Poetry Month!

April has begun! And with that comes National Poetry Month & my friend’s AWESOME challenge to write a poem everyday. She has a fabulous blog where you can play along and learn a new poem form (or refresh and old) every day!! It’s never to late to start & you can always just hop in or even play catch-up! Here is yesterday’s since I didn’t get it posted!

First, the link to her instructions for Day 1 – She chose the Japanese form Dodoitsu. One thing I love is that she not only gives instructions, but the history of the form as well! Super cool!

Before I post my little poem, I want to give a little head nod to my dad – he inspired this one! When we were little he’d made up a cute little rhyme about two little fingers looking for a tickle. His fingers would walk up and down our arms or legs until he “found it!” and tickled us. Oh, we just loved it. And, of course, I’ve passed it on to my kids. So, here is my Dodoitsu, inspired by my father’s rhyme:

Two little fingers walking
all about, looking for that
silly spot, hiding ’bout… here!
Giggle, giggle, squeak!

 

 
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. Thanks so much!

Last day of National Poetry Month & a long ago goal fulfilled

A long time ago – not too long after I started this blog – so probably at least 10 years, maybe more – I wrote a children’s poem. I always wanted to make it longer – long enough that I could turn it into a children’s picture book some day. Well, for today, Day 30, our challenge from the amazing Stephanie was Free Choice – whatever we wanted to wrap up this amazing month.

I decided, what better way close out this month’s challenge, than to finally finish that poem I started so many years ago. Someday became today. It was no small feet – I had a mere 6 stanzas written and I needed 10 more – and a title! I’m still not sure I love the title, but for now it will do. And now to close out this fun month of poetry I present:

Child’s Play

by Julia Wagner

In my imagination
I rule as would a king.
Each day a new adventure,
a fresh surprise will bring.

I am a fearsome pirate
upon the stormy seas,
sailing in my gravy boat
across the Bay of Peas.

I am a knight in armor,
riding for my lady fair.
Upon my head a helmet pot,
my stallion is a chair.

I am a cunning archer
in my Lincoln green.
I hit the bulls eye every time
with my stick and string.

I am a mighty dragon,
breathing flames both far and near.
The table is my cavern
all who pass go by in fear.

I am a western cowboy,
Daddy’s boots upon my feet.
I can’t see beyond my hat,
But with my lasso, I’m elite.

I am a brave explorer,
Dodging lava on the ground.
Leaping from pillow to pillow
In one enormous bound.

I am a race car driver,
Zooming down the track.
In my painted cardboard box,
All world records, I will crack.

I am a clever wizard
With my chopstick wand.
And if you make me angry,
You’ll be a frog in my pond.

I am a train conductor-
Kitchen chairs all in row.
“All aboard! All Aboard!”
Listen to the whistle blow.

I am a superhero,
My blanket is my cape.
Fighting off the villain,
I keep my dad in shape.

I am a wild jungle man,
Swinging through the trees
And hanging from the bars up high
With all the other monkeys.

I am a secret agent,
Red yarn lasers fill the hall.
I can make it through them
If I somersault and crawl.

I am a mad scientist
In my mom’s lab coat.
I can make a bubbling volcano
And a mind control remote.

I am a spaceship captain,
Hurtling through the stars.
I’ll land my cardboard rocket
On Jupiter and Mars.

In my imagination
I rule as would a king.
Each day a new adventure,
a fresh surprise will bring.

*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.

National Poetry Month – Days 28 & 29

We’re almost to the end folks!

Day 28

Cinquain pattern 3 – you can read about it here It’s a fun short little poem that I’ve come to enjoy over the years.

Practice

by Julia Wagner

Practice
Continued, Arduous
Halting, correcting, developing
Beauty accomplished
Music

Day 29

Bio Poem – there are lots of different formats & styles of Bio & About me poems – frankly I dislike them ALL – I just don’t really care to write about myself – writing in my journal is one thing, but poetry? Poetry about myself just makes me cringe. No reasonable explanation why. However, I believe in accepting every challenge put before me when I commit to doing something (unless it goes against my standards and what I believe in of course), so I did what I often do when I am in uncomfortable situations, asked to do hard things, or just plain doing something I don’t care to do – I crack jokes, try to find a way to make it fun, or laugh my way through.
So here is my SILLY bio poem (you can read about the details for this particular Bio Poem form HERE)

Moi

by Julia Wagner

Julia
Goofy, spoofy, and poofy
Enjoys dancin’ and shakin’ her booty
Able to make a smoothie that’s frutie
Feels like she’s having a hootie
Wonders how she bagged such a cutie
Fears she may fail her duty
Cares that her family’s not snooty
Dreams of mountains, and meadows, and beauty.

