SCHOOL BAKE SALE

I am happy to tell you that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong's newest poetry anthology--GREAT MORNING!: Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud--has just been published. I am also thrilled that one of my poems is included in this book!!!

SCHOOL BAKE SALE

by Elaine Magliaro

We're having a bake sale tomorrow at three.

We're raising money for our school's library.

We'll have goodies to sell--goodies galore--

Better than baked goods you buy in a store:

Cranberry muffins and cinnamon rolls,

Pretzels, turnovers, scones, donut holes,

Sweet Danish pastries slathered with jam,

Calzones stuffed with cheddar and ham,

Frosted brownies--fudgy and gooey--

Tart lemon squares--tangy and chewy--

Flaky fruit pies bursting with berries,

Peaches, apples, rhubarb, and cherries,

Coconut cream cakes, cookies, and more!

We'll have goodies to sell--goodies galore.

Come to our bake sale tomorrow at three!

Help us raise money for our school's library.

Check out Sylvia Vardell's post about GREAT MORNING! at her blog Poetry for Children.

You can find out more about this book here.

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Catherine has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Reading to the Core.

Two Bee Poems: Revising for Publication

I had to revise a number of the poems in the THINGS TO DO manuscript that was submitted to Chronicle Books. A few had minor revisions; others required major changes. One that underwent a major change was the honeybee poem, which had originally been a "worker bee" poem.

Things to do if you are a WORKER BEE as it appeared in my manuscript:

Be yellow and fuzzy.

Stay busy. Be buzzy.

Tidy and clean.

Tend to your queen.

Be a working machine—

A syrup collector.

Go forage for nectar.

Reap pollen from flowers.

Don’t spend idle hours.

Don’t sit and relax.

Make honey and wax.

You must toil without end—

Yours is a lifetime of labor,

My friend.

My editor Melissa Manlove thought the poem was too long. She suggested I keep just the first two lines...and leave the poem at that. I decided to add two new lines to the beginning.

The final draft of Things to do if you are a HONEYBEE as it appears in my book:

Flit among flowers.

Sip nectar for hours.

Be yellow and fuzzy.

Stay busy.

Be buzzy.

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Sylvia Vardell has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Poetry for Children.

 

Two Original Beetle Poems

Today, I have two beetle poems for you. The first is a haiku; the second is a mask poem.

Beetle on a rose

in shining armor…ready

to battle sharp thorns

 

 

My love is this beautiful red, red rose.

Of all the blossoms, it’s the one I chose.

It has silky petals, leaves of emerald green.

It’s the yummiest flower that I’ve ever seen.

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Tricia has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Monarch Mask Poem

(Picture by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson)

One sunny day

I laid a wee egg

beneath a broad leaf.

It was a gem,

pearly and white--

a seed of new life,

a small bit of me

that I'll never see

grow wings and take flight.

 

Some time ago, I began writing a collection of mask poems tentatively titled Butterfly Days. The poems are told in the voices of a Monarch butterfly, butterfly egg, and larva--as well as a milkweed plant. I put the manuscript on the shelf and haven't worked on it for many months. The poem above is the fourth one in the collection at the present time.

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Karen Edmisten has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

 

COTTON CANDY: An Original Poem

My older granddaughter didn't have school last Friday because of kindergarten screening. It was a beautiful day so my husband and I took the "grandgirls" to Salem Willows Park. Julia asked if I'd get them some cotton candy, which they really enjoyed. That little trip brought to mind a poem that I wrote about cotton candy for a poetry collection about sweet things that has never been published.

COTTON CANDY

Fairy floss,

pink puff of spun sugar,

cumulus confection,

sunset cloud

floating on a cardboard cone.

It's a great joy for Mike and me to take "our girls" to places we went to as kids to have fun.

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Buffy has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.