Category: Poetry (Page 2 of 4)

April #InkRipples: Playing with Poetry

April 4, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Poetry is one of the first types of literature we are exposed to as children. We hear it in songs, in rhyming pictures books, and even in the non-rhyming picture books whose cadence and structure are similar to poetry. One of The Boy’s favorite things to do is pick words (some nonsense ones) and rhyme them. He enjoys doing this activity for what can be an annoyingly long length of time!

One of the first ways young people express themselves both verbally and in written form is through poetry. I think this is because it has an interesting blend of structure and room for creativity and riffing. You can rhyme, but you don’t have to. You can create a haiku (very short and structured) or you can do a free verse poem (pretty much no “rules”). It’s almost instinctual for kids to play with poetry.

Back when I was in college, I applied for an award and one of the questions we had to answer was if you could create a class to be included in the English curriculum, what would it be. In one of my classes from the previous semester, each student had the opportunity to bring in one piece of writing that spoke to us, and almost every single person in the class (a small one of less than 20 students) brought in song lyrics. So I thought it would be cool to have a class called “Song Lyrics as Poetry.” One of my professors who was on the awards committee loved the idea so much, she taught songs lyrics as poems in one of her literature classes.

As an adult, I find myself dabbling in poetry for fun. I included a couple of ballad-style ones in Elixir Bound, I’ve written poems for my kids, and I ink the occasional poem for kids’ magazines. When I used to keep the magnetic poetry (check out this link for some examples) up on my refrigerator, people (of all ages) couldn’t help themselves and would come up with all sorts of poetry fun.

Poetry is a universal language we can all explore and play around with, even if we don’t consider ourselves poets!

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (April is all about poetry), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. Be sure to check out Kai’s and Mary’s posts this month. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

Mommy’s Night Before Christmas

December 21, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

October 2022 Update: If you love this poem, check out the newly revised and illustrated picture book MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Phoebe Cho.

Available now from Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Kobo, and more! Find signed copies on the Purchase Books page.

Mommy’s Night Before Christmas

by Katie L. Carroll

‘Twas the night before Christmas, the kids were in bed

Anxiously awaiting the Big Man in Red;

The stockings weren’t hung (we don’t have a chimney),

We just set them down in front of the TV.

Who am I kidding? The kids weren’t sleeping,

The baby was teething, drooling, and weeping;

The preschooler was playing with a million toys,

Driving his cars and making lots of noise.

Half an hour later, the baby passed out,

His brother went to bed (not without a good pout);

I let out a great big sigh of relief,

Then I looked around and thought, “Oh, good grief!”

The house was a mess, the laundry never-ending,

And there was still that ornament that needed mending.

At least we were done hiding that stupid elf,

Went back where he came from, him and his shelf;

Hours passed, we thought we were finally done;

We found more gifts, the fun had just begun;

We were out of wrapping paper and tape,

Reused gift bags put us back in good shape;

I sat down to relax, put my feet up,

Snuggled into a blanket with my tea cup;

A bang outside roused me to my feet,

I peeked out the curtains, looked down the street.

“I don’t think it’s the neighbors,” Daddy said;

“What? You think it’s Santa in his big sled?”

He went to check it out, shot me a look,

And told me to go back to reading my book;

A minute later, I heard a great yell,

And said under my breath, “What the hell?”

I put on my shoes, grabbed the monitor,

Slipped into a coat, and stomped out the door;

The clear winter night brought no Christmas snow,

Instead moonlight washed the yard in a soft glow;

Daddy stood there staring up at the roof;

I hissed, “What are you doing, you big doof?”

He merely pointed, his face full of fear,

And gave a soft whisper, “It’s a reindeer.”

Now, I haven’t believed since I was six,

Thought surely his eyes must be playing tricks;

Then I heard a stomping and a nicker

That made my heart beat a little quicker;

Looking up, I saw the brown muzzle, red nose,

The Fat Man himself, and I simply froze.

Daddy and I exchanged a look of wonder,

The shock could’ve put us six feet under;

I shook my head and came to my senses,

Glared at Santa, went on the offensive;

“Get off my roof, your reindeer too,” I hissed;

I glared at Santa, feeling really pissed;

He laughed, “Don’t end up on my naughty list.”

Clearly this guy wasn’t getting my gist.

“With all due respect, get the hell out of here;

If you wake my kids, you won’t see next year.”

Quiet as a shadow those reindeer took flight,

Santa whispered, “Merry Christmas and good night.”

Why Do The Humanities Matter To You?