*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.

National Poetry Month Day 27!!

And on the 27th no less!! I know –

SHOCKING!!!

Okay, today is Terse Verse – basically 2 line riddles with rhyming answers – so addictive and fun to write!! I made up a ton some worked and were pretty funny (they will be posted) others were quite lame (they didn’t even make it into my notebook, lol) For the reules of Terse Verse go HERE.

*A note before we begin: Please, even though these are “jokes” or “riddles”, they are still my creation – if you wish to share them, please keep my name attached. Thanks in advance!!

PSA: I am a mom to 3 boys, keep that in mind as you read these poems (ahem)

Terse Verse Poems

by Julia Wagner

What do you call a hyper primate?
Spunky Monkey

What is a large serving of beans?
Farter Starter

What do you call a dirty diaper (especially in Britain)?
Crappy Nappy

What is another name for your nostril?
Snot Slot

And One Terse Verse poem

by Paul Wagner (the amazing husband)
What do you call a matchmaker?
Twitterpater Instigator

*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.

30 Days of Poetry day 12

Today’s poem form is a Nonet – a 9-lined poem you can learn about over at Stephanie’s blog – they’re quite fun, you should give it a try!!  Here’s my “experiment” – lol

In the Name of Science

(nonet)
by Julia Wagner

“What happened to my science project?
One more week and it would have glowed!
And where’s my bacteria
culture? I could have cured
the cough and cold.”
Shaking my head,
I sigh. “I
cleaned the
fridge.”

And here’s an older favorite – Though I enjoy writing various types of poems from the silly to the serious, my favorite are silly kid poems.

My Evil Twin

by Julia Wagner

It wasn’t me, it couldn’t have been
It must have been my evil twin
She looks like me, wouldn’t you know
but the things she does fill me with woe!

For I would never drink milk from the jug
with a chug-chug-chug-a-lug
And I would never bounce my ball
and knock down pictures in the hall.

I wouldn’t snitch a cookie from the jar
or hide mom’s keys to the car
I would never pinch my sister
I don’t know where she got that blister.

I wouldn’t feed my veggies to the dog
or water plants with your eggnog.
I would never dye the cat
though blue fur looks cool like that.

My brother’s finger is not a carrot
that bite mark must have been a parrot.
“Where’s the parrot,” you ask me?
Catch my evil twin, you’ll see.

I really couldn’t tell you why
My brother ate that mud pie.
And I don’t think we’ll ever know
what happened to the cookie dough.

I wish I could help, I really do
But I really haven’t got a clue.
It wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been.
It must have been my evil twin.

*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.

30 days of Poetry Day 11

Today’s poetry form was a quintain – a five line poem – of which there are several forms and variations. You can read about it at Stephanie’s amazing blog.

I decided to try several:

first a Gogyohka inspired by a joke I told my husband and his parents last night – oh how we laughed! I found it fit the poem for perfectly!

A Lesson to Husbands

by Julia Wagner

A good husband
is like a bra
supportive
uplifting
and adjustable when needed

Next I tried my hand at a Yadu – a five-line Burmese climbing poem

Dance of Spring

by Julia Wagner

Lightning streak snaps,
thunder claps, then
rain taps my nose,
soaks my clothes. I
decide to dance – why stay dry?

And finally I did a quintilla – well, I did two and two together is apparently a Copla Real

Childhood Adventures

by Julia Wagner

Sail with me in my cardboard boat-
We’ll plunder seas beneath the trees,
fight the sinister billy goat,
and capture gold from bumble bees.
We’ll storm the castle cross the moat

To demand cookies from the queen
with “pretty-please” and “thank you, M’am”
(we don’t want her to think us mean).
We’ll escape o’er the beaver dam
then sail back home across the green.

*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.

A Poem or Two

So, April is National Poetry month and I have an awesome friend who runs a blog and challenges us all to write a poem every day – often I skip several days and then write 3-6 all at once, lol. Anyway, I rarely write poetry anymore – two times a year really, April & August/September when a different friend does a postcard poetry month.

