Sing dance submit: call for poems

[nota bene: book covers to know, below] 

Subject: Children, reading, writing or both
Form: Any. 40 Line Limit.
1st PL $40. 2nd PL $20. 3rd PL $15. 

Conjure your own memory. Or you might pen a poem about other real-child readers or writers. How about imagining a character-child? This call for a poem is part of the 2021 Florida State Poets’ Association’s annual effort to raise poetry’s profile. You don’t have to be a Florida resident or a member of this non-profit to enter. Details are here. The group often looks for new ways to engage poets, so, as someone who joined only in 2020,  I was pleased they accepted my suggestion (it does exempt me from this fun category but not you!). Detail: The contest team (which I’m not on) receives poems postally. No submissions are considered that are sent in before 1 May, for the deadline, 15 June 2021. Take care with submission details, as category #s must be included. (My guess is that overseas submissions are not invited, as a small fee in check form, is asked for the entry.) Last year I floated, when my poem “Surfing” won an Honorable from Oregon poet Tiel Aisha Ansari.

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“Dear Poet.” Now for a second take on submissions, at Poetry for Children last month, I learned of an essay opportunity for students called “Dear Poet.”  I plan to listen to as many of these richly experienced and published poets Poetry.org has collected, reading a poem on line. Students will do the same, but can submit their responses to the poems. I began with Marilyn Chin, reading her original piece “The Floral Apron.” If I were a student I would write an essay about how this inky poem reminded me of watching my mother-in-law take her knife to squid, about the depth of family ties and why it’s important to share family history. Hey, an idea. Hmm. 

Sing!

I laffed in attempted bopping to a Jerusalema loop. Song, music and lyrics of the isiXhosa language of South Africa (nearly 19 percent of souls there use it) filled our spaces, in the space of an evening. It’s a 2019 to present day song/dance phenom in wide parts of El Mundo. A few ~  Antigua/Barbados, Argentina, Finland, Israel, Italy, Ireland (my own fun fumble in Florida, unrecorded thank you very much!) Palestine, Sweden (at winter shore!) & onward. Despite cute video versions of wiggle kids and flapping animals, my favorite visit with this levitating song & line dance remains the initial launch, staged outdoors in a small community courtyard between simple low buildings as friends enjoy a meal. The mood is casual joy. The skillful choreography wink to the audience – this regards plates – is a contributing pleasure. The performers are Angolan dance troupe Fenómenos do Sembato, celebrated widely in Africa and now, The World. The song is reimagined from a hymn sung in South African, bought forward by South African music dance impresario, MasterKG (Kgaogelo Moagi) and singer Nomcebo Zikode, also now famous.

After the original video, my 2nd favorite Jerusalema goodjuju includes all socially distanced medical professionals who undertake the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge in the sterile halls of hospitals.  And my 3rd fave arrives with the airport crew at Antigua/Barbados Bird Airport. Find them & hundreds on YouTube.

In a nod to “May the wind be always at your back” St. Patrick’s Month (part of my heritage is iconically Irish) I’ll share that several versions from The Emerald Isle were uploaded online just last month. Here is one at Twitter Beyond the bounce, I wanted to know the words.

Jerusalema ikhaya lami
Ngilondoloze
Uhambe nami
Zungangishiyi lana
Ndawo yami ayikho lana
Mbuso wami awukho lana

Jerusalem my home
Keep me
Walk with me
Don’t leave me here
My place is not here
My kingdom is not here

South African theology student Nkosi Mlambo wrote his take on  “Jerusalema – The Dance, the Meaning, the Theology”, linked here.The song struck him deeply, remembering an original version in primary school at morning assembly. This article is source of verses I’ve shared here.

https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jerusalema/

 

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The #PoetryFriday March 2021 Hosts line-up is beautiful to behold.

5 Kat at Kathryn Apel

12 Heidi at my juicy little universe

19 Linda at TeacherDance

26 Susan at Soul Blossom Living

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It’s Women’s History Month! I’m pleased to note 2 verse novels and one p.b. bio forthcoming in spring or summer 2021 with girl or women characters worth remembering.// Saving American Beach by Heidi King and Caldecott Honoree Ekula Holmes, p. b. bio about a little-known Black eco-warrior who left an opera career to advocate in Florida. // 37 Days at Sea by Barbara Krasner, a MG family story verse novel inspired by a heart-tugging true event of the Holocaust that also touches Florida history. // Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz, a MG family story verse novel of oboe practice, siblings and a missing person emergency that triggers mental health concerns.

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A Pause. Woot!Woot! Except for some short appearances this blog will be taking a pause.  Expected appearances are: A line of the one and only April 2021 #PoetryFriday’s Progressive Poem hosted by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A warble of “wonderful” with more of the verse novels shown above, each that I love to the moon and back ~ 37 DAYS AT SEA by Barbara Krasner and also EVERYWHERE BLUE by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz.

I expect to draw nourishment from visits to your posts & to keep social media active, but less so. Below, some goodies. The calendar of April #PoetryFriday hosts. A give-away book plate. And this reminder: consider creating a poem for the Childhood award at the contest mentioned above. Woot! Woot!

Gifting a complimentary bookplate download, courtesy of My Home Library

For great April expectations, the 2021 #PoetryFriday hosts in an #AprilPoetryMonth lovely line-up!

2 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

9 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

16 Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup

23 Catherine at Reading to the Core

30 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

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Collected at Reflections on the Teche by Margaret Simon, April 2021 Progressive Poem contributors!

April 1 Kat Apel at Kat Whiskers
2 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
3 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
4 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
5 Irene Latham at Live your Poem
6 Jan Godown Annino at BookseedStudio
7 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
8 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
10 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
11 Buffy Silverman
12 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
13 Jone Rush MacCulloch
14 Susan Bruck at Soul Blossom Living
15 Wendy Taleo at Tales in eLearning
16 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
17 Tricia Stohr Hunt
18 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
19 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
22 Ruth Hersey at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town
23 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
24 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
25 Shari Daniels at Islands of my Soul
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