April Halprin Wayland

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 20 of FEET IN THE CREEK. 

Week 3 Poets:

April 15: Myra Cohn Livingston

April 16: Mary Ann Doberman

April 17: Christina Rosetti
April 18: Rebecca Kai Doltish
April 19: Wallace Stevens

For each day I have chosen a favorite poem, a favorite poet, or a favorite friend. I will look at the work, decide what draws me to it, what makes it resonate for me, and then write my own poem about the creek with those techniques in mind. These are first drafts, so nothing will be especially polished, but they will be starting points for revision after the month is done. Feel free to follow along or join in.

Today's poet is the delightful April Halprin Wayland who always makes me laugh. Check out April's newest book, More Than Enough. Her book, To Rabbittown, illustrated by Robin Sport and originally published by Scholastic is now only 99 cents on iTunes, Kindle, Nook.

Symmetry

Like little rivers
spilling to the center,
the lines of this leaf
mirror each other.
Two halves
make a whole.
Two halves
mirror each other.
The lines of this leaf,
spilling to the center,
like little rivers.

© by April Halprin Wayland, published in Cricket Magazine June, 1999.

My Intention: Write a reverso poem about the creek.

Process: These things are not easy to write. You know if you've ever tried. They are vastly popular right now due to Marilyn Singer's lovely reverso collections, Mirror, Mirror; Follow, Follow; and Echo, Echo. I love the simple beauty of April's tightly woven reverso. I decided to analyze the poem closely  to figure out just how she did it. Here is my scribbled note page.

April's first line is a prepositional phrase. Line 2 is a present participial phrase (think a present tense verb acting like an adjective). Line 3 is the subject of the sentence/poem with a prepositional modifier. Line 4 is the verb and its object. Line 5 (new subject) and 6 (verb and object) make up a sentence that is a comment on the previous sentence. Line 6 is the pivot point. I started with the key words for each line.

Like diamonds
sparkling
sunlight
dances
shadow
provides contrast

With a little finagling, this is my resulting reverso. Here's to finding time for revision after this month is over!

Chiaroscuro

Like diamonds
sparkling on the water,
filtered sunlight
dances a ballet.
A shadow
adds contrast.
A shadow
dances a ballet.
Filtered sunlight,
sparkling on the water
like diamonds.

© Doraine Bennett, 2016. All rights reserved.

Week 1 poets:
April 1: Ralph Fletcher
April 2: Douglas Florian
April 3: Progressive poem. Catch up here.
April 4: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
April 5: Walt Whitman
April 6: Irene Latham
April 7: Carmen Bernos de Gasztold

Week 2 poets:
April 8: Janet Wong

April 9: George Ella Lyon

April 10: Bobbi Katz
April 11: Nikki Giovanni
April 12: Margarita Engle
April 13: Mother Goose
April 14: William Carlos Williams