Day 7 for Senses Poem #NationalPoetryMonth “30 Poems in 30 Days”

So, basically this “Senses Poem” seems like a simple, forthright poem. BUT it is open to a number of variations that can keep you busy for quite some time!! You can have lots of fun with this poem. 

There is no need to worry about rhyming or counting syllables, although it does have other requirements (basically just to “fill in the blanks”) and it can be pulled together in several ways – try each of them, if you wish, or just choose one way to share your poem.

So first, everyone is familiar with the “FIVE SENSES” ~ sight, smell, hear, touch, and taste. 

But many have argued that there are SIX SENSES if you consider your mind ("I think") as one of the senses. 

Hence, we are writing a FIVE SENSES and/or SIX SENSES POEM today!! Cheers!!

Chose a topic and describe it using each of your six senses, one per line/

Here is a SIX SENSES format to follow, BUT feel free to rearrange the order the various senses you use to describe your object/topic.

1     I see ____________________________

       I smell ___________________________

3     I hear ___________________________

4     I feel (as in touch) __________________

5     I taste ____________________________

6     I think ____________________________

Here’s a way to change things up a bit – and it works well if you only want to write about the FIVE SENSES – you can change “I see” to "It looks like," etc.

1     It looks like (instead of I see) _________________

2     It smells like _______________________________

3     It sounds like (instead of I hear) _______________

4     It feels like _________________________________

5     It tastes like ________________________________

So, you CAN just leave it like it is once you fill in the blanks (in any order using either five or six senses). That will give you a great poem by just doing that.

OR you can remove most of the PRONOUNS, VERBS, and ARTICLES and get a new effect.

Think of a place that is special. Form an image in your mind of this place. Then complete the following statements.

Here’s one example, taken step-by-step.

(I grew up in southern California and would go to the beach every chance I got)  . . .

First – fill in the blanks:

      I see ______________   the breaking waves

      I smell _____________  the seaweed-tinged air

      I hear ______________  the seagulls squawking overhead

      I feel (as in touch) ____  the wet sand squishing between my toes

      I taste ______________  the salty ocean water

      I think ______________  I’m back in my childhood heaven

OK, so,  here's how it looks by just filling in the blanks: 

   I see the breaking waves

   I smell the seaweed-tinged air

   I hear the seagulls squawking overhead

   I feel the wet sand squishing between my toes

   I taste the salty ocean water

   I think I’m back in my childhood heaven

© 2017 Stephanie Abney

And that makes a nice poem BUT, if I remove most of the pronouns, verbs, and articles, then I get this one; also a very nice poem:

breaking waves

seaweed-tinged air

seagulls squawking overhead

wet sand squishing between my toes

salty ocean water

my childhood heaven

                                         

                                                                                            © 2017 Stephanie Abney

                                                      

And that makes a new version of the same poem and it’s pretty cool as well. 

Experiment with the different ways you can approach this type of poem. And just have fun!! Cheers!! Enjoy!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work. 

Day 19 - 2015 How to Write a Cinquain Poem (Pattern One) for #NationalPoetryMonth “30 poems in 30 days”

Cinquain Poem ~ there’s more than one style of cinquain poem – so we’ll call this “Pattern One.”

Cinq is French for FIVE ~ this poem has five lines that follow a specific pattern.

This is a short five-lined poem that doesn’t have an actual title; rather, the FIRST line (one word with 2 syllables or two 1-syllable words) becomes the title. Each line starts with a capital letter but has no ending punctuation. It does not rhyme and in this version you count the number of SYLLABLES per line and each line has specific requirements. The first line has 2 syllables; each line increases by 2 syllables until the last line, which returns to 2 syllables:

1^st line ~ two syllables – the subject (or title) or your poem

2^nd line ~ four syllables that describe the title/subject

3^rd line ~ six syllables that express action

4^th line ~ eight syllables that express a thought or feeling

5^th line ~ two syllables synonym for title (restates your subject using a different word)

Be sure to COUNT OUT the syllables for each line. I love this style poetry and wanted to share a couple of poems I wrote years ago:

Comfort

Feeling secure
Where judgment has no place
Wrapped in the safety of your arms
Husband

Stephanie Abney ~   © 1998

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Children
A gift from God
Grace our lives for a time
Remain in our hearts forever

 Precious

Stephanie Abney ~   © 1999

Please remember – any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments section of this blog. They are the property of the person who shares them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them in any form without their express permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to it. Thanks!! 

And if you choose to post your poems on your own blog – that’s awesome. But please don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem and LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to read the instructions. Thanks for respecting my work.

