Thursday, February 18, 2021

Poetry Friday: Facts are Poems, plus Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

Welcome to Poetry Friday! 

 


I recently finished reading Braiding Sweetgrass, by botanist and poetic writer Robin Wall Kimmerer. It is an amazing and beautiful book and will be providing me inspiration for years to come. (I gushed more about the book here, and shared more quotes, too.) 

 

Here is a quote from the book:

 

“Someone once said that sometimes a fact alone is a poem. … The very facts of the world are a poem. Light is turned to sugar. Salamanders find their way to ancestral ponds following magnetic lines radiating from the earth. The saliva of grazing buffalo causes the grass to grow taller. Tobacco seeds germinate when they smell smoke. Microbes in industrial waste can destroy mercury. Aren’t these stories we should all know?”

 

If you are willing, when you leave your post in a comment for me to round up the old-fashioned way (or even if you're not leaving a post but just passing by), leave a FACT that in your opinion is also a POEM. Write your FACT in the form of a line of a poem. When I do the rounding up, I'll also put all the lines together to create a group poem I'm going to call "Facts are Poems." The lines that make up the first stanza were given to me by William Carlos Williams (though, admittedly, he doesn't know he gave them to me) and Robin Wall Kimmerer (ditto). The last line comes from Robin Wall Kimmerer, too.

 

I signed up for today because it was in Carnival week, and I was thinking I'd have the day off. Um, should have checked the calendar. This year we only got Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off, so I'll be at work on Friday. No problem! I'll just round up when I can. Don't worry if your comment doesn't appear instantly; I've enabled Comment Moderation, and I'll post your comment as soon as I possibly can. Roundup will follow as breaks come in my day.

 

The Links

 

The poetry extravaganza starts every week for me on Thursday with Margaret's feature "This Photo Wants to Be a Poem." Today's photo is appropriately icy for the wintry weather in the United States right now.   


Jan Godown Annino is all about connections this week, connections among artists, connections between visual art and poetry. She shares her lovely poem "Fish Fandangle," from the book Fresh Fish, and talks wordpools. She also invites us to a reading!

 

I can relate so much to the story and poem that Bridget is sharing. It's a tale of laundry and Smidgey the dog and seeking comfort and security.  

 

Alan J. Wright has been researching the grim lives of child laborers in Victorian England. He shares a poem about piecers, who had to fix machines immediately so that the production could continue. The ten-year-old in his poem lives that life.

 

Michelle Kogan is definitely a polymath, and today she is reflecting on that in a poem that's both words and images. What a treat to see her creative brain at work!

 

At Alphabet Soup, Jama is sharing two poems by Pat Schneider, plus videos, plus information about Pat's life and work. Jama's post is full of treasures, as her posts always are.

 

Kay McGriff has a seasonal how-to poem for us today, "How to Be a Snowman."  One of her words of advice, "Shiver," is what I do every time I read anything about the weather up north of me right now! 


A creepy photo got Janice Scully started on her poem "The Strange Beauty of the Oscomycetous Fungus." (I checked that a few times to make sure I spelled it right.) Talk about facts being a poem! Here's an example!  


Linda Mitchell is celebrating the landing of Perseverance on Mars. "Today's poem is Perseverance." Indeed it is!  


Molly Hogan is in the depth of winter, but looking forward to spring in her lovely sonnet. 


The February Poetry Project at Laura Shovan's blog continues with a new batch of amazing prompts on this year's subject of Bodies.  


Little Willow is embracing winter with "Cat" by Marilyn Singer. That's one way to keep warm!

 

Jone Rush MacCulloch has been writing on Laura's prompts on Bodies, and she shares several of her poems with us today. Each is unique, and each is illustrated!

 

Some second graders in Vermont were inspired to write riddle-ku poems after reading Laura Salas' book Lion of the SkyLaura shares some of their poems with us, and a link to the rest, along with the illustrations done by another class. Laura says, "Second graders, you now know the scary feeling of turning over your words to an artist and hoping they capture what was in your heart."

