Thursday, April 27, 2017

Flower Showers and the Poetry Friday Roundup!

Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup, the last roundup of this year’s National Poetry Month. I’ve enjoyed taking part in NPM by posting a new poem each week on my blog and also reading many of the wonderful poems posted by so many wonderful poets. Hooray and thanks to all who are participating!


Here in southeastern Wisconsin, we’re having a wet spring. We’ve already received at least a couple inches more than our average precipitation up to this point in the year, and the forecast shows rain for the next four days. So as we dodge the raindrops, I’ve been thinking about April showers and what they are supposed to bring.


Flower Showers 
Gray day—
that’s okay.
Plop, drip.
Plants sip. 
Soaked roots.
New shoots.
Green scene.
Wet sheen. 
Squish, gush.
Leaves lush.
Raincoats, boots,
bumbershoots. 
Quick walks.
Tall stalks.
Flowers open?
Keep hopin’! 
JoAnn Early Macken
The weather is weird all over, isn’t it? I plan to join the Milwaukee People’s Climate Rally Call to Action on Saturday. If you’re interested, here’s where you can find a Climate March near you.

After this post, I’ll be taking a break from the Teaching Authors blog. In my last post, I described my work with Bring Your Bag Shorewood’s Boomerang Bags project. Besides writing, I hope to spend more time sewing and working in the garden. Soon.

Don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway. To celebrate the TeachingAuthors’ 8th Blogiversary (hooray!), we’re giving away a copy of Author and Story Coach Lisa Cron’s Story GeniusSee Esther’s post for details.

Happy Poetry Friday! Add your link below.

JoAnn Early Macken

P.S. This is my first time using Inlinkz. If it doesn’t work properly, please add your link in the comments. Thanks! I’ll keep checking back.


33 comments:

laurasalas said...

Love your hopeful poem! I'm in with a flowery poem, too: "Dandelion." Enjoy your break, JoAnn, and happy writing!

Linda Mitchell said...

Thank you so much for hosting and still hoping for those May flowers! National Poetry Month is always so fun....but a little hectic. Maybe someday, I'll be nice and calm and poems will just roll off my pen in the month. Enjoy your break. I'm looking forward to hearing where your creativity takes you.

Linda B said...

I love your quick poem, JoAnn. You've made it seem just like raindrops! Love "plop, drip/plants sip"! Best wishes in your coming activities! And thanks for hosting!

Linda said...

I love all the sound in your poem, Joann, and those raindrops...

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Thanks for hosting, and love your sloshy, sploshy poem, JoAnn! Especially bumbershoots.

Mary Lee said...

Thanks for hosting and for the fun April/May poem! Love the pictures!

Karen Edmisten said...

Joining in the joy of your springy poem, JoAnn, and great that you're joining a Climate March.
Thanks for hosting, and enjoy your break!

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

Love your fun drip-plop poem, JoAnn! I could squish and gush more, but perhaps I'll leave it at that. ;) Best of luck with your writing and everything else!

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

We've been having a wet spring in my neck of the woods, too, but that's par for the course here in the Pacific Northwest! :)

Oh how I wish we didn't have to march for climate change, but I'm glad that so many people are willing to take a stand in defence of our precious Earth!

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

Your poem sounds like our past week! Thanks for hosting, JoAnn! (my post goes live shortly after midnight)

michelle kogan said...

I love your dripping poem, it sure beats a gray day! I especially liked finding the word bumbershoot in your poem, what fun, thanks! Hope the march goes well, I was at the Science March in Chicago last Saturday, thanks for Marching! Have fun in your garden too.

JoAnn Early Macken said...

Oh,hello, everyone! I'm so glad to see you all here--guess I should have tried refreshing the page a little sooner! And I'm thrilled that the links are working. Looking forward to visiting!

Diane Mayr said...

Enjoy your hiatus. Good for you for taking the plunge! Have a great spring and summer, with hopefully more sun than rain.

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks for doing the roundup this week! I enjoyed reading your flower poem. Hope you enjoy your blog break.

Robyn Hood Black said...

Thanks for hosting, JoAnn, and for your fun poem!
"Squish, gush.
Leaves lush." That makes me smile. That and bumbershoots.
Thanks for all you're doing for the planet, and its people.
I hope your blog break while doing all that good is nourishing for soul and Muse!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for hosting today, Joanne. I love your "Flower Showers" and those lush leaves. Hope your break is productive!

Amy LV said...

I love the sounds in this poem and am excited for you to have these new adventures. The bags look wonderful - what an amazing idea! Thank you for hosting and for your poetry. Happy gardening! We will miss you. xx

Alan j Wright said...

Thank you for hosting Joanne. I enjoyed the structure and focus of your poem. May spring deliver the colours of the garden we all enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Thank-you for hosting, JoAnn, and sharing your delightful squishy-splishy poem. Enjoy your blog-break, and time spent in the garden - and sewing!

Molly Hogan said...

Thanks so much for hosting this week! I love your poem and how you found something to celebrate in continuous wet weather. We're having a lot of that in Maine right now, too. Good luck with your new adventures!

Margaret Simon said...

This is such a great form to play with spring flower shower words! Thanks for hosting. Happy Spring!

Whispers from the Ridge said...

Hi JoAnn! Thank you so much for sharing and hosting today. I love the word "bumbershoots"! Lovely poem-enjoy your break!

Penny Parker Klostermann said...

Thanks for hosting, JoAnn. I love your poem. You have a lot of fun language in it. We already have flowers here. Even our peonies are blooming early. Enjoy your blog break.

jama said...

Lovely poem, JoAnn! Every word is a delight. Enjoy your break and thanks for hosting this week!

Kay said...

Your lovely poem is a good reminder for me today as we are starting another stretch of rain that is supposed to last through the weekend. Since I can't get out and work much in the garden, I will have to dream of all those flowers soaking up rain to bloom even more.

JoAnn Early Macken said...

Good morning, everyone! I'm happy to see who visited while I slept. I woke to a surprise--blue skies! Today's flower showers are due later, so I'm off to walk the dog before the clouds roll in.

Little Willow said...

Thanks for hosting! Happy spring, everyone!

Buffy Silverman said...

Fun poem (and I love the word bumbershoots!) Happy Poetry Friday.

author amok said...

Thanks for hosting today, JoAnn. You've got so many interesting projects in the works. Good luck!

"Bumbershoot" is an underused word. I'm glad to see it in your poem.

Anonymous said...

Your poem will be a mentor text for me. I love the rhyme and rhythm.

JoAnn Early Macken said...

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and for participating! I'm really enjoying National Poetry Month and all the amazing poems. Now to catch up on my reading!

Tabatha said...

Hi JoAnn! Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your poem. I can't pick a favorite line; I have too many! Thanks for hosting and marching :-)

Doraine said...

I love bumbershoots! I had to go look it up to see if it was a real word or one you made up. I just love the way it feels in my mouth. What's not to love about a poem with bumbershoots?!