seen stuff, and has LEARNED stuff. She knows birthdays are brim-full of expectation,days that demandjoydays that belongto her And yet She also knows a birth day(just like the ideaof turning fifty)is messy,tangled, not what peoplecrack it up toContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: The Big Five-Oh”