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