WRITING PROMPT - PERSONA POEM

posted by J.G. Annino

To finish a longer walk than our everyday

neighborhood amble of about 40 minutes, my hubby & I

mosey 40 miles south out of town through pine and oak forest.

There we breathe salt air of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

& also, the earthy aroma of cypress swamp in this park of many habitats.

The shore here at the Gulf of Mexico is sand marsh. And that marsh

and that shore make all the difference, in spring & fall.

For some birds, the St. Marks Refuge is the first

landfall after a punishing migratory haul across water.

And so it was that recently we ventured on an

old path at the St. Marks refuge, old but never before trod by us.

The grassy way was busy with plant & insect inhabitants,

but not with visiting uprights.

                                          c. Jan Godown Annino  all rights reserved

We admired everything, including water lilies opened to the sun

in still pools, the last pom pom bursts of purple thistle spikes

and assorted small yellow and orange beauties.

 We found adult butterflies and juvenile grasshoppers.

When we met one particular critter, I couldn’t help but wonder –

Who are you?

We uploaded the photos from my Canon camera

at home to share with my writing partner, who is also my

dear/near neighbor & a frequent birder. She congratulated us on

spotting a long-distance migratory traveler.

A male, this creature smaller than a robin, had flown

here from winter residency in South America, possibly

Argentina.

After the trip I read that children’s author Laura Shovan 

(THE LAST SIXTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL) suggested the writing prompt of creating a poem in the

voice of an object, or in the voice of something living, by using an image

and not memory. I was glad I had the photo image.

This is the work-in-progress, revised two times.

                                                                                   c. Jan Godown Annino all rights reserved

Think

by J.G. Annino

Dear bird watcher,

Ah! You saw a flash, pale yellow

I heard you - What a pretty fellow

Do not think me here for show

I face treacherous miles to go

While you watch me on this spent thistle

Think – he had to stop and wet his whistle

Think - what other creatures has he seen

Think – what is his perch,  when humans dream

Flash! I lift my wings - I’ve seen seeds

After drink and rest it’s food I need

While wings beat steady steady again

Go write a poem, be my friend

I must fly,

Bob, traveling bobolink

c. Jan Godown Annino 2016

Writing a persona poem brings the writer inside the

head of  a character. I think I may find another

character for a persona poem, soon. Can you see

how it’s a boost to those of us who are always seeking

to understand characters?

Some afterstory

Bob O’Lincoln is the call some birders

attributed to this bird.  Over long time that name

evolved to the lyrical way we say it today.

A tagged bobolink once traveled 12,000 miles in migration.

In a day a bobolink can fly up to 1,000 miles. Without a

suitcase! Bobolinks like rice fields, to glean the grains, such as

in Louisiana &  South Carolina. I feel fortunate to have now seen
my first bobolink.

Sources: Cornell Ornithology Lab online

Wikipedia

My Dictionary

Plus, a thank you chirp for bobolink identification of this photo –

which I took May 7, 2016 on our walk at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge –

chirped out to my birding/writing pal, dear/near neighbor, Ann Morrow.

And two chirps of thanks to Michelle H. Barnes of the delightful

blog Today’s Little Ditty, & to Laura Shovan, for the persona poem prompt.

To learn more: www.michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/

Poetry, promptly!

Poetry, promptly!

by J.G. Annino

Poetry prompts are a way to turn people who don’t

think of themselves as poem makers, into

people who, voila! do write poems.

All it takes is the privacy of your own world

& imagination.

You don’t have to share what you come up with.

But, some day, you may.  Even if you don’t share

it, you will have become a poem maker.

In the meantime, if you are not poem making,

you can enjoy the delicious world of poem reading.

Sylvia Vardell

The queen of organized poetry news online is

poetry editor and anthologist Sylvia

Vardell. She writes & curates an important

blog, Poetry for Children.

In the first months of each year,

Poetry for Children supplies readers

of picture books & writers of them

with a buncha important resources.

One is a list of forthcoming children’s poetry

books for the year.

At that link, Sylvia Vardell
asks if anyone is compiling online

a list of new rhyming picture books for this year.

Have at it!

Lee Bennett Hopkins

If you have read a U.S. children’s picture book poetry

anthology or a poetry picture book

about words, language, or libraries, or babies

or a billion other sweet topics in recent years,

it may have had the magic touch of

Lee Bennett Hopkins.

Here is a generously linked article about

this incomparable children’s poetry icon.

LBH + Renee LaTulippe

If you enjoy reading about the famed poets of

our day and in times past, the conversations

about icons in children’s poetry that LBH &

Renee La Tulippe hold are deep &

uplifting at No Water River.

My first time at No Water River’s interviews

about children’s poets, I felt as if I had attended

an Ivy League seminar, conducted at a Georgia

mountain retreat. Erudite + friendly.

This site is beauty full.

Renee’s love of sharing poetry tips overflows
& has been a cascade of support for me.

Spend some time hunting about.

Today's Little Ditty

You are in good company with the creative
Michelle Barnes. I know because SCBWI
brought us together at a poetry workshop
last year. And I was already a fan of her
blog of interviews with children's poets.
She hosts a monthly party poetry prompt. 
Join in to read & you will likely stay
to write & submit your lines.

David L. Harrison

David L. Harrison is a prolific picture book author

with many fun poetry picture books to his credit. He is a

popular leader of poetry workshops in Honesdale, PA

for the Highlights Foundation.

Who is going in August, from this group of
 Grogger readers & writers?

And closer to home – actually – in YOUR

home - this light-hearted poet also

conducts two monthly Word of the Month

poetry prompts. One is for your students.

And one is for you.  

Irene Latham

A wealth of details on poem making is

yours for the reading at

Live Your Poem, created by poet & author

for adults and children, Irene Latham.

Her two poetry picture books that are brand

new in 2016 are WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON

ANTARCTICA & also, FRESH DELICIOUS.

A big chunk of my writing & thinking time

since last summer’s poetry SCBWI

poetry workshop has flowed around

creating a first picture book
poetry collection. On a theme.
It is near done. (No songs & sangria, yet
 - it will soon be looking for a home…)

This manuscript wouldn’t be nearly ready

to submit today if not for many boosts from

around the poetry & publishing map.

But, I especially want to mention Irene Latham’s

generous tips. 

Laura Shovan

To find a bibbety-bobbity-boo poem making

moment, one best place to nest is with

editor, poet & debut MG author Laura Shovan’s

February prompt- a- day marathon.

And you may want to look for her
2016 novel in verse,
The Last Sixth Grade of

Emerson Elementary School.

There are an abundance of other

children’s poetry sites to visit.

This is but a quick, incomplete, skim.

Poem readers and writers who are involved

with students of all ages check in online

at a weekly a round-robin of articles

posted at their blogs, collected

as Poetry Friday.

A poem is like a warm cloak.

A poem is a bubble of delight.

A poem is a shorter way of expressing deep truths.

I know you can write poems that fit each of the above ideas.

Try it. And keep trying some more…

And then, reward yourself with reading some more.