Puns, Allusions, and Other Word Secrets by Jennifer Fandel

This book is part of a great new series called Understanding Poetry, and it's the best book I've seen for older kids about poetic devices. The poems that are used as examples are by some of my favorite poets: Pablo Neruda, e. e. cummings, Dylan Thomas, and William Carlos Williams, to name a few. Each book in the series tackles a different set of devices, and with the wonderful examples given it's really easy to see what they're all about.

Poetry Reading a huge success!

Over 60 people attended the poetry reading/book release party at the Westwood Library on May 30. Hats off to all those students who read their poems! Jayne Warren started the evening by reading her first published poem, The Pond, published when she was 10 years old. The 4th and 5th graders were presented with their anthologies, and most of them read their poems. The middle and high schoolers were then presented with their anthologies, and also read their poems. Jayne finished up the evening by reading her recently published poems, Chairlift at Nashoba Valley and The Night Uncle. After such a great success, we can't wait for next year! The kids were very impressive, both in the quality of their poems, and also the poise and confidence they read with.

The poems are in!

We have collected all the poems for the two anthologies, and are in the process of putting together the books. Thanks to everyone who submitted their poems! The books will be available at the (constantly rescheduled) poetry reading/ book release party on Tuesday, May 30 at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited to come and hear kids read their poems. And we'll have food!! Local poet Jayne Warren will read from her recently published works. Here are a couple of poems from new anthologies.

QUAIL (A WINTER ACROSTIC)

Quite an
Uncomparable bird
Always trying to avoid the
Intelligent hunter
Lasting as long as it can

Charles DeAngelis
Grade 4, Hanlon School

SKATEBOARDING

a rush of hot air
across my face
as the cars zoom
left and right!

the thick oily stench
of the gas station
floats above my head

the drab and rusted sign
by the towering fence
my friends are just past it
so I kick into the park

I shut out all the noise
and try to concentrate
as I run up to the top of the ramp

Crash!
I slide back down the pipe
wishing I had never tried it

Max Otsuka
Grade 7, F.A. Day Middle School

Spring

When'er the snows of winter melt away,
The clouds appear more hopeful - joyful, glad
To once again be free to drift and play
In skies of blue, and sunnily be clad;
And even when the rains do fall upon
The earth and drown the world in sadd'ning haze,
Will sunshine sometime bring a brighter dawn
And leave the air to be by sweetness praised;
The trees rejoicingly bring forth their leaves,
Which tell of colors glorious and gay
In all the whisp'rings of the playful breeze,
And Love and Beauty now reclaim the day:
For Beauty's known when spring's first flower blooms,
And Love in sweet air like a rainbow looms.

Stephen Wright
Grade 10

Poetry reading rescheduled again!!

The poetry reading/book release party to celebrate the release of the Westwood Public Library's 2006 Poetry Anthologies has been rescheduled (again!!) to Tuesday, May 30 at 7 pm. Come and hear original poetry being read by local students! Don't worry, we won't reschedule again.

Deadline extended!!

The Westwood Public Library will continue accepting poems for the 2006 poetry anthologies through Friday, April 28, so keep those submissions coming!!

April Poetry Writing Workshop for 4th and 5th Graders

Visiting poet Jayne Warren returns to the Westwood Public Library to give a poetry writing workshop for 4th and 5th graders on Wednesday, April 19 from 3 - 5:00. Jayne led a well-attended workshop during February vacation. Participants will learn how to get started writing a poem, how to edit their work, and will work with different poetic forms. Jayne has published poems in numerous periodicals, and her poem "Chairlift at Nashoba Valley" is included in the recently released anthology Rough Places Plain, Poems of the Mountains. Students are not required to have attended the February workshop. Participants can submit their poems to the library for inclusion in the 2006 Anthology of Original Poetry to be published by the library. Call 781-320-1042 to register, or email us at westwoodpoetry@yahoo.com.

