Poetry Friday Round Up for Halloween

Welcome to Poetry Friday and my poetry-only blog, PoetryforChildren. I’m honored to host this week’s Poetry Friday Round Up. Please leave a link in the comments area. I'll be rounding up throughout the day. Meanwhile, enjoy this poem for the day by Jane Yolen—I shared this one many year’s ago with my son’s fourth grade class and it was their absolute favorite!

The Magic House
by Jane Yolen

We should have known when we tasted the eaves,
Breaking them off like toffee
And cramming them into our mouths.
And the dear little windows, the color of coffee,
And chocolate doorknobs,
And windowpanes striped with mint.
We should have guessed at the chimney smoke,
White marshmallow fluff.
Taken the hint
From the marzipan bricks
And the fenceposts made of bone rubble.
But it was only when we saw the witch
That we knew we were in deep, deep trouble.

From: Livingston, Myra Cohn, comp. 1989. Halloween Poems. New York: Holiday House. This poem can also be found in Ms. Yolen’s own collection, Best Witches (Putnam, 1989). This poem appears here with the permission of the author. It is not to be published elsewhere without her express permission.

Check out all these poetry-loving blogs today:

Gregory K at Gottabook: An original Halloween poem

Monica Edinger: Five Poems by Nina Lindsay

Julie Larios: An ode to "Pencil Box"

Cloudscome: A review of Hip Hop Speaks to Children at A Wrung Sponge

Stacey at TwoWritingTeachers: At the Pumpkin Patch

Lisa Chellman at UndertheCovers: An original “Hobgoblins” poem

Jim Danielson: “The Halloween Spell”

Sara at ReadWriteBelieve: An original JPL, “Whatever Happened to Oliver Tooke?”

AuthorAmok: Some “Poe-etry” for Halloween

Mary Lee at AYearofReading: “Questionnaire”

Diane at TheWriteSisters: “Witches Chant” to read aloud

Kurious Kitty: “Theme in Yellow” by Carl Sandburg

Tricia at MissRumphiusEffect: “Apple” from Spooky ABC

Laura Salas: A video reading of her original poem

Jama Rattigan: Halloween memories and “Theme in Yellow”

Terry at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub: An original poem, “Ouch”

Janet: A Preamble video

Fiddler at AHabitofReading: A Lucy Maud Montgomery poem

Carol at Carol’sCorner: A “Black and Gold” chant

Jennifer Knoblock at InkforLit: “Cemetery Walk” for All Saints Day

Jone aka MsMac at CheckitOut: An original poem by Jessica, 5th grader

Elaine Magliaro at WildRoseReader: An original political list poem
and at BlueRoseGirls: "Halloween" written by Mac Hammond

John Mutford at BookMineSet: An eerie poem by Ardath Mayhar

Linda at WriteTime: A ghost villanelle

Tracy Marchini: Song lyrics from the Decemberists

Stenhouse Publishers: A classic by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Adrienne at WhatAdrienneThinksAboutThat: "Isabel the Brave" by Ogden Nash

Yat-Yee Chong: "I would like to describe" by Polish poet, Zbigniew Herbert

Alkelda the Gleeful at SaintsandSpinners: A Jack-o'-lantern song with video

Nadine C. Warner at KiddosandBooks: W.S. Gilbert's "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell"

Tiel Aisha Ansari at KnockingFromInside: “Teacup”

Shelburns at WriteforaReader: “Haunted House” by Jack Prelutsky

Little Willow at Bildungsroman: SPOOKY lyrics by Classics IV

Liz in Ink: A Frances Chesterton poem on Day of the Dead

Becky at Becky’sBookReviews: A snippet of Macbeth by Shakespeare

Becky at Farm School: Valerie Worth's "Pumpkin"

Alyssa at TheShadyGlade: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Lorie Ann Grover at OnPoint: An original haiku called “Crows”

Eisha at 7-Imp: One of Edgar Allan Poe's worst poems (IHO)

Kevin Conder: A video of a zombie reading haiku poetry

Susan at ChickenSpaghetti: Citing the witches from Macbeth

Miss Erin: Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”

Sam Riddleburger: An oddball Halloween poem/riddle


Next week’s Poetry Friday round up will be at Check it Out.
In between, don’t forget to vote next Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Picture credits: http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/