2007_12_01_archive

Moving poetry

My apologies for disappearing! I've been going through a major life

change: MOVING. In the space of a few weeks, we sold our home (in

Grand Prairie, TX where we had lived for 18 years raising two kids)

and moved into the big city (of Dallas, where we're 10 minutes from my

favorite theaters, movies, museums, and restaurants!). Each Friday has

brought a new crisis: first no electricity for two days, then no

Internet for four days! EEK! Things are headed toward normalcy now and

it's time to get back on track with poetry. I've actually been reading

a lot of poetry during this time as part of the Cybils award (I'm on

the poetry subcommittee; stay tuned for news); it's the perfect

antidote.

As I looked for a poem to fit my current circumstance, I remembered a

lovely picture book collection that came out a few years ago: My House

is Singing by Betsy Rosenthal, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine.

Each poem captures an aspect of the "places and spaces that make a

house a home" against a backdrop of Chodos-Irvine's colorful,

sculptural collages. Using a variety of poetic forms, including

rhyming and free verse forms, Rosenthal touches on details that

children notice in the laundry room, the smoke detector, the

refrigerator, the vacuum cleaner, the kitchen, special cubby-holes,

the doorbell, the back door, and more. The following poem example

gives the book it's title and captures some of my own thoughts my

first night in my new home:

My House's Night Song

By Betsy Rosenthal

Listen closely.

Can you hear?

Heater whooshing out

warm air.

Blinds flapping

Floors creaking.

Clocks ticking.

Faucet leaking.

Dishwasher clicking.

Pipes pinging.

Listen closely.

My house is singing.

From: Rosenthal, Betsy. R. 2004. My House is Singing. Illustrated by

Margaret Chodos-Irvine. San Diego: Harcourt.

It's time for me to re-join the Poetry Friday Round Up-- which is

hosted this week by Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect.