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Underwater Dance: Beach Haiku

6/7/2017

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Happy Poetry Friday! I'm away from the ridge this week, so thanks for visiting my home while I am at the beach this week. For more PF posts visit Mary Lee at A Year of Reading.

In honor of my trip to the coast of Texas this week, I decided to try a beach haiku. I am so grateful to our Poetry Friday host this week, Mary Lee, who gave me a helpful tip to consider when writing a haiku. This week, you'll notice that my form is a little more "loose". It definitely works. Thanks again for the advice, Mary Lee!
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Invitation to Write:

You can try Mary Lee's invitation as well! Take any piece you are working on, and see how you might break "loose" from the traditional form or structure. Allow yourself some wiggle room. Have fun loosening the reigns with your poetry writing this week!
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Poetry Friday is Here! (The Shape of a Year)

5/17/2017

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Welcome! I am so excited to be hosting the Poetry Friday round-up this week. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this group of poetry friends! Thank you for joining in the round-up this week. Please be my guest here at the ridge and add your link at the bottom of the post if you like.

A few days ago, a special package arrived in the mail. Inside was a well-loved copy of the book, The Shape of a Year by Jean Hersey. It was a gift from my dear cousin Ali, who had discovered it in her late grandmother's house. She had read it and thought that I might enjoy reading it as much as she did.

It turns out she was right. After reading the inside jacket and the introductory chapter, I knew that it was one of those unexpected treasures that find their way into the heart.

Here are a few excerpts that I particularly admire.
QUIET AND SMOOTH, fresh and untouched the new snow lies across our meadow. Its pristine surface catches the sunlight, and tree shadows stretch like great blue pencils over the unbroken white. The snow folds gently over rocks and hummocks half concealing, half revealing a variety of different shapes.
  So lies our year ahead, its basic ingredients sun and shadow and suggested shapes of things to come. I wonder what we will do with this year, what it will do with us, and what together we and life will create during the twelve months ahead.
  A new year is a gift... Things happen. We grow (we hope), and we learn willy nilly... Our reachings, acceptances, rejections, our hesitancies, courage, fears, and our loves, all these form the shape of the year for us, as individuals, as part of a family, as a member of a community.


For me, Hersey's words offer a gentle invitation to find joy in the ordinary gifts of each day of the year. She invokes a sense of purpose in the awareness and careful observation of ourselves and the world around us.

Though I was unable to find much information online about her personally or professionally, I was able to find a few tidbits about her life's work. Jean Hersey was born in 1902 in New York City. She later moved to Weston, Connecticut where she wrote several books about gardening including, A Woman's Day Book of Houseplants and I Like Gardening. Her other books, A Sense of Seasons and The Shape of a Year, are incredibly poetic memoirs that reflect her love of nature and her pleasure in documenting the beauty of ordinary life.

I have only begun to read The Shape of a Year, but I am certain that I will continue to be inspired by Hersey's graceful words and the joy she finds in the realm of daily life.  
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My well-loved copy of Jean Hersey's, The Shape of a Year
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Photo of Jean Hersey on the back jacket of her book, The Shape of a Year
You can find some of her quotes HERE.
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The first of many poems inspired by the writing of Jean Hersey

Invitation to Write:

The shape of our year will soon change again as we head into the summer season. Spend some time thinking about the shape of your year so far and the days to come. Where do you already find joy in your daily life routines? Take a moment to write and reflect on these instances.

​Think about how these moments help shape your thinking throughout the year. What impact might this thinking have on your goals and challenges this year?
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    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.

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    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

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