Even though I prefer writing and working on my books, I enjoy writing poems and I feel like the process of writing poetry helps me to be a better writer. Anyway, in an effort to share more – and post more frequently on my blog, I am going to post the poems I write through out the months – who knows, maybe I’ll feel inspired to write a poem at other times of the year!

If you would like to join in this April writing a poem everyday, check out my friends blog it’s never too late to start!! – you can start at day 1 or hop in right here with day 10

I’m not going to post all the ones I’ve done so far this month, I’ll post today’s and a favorite from some time past.

So today’s poem form was a “What if…I might” form and the link right up there will tell you all about it & what you need to do!

Here’s mine:

What a Trip!

by Julia Wagner

What if my children picked up their toys?
I might walk with ease and poise.

What if the sidewalks weren’t cracked?
I could keep my knees intact.

What if I didn’t trip over air?
I wouldn’t need this wheelchair.

Don’t you wish you were graceful like me?
(Hey! Watch out for that tree!)

And an old favorite:

Fall Delights

by Julia Wagner

I picked a bright red apple
fresh from off the tree
and rubbed it on my sleeve
till it was clean and shiny.

With a crunch I sunk my teeth
through its crispy skin
and dashed away the juice
that dribbled down my chin.

My nose scrunched,
my lips quivered,
something on my
tongue shivered.

It wasn’t apple
skin or juice.
I think my face
turned chartreuse-

For dangling from my apple
was a little worm
mourning for its other half
which made my tummy squirm.

*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.

A Can of Worms

I know I’m opening a BIG one….
but here it is:

WHY I DON’T LIKE THE TWILIGHT SERIES

(ie: all the books beyond the 1st one)

I don’t mind the re-invention of the vampire & that they sparkle – hey, way to make it your own

I don’t mind that it’s “easy reading”

I don’t mind that it revolves around high school – hey I love YA, I read mainly YA, I write YA

I love the love story, the family ideals, and all that stuff

All the controversy about the anti-feminism whatever just makes me roll my eyes

All the controversy over how she got pregnant on the honeymoon makes me roll my eyes even more

I don’t care about any of that..

So, why does it make my stomach turn?

Because I can’t stand whiny heroines, number 1.

I spend an entire day listening to my children whine about one thing or another – and when I was in high school (because, I know, this is written for teens) I spent plenty of time listening to whiny peers – the last thing I want to do is escape into a book where I feel like slapping the main character upside the head and telling her to forget herself.

And number 2 – here is the big one – the number one clincher that made me hurl the book across the room and dent the wall with it (aside from not getting my big fight at the end – hey, I like me a big fight on occasion)

Bella doesn’t grow up, she doesn’t really change as a character and not only that, but she gets everything she wants with no sacrifice.

She gets her man.

She gets to transition to being a vampire with no problems at all.

Not only does she get one uber special vampire gift, she gets TWO!

Because the transition to the whole vampire thing is so easy, she doesn’t have to leave her family behind, she gets to live in a perfectly sculpted world that she doesn’t deserve – and yet I’m sure she’ll still find a way to whine about it.

I know it’s a book.

I know it’s not real life.

But there has to be a thread of reality – and I can’t suspend my belief that far.

Every good and great thing comes at a price or with a sacrifice – it has to, or we won’t cherish it.

Some sacrifice love for money or some money for love. You can have both, but there will be a sacrifice in that somewhere, somehow along the way. I have made many sacrifices for my love and family and they have made many for me.

So, why is it a big deal to me? It’s just a book….

Well, books teach, and I think we aren’t doing the rising generation any favors by encouraging them in the belief that they can have everything they want without any effort, toil, tears, or sacrifice. I think as authors we have an obligation to encourage our readers to grow and develop. We should create heroines and heroes that they want to emulate that have good, strong characteristics and are willing to forget themselves for the betterment of others.

Character flaws are essential in creating believable characters, but we need to give our heroes and heroines a way to learn from them, grow from them and conquer them. Bella had so many opportunities to change and improve herself, especially as she became a Mom (and I know she had phsyical sacrifice there to some extent) but even then she remained flat and rather self-centered.

Yes, I know plenty of people who exhibit the same traits as Bella, but they are not traits I want (or want my children) to aspire too – they are not traits befitting a heroine that one should aspire to be like. And even after she receives all she ever wanted I can’t help feeling that she doesn’t seem grateful at all – she simply seems to accept it as though that was the way it was supposed to be.