DAY FIVE ~ “Cinquain Poem” (PATTERN ONE) for “30 Poems in 30 Days”

This is one of my FAVORITE forms of poetry - sweet, simple and to the point.    
                                                             

Cinquain Poem ~ there’s more than one style of cinquain poem – so we’ll call this “Pattern One.”

Cinq is French for FIVE ~ this poem has five lines that follow a specific pattern and THAT’S why I chose it for Day Five!!

This is a short five-lined poem doesn’t have an actual title; rather, the FIRST line (one word with 2 syllables) becomes the title.

It does not rhyme and in this version you count the number of SYLLABLES per line and each line has specific subject matter requirements. The first line has 2 syllables; each line increases by 2 syllables until the last line, which returns to 2 syllables:

1^st line ~ two syllables – the subject (or title) or your poem

2^nd line ~ four syllables that describe the title/subject

3^rd line ~ six syllables that express action

4^th line ~ eight syllables that express a thought or feeling

5^th line ~ two syllables synonym for title (restates subject using a different word)

EXAMPLES ~ here are 4 cinquain poems I wrote - two today and two a number of years ago. BE SURE THAT YOUR WORDS MATCH THE PURPOSE OF THAT LINE AND THE NUMBER OF SYLLABLES!! HAVE FUN!! ENJOY!!

Happy

Feeling joyful

A smile that endures

Whether in good times or bad times

Content

Stephanie Abney ~   © 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oranges

Fragrant delight

Juice running down my chin

Sticky bites of satisfaction

Sunshine

Stephanie Abney ~   © 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Children
A gift from God
Grace our lives for a time
Remain in our hearts forever
Precious
Stephanie Abney ~   © 1999

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comfort
Feeling secure
Where judgment has no place
Wrapped in the safety of your arms
Husband
Stephanie Abney ~   © 1998

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn ~ give it a whirl - just pick out anything you are thinking of that is a two-syllable word, follow the pattern and see where it takes you. Feel free to post your poem in the comments, on your FB wall, your personal blog AND hopefully, in a poetry journal!! [You can follow me on Twitter by using @AbneyAuthor] Cheers!!

 

I Want to Dance with a Boy!! (redux)

When you come to someone's blog - you never know what you might find. I have a few favorites and since my recent article has caused several new viewers to show up and I thought it would be fun to share a couple of my favorites: Hope you enjoy "I Want to Dance With a Boy" ~ it's cute, fun and has a quite a lesson taught by a 3-year-old girl.

"I Want to Dance with a Boy!"

Our precious and precocious granddaughter, Taylor (Kaci’s daughter), is a constant source of many funny and delightful experiences and comments. At the tender age of 3 (she turned 7 in April) she attended her first “Ball”… it was the “Colonial Ball” held at the school I was teaching at every February. She even wore her “princess dress.” 
  


On the way to the dance, Taylor made it very clear to us that it was her wish to “dance with a boy.” We told her she could dance with grandpa but no, she wanted to “dance with a boy.” Her mind was made up.

Taylor’s eyes lit up with excitement as we entered the school’s multipurpose room that had been transformed for the night. She was impatient about getting her dance so I found a very fine young man, about 14 years old (we were a K-12 campus) and asked him if he would dance with my granddaughter. He was so sweet. He smiled, squatted down to her level, spoke to her for a moment, took her hand and escorted her to the dance floor. Holding both of her hands, they swayed back and forth in some fashion of a two step and then he turned her around a couple of times. Before the song was over, she walked away and came over to where Jim and I were sitting, “Grandma, I need a smaller boy.” 


I found one of my students, a very handsome 7-year-old named William. I introduced him toTaylor, informing him that this was my granddaughter and she wanted to dance. He said, “OK,” and they were off to the dance floor. Taylor smiled from ear to ear as she danced with her “prince.”


Taylor made many friends that night and had a marvelous time. When the Hokey Pokey began, she watched from the sidelines with us. It looked like too much fun to just stand there so she simply joined the others, squeezed into an available spot and began to copy the actions of the other dancers.



Taylor may be young, but she is fearless, determined, and bright and she intends to get what she’s after. She knew exactly what she wanted before she ever entered the dance. When what I offered her was not what she wanted, she clearly made it known what she needed, “a smaller boy.” She’s no wall-flower and I pray her attitude never changes.

There is much we can all learn from Taylor: Know what you want and have a clear mission statement about it: “I want to dance with a boy.” Don’t quit until you get what you want, even if it means making adjustments (“a smaller boy”). Don’t stand on the sidelines of life, walk right over to where the action is … and dance!