Westwood Library sponsors VOYA teen poetry contest winner: Katherine Horan

Katherine Horan, whose poem,The Accidental Plagiarist, was included in the Westwood Public Library 2005 Poetry Anthology, has been selected as a winner in VOYA's Teen Poetry Contest 2005. The Westwood Library sponsored Katherine's entry in the contest. VOYA, Voice of Youth Advocates, devotes its April issue to poetry, and runs an annual contest. As one of five national winners, Katherine's poem will be included in this year's April issue. She will also receive a cash prize. Congratulations, Katherine!

THE ACCIDENTAL PLAGIARIST

The accidental plagiarist
Should not be utterly dismissed
For his transgression, as it is
Time's Fault for any cheat, not his.
He has a thought, but it's been claimed;
All joys and all emotions named.
The lovers' vows have all been sworn;
It makes a poet quite forlorn.
He can't be blamed for redone rhymes,
Not e'en those writ a thousand times,
For knowledge contains such a store
It seems we're always storing more.
And if a poet seeks to write
A rhyme already brought to light,
The poem will be left, decayed,
When critics cry that it's cliched.
The great ideas died with the greats
And rules were set on granite plates
To make all new works formulaic,
Melodramatic, or prosaic.
A true original idea
Has become wanting on our Gaea.
So ends my little tale of woe,
I'm sure you've heard it elsewhere, though.

Katherine Horan

SEND US YOUR POEMS!!

You have until April 13 to send your original poems to the Westwood Public Library for inclusion in the 2006 Poetry Anthologies. We'll be publishing two anthologies this year: one for middle and high school students, and one for 4th and 5th graders. This is not a contest! All poems submitted will be published - one per student. 30 line limit, family friendly language, please. The books will be available on May 2 and will be presented to the poets at a poetry reading at the library. Don't worry, reading your poem is optional! Send your poems to westwoodpoetry@yahoo.com. Include your full name, grade, school, email address and phone number.

Notes from Jayne Warren's Poetry Writing Workshop

Last Wednesday's Poetry Writing Workshop was a huge success! Here are some notes from Jayne about Fun Forms.

Haiku: A haiku is one of the shortest forms you can write in. It only has three lines: the first has 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the third has 5 (try clapping to count the syllables in a word.) Traditional haikus have some words that relate to a season (snow for winter, rain for spring, etc.)

Example:
Temple bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!

Cento: A cento is a form of poetry in which you put together different lines from a poet. Pick your favorite poet and cut and paste lines until you have something that you like and that makes sense! For more of a challenge, some people use lines from all different poets. Remember though to credit your sources!

Pantoum: A pantoum is a very difficult form to follow, but it is far from the most difficult you can try. I'm putting this here just for those of you who want to try something different and harder - kind of like a puzzle. A pantoum has 4 lines in each stanza (in case you don't know, a stanza is just like a paragraph.) The last and first line of the poem must be the same. Here's where it gets to be harder: the second and fourth lines of the first stanza then become the first and third lines of the second stanza. The second and fourth lines of the second stanza become the first and third of the third stanza and so on. Here's an easier way to look at it: pretend the letters are the lines in the stanza, a, b, c, d. That's the first stanza. Now look at the second and notice what repeats: b, e, d, f. The e and the f lines are your own invention.) In the last stanza you repeat the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza BUT instead of making up your own first and third lines, you take the first and third lines of your first stanza. Confusing, I know. Try looking for an example online are at the library.

Chairlift at Nashoba Valley by Jayne Warren

How still it is; the snow
begins to drop, each flake shifting
like silk. It looks so easy.
The chair, steel and struggling, as bells
struggle to ring. It is meant to last.
Glass rivers under snow, the steel
glints, frayed ends disappearing, dissolve
into cables. Out of sweetness,
out of the core of despair, fear
licks the rim, earth sleeps inside
the mountain. The sky peers
from hiding. In the one house where we are
welcome, sweetness, waiting to become
the unknown. Come as death or pity,
wings beating air against my cheek.

Poetry Writing Workshop

The Westwood Public Library will be offering a poetry writing workshop for 4th, 5th and 6th graders on Wednesday, February 22 from 3 - 4:30. Visiting poet, Jayne Warren, will talk about how she got started writing poetry, her work with poet Barbara Helfgott Hyett and the Workshop for Publishing Poets, and her experiences as a writing student at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA. Participants will do exercises to help them get ideas for writing poems and to express themselves through poetry, and learn how to edit their own work. Jayne has published poems in numerous periodicals, and her poem "Chairlift at Nashoba Valley" is included in the recently released anthology Rough Places Plain, Poems of the Mountains. The participants can submit their poems to the library for inclusion in the 2006 Poetry Anthologies published by the library. Call 781-320-1042 to register.

