I told you I was going to share the little stone-poem I put together at the Highlights Foundation poetry workshop I attended a couple weeks ago…and today I’m keeping my word.
Now, first of all, if you have not had a chance to read my ‘review’ of the workshop that I posted on Tuesday, I hope you will take some time to read it. Not only will you better understand what the Highlights workshops are like and why I highly recommend them, but you will hopefully better understand how this poem came about.
As I mentioned in that post, there are hundreds of smooth stones in a small garden near the main building known as The Barn, and each stone has a different word carved on it. These stones are available for visitors to play with and create short phrases and “micro poems” (click to enlarge):
Aside from the fact that this is a really cool idea in and of itself, what makes it even more special is that each of these stones is a river rock taken from the creek that runs through the property…the very creek you see displayed in my blog’s header, above.
So while I was there with the other workshop attendees, I saw a few stones that caught my attention and began scouting around for others that I might be able to use. I would think of an idea, not find a stone with the word I needed, but then would find another stone with a word I hadn’t thought of, and then would need to figure out how to get those word stones to work with each other.
After 10 or 15 minutes, I had come up with something I liked:
So there you go! Nothing too elaborate or earth-shaking, just a little wordplay to conjure up some imagery and exercise that imagination. If you’re looking for more substantive poetry, I encourage you to visit Jama Rattigan at Jama’s Alphabet Soup, where you’ll find a virtual pre-election rally underway – along with today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup!
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BOOK SIGNING THIS SUNDAY!
I’ll be spending some time with my DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR co-author, Deborah Bruss, this Sunday afternoon in Warner, NH to celebrate the Book Birthday of her new book, GOOD MORNING, SNOWPLOW! We’ll both be there starting at 2pm signing books including DINOSAUR, FLASHLIGHT NIGHT, SCHOOL PEOPLE, and the new National Geographic book, THE POETRY OF US.
And to make the event even cooler, the town’s road agent will be on hand to chat with kids about snowplows…AND he’ll bring one of the town’s snowplows with him so the kids can climb inside! (Cool, right???)
Hope you’ll join us, if you’re in the area! Details here!
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Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!
You can purchase personalized signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly ALL of the books or anthologies I’ve been part of!
Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH a note requesting the signature and to whom I should make it out to. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it for you, and then they’ll ship it. Try doing that with those big online booksellers! (Plus, you’ll be helping to support local book-selling – and wouldn’t that make you feel good?)
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Thank you to everyone for your support!
- NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017” AND “Staff Pick!”
- KIRKUS Starred review!
- Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Books!
- “Best Reads of 2017,” Unleashing Readers
- Amazon “Best Books of the Month,” Sept. 2017
- Positive reviews from Horn Book, School Library Connection, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf-Awareness
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.- “Rollicking rhyme!” – Booklist
- “A wild romp!” – Parenting NH Magazine
- “Cute…intriguing…4 out of 5 stars” – Tulsa Book Review
- “Rhythmic…funny and informative” – Unleashing Readers
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Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!
What a great idea to inspire creativity! Love your poem. Now I’m off to read your review of the workshop! 🙂
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Thanks, Kimberly!
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Love the idea of little stone poems — and especially when created in a place of such beautiful, natural inspiration. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for stopping by, Jama!
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Dragons make any poem better, no? They light up any room. 😉
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And they keep you warm!
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I love the word garden! Your found poems are a great way to begin my day.
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Thank you, Jone, thank you!
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I enjoyed each poem, Matt, and agree that ‘sweet dragon screams’ make life better. The stones are wonderful inspiration, I agree.
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Thanks so much, Jone!
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That escalated quickly!
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You have to admit, the concept of “sweet Dragon screams” is such an oxymoron, I thought the contradiction in imagery was pretty intriguing.
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I think this exercise is sheer fun. I have been mentally mixing up your stones to create my fall wish-still working.
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Thanks, Carol!
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What a fun way to create poems–lovely, thoughtful ditties here Matt. At Carl Sandburg’s first home in Galesburg, IL they have his poems on stones that form a curving pathway in the backyard. I think nature always inspires!
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Nature can do wonders, you’re absolutely right. Thanks, Michelle!
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Loved reading the stone poems, Matt, and your sharing about the poetry workshop. Sounds magical. Maybe just holding the stones ,hefting their weight, feeling the smoothness of the shapes was art of the process for you. I’d like to try that! I plan to be in Warner on Sunday!
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Thanks, Joyce! I look forward to seeing you.
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Highlights workshops are magical, especially with Rebecca and Georgia! Love your rocky word play, Matt!
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They are, indeed. That after all these years, it was so nice to finally meet face-to-face!
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You are brave to wish for dragon screams (sweet or otherwise) especially while sleeping alone in a woodland cabin! 🙂 Love the rocky poetry, and I’m sure the workshop was inspiring.
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Very inspiring, as always, Buffy. And I grew up in the woods (heck, I STILL live in the woods!) so dragons are no problem for a country boy. 😉
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Matt, I always thought the stream in your cover photo was part of your backyard! I’m kind of disappointed we didn’t have a haiku tree last year at the Highlights poetry workshop. Maybe next time…
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Were you at Rebecca’s? I thought they said they had a haiku tree last year. I know they’re definitely planning to do it again next year!
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I love the idea of a word garden and am green with envy that you were able to attend a Highlights poetry workshop. I have such an image of you on your creative rocky word search–picking up and discarding words and brewing poetry. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Molly – if you ever get the opportunity to go to one of their workshops, go!
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Wouldn’t it be great to start the day with a rock poem? Love your word selection, and poetry creation. My favorite line though is “raw wisdom rained…”
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