Taylor today - age 7

Kids' Poetry & Fractured Nursery Rhymes

Are we having fun yet? Isn’t that what kids always want to know? I think poetry with and for kids is TONZ’ of fun. As a mom, grandmother and former teacher I think poetry really resonates with children. They come up with the most amazing poetry. So, for today – I’m going to give you some resources about where to find kids’ poetry, help with teaching it or just encouraging your own child to write it and also give you some links to places that can help you write poetry for kids. When all of that is done… we will create a poem from one of the many styles that kids love. 

So, if you think you want to know any of the above – continue reading… if you just want the poem form for today … scroll on down to get it. Either way, enjoy!!

OK, first, poems for kids. There are so many writers out there that specialize in writing poems for kids. Just do a search and see for yourself so I’m only going to highlight two or three.

First off, is Charles Ghigna ~ often referred to as “Father Goose” because his poetry for kids is so prolific and so much fun. He is an award-winning author of over 5,000 poems and 50 books for kids. Pretty amazing! Plus, he’s a really nice guy. Check out his website: Father Goose: Children's Author & Poet

Charles Ghigna also offers a very helpful blog - especially for our 30 poems in 30 days: How to Write a Poem: Tips on Tapping into the Magic of Your Muse

Another fun kids’ author, Katie Davis, is celebrating National Poetry Month by hosting a guest author every day on her blog: Katie Davis ~ you’ll want to stop by there every day to see what’s up. (Yesterday’s guest was Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted and numerous other books). Gail Carson Levine

  

Here’s a site you’ll want to bookmark: Poetry 4 Kids, known as Kenn Nesbitt’s Poetry Playground. You’ll find all kinds of help there; lots of links and lots of fun. 

You can do a search to find more links!! 

FRACTURED NURSERY RHYMES ~

In order to do this one, chose a familiar nursery rhyme, notice the rhyming pattern and start changing a few words in order to make it funny. So, don't laugh but here's my sample:

ORIGINAL NURSERY RHYME:

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?
I've been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussycat, pussycat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under her chair.

MY FRACTURED ONE:

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

Well, if you must know, I’m dating the hen

Pussycat, pussycat, what did you there?

We danced 'til her feathers flew everywhere.

You can check out Kenn’s site for some good advice on this. He suggests for “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” – How about “Ride, Ride, Ride Your Bike,” or “Pet, Pet, Pet Your Cat?” Here’s the link to his ideas: How to write a fractured nursery rhyme

                  

He gives these 3 basic steps:

1. Pick a poem or song LIST OF NURSERY RHYMES http://www.smart-central.com/
2. Find the words that rhyme
3. Choose new rhyming words to make a new poem or song

Here’s my next attempt:

ORIGINAL NURSERY RHYME:

Jack, be nimble,
Jack, be quick,

Jack, jump over
The candlestick.

MY FRACTURED ONE:

Jack, be helpful,

Jack, be kind,

Jack, if you’re not,

I’ll spank your behind.

Oh dear – let’s hope you all do better than I.  Have fun!!!

I Want to Dance with a Boy!!

I've been meaning to write this up for some time... I finally did and I think you will enjoy it:

Our precious and precocious granddaughter, Taylor (Kaci’s daughter), is a constant source of many funny and delightful experiences and comments. At the tender age of 3 (she turned 4 in April) she attended her first “Ball”… it was the “Colonial Ball” held at my school in February of this year. She even wore her “princess dress.”



On the way to the dance, Taylor made it very clear to us that it was her wish to “dance with a boy.” We told her she could dance with grandpa but no, she wanted to “dance with a boy.” Her mind was made up.

Taylor’s eyes lit up with excitement as we entered the school’s multipurpose room that had been transformed for the night. She was impatient about getting her dance so I found a very fine young man, about 14 years old (we are a K-12 campus) and asked him if he would dance with my granddaughter. He was so sweet. He smiled, squatted down to her level, spoke to her for a moment, took her hand and escorted her to the dance floor. Holding both of her hands, they swayed back and forth in some fashion of a two step and then he turned her around a couple of times. Before the song was over, she walked away and came over to where Jim and I were sitting, “Grandma, I need a smaller boy.”

I found one of my students, a very handsome 7-year-old named William. I introduced him to Taylor, informing him that this was my granddaughter and she wanted to dance. He said, “Ok,” and they were off to the dance floor. Taylor smiled from ear to ear as she danced with her “prince.”



