I needed a little pep talk from Shel Silverstein, my Poet Guide for March, to put something out there for the world today. Here’s how the conversation went:
Why Hello Mr. S, How silly should we be? I'm not known for having fun, so please lead the way for me!
I'm going to need a guide One who knows just what to do. Thank goodness, you're the one! The one I choose is YOU!
Now, Shari, don't you worry 'bout a thing! (that's Shel) I've seen you have fun before! The only advice I have is to add a little zing!
A dash of zip! A splash of zap! and you'll be sizzling all day long! Now, listen to me, Gurl. . . . I'm hardly EVER wrong!
So. . . I gave it a little go.
#poetguideconversationpoem
I’m doing the 31 Day March Slice of Life over at Two Writing Teachers along with many other fabulous teacher-writers and others who just wish to challenge themselves to 31 days of writing and sharing with the world. If you’d like to read a few lovely posts from others, head over to today’s entries!
Normally, at the beginning of each month, I have an audition for the poets who meet the minimum requirements that I have established for the upcoming month ahead. I review notebooks from years’ past and look and my calendar to predict themes I might anticipate while navigating the waters of the month ahead, and then I put out an all call listing the job description.
Typically, there are only a few poets that will raise their hands and volunteer their time with me, not knowing where things might go. I’ve written about this process before when Hazel Hall joined me in January of 2022 or when Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer swept me away in the September I turned 57. I share my monthly notebooks filled with Poetry Guide conversations and how I weave their poems into my lives on Instagram, too, if I’m feeling like sharing. Often, I do not – it’s a personal practice and I’ve seen the eye balls of others roll when I explain what I’m spending my time on. It’s all imaginary, of course.
This month, Shel Silverstein was already standing in line for the March Poet Guide position in mid February. He must’ve seen me trudging through February will all of those poems from Kate Baer and knew that we were need to liven things up a bit. Oh, but what I ride Kate and I had! So much fun!
The day Mr. Silverstein showed up was on a day my daughter was describing how challenging it was for her to encourage my grandson to love reading. He’s in second grade and sadly, drowning in decodable books and nonsense word lists being sent home – and being timed daily in both. I asked her to videotape him reading a book and send it to me (because this grandma lives in Minnesota and he lives in Texas), I needed to hear his voice reading.
Let me tell you what he COULD do and then we’ll get to Shel Silverstein.
Even though the paper book was nothing to brag about, he was excited to read for the video. He kept looking at my daughter’s phone to be sure it was capturing his brilliance. He knew every high-frequency word he came to, with automaticity. He knew to pause at punctuation. He was able to read almost every word except for a few I saw him ask his mother about. He knew when he did not know a word. He had strategies for word solving and then looked at his mom for assurance. He had intonation in his voice and put stress on the right words for meaning. I saw him reread and search for understanding when something did not make sense, did not look right or sound right. He did not give up. He read the whole book with commitment.
I told this all to my daughter and then mentioned that what he needs to learn next is phrasing.
Reading word by word was slowing down his rate, which results in low the ORF scores of which seems to be the key assessment tool used in his classroom. My daughter sighed that they told him he needed to read “faster”. (I promised myself not to go off the rails here. It’s doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see what is causing what here.)
Well, who best to call on but Shel Silverstein when your goal is to liven up the reading party AND to model and practice phrasing! Just read of these lines!
And how about these?
I do believe he’ll fall in love with Shel and be begging for more of his books. For now, this grandma sends the books his way and feeds not only him with the song and silliness of language, but me as well.
Shel is magic for us both.
I’m doing the 31 Day March Slice of Life over at Two Writing Teachers along with many other fabulous teacher-writers and others who just wish to challenge themselves to 31 days of writing and sharing with the world. If you’d like to read a few lovely posts from others, head over to today’s entries!
I did not intend to participate with too much upon my plate and years of starting, by day 3, I'd see my words deflate.
Pages fill inside my notebooks, to lift them out, I aggravate. But what good are words that hibernate and procrastinate their fate?
An inner nudge to take a peek to see who might be there. They lure me in with niggling bait. happy entries not to spare.
My writing friends, they do not care or berate a missing date! They wave and hug and celebrate all who join and congregate!
I could not remain in this side-eyed state on this side of the gate. No more the need to contemplate or force my pen to hesitate!
The notebook words leapt with delight set free to jubilate, Were here for fun, squeeze in some play and hope to conversate!
I must leave now to deviate From this poor attempt at silly rhyme to type these words and send this off Before I'm much too LATE! 🙂
#imperfectpoembyshari
I can’t believe it’s already March AND that I almost declined from writing with all of my writing friends! To see what others are writing about or join in the challenge, head over to Two Writing Teachers and check out some more blogs and writing inspiration.
Perhaps I was not cut out for the Slice of Life Challenge this year. On Day 1, I wrote a poem and on Day 30, a response poem to the responses to the poem. It is quite perplexing.
