Whispers from the Ridge
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Peek inside my notebook
  • Teaching the Writer

To Wolf Moon

1/5/2018

5 Comments

 
Picture
Happy New Year Poetry Friday friends! Thanks for visiting the first post of the year here on the ridge. Catherine is hosting the first poetry round-up of 2018 at her space, Reading to the Core. Be sure to ring in the new year by stopping by!

On New Year's day, there was a super-blue-wolf-full moon! I hope you had a chance to see it rising in the night sky. Not to worry though if you missed it because there will be another super-blue-wolf moon on January 31st. I read that it will also be a super-blue-blood lunar eclipse moon. Wow! We are certainly experiencing some spectacular astronomical events this year already. 

I always find writing inspiration from my favorite magnet topics like the stars and the moon! In this image, I put two photos of the full moon side by side to give the effect of the eyes of the wolf moon on the rise. The poem this image inspired turned out to be a little sadder than many of the poems I write, but I think poems must be written as we feel them. I was also trying to play with line breaks in a way that allowed the poem to be read as one voice or two voices. The two italicized lines can either be read as the first voice or the moon's echo in response. Try reading it with a friend in this way. I'm not sure if there is a technical poetry term for this strategy, but it was fun to fiddle with anyway! And if you prefer to read something not quite so full of sadness, I have included a haiku in honor of the wolf moon as well. Happy moon watching in 2018!    
Picture
Wolf Moon on the rise- photo by K Shepard
Picture
Picture
Picture

Invitation to Write:

A poet can express a wide range of emotions throughout a single poem or focus intently on one. A writer can invite the reader to feel whatever they choose, and sometimes the writer hopes to elicit a certain response from the reader. Think about poems or other pieces of literature that you have read with expressive emotions. In what way or ways did the writer invite you to feel or decide something on your own? Maybe it was the word choice or the use of line breaks to create "rooms" throughout the poem. Take note of this and try it out in your own writing., staying true to the feeling in your words. 
5 Comments

Too Long: Poems with an echo response

10/27/2017

7 Comments

 
Picture
Poetry Friday is a dream this week! Be sure to visit Brenda at her fairyland space, Friendly Fairy Tales.

Dear friends, this week I have been thinking about how important it is to return to the people, places, and things we love. I do this a lot, especially when I start realizing how much I have missed. One evening, I was walking out in my yard by the old elm tree, and I suddenly noticed how much had changed. While I was off living in my own world, the natural world I love was changing and living its life as well. As I stood there gazing up at the branches, I was sad that I had passed by so many times without stopping. I missed the birds. I missed the trees. I missed the spiders and the crickets. So I imagined that they could hear me and that we could talk to each other. This poem is that conversation. I talked to my dear friends, and they answered, like a soft echo of the breeze through the trees.
Picture
The old elm tree in my yard I call the "Dragonfly Tree." photo by Kiesha Shepard
Too Long
 
I miss the elm.
I miss the spider.
 
Too long, too long                  
                       you have passed us by.
 
I miss the wren.
I miss the cricket.
 
Too long, too long
                       
you have passed us by.
 
Too long, too long
I have passed you by,
dear earthly friends.
 
© Kiesha Shepard
​

Invitation to Write:

Try reading this poem with a friend. Partner A reads the narrator's statements. Partner B reads the nature's response echo in italics. Then switch. Try adding stanzas and response lines to my poem if you like, or better yet, have fun experimenting with your own call and response type poems.! 
7 Comments

Lost: Playing with Space & Length

4/12/2017

6 Comments

 
Picture
Welcome Poetry Friday readers! This week, I am sharing a poem that sprang up while I was exploring some different ways to use space and line length.

For more poetic posts, visit Dori at Dori Reads. She's rounding up the poetry peeks for us today. Thanks, Dori!
Picture

Invitation to Write:

Try having some fun with white space and line length in one of your poems. Notice how the changes in space and length influence the different aspects of your poem. How do the changes impact both the structure and the mood? Read your poem out loud, paying careful attention to your chosen syntax and line breaks. Rewrite if you choose, but be sure to save each draft! You might decide to take them out of the compost pile later and plant them in a new poem where they will grow just fine.  Keep revising and rereading until your poem says to you, "I'm ready!" 
6 Comments

    Author

    Welcome! I'm Kiesha Shepard, and I have a love for writing and the teaching of writing. Whispers From the Ridge is a place where I can share my words and ideas for teaching writing. It's also a place for you to find inspiration for writing the words inside of you. I invite you into my world of writing as I capture the whispers from the ridge.

    Picture
    Picture

    Follow by Email

    Subscribe to Whispers from the Ridge - Blog by Email
    Subscribe to Newsletter

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    November 2021
    September 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    Animal Poems
    Autumn Poems
    Bird Poems
    Collecting Around A Topic
    Color Poems
    Concrete Poems
    Conversations With Nature
    Craft
    CSISD Writing Project
    Drafts
    Found Poems
    Friendship Poems
    Haiku
    Insect Poems
    Invitations To Write
    Line Breaks
    List Poems
    Magnet Topics
    National Poetry Month
    Observations To Consider
    Poem In Your Pocket Day
    Poems
    Poems About Flowers
    Poems About Hope
    Poems About Objects
    Poems About Places
    Poems About Science
    Poems About Serious Topics
    Poems About Sounds
    Poems About The Moon
    Poems About The Ocean
    Poem Songs
    Poems With Alliteration
    Poems With A Resolution
    Poems With Expressive Emotions
    Poems With Magic
    Poems With Repetition
    Poetry Challenges
    Poetry Friday
    Power Of Three Poem
    Progressive Poem
    Response Poems
    Revision
    Rhyming Poems
    Sensory Poems
    Spring Poems
    Summer Poems
    White Space
    Winter Poems
    Wonder Poems
    Writer's Notebook
    Writer's Tools
    Writing Life
    Writing Process
    Writing Spaces
    Writing Times

    Picture
    Click to learn about Poetry Friday!

    Schedule of Round Up:

    July
    2    Laura at Laura Shovan
    9    Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
    16  Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone
    23  Kat at Kathryn Apel
    30  Becky at Sloth Reads
    August
    6   Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
    13 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
    20 Carol at The Apples in My Orchard
    27 Elisabeth at Unexpected Intersections
    September
    3   Heidi at my juicy little universe
    10 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
    17 Denise at Dare to Care
    24 Laura at Laura Purdie Salas
    October
    1   Catherine at Reading to the Core
    8   Irene at Live Your Poem
    15 Bridget at wee words for wee ones
    22 Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup
    29 Linda at TeacherDance
    November
    5   Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
    12 Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
    19 Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
    26 Ruth at there is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
    December
    3   Michelle at Michelle Kogan
    10 Cathy at Merely Day by Day
    17 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch
    24 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
    31 Carol at Carol's Corner

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Kristine Paulus, Ryan Hodnett, Marie Hale, gurdonark, btrentler, Kelly Colgan Azar, jeffreyw, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Peek inside my notebook
  • Teaching the Writer