She made many friends that night and had a marvelous time. When the Hokey Pokey began, she watched from the sidelines with us. It looked like too much fun to just stand there so she simply joined the others, squeezed into an available spot and began to copy the actions of the other dancers.


Taylor may be young, but she is fearless, determined, bright and she intends to get what she’s after. She knew exactly what she wanted before she ever entered the dance. When what I offered her was not what she wanted, she clearly made it known what she needed, “a smaller boy.” She’s no wall-flower and I pray her attitude never changes. 

There is much we can all learn from Taylor: Know what you want and have a clear mission statement about it: “I want to dance with a boy.” Don’t quit until you get what you want, even if it means making adjustments (“a smaller boy”). Don’t stand on the sidelines of life, walk right over to where the action is … and dance!

I laid down on a bed of nails

I guess you really can do anything... given the right reasons and/or the right circumstances. (I'll explain this more as we go along). I'm so tired that I think I'll be asleep for the night by 7:30 tonight. Slowly, we are making our way to the end of the school year and at my school we still have 10 actual days of school left (we come back after Memorial Day). What a journey this first year of teaching full-time has been, particularly at my age (58).

I've loved all the years of substitute teaching and now I have really enjoyed teaching full-time this year as well. I think I was truly supposed to be the teacher for some of these kids. I hope I have been able to give to them what they needed, as they certainly have given me what I've needed. Case in point: every morning I read to the children about someone remarkable and we talk about them and the traits that made that person so amazing so they can learn to model them. The last two days we have been reading about Albert Schweitzer. Anyway, when I finish reading, we discuss it a bit and write some traits and ideas on the board and the kids settle down to write a journal entry about it and then illustrate it. It's amazing what young children can come up with. So, this morning I was at my desk when all of a sudden one of my little 7-year-old boys quietly got out of his seat, walked up to my desk, stood right next to me, leaned his head on my shoulder until our heads were touching, gave me a little squeeze and then slipped back into his seat without saying a word. Yep, that's why I teach.

I've tried to make every day memorable for them. Tuesday was National Limerick Day so we learned about them and tried our hand at writing a couple of them. Yesterday we went to the Science Center and the Planetarium. Today is (in case you were wondering, and why wouldn't you be????) National Dance Like a Chicken Day, so we had a reading comprehension on dancing like a chicken and then I put on a CD with the music, and the whole class did the Chicken Dance. Sat. is the anniversary of the day that Root Beer was invented so tomorrow we are having root beer floats. And so it goes, there is always something to celebrate ~ I see to it. I live my own life trying to celebrate each day. Some days I'm more successful than others.

Back to the Bed of Nails... if you didn't read the title, bet I caught you by surprise!! At the Science Center yesterday, there was a "Bed of Nails" ~ 1,000 of them to be exact, all sharp, but all PERFECTLY lined up. The theory is that if you have all these nails to support and distribute your weight, it doesn't hurt. This is true. I have PLENTY of weight to support and I laid down on it twice and it didn't hurt. Every nail was exactly where it was supposed to be; none of them were trying to be in the limelight and stick up higher or be all insecure and be lower than they should be. Each nail did its part. I found it interesting. Lots of analogies there... every member of a family, a ward, a class, etc. etc. fulfilling their part and being there to support each other. Pretty cool. So, if you've read this far, I guess you deserve proof. So, here it is:

*You gotta' love that stupid sign that says "300-pound weight limit" right under me ~ but I didn't need to worry ~ I'm not there yet!!!!!!!!!

Kind of makes me want to head off to bed now. Nighty night!! Enjoy!

Kids Wall Art ~ TOO FUN!!! A MUST SEE!!

Art can capture a moment, a feeling, a delight or a help you hold onto a memory.

Our daughter-in-law is such a remarkable artist!!

I just wanted to give all of my very savvy friends a head’s up. Matt’s wife, Amy Abney, is a fabulous artist. If you have never seen the lifelike rendition she painted for us of BJ you need to come over and see it if you are in town. You would swear he is looking right into your eyes.

Amy can basically paint anything, but her first love is children’s art and she now has a website up and running. If you are looking for whimsical, visually stimulating artwork for your kids’ rooms, I have the solution!! Even if you aren’t in the market for anything right now you should take a look because you will ENJOY looking and you never know when someone might say they are looking for something like that and then you can come to their rescue and tell them where to go (in a nice way, of course)… send them to the site:

http://www.kids-wall-art.com/

Be sure to click on the different links and scroll down to see samples of what she paints. I’m rather partial to her alien line. Cute, cute, cute. Enjoy!! Love to all!!