It’s not that I needed 29 days to think of something else to write. There are actually 24 new poems in my notebook and roughly 200 filled pages with the scribing of my ink this month. My notebook is bursting at the seams. In fact, I may run out of pages before tomorrow is done. I’m trying not to brag, but my pen has this down.
But, much of the time, the words do not have the desire to creep out of the safekeeping of the notebook. I try to lure them out, but they are shy. Tired. Cozy and safe nestled between the covers of March 2023. Oh dread, I hear the voice of Eeyore. And, Piglet assuring me we did the best we could. And, that I still wrote.
And, such I time I had! So much play happened in the notebook this month! I cannot wait to tell you!
But, not until April – when the month of poetry begins.
That’s when the poems all wake up and fight for their time in the spotlight.
Hmmmm. . . I maybe just started at the wrong month. 🙂
A first Slice of Life came out as an apology. Unknowing what to begin with, a poem wriggled out. If you haven’t the time or the energy or the wherewithal to figure out your way through my typewriter malfunctions (misspellings are my own), I’ve edited it below, with a few revisions, for your convenience and efficiencies.
Dear Reader
I apologize up front
as you make a split second decision
to click on the link
that brought you to these words.
I know your day is busy
fraught with to-do lists and wanna/should-do's, too
your precious time is just that -
precious.
But, I just need to let you know
there is no glitter or gold here
no words of wisdom either
or tips or tricks, hacks or shortcuts
on how to do whatever it is
you ought to do today.
All I have to offer are
random words from this old machine,
she skips every now and then
and is missing the apostrophe key
But, oh she is quite adept
at knowing spasms of delight,
admirations and whispers of bliss
or a split second moment of awe.
So, it is with great regret
and sincere apologies
bad spelling and fading ink
that you had to
slow
down
to read
these painstaking words on this page
but, they are all I have to give.
#a not so good poem by shari daniels 2023
I am participating in the twowritingteachers 31-day Slice of Life challenge this month. If you’d like to read the words of other Slicers, please head over to the Slices of the Day at twowritingteachers (you gotta scroll way down). 🙂
It was Margaret’s poem in my inbox that ignited my spark to receive poem today. She nudged me over to Ruth’s lovely page, who is hosting Poetry Friday today and inviting us to give a go at a recipe poem.
Ellen Bass, my poet guide this month, along with Wendell Barry, has been also offering advice this month. The Epistolary Poem, a poem written as a letter, a form has been shaping poems in my notebook this month.
Could I combine the two? The recipe poem and the letter poem?
Perhaps . . .
Thank you to Margaret, Ruth, Ellen, my husband’s adoration of the food I cook for him and, his mother’s love.
If you’d like to read more poems, or add your own, head over to Ruth’s page to read a few more recipe poems. Be sure to fill your cup of coffee first.
Jacqueline Suskin, this morning, teaches us about writing Manifesting Poems. The kind of writing that puts our dreams, wishes and hopes for our lives on paper and lets the universe know so it can begin rearranging our path and give us signs in where to go. She shares a poem of of her own and titles it, What I Want is Family. This felt like an invitation.
So, I wrote my own “What I Want” poem. Taking to my typewriter to see if the keys could help, I got it all down. Afterwards, my laptop went to work, cleaning it up, with a few revisions and edits. It’s still pretty drafty, not very good.
But it feels true.
What I Really Want is Love
I really want just love - all of it.
The deep love one feels for another
you know what I'm talking about -
the kind where that soul being you chose
for your partner and you synchronously
roll over under the covers
and he tucks your blanket in snuggly
behind your back, that spot
you can't reach where cool swaths of air
swirl under bringing the chills.
He protects that.
But, I want more than this,
I want everyone to have that kind of love
from someone.
Maybe if only from a pet -
that will do.
More than even this, I want everyone
to walk around will that kind of love inside them
hearts so wide open
radiating that love
spewing it out
all over the world everywhere they go.
To the trees, the hills, the sky,
the fields, the flowers, the insects even.
And, to other humans
especially those not like them.
That's a special kind of love.
If we all that that kind of love
to fill the world with
we'd know to protect it with all our hearts,
do everything we could to save
its preciousness
for our children, and theirs.
It would be only then, I could leave this earth
knowing I loved enough for that
to happen.
October 2022 draft SD
I’ve been reading and writing from Jacqueline Suskin’s book, A Poem A Day, and finding meaning in the smallest of moments.
She writes:
“Meaning is a choice. . . the trick is to be fully aware of your choices. . . what’s valuable to you isn’t random; it’s a crafted lens that you see through, that you add to and take away from willingly, throughout your lifetime. You can delve into the details surrounding you and measure the might of sacredness in each. . . anything can be holy.”
I love this about poetry. How it heightens your sense of sacred moments and how the practice cultivates an awareness so much so that we “saturate our lives with meaning”.
And, of course, since Jacqueline uses a vintage typewriter to type her poems, I was inspired to do the same. Mine has a few hiccups that emphasize even more imperfections of my poems.
Islands of My Soul 