 

Carol Varsalona has also been writing to Laura Shovan's Body prompts, plus dealing with the winter storm, the news, and getting the vaccine. She shares some of the results of all of this turmoil with us in her post "The Creative Mind is Restless."

 

Tabatha Yeatts  shares a couple of intriguing poems that I'm going to go back and read more closely later. One is called "Saint Rosalie," and the other, "Against Endings." Wonderful finds, as always, Tabatha!

 

Tim Gels  knows that "Self-Sufficiency is a Myth" and has just discovered more evidence for that fact by observing the situation in Texas.

 

Wendy Taleo tells us ways that "Writers are Like Seaweed." Mmmm, nori! Sounds yummy!

 

Linda Baie is celebrating Random Act of Kindness week with a poem about giving by Albert Rios. "Giving has many faces," he tells us.

 

Sally Murphy, on the other side of the world, is experiencing different weather from many of our contributors today. She writes about a beach adventure, and even shares video. I only had time to watch a little of it, but I'll be back later to see the rest! I'm jealous, Sally!   

 

Mary Lee has been swamped lately, too swamped to write. But that's changing. She's writing something every day now, and she shares a golden shovel about important moments with her students.  


Irene  wrote about a Van Gogh poem, and February, her favorite month. So many people are down on February, but Irene, like me, has a birthday this month, so she appreciates February fully. (By the way, did you know that Irene's book The Cat Man of Aleppo got a Caldecott Honor this year?) 


Heidi has paired Robert Frost and Ralph Fletcher today. She's shared a Frost poem I haven't read before - that's always happening to me. He wrote so many poems. This one is great for teachers. And the Fletcher one is great for kids. 


Christie has some winter photography and haiku. Lovely!

 

Syvia Vardell makes the best lists. Today's is called "Celebrate Black Poetry for Young People 2021." 


Rose Cappelli loves winter storms, and she's written two haiku about them: one before, and one after. I'm enjoying all these observations of snow!


Matt Forrest Essenwine has a video on found poetry and an update on what's going on in his life. He's been writing a lot, but also homeschooling!

 

MSheehan shares "Undiscovered," inspired by facts about the planet Mars.  


Carol Labuzzetta has a poem about her favorite plant, a prickly pear.  


Ramona is all about the berries today, those "berries strutting their stuff." I love it that she looked for the poem hiding in her photos. 

 

Susan Bruck is another person sharing a poem about snow. Hers brings out lessons from the snow on "clinging, letting go, and belonging."


 

The Group Poem

 

Facts are Poems

by the Poetry Friday Poets

 

It is difficult to get the news from poems,

yet men die miserably every year for lack of what is found there.

Facts are poems.

 

The human brain generates 12 -25 watts of electricity, 

enough to power a light bulb.

 

If I could, like a giant guitarfish, 

make my eyeballs disappear 

inside my own head, 

my eyebrows would be lonely. 


Corals are animals
but are sessile
meaning they are permanently attached
to the sea floor
or each other.

 

Dogs continue to amaze with their abilities, 

now being trained to identify the Covid-Virus.

 

 

A small dandelion flower channels three giant celestial beauties: 

our sun in yellow bloom, 

our moon in white puff fluff 

and the shooting stars, when dandelion's tipsy wispy seeds disperse.

 

Mother trees colonize their kin 

with bigger mycorrhizal networks. 


Trees talk—and listen—to each other 

through their root systems.

 

The red-eyed tree frog 

sleeps peacefully during the day 

stuck to a leaf bottom. 

But watch out! 

He'll reveal bulging red eyes, 

huge orange feet, 

and bright blue and yellow flanks 

if disturbed. 


Antiseptic and strong, 

spiderwebs were used 

by ancient Greeks and Romans as bandages

 

Your skin is an organ in its own right, 

21 unsquare feet of feeling. 

 

The temperature at which Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same 

is -40 degrees.

 

Snow forms when crystals in clouds 

stick together 

to become snowflakes.

 

Snow falls at 1 to 6 feet per second
at least in the case of snowflakes
with broad structures,
which act as a parachutes

 

If you could find an ocean big enough, 

the planet of Saturn would float. 

Landing on the Red Planet,

Mars, brings you to 

the home of the tallest volcano 

in our entire Solar System, 

Olympus Mons.

 

A year on Mars is almost twice 

as long 

as a year on Earth

 

Salt is the one rock

we eat.

 

After two weeks, caterpillar finishes metamorphosis
and emerges as a fully formed,
black-and-orange,
adult monarch butterfly. 

 

Colorful striped caterpillars become iconic symbols 

once they take flight with wings.


 

If you grow milkweed, 

before long you'll furnish a small forest of milkweed 

for monarchs and other pollinators…

 

Polar bears ask permission for things 

(such as sharing food) 

by gently touching noses. 

 

The ringed tails of red pandas 

function as wraparound blankets 

in their chilly mountain homes 

of Nepal, Myanmar, and Central China.

 

Honduran tent bats nibble and gnaw
along a large leaf's midrib,
which collapses around them
as a shelter from jungle rain and teeth.


Male hummingbirds perform 

dazzling courtship dives 

that combine high speed, 

buzzing tail feathers 

and a flash of color.

 

hummingbirds reverse

flee sticky situations

ahead or behind.

 

To take flight, 

American coots 

run across the surface of water 

and furiously flap their wings 

before they lift off.  



Fringe on the leading edge 

of their primary flight feathers 

is why owls can fly silently.

 

The collective noun for starlings is a murmuration,
for swans, a lamentation,
and then we have
a confusion of warblers, and
a shimmer of hummingbirds. 

 

Butcher birds need no daylight 

as their call rings out pre-dawn. 


Carolina Wrens defend their territories 

with constant singing.

 

Aren't these stories we should all know?

 

 

 

 

Thanks for participating, Poetry Friday friends! You make my life so much richer!


Come back next week, when Karen Edmisten will have the roundup.

41 comments:

jan godown annino said...


Well now, dear Ruth! You've done it ~ I want to read this poet & her books, including her musings on mosses that you mention on another page at this blog.

Plus love your lively & lovely collective poem idea.
Appreciations for all this #PoetryFriday goodness!

My fact-as-poetry:

A small dandelion flower channels three giant celestial beauties: our sun in yellow bloom, our moon in white puff fluff and the shooting stars, when dandelion's tipsy wispy seeds disperse.

My blog tagline is
Bookseedstudio: MoSt Poetry Center news +
FLA textile/poem book for all ages

And the URL is
https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com/2021/02/16/pubbed-fresh-fish-book-most-poetry-center-chapbook/

Bridget Magee said...

Thank you for hosting, Ruth! What an interesting experiment for a PF roundup to create a Poems are Facts group poem! I love it! In the spirit of extreme weather conditions in some parts of the US, my fact is:
The temperature at which Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same is -40 degrees.

My post today is about anxiety wrapped in a blanket...or Laundry Daze.
http://www.weewordsforweeones.com/2021/02/laundry-daze.html

Margaret Simon said...

I'm so glad I came to your post before writing mine. It may change my whole direction. Thanks for putting up the photo prompt. We had carnival break but no carnivals, of course. Now it's extended due to the freeze. Crazy!

Margaret Simon said...

One of my favorite things to do is collect caterpillars and watch them go through metamorphosis. Here is my poetic fact:
After two weeks, caterpillar finishes metamorphosis
and emerges as a fully formed,
black-and-orange,
adult monarch butterfly.

Alan j Wright said...

Thank you for hosting Ruth. Your post has piqued my curiosity- the link between facts and poetry is intriguing. My head is full of trivia according to my wife. I'm okay with that- it entertains me...

My post this week examines the lives of children during the industrial revolution.
https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2021/02/more-docupoetry-cotton-mill-kids.html

My factoid: 'If you could find an ocean big enough the planet of Saturn would float.'

Michelle Kogan said...

What an intriguing book Ruth, thanks for sharing it with us, and also for hosting the Roundup. Hope you get to partake in the Carnival Celebration…
Here's my poetic fact:
If you grow milkweed, before long you'll furnish a small forest of milkweed for monarch's and other pollinator's…

My post today is on the "Creative Brain" and polymath creatives working in cross spectrum areas of the arts: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/poetry-friday-creative-brain/

Robyn Hood Black said...

Thank you, Ruth, for this inspirational post! I didn't have my act together to get up anything worth visiting this week, but I'll add a fact, in light of NASA's successful rover landing:

Mars is home to the tallest volcano in our entire Solar System, Olympus Mons.

:0) Stay safe & stand tall!

jama said...

Now I will have to look for Robin's book. Thanks for the heads up!

At Alphabet Soup, I'm sharing two poems by Pat Schneider (link goes live at 6 a.m. Friday):

https://jamarattigan.com/2021/02/19/pat-schneider-and-what-is-more-generous-than-a-window/

Here's a fact about one of my favorite animals:

Polar bears ask permission for things (such as sharing food) by gently touching noses.

Thanks for hosting this week, Ruth!

Kay said...

Thank you for hosting today. I can't wait to read all the facts that are poems in their very own poem. Here is one fact I learned about the human brain today. THe human brain generates 12 -25 watts of electricity, enough to power a light bulb.

My poem is How to Be a Snowman

Kay said...

I should probably also leave the link to How to Build a Snowman: https://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/2021/02/18/poetry-friday-how-to-be-a-snowman/

Janice Scully said...

Thanks for hosting, Ruth. What a great idea for a poem: facts. And such interesting images to consider, like Saturn floating. This week I'm sharing a poem based on one of Laura Shovan's February prompts, about a rather gruesome looking fungus at Salt City Verse. http://janicescully.com

Linda Mitchell said...

Ha! My poem today was written last minute and unexpectedly as I watched Perseverance land on Mars. The joy of the scientists watch the successful landing was like medicine to cure what ails! It was wonderful. So, my fact for today is the title of my poem, 'Landing on the Red Planet.'
Thanks so much for hosting. Enjoy Carnival! It's bound to be different this year...but I hope you have a productive and spirit-filled lent. My post is at A Word Edgewise: https://awordedgewiselindamitchell.blogspot.com/

Thanks again, Ruth!

mbhmaine said...

Wow, Ruth! What a great post! I've been wanting to read "Braiding Sweetgrass" for ages. I heard Robin Wall Kimmerer on "On Being" once and was totally entranced.
My fact today is that male hummingbirds perform dazzling courtship dives that combine high speed, buzzing tail feathers and a flash of color. Thanks for hosting!

I'm sharing a sonnet this week. https://nixthecomfortzone.com/2021/02/18/in-search-of-optimism/

author amok said...

Hi, Ruth. Thank you for hosting and what a wonderful invitation!

First, this week I am sharing the Week 3 prompts for my February Poetry Project. As always, the group members have come up with amazing writing prompts on the theme of bodies. https://laurashovan.com/2021/02/february-poetry-project-week-3-prompts/

For my line of poetry/fact -- this line is from my Day 6 poem, when the prompt was "eyes."

"If I could, like a giant guitarfish, make my eyeballs disappear inside my own head, my eyebrows would be lonely."

Little Willow said...

Thanks for hosting! I shared Cat by Marilyn Singer at my blog, Bildungsroman. https://slayground.livejournal.com/916345.html

Jone said...

Hi Ruth,
Here's my fact: Mother trees colonize their kin with bigger mycorrhizal networks. From TEDSummit 2016, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard

I am sharing some poems from prompts via Laura Shovan's February Poetry Prompt project on FB:
https://www.jonerushmacculloch.com/blog/poetry-friday-sharing-from-prompts

Thank you for taking the time to upload all our links. That is intensive.

laurasalas said...

I'll be back to read tomorrow, Ruth! I'm in with riddle-ku poems by 2nd graders at https://laurasalas.com/poems-for-teachers/riddleku-by-second-graders-poetry-friday/

Carol Varsalona said...

Ruth, great idea for a facts becoming a poem group poem. My contribution is about a surprising snowflake fact.
Snow falls at 1 to 6 feet per second
at least in the case of snowflakes
with broad structures,
which act as a parachutes
My post, "The Creative Mind Is Restless," is about two poems I created for Laura Shovan's 9th Annual February Poem Project-https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-creative-mind-is-restless.html.

Tabatha said...

Hi Ruth! Thanks for hosting. Ariana told me I would like "Braiding Sweetgrass." Guess I'd better move it up in my TBR pile! A poetic fact: To take flight, American coots run across the surface of water and furiously flap their wings before they lift off.
My post is at The Opposite of Indifference: https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/

Tim said...

Thank you, Ruth, for hosting this week, and thank you for bringing Braiding Sweetgrass to the attention of the group. I'm nearly done with it, and have enjoyed it immensely.

Fringe on the leading edge of their primary flight feathers is why owls can fly silently.

My contribution this week is inspired by the current weather that has crippled much of the southern United States. https://timgels.com/2021/02/18/self-sufficiency-is-a-myth/

Wendy Taleo said...

Thanks for hosting Ruth. The prompt of poetry and facts led me to expand a comment I made to a poet friend on Mastodon.

Poem: Writers are like seaweed. https://wentalearn.blogspot.com/2021/02/writers-are-like-seaweed.html

Fact-as-poetry: Butcher birds need no daylight as their call rings out pre-dawn.

Linda B said...

Hi Ruth, what a wonderful post to start my poetry Friday & weekend of reading lovely posts. I read parts of Braiding Sweetgrass when I want a lovely & relaxing hour or two of reading. It is a special book. My fact, a poem, that dogs continue to amaze me with their abilities, now being trained to identify the Covid-Virus, help we might not understand perfectly, but they continue to be willing to aid us in many ways. Thanks for hosting. This is another week we seem to be needed to help if we at all can. I'm sharing a favorite poem about giving: https://www.teacherdance.org/2021/02/poetry-friday-our-year-of-giving.html Thanks for hosting. I hope we can help you celebrate Mardi Gras in a different way this week!

Carol Varsalona said...

Ruth, great idea for a facts becoming a poem group poem. My contribution is about a surprising snowflake fact.
Snow falls at 1 to 6 feet per second
at least in the case of snowflakes
with broad structures,
which act as a parachutes
My post, "The Creative Mind Is Restless," is about two poems I created for Laura Shovan's 9th Annual February Poem Project-https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-creative-mind-is-restless.html.

Sally Murphy said...

Thanks for hosting, Ruth, and for the challenge! My post is at:
http://sallymurphy.com.au/2021/02/poetry-friday-under-the-sea/
and shares a peek underwater (I've been snorkelling).

My fact is inspired by the amazing corals I saw this week:

Corals are animals
but are sessile
meaning they are permanently attached
to the sea floor
or each other.

Mary Lee said...

Here is my post for today:
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2021/02/poetry-friday-prioritizing.html

My fact that is a poem...hmm...

"Carolina Wrens defend their territories with constant singing."

laurasalas said...

What a lovely post, Ruth--I totally agree with the author. So many of the facts of our world ARE poems! You've already got my link, and now here's my fact.

Honduran tent bats nibble and gnaw
along a large leaf's midrib,
which collapses around them
as a shelter from jungle rain and teeth.

What fun! Happy Friday, and thanks for hosting this Carnaval, even if it's not as originally imagined. <3

Irene Latham said...

Thank you, Ruth, for this richness... I have this book on audio, and haven't been able to engage with it. Perhaps I need it in print? Will try again!

I've got another ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem after a piece by van Gogh, and it's in a form new to me, and is titled "February" (my favorite month!). https://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2021/02/artspeak-four-seasons-february-poem.html

Fact that's a poem:
Trees talk—and listen—to each other through their root systems.

Thank you, as ever. xo

Margaret Simon said...

My post is up. I wrote a poem with Laura Purdie Salas in her Zoom session Write Alone Together. https://reflectionsontheteche.com/2021/02/19/poetry-friday-arctic-dreaming/

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Oh, I am excited to come back to this one later! For now, thanks for the solace of facts. I'm continuing my self-led poetry study. Why do I love these, and how do the two talk to each other? Thanks, Ruth.

https://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2021/02/slps-4-frost-fletcher.html

Christie Wyman said...

Thank you for hosting, Ruth! The poetic fact I have to share is, in fact, a haiku -- hummingbirds reverse/flee sticky situations/ahead or behind. I love that they can fly backward when necessary! And my official poetic offering this week is a reflection on the ability snow has to conceal and reveal. https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/winter-conceals-poetryfriday/

Sylvia Vardell said...

Ruth, thanks so much for hosting and all this Poetry Friday goodness! My post features new poetry books by Black poets. Here's the link: https://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2021/02/black-poetry-2021.html

Rose Cappelli said...

Today I wrote two haiku about the snowstorm that has been in our area for the past few days.
https://imaginethepossibilitiesblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/poetry-friday-before-and-after-the-storm/

I love the idea of facts as poems! Here's mine:
The red-eyed tree frog sleeps peacefully during the day stuck to a leaf bottom. But watch out! He'll reveal bulging red eyes, huge orange feet, and bright blue and yellow flanks if disturbed.

Karen Eastlund said...

Thanks for hosting, Ruth. I'll look for the braiding book...I couldn't get my blogging act together today, but I will add a fact: Salt is the one rock we eat.

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

Don't know if my comment went through, so I'm resubmitting:

Thanks for hosting, Ruth! Great idea for a poem...here's my fact:
"Antiseptic and strong, spiderwebs were used by ancient Greeks and Romans as bandages"

Today I'm sharing a new Wit & Wordplay video on found poetry: https://mattforrest.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/poetry-friday-new-wit-wordplay-videos-on-the-way/

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Oh, and here's my fact that is a poem:

Your skin is an organ in its own right, 21 unsquare feet of feeling.

MSheehan said...

Thank you for hosting! My fact is a year on Mars is almost twice as long as a year on Earth. I found this hard to believe after this past year. Here is a reflection inspired by this fact: https://mhshee1104.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/undiscovered/

Karen Edmisten said...

Ruth, I still haven't had time to finish my Poetry Friday post, but I had to chime in with these poetic facts:

the collective noun for starlings is a murmuration,
for swans, a lamentation,
and then we have
a confusion of warblers, and
a shimmer of hummingbirds.

I could go on, as collective nouns charm me, but I'll stop there.

Carol Labuzzetta - The Apples in My Orchard said...

Hi Ruth!

Thanks so much for hosting this week and for this inspirational post! I have wanted to read Braiding Sweetgrass, and you've really upped my curiosity about this book! Thanks.

I came up with two facts that are poems:

(pollination)

A bee visits a flower, making an apple, and more!

(Monarch Metamorphosis)

Colorful striped caterpillars become iconic symbols once they take flight with wings.


Can't wait to read the compilation of poetic facts! Thanks, again!



Ramona said...

Went to the zoo this week with daughter and grandsons. I fell in love with the red pandas, who aren't really pandas or bears. Here's a fun fact:
The ringed tails of red pandas function as wraparound blankets in their chilly mountain homes of Nepal, Myanmar, and Central China.

I'm in this week with a short poem I drafted at the prompting of fellow blogger, Elsie, who commented that there seemed to be a poem hiding in the photos I posted on IG and FB.

https://pleasuresfromthepage.blogspot.com/2021/02/sharing-our-stories-write-fast-about.html

Susan Bruck said...

Thanks so much for hosting this week and sharing your thoughts about Braiding Sweetgrass and facts as poems. Your group poem is awesome!

This week I wrote about where snow belongs, inspired by the crazy storms in Texas and elsewhere: https://www.soulblossomliving.com/snow-belongs-in-the-mountains-and-bare-trees/

I took lessons from Buddhism and applied them to snow--or tried to.

Here's a fact you probably already know--Snow forms when crystals in clouds stick together to become snowflakes.