My oh my–what a treat to get an early peek at Irene Latham’s new book, This Poem is a Nest! Are you a fan of found poems? Of nature poems? Of clever puzzles? Of delicious language? Of Irene Latham’s poetry? I can answer yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. But even if you have fewer yeses than me, you will enjoy this delightful book.
The book opens with “Nest,” a poem celebrating a robin’s nest during all four seasons. Then Irene uses her “Nest” poem as the spark for 161 little “nestlings.” Each nestling poem is woven from words of the original “Nest,” and all of the source poem’s words find their way into at least one nestling. As I read the nestlings I found myself returning to the opening poem, searching for the source of their words. These small poems reveal the richness of the language of the original, giving a reader new appreciation as they read and reread. The nestling poems cover a wide variety of topics (much greater than you might imagine possible from a single seasonal poem!) and invite the reader to invent new poems of their own.
The best way to get a feel for the wonderful language and images in this book is to read some poems. Here’s the opening stanza of the spring section of “Nest.”
Spring This poem has twigs in it, and little bits of feather-fluff. It’s got wings and birdsong stitched together with ribbons of hope. Safe in its crook, it’s a cradle that sways across day and dark.
Each season overflows with new sights and sounds. Seagrass sky and glittery web of summer turn to crispcool autumn and finally frost-kissed winter.
Then the Nestlings commence, with playful poems that mark the time of day:
Bedtime you drop down in moonsong— ask sky: got dreams?
Calendar poems celebrate each month:
October sky shipwrecked, oak like a wild dream
Other sections include poems about colors, animals, people, wordplay, and places on all seven continents and beyond. Here’s a favorite animal poem:
Portrait of Papa Emperor Penguin
with Egg
feet stitched
together,
both anchor
and dream
Whimsical illustrations by Johanna Wright accompany some of the poems:
The final section of nestling poems offers advice for the young (and old!) poet. This one made me smile:
First Poem-Draft ink squeaks with hope
The book ends with tips for finding your own poems. I could imagine a classroom or zoom-room of young writers, searching through “Nest” and creating their own nestlings. So many wonderful words and paths to choose! I could not resist playing:
Seasons of Hope
Hope
sways a
lullaby
snug gemstones
become
fluttery stars
a home
turns to
frostkissed why
hope in its harbor
me--you
inside
--Buffy Silverman, with words from This Poem is a Nest
I hope I’ve enticed you to check out This Poem is a Nest when it releases at the end of the month. And while you’re waiting, head over to Whispers from the Ridge where Kiesha hosts this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup, and offers two exquisite poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
I love the hope that emanates from Irene’s book, something needed right now. Thanks for your lovely review Buffy, and I like your “frostkissed why” too!
I love the hope that emanates from Irene’s book, something needed right now. Thanks for your lovely review Buffy, and I like your “frostkissed why” too!
Thanks to you and Linda, I can’t wait to read Irene’s book. With such exquisite words from Nest, who can go wrong in drafting their own poem? Yours is beautiful.
You’re right, Kay–starting with all those wonderful words makes writing easier (and that’s why I think this is such a good book to share with young writers.)
I love “hope in its harbor.” Such a comforting image!
Thanks, Mary Lee. Books like this one give me hope.
This book sounds exquisite. Thanks for sharing some excerpts. Brilliant and lyrical stuff. Can’t wait!! “ink squeaks with hope” is too clever!!
I’m sure you will be enthralled, Jama!
Wow! This sounds amazing. I can’t wait to read all of it.
Happy reading, Liz!
Oh Buffy, thank you for this peek. We saw some of this at Highlights last fall and I couldn’t wait. My copy has been on pre-order for a long time!! Congratulations, Irene. Truly brilliant and gorgeous work. I will savor and try this idea as Buffy did in her poem. You have created such a lovely form idea here. I can see this growing more and more thanks to the creative poets who are writing these days. I wish I had had the wealth of books in my classroom I now have in my personal collection. Someone is going to be the beneficiary of incredible books some day (my grandkids will have first dibs and often I get two copies of ones I just can’t part with) since I simply can’t resist. I can’t wait for Nest to arrive! Congratulations on an incredible work, Irene. So very happy for all of the amazing success and work you are doing and have been doing for so long. Janet Clare F.
I agree, Janet–this book is brilliant and the form is perfect for inspiring other writers.
Dear Buffy – THANK YOU! I am in love with your poem, esp. the “frostkissed why” Beautiful! So grateful for you sharing about this book, which means so much to me. Mwah!
And I am grateful to you for writing it, and giving me a preview!
Thanks, Buffy. I’ll look for THIS POEM IS A NEST.
I think you will enjoy it, Ann.
I certainly love it, too, Buffy. You’ve shared so many lovely examples; that snail is precious. This is a book I love but would have loved it for my classroom, too.
Going to read your review right now–I’m playing catch up with Poetry Tuesday.