You may think that what we or our children read has little impact on us or them, but I think it does. Most won’t recognize the lessons one way or another, but the lessons are there for good or for ill. These lessons are taught and learned whether or not we choose to acknowledge or even recognize them. Some are wise enough to see them and avoid the pitfalls, but some won’t be.

I believe we have a moral obligation to  show how people can learn and better themselves – how our choices have consequences good and bad, how if we want something great – we must sacrifice something great.

If Bella had even had to struggle a bit with her vampire change, or realized that her incessant whining wasn’t cool, then I would have been able to see past the other many flaws. But, I can’t see past flaws that encourage a failing society to fail further.

So, I will continue to enjoy the first Twilight book (Bella’s not so bad in that book)- because I do, my copy is dog-eared and worn from late night escapes, but for me the series ends there, because then I can pretend she turned into the Bella I wanted her to be.

P.S. Feel free to discuss, but please don’t bash and if you are rude or use inappropriate language I will delete your comment.

Missing You – 100 WCGU #63

 I finally got my act together and hopped in on

this one!  The prompt this time is:

“and winter will bring”

Should you like to read more entries or participate, you can click the picture above and it will take you to the list of stories, etc.

Missing You

The chilled air settles into my bones
and pinches my longing heart.
The once crisp orange-gold cloak
upon the ground has turned dead-brown.

It’s nearly winter,
and winter will bring
empty holidays with mere
echoes of your laughter
joining with ours.

And winter will bring
snow – a kiss of your angel breath
upon my cheeks;
and the rosied noses of children
will wink at me as they
make a row of angel Lizys
across the lawn,
and I’ll smile, though my heart falters,
wishing you were here.

And winter will bring
the hope of spring mingling
with my tears, making the
lilies grow.

Just a Bit of Silliness

I love writing games. 

Of course, I love writing.

My favorite writing game is the one where you write a little bit and fold the paper covering everything but a one or two word lead in. The results can be absolutely hilarious.

Friday night Paul and I were on one of our famously fun dates.

Only, it wasn’t as famously fun as usual because we forgot to bring a card game with us.

We almost ALWAYS play a card game or something on dates – especially when we’re eating out –

but we’ve been known to play just about anywhere…

waiting for a movie to start…

waiting in a really long line for something…

waiting for contractions to kick in and get that baby outta there…

Just about anything that takes any amount of waiting requires a card game

which results in LOTS of LAUGHS

and strange looks from many people – which make us laugh even harder.

Only, Friday night we forgot the game.

BUT

I had a pad of paper and I found out that my Husby likes to make up stories – write stories

We’ve been married 14 years and I did not know this!

Shame on me.

(Apparantly he said he doesn’t mention it because he has no time to give it a whirl, so I’m not COMPLETELY lame – just partially lame)

Anyway, that got me thinking about my FAVORITE writing game…

and I remembered I had a pad of paper in my purse.

Well, of course I pulled out that pad of paper and we got to writing….

The resulting story had us laughing so hard we were in tears and I decided it HAD to be shared…

It’s very short (hey, the notebook has to be small enough to fit in my purse for crying out loud)

My part is in PINK with the lead in words in GREEN

Paul’s Part is in BLUE with the lead in words in GREEN

Remember, we don’t see anything that the other person has written except for the lead in words.

Alice stood on the porch railing trying to balance herself.  She grabbed the toothpick and broke it in two. Now he had nothing to poke into her nose to get the rock out. She pressed one nostril and blew. The stone flew across the grass and hit John square in the forehead. He laughed at the attempt to keep him restrained. Nothing could stop him now. His goal was in sight and she gasped in dismay. The love of her life disgraced forever. What could she do? He ran his fingers through her hair and realized it was too late to stop her. The deed was done. Forever would they live lives of love lost.

We decided that we had so much fun with that one we had to do another one. It turned out completely warped and rather funny too…

The sun was setting as Randy strode into the yard. He could not believe the luck he had. His bag burst open and twenty frogs escaped. Desperately he tied his donkey to the hitching post and headed for the house. His mind raced as he tried to think of the place where he had stabbed her big toe. The scar blazed white against her skin, marking her as an undesirable. She had now way to hide her deformity. She must never know the truth. Her life and that of their son depended on his ability to walk on lava. He would never succeed in breaking the curse and bringing equality to the land. He shook his head and took her back inside. As they entered the house he thought he heard a distant rifle shot. It might already be too late. Now she had no choice.

Personally, I just like the idea of John being restrained by a nostril flung pebble….

that’s just pure

AWESOMENESS

right there!