Poetry Books We Love

A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children edited by Caroline Kennedy and illustrated by Jon J. Muth. I confess that when I first saw this book, I thought it would have the same old children's poets you find in every other children's anthology. I was surprised to see that she included poems by Christina Rossetti, William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop, and even Sylvia Plath! And the illustrations are beautiful. So, it's not just a book for young children; it's good for middle school and high school, too.

Editor (and poet) Liz Rosenberg has a number of poetry books for teens, my favorite of which is Earth-Shattering Poems. It includes a beautiful poem by Pablo Neruda called If You Forget Me, with the lines,

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

I also like her anthology The Invisible Ladder; it's all contemporary poets, and has a short biography of each.

One last book: Unleashed, Poems by Writers' Dogs, edited by Amy Hempel and Jim Shepard. Here's the beginning of Daisy, Five, Speaks to Sophia, Two by Ralph Lombreglia

I was here first.
I'm the real baby.
In a former life, it was me
who was cute, cute, cute.

Poetry Reading May 2

The 2006 Poetry Anthologies will be available at a book release party and poetry reading at the Westwood Public Library on May 2, 7:00 p.m. Come pick up your copy of the book and read your poem! We'll have food!!

CALLING ALL POETS!!

It's time for us to start collecting poems for the Westwood Public Library's 2006 Poetry Anthology of Original Poetry by Middle and High School Students. And because so many younger students have asked us about having their poetry included, we've decided to publish another book, The Westwood Public Library's Poetry Anthology of Original Poetry by 4th and 5th Grade Students.

This year we'll be accepting submissions by email as well as at the Westwood elementary school libraries, the libraries at the Thurston Middle School and Westwood High School, and at the Westwood Public Library. But you don't have to be a Westwood resident!

Send your poem to: westwoodpoetry@yahoo.com. Be sure to include your full name, grade, school, email address, and phone number. 30 line limit, family friendly language, and only 1 poem per student. If you send more than one, we'll pick which one to publish. Poems accepted until April 13.

One Night by Patrick Feeney, grade 9

One night when all was dark as pitch,
The only source of light was that of,
The stars and moon so bright,
Each of them so right,
For a night such as this.

Reprinted from The Westwood Public Library's 2002 Poetry Anthology

Rhyme by Craig Byer, grade 10

There's nothing like a cup of tea,
Sweet and hot made just for me.
It tastes so good late at night,
But I enjoy it most at morning light.

Reprinted from The Westwood Public Library's 2003 Poetry Anthology

Spring Flowers by Alex Jundanian, grade 6

Oh flowers, you wade by the wind,
And stop by open grass meadows.
You stay by the sun, the rain and the moon,
And you also know when it's time to bloom.

Oh flowers, you live and thrive under the bright mid-day sun.
And you take a quiet nap in the shimmering night.
Your bright colors attract many noses,
Especially orchids, daisies, and roses.

Oh flowers, you are so beautiful,
And your petals shine brightly in the daylight.
Your home is to bees and many other things,
And then you know it's time for spring.

Reprinted from The Westwood Public Library's 2004 Poetry Anthology

Dreaming on an Empty Stomach by Carly Moniz, grade 11

Some days, I want to paint the sky in green,
Just to see what color the sun will shine.
And other times I wish to be unseen,
To be forever lost beyond the line.

At noon I'll sail my ships upon the seas,
But row back into shore when I'm too far.
A bee? Who is the queen that I must please?
Will those in front please leave the door ajar?


"The Road goes ever on," a great man said.
Another spoke of two diverging paths.
A map may steer me out of my own head,
But can I face the world and all her wraths?

When I decide to fly and not to crawl,
Will I circle the clouds or will I fall?

Reprinted from The Westwood Public Library's 2005 Poetry Anthology