2 NEW THINGYS: Singing and Getting Published

Howdy, Campers ~ and Happy Poetry Friday! (the links to PF and to my upcoming free poetry class are at the end of this post).

TeachingAuthors' topic this round is "Something New for the New Year" and it's my turn. But there's so much happening these days...where should I begin?

Let's start with singing!

For years, I've run two folk music clubs: The Santa Monica Folk Music Club and The Beach Cities Folk Club. So many songs are poetry...and so much poetry can be sung.

About a year ago, I approached the organizers of our local politial events, suggesting that our rallies needed music. Singing together in the midst of struggle brings joy and a sense of community to marches and rallies.

I've been the "music wrangler" ever since. We named ourselves The Resisters. My favorite feedback we've gotten after a rally is: "I come to these rallies to hear the music!"

And then, in January of this year, in the midst of danger and horrific violence in Minnesota, a beautiful thing took seed. Watch Anderson Cooper's 3 min and 30 second video to witness its growth.

Singing Resisance now trains groups all over this country (called Pods) teaching us that singing is resistance.

There are 18 singers in our pod. The number of singers who are available for any one event varies widely--once there were only two--and that worked out just fine. Our pod meets at my house, and today eight singers showed up for our last rehearsal before the March 28th rally

I am filled with joy. Most of the songs we will be singing are short and easy to pick up. One of my favorite songs is longer but also easy to learn. It's called SINGING FOR OUR LIVES, written by Holly Near. Watch Holly lead her crazy-beautiful 4 minute song

Now, let's talk poetry!

I'm thrilled to announce that one of my poems has just been published in 

DEMOCRACY'S URGENT CALL ~ 

A Poetry Anthology by League of Women Voters Members

Here were the submission guidelines:

We invite original poems that reflect on the guiding principles of democracy—such as justice, equality, freedom, civic engagement, and the common good.​ Please avoid references to specific elected officials or political parties, as we are committed to maintaining a nonpartisan focus.

We welcome a wide range of voices, styles, and perspectives. ​Surprise us with something fresh—insightful, musical, memorable. We’re looking for poems that move us: make us laugh, cry, reflect, or ​see the world in a new way. Both free verse and traditional forms are encouraged.

Please submit one unpublished, original poem of no more than 30 lines, ​including stanza breaks, formatted to fit on a single page using Times New Roman with 12 pt font. Submissions with special formatting, visual elements, or artwork cannot be considered.

A panel including a former Poet Laureate, a University of Wisconsin Professor of Poetry, and an experienced editor will review submissions and make final selections.

Chosen poems will reflect the League of Women Voters’ commitment to nonpartisanship as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.

So! I plowed through the file of political poems I've written over the years...and also wrote some new ones.

Then I chose six of my favorite poems and sent them to five important people in my life: my husband, my sister Lyra, Teri, the president of our local League, a dear friend who is not on the same page with me politically, and my best friend Bruce (who is also a children's author and poet). 

I asked them to rank the poems first to last.

In a minute I'll post the poem for you, but it might help to know that I live in California, and for years I've been part of a task force in our community to teach people earthquake safety.

Okay, here's the poem my friends voted for, which I submitted, and which was accepted:

EARTHQUAKE
by April Halprin Wayland

She was ready.
On the shelves in her garage
were jugs of water,
cans of cat and dog food,
boxes of energy bars,
bandages, flashlights, batteries.

She was ready.
She stored sturdy shoes
beneath the bed
because in the aftermath,​
when you're running to help someone,
broken glass will slash your feet.

She was ready...
but not for this.
Not for tornadoes,
green-faced warlocks,
prison guards,
or flying monkeys.

Still, she was glad
for the sturdy shoes
beneath her bed.
There wasn't time
for bloody feet.
She was off to save the world.

poem © 2026 April Halprin Wayland

Thank you, Marcie, for hosting Poetry Friday this week!

Oh--I almost forgot!

Come join my next 3-hour free class 

on the first day of Poetry Month, April 1st 2026:

UCLA Extension's Writers' Program class, 

INTRO TO WRITING THE CHILDREN'S POETRY

~ A Workshop for Absolute Beginners

Enrollment ends soon...classes fill FAST. Why?

Because UCLA Extension offers 3-hour classes for FREE!

