DONKEY

Our donkey calls
at the break of day
Hee-Haw, Hee-Haw
in his donkey bray.

I think our donkey
is trying to say,
Will someone come
to feed me?


     I'm having fun playing with my art supplies again.  I'm not sure my donkey's ears are long enough.  If you had a pet donkey, what would you do with it?  Poet and journalist May Sarton had a pet donkey.  She has written a book about him,  The Poet and the Donkey, and many poems.

MONSTER DWIGHT

Monster Dwight,
his head is a light.
Some folks claim
he's not too bright.
When they tease him,
they say he's dim.
He doesn't let 
it bother him,
he just turns up his light.
In a power outage
then you'll see
that his light 
is so handy.


    I'm still having fun with monster poems.  Now I need to go draw a picture to go with my poem.  Have a great Monday.  What are you doing today?  Is there a summer camp you are going to? 

MONSTER FRED

My monster Fred
has a clipboard
for his head.

He jots down
memories
makes lists, doodles,
draws figures and rings,
because his brain
is not too good
for remembering things.


     I enjoy writing monster poems.  I have fun mixing things up to make a monster.
Can you make your own monster poem today?  Close your eyes, turn your head.  Now open your eyes.  What is the first thing you see?  Can you make that part of your monster?  Have fun writing a monster poem.

MAMA QUILTS

Mama is a quilter
she works her quilts
late at night.

She pieces fabric
trying to get
the pattern right.

Adds the blacks
and then the whites.
Sews in the flower
pieces happy and bright.

She finishes her quilt
just as the sun
shows morning light.

Mama is a quilter
she works her quilts
late at night.

     I recently visited my friend Willa Brigham, two time Emmy Award winning host for the educational television show Smart Start Kids.  Willa is a quilter, and I always love seeing the quilts she works.  She has a studio with hundreds, maybe thousands of different kinds of materials for her quilts.   Fabric in all shades of color and texture.  The best part of our visits is bouncing ideas off each other.  Each idea we have creates another better idea and that is a LOT of fun.
    I think the way Willa puts quilts together is a lot like the way I put poems together.  I have an idea of a message or thought I want to convey and I start figuring out what the pieces are that make up the message.  Then I have to decide on the order of the pieces and figure out what to take out.  Along the way I need to see if the poem is going to follow a pattern or be free verse.  It is all a lot of fun for me.
    Your poetry challenge for today is to write your own quilt poem.  If you need some inspiration you might enjoy my friend Maureen Wartski's blog.  She makes art quilts and then writes haiga to go with them.  Have fun.

HAPPY FLAG DAY

The wind blows.
The metal chain
clanks against
the flag pole
and at the top
the colors unfurl
red, white and blue.
Our flag
stands for one nation,
our states
united in liberty,
freedom, truth,
justice.  The flag
of these United States
has a long history.
Each time I see
our flag waving
I think of
more than our flag.
Thanks to you
for helping
to keep 
our country free.

   What do you think of when you see a flag?  Fireworks, baseball games, parades?  Can you write your own "flag" poem today?

TODAY'S POEM

Sometimes a poem hits me
creeps slowly in my mind.
Other times I go searching
for the words that I may find.

I like those bolts of lightning
that go flashing in my brain.
But then I start to wonder
which poems will remain.

Some have words that sparkle
tug heart cords and are held.
Others cause embarrassment
with words that I've misspelled.

But still I like the playing
and the mixing up the words.
So thank you for the reading
and the voices that you've heard.

  Today's post is # 799.  Tomorrow marks 800.  What should we do to celebrate?  Life is a party and we should plan on something fun.  Ah, I know--we could write a poem.  So, today try writing a party poem.  Have fun and save some punch for me.  Happy Thursday.

YOU PROMISED

You promised you would feed me
told your folks it was a deal.
So they gave you me--a cocker
but I've missed too many meals.

You said that you would train me,
take us out for runs and walks.
But you slapped me with the leather leash
no wonder now I baulk.

You said that you would brush me
so I'd have bright shiny fur.
But the brushing never happens,
now my coat is full of burrs.

So many broken promises,
oh what's a dog to do?
I wag my tail to see you
because I love you.



       Do you have a pet you are responsible for taking care of?  It is a big responsibility.  What things do you do for your pet?  For today's challenge, can you write a poem to your pet telling the things you do for your pet, or the things your pet does for you?  What things do you do with your pet?  If you don't have a pet, you can always make one up--that is the fun of poetry.  I think I'm going to make up a pet for myself.  I hope my dog Spot won't be jealous.