Happy Poetry Friday! I'm excited to be back in the round up this week. Thank you to my sweet friend, Carol for the invitation to join in the fun this week! She's hosting for us at her space at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Today, my heart sings. For the past couple of days, I have had a young Purple Martin swallow circling the skies above my yard singing the most beautiful notes I have ever heard. He sings and churtles, hoping to make a friend. His heart song is love. It comes from deep within, as it does from all of us. He shares his song with an open heart for all the world to hear. My hope is that we all continue singing our heart song to share the love within. When we do, we spread the pure joy that lives inside of us.

Heart Song
gladness fills the soul
sing of love and hope once more
a heart song of joy

Our heart speaks to us. Sometimes it's a whisper, and sometimes it's loud and clear! Think about the song of your heart. What does it say to you? Perhaps you can hear it's refrain. Listen closely. Describe what you hear. Have fun writing a heart song poem of your own!

Happy Poetry Friday! It's great to be back in the round up this week. Thank you for visiting the ridge, and please stop by Carol's Corner for more of this week's collection of poetry!

Hope is a beautiful thing, especially when it has wings. It's just the kind of hope I needed after experiencing a difficult time. I remember feeling so lost and detached from a path I wanted to take very much. As humans, we have a yearning to belong, to feel a part of something bigger. We are driven to connect, and remembering connects us to our identity. When I lost sight of my goal and the realization that I might not achieve it, I returned to my memories of hope. It turns out, I had many of them waiting for me in my notebooks to remind me of hope.

While this poem is about waiting with silent hope for my dear Purple Martin swallows to return to the skies, it's more about returning to myself. I needed to remember the things that are most important to me. I needed to find a new hope. And with this new hope, I have found delight in the peaceful way in which it has arrived.

How does remembering help you connect to your identity? Where do you find new hope?

Happy Poetry Friday! I am so grateful to be back with this amazing community of poets! I can't wait to read all the poetry offerings waiting to be unwrapped at Donna's space, Mainley Write, on this last Poetry Friday round-up of the year. 

It feels so wonderful to be writing for myself again. For some time, much of my writing has been the academic kind. Now that I have completed my master's degree program, I can give myself fully to my writing life. I can return to my pen and notebook. I may be a bit rusty, but I believe writing is the kind of thing that comes back to you with ease. Like a beloved song or some fond memory from childhood, it's always there. It always waits, and it always takes us back whenever we are ready to return. 

For me, nature is a sturdy workbench for my writing. I will make time and listen, to hear the words that it may speak.

Whatever your workbench may be, my hope is that you return to it again and again. It will be there, ready to help you accomplish the work of your heart. 

Welcome to the ridge! I'm so happy to have Poetry Friday visitors. For more poetry offerings, visit Heidi, at her space, My Juicy Little Universe.

Spring has sprung all over the ridge! It has braved the storm once again. I took one look at this little house, and immediately thought, "What a home for the brave." At that moment, I knew I wanted to capture this idea of being brave as a writer and accepting whatever conditions may come. I imagined the brave bluebirds that would accept this little house as a home, despite the snares and snags along the way. Then, I thought about all of the brave writers I know who do just the same. They face the blank and empty page, trusting that they will have the words to fill it. Just as the bravest of bluebirds fills the little house with moss, and grass , and hope. When you're a writer, you have to be brave, and make a home for your words to grow. So fill the space inside, accepting what comes as good enough, barb after barb, stretch after stretch.

Writers face challenges all the time. One of the greatest challenges writers often face is the blank page. I have to admit, I get stuck a lot! Whenever I feel myself freezing up over a blank page, I remind myself that it's okay to give my pen to the page without knowing where it may go. It's okay to accept what comes. And sometimes what comes, isn't quite what I want it to be, YET. So I keep writing, trusting that words will come! When you're a writer, you have to be brave, and know that your words are enough.

Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks for joining me this week. Donna is hosting our first round-up for February at her space mainelywrite.blogspot.com/.

This time of year, I love to walk into the woods and hear the joyful noise of winter birds. Their chatter and songs in unison, are music to my ears! I especially enjoy the whistling notes and repeated syllables of the Robins. If you listen closely, it almost sounds like, "cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up!" I wondered if I could write a poem in metrical verse that created a rhythmic pattern that sounded very much like the repetitive tunes of the Robins. It was certainly worth a shot, and I had a lot of fun trying it out! The result is the poem I am sharing today, written in tetrameter couplets (for the most part I think)! I love that poems offer us so much grace to try new things.    

One of the wonderful things about poetry is the freedom and space it invites us to explore with. I like to study and learn about the different technical elements of poetry. Learning the craft of writing poems is an important task, but sometimes it's easy to get bogged down in the technicalities. That's when I remember the words of Mary Oliver, "Poems must, of course, be written in emotional freedom." So whenever you feel yourself getting wrapped up in formalities, take back your freedom, and write from your heart.   

Happy Poetry Friday! Today, I am sharing one more wonder poem in honor of the Purple Martins' return before my own return to work on another important project. Thank you for visiting me and the Purple Martins this week on the ridge! For more Poetry Friday goodness visit Michelle at Today's Little Ditty.

I wish everyone a week filled with writing and happiness! I am taking next week off to spend some time with my boys and to work on revising my novel. Have a great week! 

Writers often have a project or a series of projects that they are working on. These projects can take on many different forms and have a variety of different purposes depending on the writer's goal or audience. Taking on a project can give your writing focus and can create an energy to keep you on track to fulfilling your writing goals. Have you ever initiated a project for yourself as a writer? If so, how did it go? If you haven't participated in a project before, what kind of project would you choose? Thinking about the genres or topics that interest you can be a great place to start when deciding on a project. So whether you are working on a poetry anthology, magazine article, novel, picture book, or a different type of project; I wish you all the best as you work to achieve your writing project goals!  

