Poetry Friday: “Flashlight Night” advance peek!

What better month to showcase my debut picture book than National Poetry
Month?? Even though it’s not a book of poetry, it is still a very “poetically-written” sort of book, and I’m so thrilled to have received something we call f&g’s (folded and gathered) in the mail yesterday.

These are like advance review copies, although they are loose pages and not bound. But they are a great way to see the finished product before final production gets underway…and I’m stunned at how beautiful it’s looking!

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Are you ready??

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Be sure to click the image to enlarge…

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…and believe me, you’re going to want to enlarge…!

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Hasn’t illustrator Fred Koehler done an amazing job? I also have to give credit to the book designers at Boyds Mills Press for creating a partial glossy cover – most of the cover is a matte finish, but the flashlight beam is glossy, which really makes the cover stand out. I couldn’t be more proud!

Flashlight Night (Boyd’s Mills Press) hits bookshelves Sept. 5, 2017!

Pre-orders are available now by clicking the image of the cover to the right, or if you prefer, you can wait til Sept. 5 and purchase it at your favorite local bookstore.

(Good grief, this is all really happening…)

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As for today’s poem, I have two! These are entries in this little month-long writing challenge I call “Poetry…Cubed!” which is based on the premise of the TV show “Chopped!” on The Food Network. 

• Use the 3 images below as inspiration to write a poem – any form, any genre, any number of lines, rhyming or not. Remember, it doesn’t have to be very good- the mantra around here is to #WriteLikeNoOneIsReading! This is all about having fun and spurring creativity.
• The only hitch is that you need to include a reference to all three images in the poem – either via concrete imagery or something more abstract.
• Then email your poem to me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com and I’ll share them here on Fri., April 28. Out of all the poems submitted, one lucky writer will be chosen at random to receive a copy of the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books, 2015).

Ready? Here are your three images (click on any to enlarge):

                 

(All images courtesy of Katherine Esenwine) 

The first poem I’m sharing today is by Linda Baie:

Discovery

Sit. Look long into that bloom.
Place its picture show in your mind,
the first love story.

– © 2017 Linda Baie, all rights reserved

I told Linda the term “picture show” is very evocative, in terms of connecting the photos, and I thought she did a great job with such sparse text.  The second poem is by a writer who wished to remain anonymous – so I was happy to honor his wishes, as long as I could share his poem:

Iris

lens focused,
you opened to
picture-perfect
color, clarity
of vision;
one world
within a single
delicate frame

– © 2017, anonymous

I love how the word “iris” ties all three pictures together (a flower, an eye, and a drive-in movie screen – which needs a camera’s iris to create a motion picture)…that never even occurred to me when I selected these photos.

You’ve still got two weeks left, so send your poem in to Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com before Thur., April 27!

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ALSO: Irene Latham‘s annual Progressive Poem continues! Each day throughout April a different person add a line – until we have a complete, 30-poet poem on April 30!

I won’t be adding my 2 cents worth until later in the month, but it’s fun to follow along and watch the progress; here’s the schedule:

1 Heidi at my juicy little universe
2 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
5 Diane at Random Noodling
6 Kat at Kat’s Whiskers
7 Irene at Live Your Poem
8 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
9 Linda at TeacherDance
10 Penny at a penny and her jots
11 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
12 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
13 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
14 Jan at Bookseedstudio
15 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
16 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy
17 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
19 Pat at Writer on a Horse
20 BJ at Blue Window
21 Donna at Mainely Write
22 Jone at Jone Ruch MacCulloch
23 Ruth at There is no such thing as a godforsaken town
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
28 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
29 Charles at Poetry Time
30 Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids

If you’re still looking for more poetry, Doraine Bennett is hosting Poetry Friday today at Dori Reads, so head on over for the complete poetic roundup!

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