Happy Valentine’s Day weekend, Poetry Lovers!
Is it warm where you are? Cold? Frigid?
Today I offer up poetic goodies for climates of either extreme, with big heartfuls of thanks to our own Irene Latham, who agreed to stick around for a fun mini Q-and-A after the poetry.
First, let’s enjoy a couple of her poems from books featuring completely different parts of the planet. Both of these animal-friendly collections are from Millbrook Press, with lively paintings by English illustrator Anna Wadham.
From DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST – And Other Poems from the Water Hole:
Dust Bath at Dusk
Trunks become
dust hoses;
beasts strike poses
and preen in silhouette
created by the
hazy screen.
Soon skin
is powdered
in a red-grit shower
that banishes bugs
and becomes next day’s
sunscreen.
one final
wallow,
one last trumpet –
all clean!
©Irene Latham. All rights reserved.
That’s one way to splash around – if you’re an elephant on the blazing African savanna.
If you are way too cool for that, (and you are young and have flippers for wings), maybe this next poem’s for you.
From WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA – And Other Poems about the Frozen Continent:
Gentoo Penguin Jumps In
After cozy days
in the nest,
after meals delivered
by my parents,
after guarded naps
and hunting lessons,
after shedding fluff
and sprouting new feathers,
after long, sunny days
spent with others my age –
suddenly
the sea
doesn’t seem
too vast for me.
Splash!
©Irene Latham. All rights reserved.
Are you curious about which environment our oh-so-talented poetess might prefer? Let's ask her.
--Hot or Cold - Are you more of a warm-weather warrior or a cold-weather conqueror?
I am very much a fair-weather kind of gal... love spring and fall and don't tolerate so well the extremes! I enjoy the view of the beach far more than the heat-sticky-sunburn, and the best thing about winter are other people's pictures of snow -- and my cozy boots & scarves.
--What's your favorite hot drink? What's your favorite cold drink?
Hot chocolate! I visited Frankfort, KY a few years back and was introduced to Bourbon Ball Hot Chocolate...it's a bourbon truffle dropped into steaming hot chocolate, and it is divine! And for cold, there's Zaxby's Birthday Cake shake... sinful, and I love it. On a daily basis, I love hot tea (Harney & Son's "Paris" tea, anyone?) and iced tea (these days I take it unsweetened).
--Favorite summer activity? Favorite winter pastime?
Summer: Camp Buttercup (for Brave, Creative Girls) with my wee nieces & very young sister! I am the mom to 3 sons, so a few years ago I created an annual just-girls camp at my house. Highlights include poetry, outdoor adventures (horseback riding, tubing,...), movies, live theater, local attractions, art, food... each year it has a different flavor, and it is always an exhilarating, exhausting week.
Winter: I love to cozy up -- and read. (And quilt and play cello and write poems and make Valentines and work on scrapbooks and blog and make soup and ...)
--Favorite warm color? Favorite cool color?
I love a warm butter yellow and any shade of cool purple. (Which, I recently learned, are the colors representing the women's suffragist movement.)
--And, since you're a quilter, which fabrics: light cottons, soft flannels, or fleece?
Cotton, for sure! Anything soft and light and flow-y.
Many thanks for playing along, Irene! Raising our cups of hot chocolate to you.... (No worries - I won't ask anyone what's inside.)
For some great posts on Irene's ANTARCTICA book, which, incidentally, is HOT off the press, please visit these great features by other Poetry Friday bloggers:
Catherine at Reading to the Core and
Margaret at Reflections on the Teche and
Linda at Write Time. [Note - I couldn't successfully call up this link of Linda's when I posted this; if you have one that works, do tell!]
Be sure to dive in and wallow around at Written Reflections for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup!
Is it warm where you are? Cold? Frigid?
Today I offer up poetic goodies for climates of either extreme, with big heartfuls of thanks to our own Irene Latham, who agreed to stick around for a fun mini Q-and-A after the poetry.
First, let’s enjoy a couple of her poems from books featuring completely different parts of the planet. Both of these animal-friendly collections are from Millbrook Press, with lively paintings by English illustrator Anna Wadham.
From DEAR WANDERING WILDEBEEST – And Other Poems from the Water Hole:
Dust Bath at Dusk
Trunks become
dust hoses;
beasts strike poses
and preen in silhouette
created by the
hazy screen.
Soon skin
is powdered
in a red-grit shower
that banishes bugs
and becomes next day’s
sunscreen.
one final
wallow,
one last trumpet –
all clean!
©Irene Latham. All rights reserved.
That’s one way to splash around – if you’re an elephant on the blazing African savanna.
If you are way too cool for that, (and you are young and have flippers for wings), maybe this next poem’s for you.
From WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA – And Other Poems about the Frozen Continent:
Gentoo Penguin Jumps In
After cozy days
in the nest,
after meals delivered
by my parents,
after guarded naps
and hunting lessons,
after shedding fluff
and sprouting new feathers,
after long, sunny days
spent with others my age –
suddenly
the sea
doesn’t seem
too vast for me.
Splash!
©Irene Latham. All rights reserved.
Are you curious about which environment our oh-so-talented poetess might prefer? Let's ask her.
--Hot or Cold - Are you more of a warm-weather warrior or a cold-weather conqueror?
I am very much a fair-weather kind of gal... love spring and fall and don't tolerate so well the extremes! I enjoy the view of the beach far more than the heat-sticky-sunburn, and the best thing about winter are other people's pictures of snow -- and my cozy boots & scarves.
--What's your favorite hot drink? What's your favorite cold drink?
Hot chocolate! I visited Frankfort, KY a few years back and was introduced to Bourbon Ball Hot Chocolate...it's a bourbon truffle dropped into steaming hot chocolate, and it is divine! And for cold, there's Zaxby's Birthday Cake shake... sinful, and I love it. On a daily basis, I love hot tea (Harney & Son's "Paris" tea, anyone?) and iced tea (these days I take it unsweetened).
--Favorite summer activity? Favorite winter pastime?
Summer: Camp Buttercup (for Brave, Creative Girls) with my wee nieces & very young sister! I am the mom to 3 sons, so a few years ago I created an annual just-girls camp at my house. Highlights include poetry, outdoor adventures (horseback riding, tubing,...), movies, live theater, local attractions, art, food... each year it has a different flavor, and it is always an exhilarating, exhausting week.
Winter: I love to cozy up -- and read. (And quilt and play cello and write poems and make Valentines and work on scrapbooks and blog and make soup and ...)
--Favorite warm color? Favorite cool color?
I love a warm butter yellow and any shade of cool purple. (Which, I recently learned, are the colors representing the women's suffragist movement.)
--And, since you're a quilter, which fabrics: light cottons, soft flannels, or fleece?
Cotton, for sure! Anything soft and light and flow-y.
Many thanks for playing along, Irene! Raising our cups of hot chocolate to you.... (No worries - I won't ask anyone what's inside.)
For some great posts on Irene's ANTARCTICA book, which, incidentally, is HOT off the press, please visit these great features by other Poetry Friday bloggers:
Catherine at Reading to the Core and
Margaret at Reflections on the Teche and
Linda at Write Time. [Note - I couldn't successfully call up this link of Linda's when I posted this; if you have one that works, do tell!]
Be sure to dive in and wallow around at Written Reflections for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup!