Poems from TODAY’S LITTLE DITTY by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Poetry Friday Is Here Today!

It’s been a while since I last hosted, so … welcome, welcome, welcome! Please add your links to the Mister Linky thingy at the end of the post so we can all come visit. (If you have any trouble, leave your links in the comments and I’ll take care of it.) Thank you!

Before we get started, I wanted to bring your attention to KidlitWomen, a new Facebook page started by author Grace Lin. Starting March 1, the group is celebrating Women’s History Month with 31 days of posts focused on improving the climate for social and gender equality in the children’s and teens’ literature industry. I encourage you all to join this important conversation on the FB page or on Twitter at #kidlitwomen.

 

Now for some poetry!

Today I’m excited not only to add a new poetry video to the library, but also to dedicate this space to someone who has done so much for the children’s poetry community over the last few years. Of course you know I’m talking about our own…

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes!

 

As I say in the video, Michelle is one of children’s poetry’s very best friends, always going full steam ahead to highlight the latest books and bring us month after month of in-depth interviews with poets and editors. And of course the pièce de résistance is that monthly writing challenge, which unfailingly produces some stellar work from our Poetry Friday community and beyond.

It was no surprise, then, when a couple of years ago Michelle told me about her idea to put together her first book, The Best of Today’s Little Ditty 2014-2015. Indefatigable as ever, she plowed through an immense amount of poetry to bring us a well curated anthology featuring poems by over fifty poets.

Cover art © 2016 Michelle Kogan

Then of course she did it all again, bringing us another volume of challenge poems. The Best of Today’s Little Ditty 2016 hit shelves this past November, and just like its predecessor, it’s chock full of poetic goodness by dozens of poets. (And you can purchase BOTH of these great collections just by clicking the links on the titles or the book covers! Isn’t that neat?)

Cover art © 2017 Teresa Robeson
 

Michelle is tireless in her efforts to highlight and uplift other poets and make us all write, write, write, which is why I’m especially happy to shine the light on her today. Besides being an extraordinary blogger and people-bringer-togetherer and dear friend, Michelle is a talented, thoughtful, and dedicated poet. So let’s go out to the playground and have a listen while she shares two of her own poems from her Today’s Little Ditty anthologies.

Here are the poems for your reading pleasure (click to enlarge).

First we have this “sizzling” cicada love song, full of buzzing language and surprising images (“unzips his skin”!!!). Who knew they were such romantics?

And then, just in time for Women’s History Month, comes this chin-up, get-outta-my-way clerihew about the infinitely inspiring Amelia Earhart. I love how Michelle captures her spirit and determination in these four short lines.

My thanks to Michelle for stopping by to share her talents! To find out more about Michelle and her monthly blogging challenges, visit her at Today’s Little Ditty.

I hope you all have a sizzling day!


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See more poems in my poetry video library.
Poems © Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.
Post content © 2018 Renée M. LaTulippe. All rights reserved.