Poetry Tag: Avis Harley is IT

Poetry Tag continues! X. J. Kennedy gave us “Just the Right Word” yesterday (check it out below) and next up is Avis Harley. She writes, “Each word in X.J. Kennedy's poem lands so neatly, and this idea of a bright word in flight prompted my ‘Dragonfly’ poem. To celebrate words, and National Poetry Month, I've created a new poetic form and named it ‘Intravista,’ where words within words are arranged vertically to reveal a poem within a poem. (How fine a thing am I to be all wing and eye!).” Here is her amazing poem:
Five fun facts about Avis Harley
*she grew up in British Columbia, Canada
*she enjoys singing
*her childhood favorite book of poetry is A Child’s Garden of Verses
*she has taught school in England and Canada
*she invented the “Intravista” poem form
[Based on: Poetry People; A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets]

Look for some of her recent books:
*Fly With Poetry: An ABC of Poetry (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2000)
*Leap Into Poetry: More ABCs of Poetry (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2001)
*Sea Stars: Saltwater Poems (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2006)
*The Monarch’s Progress: Poems with Wings (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press 2008)
*African Acrostics; A Word in Edgeways (Candlewick, 2009)


Next up: Rebecca Kai Dotlich



Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.
Image credit: pbs.org;tagyoureitonline.com;captainstlucifer.wordpress.com/2007/08/

Poetry Tag: X. J. Kennedy is IT

Yesterday, J. Patrick Lewis got our game of Poetry Tag started with his contribution of “In a Word” (just scroll down to read it below). Then he tagged his friend, X. J. (Joe) Kennedy who responded, “J. Patrick Lewis’s ‘In a Word’ is full of right words, so it started me thinking. How do we know that a certain word is the best one available? Maybe we never know for sure, but if it sounds good and slips beautifully into place, it’s probably the best we can get. Anyhow, that’s what my little poem is about.” Now here’s Kennedy’s poem:






Just the Right Word
By X. J. Kennedy

Bright golden plumes
Had that rare bird,
That dream I dreamed---
The perfect word!
Sweet, sweet it trilled!
And landing neatly,
It perfectly filled
Its perch completely.

Five fun facts about X. J. Kennedy
*he goes by the name “Joe”
*he served as a journalist in the U.S. Navy
*he won the NCTE Poetry Award for his body of work
*he collaborates on children’s poetry collections with his wife Dorothy Kennedy
*he writes prize-winning poetry for adults as well as for children
[Taken from Poetry People; A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets]

Look for these selected poetry books by X. J. Kennedy:
*Exploding Gravy, Poems to Make You Laugh (Little Brown 2002)
*Elefantina's Dream (Philomel 2002)
*Knock at a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry (Little Brown 1999)
*Drat These Brats (McElderry 1993)



Next up: Avis Harley




Look for more Poetry Friday fun at Book Aunt this week.

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Image credit: boaeditions.org;frank-joseph.blogspot.com

Poetry Tag: J. Patrick Lewis is IT

April is National Poetry Month and it’s time to celebrate. Ready for a game? Let’s play Poetry Tag!

Every day this month my blog will feature a different poem by a different poet. Here’s the catch. One poet offers a poem and "tags" a fellow poet. Each poet then shares a poem that is connected to the previous poem in some way--by theme, word, idea, or tone--and provides a sentence or two explaining that connection. These may be new original unpublished poems or poems drawn from previous works.

By the end of the month, we’ll have a “chain” of poems and see firsthand how poetry can be selected, connected, shared and celebrated. Ready, set, let’s go.

First, I tagged J. Patrick Lewis who was kind enough to get the ball rolling. Here is his inspired contribution, a perfect beginning, with a poem within a poem:





Five fun facts about J. Patrick Lewis
*he’s a twin
*he has been a professor of economics
*he has lived in Russia
*his first book for children was A Hippopotamusn’t published in 1990
*he invented the zeno poem form

[Taken from Poetry People; A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets]

Look for his newest books:
*Kindergarten Cat (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, 2010)
*The Fantastic 5&10 Cent Store (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, 2010)
*First Dog's White House Christmas (Sleeping Bear Bress, 2010)
*Skywriting: Poems in Flight (Creative Editions, 2009)
*Spot the Plot! A Riddle Book of Book Riddles (Chronicle, 2009)
*The House (Creative Editions, 2009)
*The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, 2009)
*Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year (Little, Brown, 2009)

Voila! Isn’t this a fun way to celebrate poetry, poets, and our poetic connections? What other poems does this poem make YOU think of? Tag. You’re it!




Next up: X. J. Kennedy




Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Image credit: http://www.jpatricklewis.com/photos.shtml;newyorkoggi.com