March 19, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Today’s post is discussing a serious matter regarding the defunding of the humanities in my home state of Connecticut. My hope is that you (residents and non-residents alike) will join me in a rallying cry to help the state realize the importance of the humanities. I’m asking that you share in the comments what the humanities mean to you and how they have affected your life.

The situation is that Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has proposed a new 2-year budget that would eliminate funding for the Connecticut Humanities Council, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Community Investment Act. I know most of you who read my blog are of the mind that the humanities matter, but lets reiterate that here, today: the humanities matter. Let’s put human faces on why they matter.

What are the humanities? Stanford University Humanities Center has a wonderful definition on their website:

“The humanities can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience. Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. These modes of expression have become some of the subjects that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella. Knowledge of these records of human experience gives us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to those who have come before us, as well as to our contemporaries.”

So, no, we’re not talking about the physical necessities of life like food and shelter. What we are talking about with the humanities is food for our souls, connection to others, a sense of where we’ve come from and where we’re going as people. They bring us a better understanding of our world, past, present, and future. We’re talking about what it means to be human; the very essence of the word “humanity.”

That’s a beautiful sentiment in and of itself, but let’s get specific about what’s at stake. If the proposed budget in Connecticut is passed, it will cut about two-thirds of the Connecticut Humanities budget. These funds go towards cultural organizations, historical societies, libraries, and educational institutions throughout the state. They support the Connecticut Center for the Book, the Connecticut Book Award, book talks, poetry festivals, and workshops for children.

These are the funds that made THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER possible. The Caper, a collaborative, serialized mystery for middle grade readers, is near and dear to me as I am one of the twelve Connecticut authors who wrote a chapter for it. Once chapter 12 is released in June, any future plans to reach out further to libraries and schools to make the story more accessible and plans to develop an audio book of it will not be realized.

I was lucky enough to teach a writing workshop at a Connecticut middle school through the Caper. Seven sixth-graders in the special education program won the workshop by writing their own chapter for the Caper, and an additional 23 students got the attend the workshop. We talked about where creative ideas come from, and I took them through a writing exercise to help them begin to develop their own creative stories. What an enthusiastic and creative bunch of kids! I was just floored when they shared the ideas that had grown from the workshop.

That was all made possible by support for Connecticut humanities. So now I’m turning to you to bring attention to the humanities in Connecticut. Share your thoughts in the comments and talk about it on social media using #CTHumanitiesMatter, #CTPlacesMatter, and #CTHistoryMatters.

Connecticut residents can e-mail their legislators (find yours here) stating who you are, how the humanities are important to you, and letting them know what activities you participate in that will be impacted. You can also contact Governor Malloy through this link. Join the rally day in Hartford at the state capitol on April 8 (details here).

Now you’re up! Why do the humanities matter? What do they mean to you? I’m hoping to share some of the responses (with the commenters permission, of course) next week on the blog.

Magnetic Poetry for National Poetry Month

April 21, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

April is National Poetry Month, and one of my favorite forms of poetic expression is the magnetic poetry set on my refrigerator. It’s fun because anyone who stops by my kitchen can play and it’s always anonymous, so no need for self-consciousness to hinder your creativity. And here’s the latest set of poems:

a giggle is the voice of the soul (to this I say, “Giggle on!”)

freeze picture moon spark (this is somehow evoking a very interesting image in my mind)

genius on little man (a bit hippieish, but I can appreciate the sentiment)

believe in angel s but know whisper s come from the dark shadow s (note to self: stay out of dark places)

keep a spider brain warm (because nobody likes cold spider brain)

some want bird taste fruit (when I really think about this one, it can mean so many different things…)

to a certain woman that s you (oh, me…why thanks)

How have you celebrated National Poetry Month? (Did you even know we had a National Poetry Month?)

Magnetic Poetry Weather Theme

December 2, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

You many not know this because I haven’t featured guest poetry in awhile, but I have a pretty expansive magnetic poetry set on my refrigerator and I like to show off on the blog what people have been creating. These snippets of poetry have accumulated on my fridge over the last couple of months (spaces have been preserved to show the use of different tiles).

winter woman desire s the ghosts s of too little heart

hard night easy party

cold gray man taste little snow spark s

love rain

ask her not to wet y our past

blue light make s the garden speak in sweet whisper s

play every day

There seemed a weather theme going on with “winter”, “cold”, “rain”, “wet”, and “snow” all being used. I was quite pleased to see that the ever overused “prostitute”, “monkey”, and “manacle” were left in the unused pile this time around.

Here are some more poetic creations from the past: July 2012, February 2012, July 2011, and May 2011. Enjoy! And feel free to share any of your poems in the comments. 🙂