Do I still get nervous when my classes begin? You betcha.

But the moment I know my students and I are in that flow--that's the Great Gift.

many thanks to Barney Saltzberg for this illustration

Note: this is a basic workshop for absolute beginners.

💓Thank you for reading this post💓

Now, it's your turn. What's something new in your life this year?

Writers Groups--Now New and Improved by Mary Ann Rodman

 Continuing with our current topic "Something New for the New Year"....I have joined a new writer's group. Actually the group itself has been around awhile, it's just taken me this long to remember to reserve Thursday mornings to meet.

What's really new is that this is a Zoom group. The members are friends from the Vermont MFA program and live in Minnesota or Wisconsin. I live in Atlanta. 

Many years ago, before iPhones and texts and Zoom, I belonged to a metro Atlanta critique group. "Metro Atlanta" covers about 8 counties, and I live at the northern edge of the area. The rest of the group lived a couple counties to the east. The first Sunday night of the month, I would drive 100 miles, round trip, to group. Atlanta traffic is always terrible, especially Sunday nights when people are returning from out-of- town.

This did not stop me from meeting with the group known as WINGS. (This was so long ago, I no longer remember what WINGS stood for! ) They were terrific writers and critiquers, or I certainly wouldn't have made that long trek. These four ladies critiqued all but one of my published books. (My Best Friend sold just before I joined the group.) I could not have finished, let alone sold, any of them without their sharp insights and thoughtful questions. It was like having four editors, before sending my work to an actual editor. 

We were as diverse a group as you could find. What brought us together was a passion for children's literature and a desire to contribute to the genre. We were each others biggest fans and greatest critics. The Women of WINGS were the best.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Members retired or moved or developed health problems.  New members joined, but the group no longer was exclusively children's writers. There were writers whose work I was at a loss to critique (especially poetry). By then I was traveling to Mississippi once a month trying to look after my father, (which could be a whole book in itself.) 

I became a former member of WINGS.

Without a monthly meeting to spur me on, my creative output shrank. Long distance elder care and the seven hour drive to see Dad zapped my energy, creative and otherwise. Some years, this blog was all I wrote. Dad died, but I was still driving to Mississippi to settle his estate and clear out his semi-hoarded house. Then COVID hit. I was drained. (Weren't we all?) What's the point of writing I thought. It's not like I had an agent or editor panting for my work.  

I missed WINGS but there wasn't anything I could do about it. There wasn't another group around devoted solely to children's writing. (At least not any that wanted to new members.)

Then, I got an email from a friend from the Vermont writing program. She proposed that a bunch of us from the program and her local SCBWI meet weekly on Zoom. This would not be a critique group, but more of a support group. There would be a brief discussion of how we were doing and what we were working on. Then we would sign off for an hour, write, then check back in and talk about how it went. 

This was the kick in the pants I needed to go back to a first draft that had been growing cobwebs since 2013. Knowing I couldn't write longer than an hour freed me. I can write for an hour! When I check in the next Thursday, I can pick up where I left off and go another hour.

I know. An hour a week. Big deal. Stephen King write all day every day, 364 (I hear he takes his birthday off). I think about Toni Morrison who wrote at 4 am before her day job. I remember my old self, writing in car pool lines and the skating rink where my daughter spent 80% of her childhood. But life changes. I'm ....gasp...older. What hasn't changed is my love of writing. The Thursday Morning Zoomers remind me of that. Sometimes we don't remember why we are trying to write in a chaotic world that doesn't support creativity. We tell each other that is exactly why we need to keep going. Thanks to the Zoomers, I feel pretty confident of finishing another draft of my book this year. (Now whether anyone will ever read it is another issue. I try not to worry about that.)

So that's my new-old thing--writer's group. Writing is a solitary pursuit. There is no schmoozing at coffee break or getting together after work for happy hour. Sometimes you. have to crawl out of your cave and communicate with your own kind.

Once again I'm in the middle of major life changes--downsizing while renovating our forever house--in another state. So mostly I'm plodding along, an hour a week. Is it working? Some Thursdays I write for another couple of hours after we sign off. For the record, I wrote the first draft of this post during my Zoomer hour yesterday.

Keep writing, y'all.  The world needs us.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman