Mary Ann Hoberman

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

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 16 of FEET IN THE CREEK.

Week 3 Poets:

April 15: Myra Cohn Livingston

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 Mary Ann Hoberman, who was Children's Poet Laureate from 2008-2011. Mary Ann was1983 National Book Award Finalist for Children's Picture Books (Paperback) for A House is a House for Me. Here at the National Book Foundation page, you can read about the book that changed her life.

ANTHROPOIDS

The next time you go to the zoo
The zoo
Slow down for a minute or two
Or two
And consider the apes
All their sizes and shapes
For they all are related to you
To you.

Yes, they all are related to you
To you
And they all are related to me
To me
To our fathers and mothers
Our sisters and brothers
And all of the people we see
We see.

The chimpanzees, gorillas, and all
And all
The orangutans climbing the wall
The wall
These remarkable creatures
Share most of our features
And the difference between us is small
Quite small.

So the next time you go to the zoo
The zoo
Slow down for a minute or two
Or two
And consider the apes
All their sizes and shapes
For they all are related to you
To you

© Mary Ann Doberman, 2009. Used by permission of the author.

My Intention: Write a poem using anapestic meter (uu/) and a repeated word refrain that creates the feeling of a song.

Mosquito Melody

Each time that kid comes to the creek
the creek
I want to land right on his cheek
his cheek
For my eggs I need blood
and there's none in the mud
So I buzz near his face and I sneak
I sneak

so close all my feet gently land
gently land
If I can't get his cheek, then his hand
his hand
gets me just close enough
I can drink that red stuff
and hum back to my home in the sand
the sand

© 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