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A Poem a Day, and More
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:27:27 -0500
In recent years I've tried to experience at least one poem each day. More, if possible. Not as a task, but rather as something essential to my being. As soon as I realized that I require - yes, require - at least one poem every single day, I began discovering how easy this is to do. Having a book of poems nearby is one sure way, of course. Other ways were mentioned earlier this month. (I've also decided to find ways to incorporate at least one poem in every course session or speech. That's easy, too.)
"The Writer's Almanac" with Garrison Keillor pops onto my computer screen each morning. This isn't my only source of poetry each day, but it's a reliable one, especially if I otherwise have little time for myself. The poets represented in "The Writer's Almanac" during the past few weeks include Alicia Suskin Ostriker, Muriel Rukeyser, R.S. Gwynn, Christina Rossetti, David Budbill, Alberto Rios, William Stafford, Linda Pastan, Jane Kenyon, Muriel Spark, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, John Hewitt, Robyn Sarah, Victor Depta and Debra Spencer. Does this array tempt you? It's easy to sign up for "The Writer's Almanac." Write to newsletter at americanpublicmedia.org
The CCBC website's Link of the Month has probably already been mentioned during this discussion. In case it hasn't, during April the CCBC's Link of the Month is "Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools" sponsored by the Library of Congress and endorsed by Billy Collins. Check on this link by visiting the CCBC website: http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/
During future weeks and months, I expect to reflect on what Lee so passionately and candidly fired off to the CCBC-Net community. Yes, I was one of the people who wrote to Lee directly to thank him for expressing what I also felt needed to be said. I'll be remembering that, and I'll be mulling over what Dean and others replied, as well. While I examine and evaluate some of the newest children's books, Kate and Megan's insights will be important touchstones, too:
Kate: "I do not feel that I qualify as an expert in evaluating poetry, but I am an expert in the feelings that poets can evoke within me."
Megan: "She [Kate] has captured the heart of what we want to encourage in children in their interactions with poetry: 'How does this make you feel?' Or even, 'What does this make you think of?' By offering poetry from the earliest age, and continuing to offer it throughout childhood and young adulthood, I think we can both demystify poetry, and also underscore the power and magic and mystery of language that is never more potent than in a moment when a reader and poem connect."
Megan referred to Naomi Shihab Nye's new collection of original poetry "A Maze Me: Poems for Girls" (Greenwillow, 2005) quoting lines from the final poem in that slim volume: "My mind / is always / open. / I don't think / there's even / a door."
An amazing thought for continued reflection by boys as well as girls, by men as well as women. For us. For me. How about you?
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Sun 17 Apr 2005 04:27:27 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:27:27 -0500
In recent years I've tried to experience at least one poem each day. More, if possible. Not as a task, but rather as something essential to my being. As soon as I realized that I require - yes, require - at least one poem every single day, I began discovering how easy this is to do. Having a book of poems nearby is one sure way, of course. Other ways were mentioned earlier this month. (I've also decided to find ways to incorporate at least one poem in every course session or speech. That's easy, too.)
"The Writer's Almanac" with Garrison Keillor pops onto my computer screen each morning. This isn't my only source of poetry each day, but it's a reliable one, especially if I otherwise have little time for myself. The poets represented in "The Writer's Almanac" during the past few weeks include Alicia Suskin Ostriker, Muriel Rukeyser, R.S. Gwynn, Christina Rossetti, David Budbill, Alberto Rios, William Stafford, Linda Pastan, Jane Kenyon, Muriel Spark, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, John Hewitt, Robyn Sarah, Victor Depta and Debra Spencer. Does this array tempt you? It's easy to sign up for "The Writer's Almanac." Write to newsletter at americanpublicmedia.org
The CCBC website's Link of the Month has probably already been mentioned during this discussion. In case it hasn't, during April the CCBC's Link of the Month is "Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools" sponsored by the Library of Congress and endorsed by Billy Collins. Check on this link by visiting the CCBC website: http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/
During future weeks and months, I expect to reflect on what Lee so passionately and candidly fired off to the CCBC-Net community. Yes, I was one of the people who wrote to Lee directly to thank him for expressing what I also felt needed to be said. I'll be remembering that, and I'll be mulling over what Dean and others replied, as well. While I examine and evaluate some of the newest children's books, Kate and Megan's insights will be important touchstones, too:
Kate: "I do not feel that I qualify as an expert in evaluating poetry, but I am an expert in the feelings that poets can evoke within me."
Megan: "She [Kate] has captured the heart of what we want to encourage in children in their interactions with poetry: 'How does this make you feel?' Or even, 'What does this make you think of?' By offering poetry from the earliest age, and continuing to offer it throughout childhood and young adulthood, I think we can both demystify poetry, and also underscore the power and magic and mystery of language that is never more potent than in a moment when a reader and poem connect."
Megan referred to Naomi Shihab Nye's new collection of original poetry "A Maze Me: Poems for Girls" (Greenwillow, 2005) quoting lines from the final poem in that slim volume: "My mind / is always / open. / I don't think / there's even / a door."
An amazing thought for continued reflection by boys as well as girls, by men as well as women. For us. For me. How about you?
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu
Received on Sun 17 Apr 2005 04:27:27 PM CDT