Welcome, Poetry Friday visitors! This week I am taking a break from my bird waiting and sharing a poem of... Be sure to squeeze by Heidi's space My Juicy Little Universe, where she is hosting today's round-up.

They're here! The Purple Martins have returned to the ridge at last. Mama and Papa Martin arrived this evening just before sunset. Words can't express how excited I am to have these purple-winged beauties back. Of course, I had to give it a go by drafting a little tribute poem to this traveling pair.

Writers, I do hope each of you continue to live, dream, and write with all your heart. Hopes and dreams do come true when you write. Your words matter. There is hope, still. 

Writers live, dream, and write. I remind myself of this quite often, especially when I am in a slump. It helps me remember that my dreams in this life can come true through words.

​Words matter.
Words are hope.
So Live. Dream. Write.

Howdy, Poetry Friday friends! Thanks for stopping by and visiting me at the ridge where I am writing up a storm about birds while I wait for my favorite spring birds, the Purple Martins, to arrive. While I'm rounding up poems about birds, our friend Karen Edmisten is rounding up words for our round up today. Thanks for hosting, Karen!

Waiting sure is hard sometimes, especially when you want something really bad. For the past couple of weeks, I have been patiently waiting for my Purple Martin bird friends to return. With each passing day, my mind becomes and more consumed with worry that they might not return. Lucky for me, I know what to do while I'm waiting. I write! I write about other bird friends and animal friends that I love. I write about hopes, fears, and things I hold dear. I write about lots of things. Words can be great friends that help to pass the time away through all that waiting.

I have hope that the Martins will arrive, but until they do, I keep writing! After all, I have so many words that want to sprout wings and fly out into the world each day.   

There are times and even places where we tend to spend a lot of time waiting. You might wait in line at a grocery store or at a drive through restaurant. You might even spend time waiting at an airport, subway station, or a doctor's office. So what do you do while you are waiting? Perhaps you read a book or spend time on your phone. Do you write? Writers, my hope for you today and everyday is that you find those spaces in the seams of your life to write. Think of all the words that are waiting to be written!  

Happy Poetry Friday! This week I am full of hope as I wait for my bird friends, the Purple Martins, to return to the ridge for the nesting season. I do hope that you enjoy your visit and that you will mosey over to Check it Out where Jone is hosting today's round-up. 

Every year in late February, I sit on my front porch with my eyes to the sky. I listen, and I wait for the Purple Martins to return to their summer home here on the ridge. These magnificent birds return to North America each year from their winter homes in South America. They are brilliant acrobats in flight who often depend on humans to provide housing throughout the nesting season.

As a bird enthusiast, I have always had a fascination with these enchanting birds. My grandfather always put up houses for them, and after he passed away, I decided to become a Martin landlord myself. Something about their song and general presence gives me hope. The kind of hope that returns again and again without fail. The kind of hope that endures.

I think that this poem by Emily Dickinson speaks of such hope. I just love the way this poem immediately pulls me in because of its reference to a bird, which is a recurring magnet topic for me as writer, and then within those first few lines, totally flips the way I typically think about writing about the birds I love. There is much that we can learn as writers when we flip our magnet topics over and write from the other side.     

Hope is the thing with feathers
by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb from me.

Here are a few poems that I have written about the Purple Martins. I will continue to write about them in hopes of their swift return. 

Writers write a lot about the magnet topics they feel drawn to. Once these topics find their way into a writer's heart, they tend to stick around in the writer's thoughts for safe keeping. Then, just when a writer needs them the most, they flip themselves over to reveal another side or another way of thinking about the topic. Take a moment to think about a magnet topic that sticks with you always. What might be on the other side of this magnet? Now flip your magnet topic over. What do you see? Are there other sides of this topic to explore?

Oh, happy day! It's Poetry Friday! Find more Poetry Friday goodies at Katie's space The Logonauts. Thanks for hosting, Katie!

This week I am sharing a poem about a topic that I am drawn to and write often about. Having a list of magnet topics can be a great tool to help you jump start your writing. It can also serve as a sounding board to help you figure out what you really want to say.

​Birds are a magnet topic for me because I find myself writing about them over and over again in different ways. All sorts of birds live in my notebook, but one of my very favorites is the chickadee.

Writers often return to topics they care about again and again. Topics are never used up. We can always find something new to say about our magnet topics. Often times, we can count on these go-to topics whenever we feel stuck and can't decide what to write about. Try using one of your magnet topics as a spring board to get your writing flowing today. Stretch yourself to write about your topic in a way you have not done before. Magnet topics can help you attract all kinds of new words and ideas down on paper!

​Three cheers for Poetry Friday! There is so much excitement in the air with all the fun fall activities happening each week! You can find out more about what's happening in our Poetry Friday community this week too by waltzing over to TeacherDance where Linda is hosting the round-up. Thanks for hosting, Linda!

My bluebird friends have returned! I enjoy their company so much throughout the spring, but they seem to go away for awhile during the summer. Now they are back, sitting on the wire and hunting for worms. Soon they will begin scouting out the tiny wooden houses I have posted along the fence line. They will grace my backyard all winter long with their brilliant blue coats. They are so beautiful to me that I just had to write a poem in their honor.

Sometimes we write about things that we are thankful for. Our love for the special people and things in our life often encourages us to express our gratitude to them. Spend some time today thinking about the things you are most grateful for. You might jot down a list or maybe you'll be inspired to write a poem to honor them like I did!