Welcome to the 2021 KidLit Progressive Poem, a wonderful National Poetry Month tradition started by Irene Latham, and now organized by Margaret Simon. The poem is created over the course of the month as it moves from blog to blog, growing a line a day. For the second year in a row, writers offer two lines and the next participant chooses which one to include. Here are the two lines that Molly Hogan sent my way:
Hold it wide, step inside, where there’s one, there are more.
or
Side by side, let’s walk through, there’s a world to explore.
Hmmm… to search for more (more what? Maybe friends? Maybe doors?) Or to explore? I’m always up for a little exploration, so that’s where will go. Here’s the poem with Molly’s addition:
I’m a case of kindness – come and catch me if you can!
Easily contagious – sharing smiles is my plan.
I’ll spread my joy both far and wide,
As a force of Nature I’ll be undenied.
Words like, “how can I help?” will bloom in the street.
A new girl alone on the playground – let’s meet, let’s meet!
We can jump-skip together in a double-dutch round.
Over, under, jump and wonder, touch the ground.
Friends can be found when you open a door.
Side by side, let’s walk through, there’s a world to explore.
And now it’s time for me to offer Janet Fagel a choice of places to explore. I’m leaving one option as a question, so Janet can turn the tide if she chooses.
We’ll hike through a forest of towering trees,
or
Should we follow the stream as it eddies and flows?
Tune in tomorrow to see which line Janet chooses and where she’ll take us next. Click below to see the poem has been and where it’s yet to go….
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 at The Miss Rumphius Effect
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
26 Tim Gels at Yet There is Method
27 Rebecca Newman
28 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
29 Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wondering
30 Michelle Kogan at More Art 4 All
I’m playing catchup and going back to read through everyone’s posts … I love your nature-focussed options. Both are lovely. 🙂
Buffy, I am backtracking today to feel the flow of the poem. This will help me decide where to move forward with my day 19 lines. Thank you for the various ways a child can explore life.
Oh, either line is SO you, Buffy! But also perfect fits for this friendship journey…off to see which call of the wild was answered!
And there I thought it was going to be a metaphorical door from the playground into….what? Oh, an actual forest–perhaps.Thanks for moving us along, Buffy!
That’s what happens when you let a literal thinker join the game! (And someone who uses any excuse to throw in a whiff of nature.)
Hooray for exploring! I love both of the options you’ve left for Janet. I would have a hard time choosing between them.
I appreciate that your two choices have easy rhymes as well as a path to more fun times, both a hike and a stream offer this poem a bit of nature exploration that we all enjoy. Thanks!
Love the sense of adventure. Who knows where the girls will go? Well, Janet knows! Or will soon. I’ve loved catching up with the poem this afternoon.
Nice new lines to choose from, Buffy. They both sound great and are nicely rhymable! I love following this adventure line-by-line.
Thanks, Denise–I’m aware of the challenge for folks on the even days, so I tried to end with easy rhymes!
Thanks, Buffy. I have been contemplating my lines this morning. I love that we are headed outside!! Where will we head? I think I have one choice ready for Jone and one almost there. Thanks for giving me words with a good amount of rhyming possibilities. Back to pondering.
Looking forward to reading your lines tomorrow, Janet!
Thank you, this is wonderful fun.
Thanks for reading, Nancy!
Yes! Outdoors! Then what, I wonder, as I wait to see what Janet will do.
Me too!
Loving the outdoor nature of this gem. Can’t wait to see where it wanders next!
Yep–fun to see the wandering.
Terrific to take them on an outdoor adventure, Buffy. That opens up more ideas!
I hope so–and as I’m sure you know, my writing always seems to wander outside.
This poem has such an adventurous feel. Great options!
Thank you, Rose–I loved the rhythm of your line.
Yay! I like both the options!
Thanks, Ruth–it will be fun to see which one Janet picks.
Great choices, Buffy! I love the idea of adding a question as an option.
Thanks, Molly–you gave me great ones to choose from!