Renée LaTulippe

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

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 26 of FEET IN THE CREEK.

Week 4 Poets:
April 22: Lee Bennett Hopkins
April 23: Langston Hughes
April 24: Margaret Wise Brown
April 25: Allan Wolf

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 Renée LaTulippe. Click here to learn a thing or two more about her. Renée developed and teaches an excellent (I've taken it!) online course called, The Lyrical Language Lab: Punching Up Prose with Poetry. 

Here's Renée at her theatrical best! Enjoy!



THE SEASIDE CRAB BALLET

Welcome. Enter. Sit right there
upon our finest driftwood chair.
We know that you’ll enjoy the show.
Our dancers are beyond compare.

Curtain up! Waves scroll back,
leave an iridescent track.
The stage is set, a wet tableau—
Sh! It’s time. Lights fade to black.

Up they pop from bubbling holes—
dancers playing tidal roles.
First the eyes, then toe toe toe—
pouring out crustacean souls.

Claws aloft in fifth position,
side chassé in repetition.
Pirouettes! Now fast, now slow.
They leave us breathless...

*** Intermission ***

Spotlights, formed by dappled sun,
show the second act’s begun.
Shore performers, row on row,
rise on tip-toe, one by one,

six legs bent in full plié.
Arabesque! Now grand jeté!
Then dancers disappear below
the sand at Seaside Crab Ballet.

© 2015 Renée M. LaTulippe. All rights reserved. Used with the author's permission.

My Intention: Write a poem about the creek as a form of entertainment. Use iambic tetrameter and aaba rhyme scheme.


Creek Gossip

Raccoon's papa threw him out.
The neighbors heard the snarling shout
tell the kid that he should be
something other than a lout.

That cow bird mama, such a shame,
she doesn't know her baby's name.
She watched 'til Robin didn't see
and left an egg that Robin claimed.

The mantis kneels and seems to pray
when all the time his big eyes stay
focused on that helpless flea
just waiting for a feasting day.

A wicked spider trapped a fly
and watched his innards liquify--
'twas murder in the first degree
when he sucked those innards dry.

Don't stay inside. That's a mistake.
The action at the creek can make
the best reality TV
including a commercial break.

If life were perfect, you would never
be asked to clean your room. Be clever!
and hire Buzzard Sweepers. You'll see. 
I'll pick your room clean forever.

And now...back to the creek!

© 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

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
April 20: April Halprin Wayland
April 21: Robyn Hood Black