This poem may well have been called "Waiting For the Right Word" since creating a poem is generally a waiting process for me, requiring not only the right word, but the right metaphor, the right angle, the right form and the right voice, not necessarily in that order. Here are some of my considerations:

1. The right metaphor - Often this is the hardest, yet most crucial part of poem-making for me. But once I find the metaphor, usually the rest of the pieces fall into place easier.

2.  The right angle - What do I want to reveal about my poem's subject and how will I accomplish that?

3.  The right form - What form will best suit the subject matter - free verse or any number of other forms. Some of the forms I work in include the limerick, roundel, triolet, villanelle, pantoum and haiku. I also like to try  forms I haven't tried before as well as put my own spin on existing forms.

4.  The right voice - What voice will best suit my subject matter - third person or first person or even, sometimes, second person? If third person, will it be omnipotent or limited? If first person, is an object/character speaking (mask poem) or is the poet speaking to an object/character (apostrophe poem)?

5. The right word - Finally, after all these considerations, it's time to actually write the poem, time to consider each and every word, to find the best words to make the best poem. Some of my favorite word-seeking resources include Roget's Thesaurus and Rhymezone's Synonyms/Related Phrases function.

For me, much patience is needed in the creation of a poem. But the end result is well worth it! Waiting for the right metaphor, the right angle, the right form, the right voice and the right word equals satisfaction!
                             
                                 "Then I put up my feet 'cuz my poem is complete..."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this theme. What is your poem-making process like?

Kenn Nesbitt's wonderful anthology, ONE MINUTE TILL BEDTIME, debuted on November 1, 2016 and was promptly named a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2016. And I agree. It's an eclectic collection of poems from over 130 children's poets, meant to be read in one minute or less. My limerick, entitled "Skateboard Girl" is included, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

But this blog tour's focus is on poems that were submitted but didnt' make it into the collection. Here is one of mine that didn't make it and an image to go along with it:

Summertime Horses

All summer long we played horses--
galloping through green yards,
our ponytails streaming in the wind.

(c) 2010 B.J. Lee  All Rights Reserved

Working with Kenn Nesbitt is a treat! I first became acquainted with him when he was the Children's Poet Laureate and was posting a poem for every day of the school year at PoetryMinute.org. He posted two of my poems, "Dream Train" and "High Dive," another limerick.

​Please visit amazon to have a look at this anthology. I loved it from beginning to end! The poems are quite diverse and perfect for reading to your litttle ones before bed!

For more poems that didn’t make the cut, visit the roundup at Jackie Hoskings Blog, which has many other poems submitted but not accepted into OMTB. Jackie also includes links to other Poetry Friday poets who are sharing their poems on their own blogs (as I have done). Thanks to Jackie for all her hard work! And thanks, once again, to Kenn, for including my poem in this exciting anthology! It was a pleasure to work with you, as always.

Fractured fairy tales can be fun! Here is one that I wrote as an exercise to a prompt which, later on, ended up getting published. I wrote it in monorhyme which, I think, adds even more silliness to the already very silly poem. What do you think? I hope you enjoy my poem.

A special thanks to the talented Julie Rowan-Zoch for supplying amazing artwork for this poem. I knew she would do something great and she did!

Without further ado, here is the poem:

Much Ado About a ’Do


When Rapunzel the fair had let down her long hair,

Goldilocks, shocked, stood stock-still to stare.

Finally Goldi called, “Hey you up there,

what product is giving you such great hair care?”

Rapunzel said, “If I were freed from this lair,

I'd show you my tricks and give your hair some flair.”

But Goldilocks told her, “No way! You’ll stay where

the princes can’t see your hair. No, I won’t share!”

Rapunzel cried, “Goldilocks, I do declare,

your selfishness fills me with deepest despair.

You must be aware there are princes to spare.

I hope, down the road, you run into a bear!”

B.J. Lee 2012 All Rights Reserved
(first published in the Open Door Anthology, 2012)

Here's more about illustrator, Julie Rowan-Zoch:

Julie is a reformed graphic designer, concocting and sculpting story ideas and illustrations –every day. She has illustrated three board books for Bailiwick Press (http://www.bailiwickpress.com/picture-books.html) coming soon, in October '14.  Julie's blog is:  http://julierowanzoch.wordpress.com/. I know you will enjoy her work as much as I do!


Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong are hosting Poetry Friday today over at Poetry for Children. Please join them for the roundup!

Artist, Jaeda Renae, is featuring four of my adult poems on her Facebook page today. The poetry is artfully superimposed on the photography of Adair Puz Davidson. I met Jaeda during the March Madness. She is a friend of my husband, Malcolm Deeley, who is a speculative poet. Once we were introduced, she took off promoting my poems for March Madness. March Madness has opened many doors for me and forged new friendships. I've truly known what it feels like to have fans and to have other poets pulling for me. Exhausting as it was, it was an incredible experience. And I got to meet Jaeda, an artist, who loves my husband's poetry and loves mine as well. 


Thank you so much, Jaeda, for taking the time to put together this feature of my poems and Adair Puz Davidson's photography. Brilliant photography and brilliant job! Thanks again! 

Here are the links : "The Comet"  
                                 "The Osprey"
                                 "The Sea"
                                 "Moored"  


To view them all together, go here and scroll down. Mine are in the last row before the comments begin.


Jaeda is a very interesting artist and photographer. Scroll down to view some of her art! 


Thank you, once again, Jaeda!





                              

Well, I've made it to the Semifinals in the March Madness Poetry Contest currently underway at Ed DeCaria's blog, Think Kid Think. Yup, just four of us left! I was reluctant to try doing the contest because I am not good under pressure, but I am surprising myself on this one. True, I did have several  panic-stricken hours when I thought I would not have a poem for Round 3 with the word "pseudonymous," but in the end my wacky poem, "The Amoeba Gang," won the round. With the exception of that very difficult round, however, I am finding that I'm doing well under pressure and also discovering what a work-horse I am!

I'm very grateful for being in the contest this go-round because I had been in a bit of a writer' slump. Last year, I participated in the 12 X 12 picture book challenge and, in the end, I was so burned out on picture books, I turned away from them entirely to focus solely on poetry. I may go back to my picture book manuscripts, but at this point, I am thinking poetry and maybe finishing my YA or adult novel(s). I find picture books to be extremely difficult for various reasons which I'll save for another post. So I was feeling at loose ends with my writing "career" such as it is, with no poetry collection yet published and no picture book yet published although I do have a slew of poems published in magazines and about seven poems anthologized. I got a bad case of writer's block and a worse case of depression. We are also in the process of moving, fixing up our old house, and putting an addition on our new house so that has been very disruptive as well. Our old house goes on the market on Sunday, which is very exciting!


March Madness has given me back my drive, reinforced my love for poetry, and given me a desire to press on and see what I can do. It also taught me that, if I get 'stuck' again, simply go in a different direction, take a class, get out my watercolors for awhile, work on my novel. Just do something, something different, and I'll eventually find my way again.


Here is the poem I have submitted for Round 5.  I went a few different ways with the word "incontinent", but in the end decided to go with it's secondary meaning rather than write potty-humor, which is sooo not my style. I hope you are finding the time to enjoy the contest. I think Ed is doing a wonderful and very hard thing at Think Kid Think. We all thank you, Ed! I also wanted to thank those who have been supporting me, voting for me, sharing and liking my face book posts and retweeting my tweets. I feel very connected to the poetry community as well as other writers and it's a wonderful feeling. 


Here's the poem:

Spring has Sprung: A Villanelle

It’s time for a party to celebrate spring!
Let’s run with abandon, let’s race with the breeze.
A boundlessly joyous, incontinent fling

will let winter know he’s no longer the king!
Let’s fix up our bikes and let’s put away skis.
I’s time for a party to celebrate spring.

Let’s fly our kites high, holding tight to the string.
Let’s welcome the butterflies, beetles, and bees
with a boundlessly joyous, incontinent fling.

Let’s soar to the sky on the seat of a swing.
Let’s dance round the lilacs and crabapple trees.
It’s time for a party to celebrate spring.

The migrating birds are all back on the wing.
More crocuses, tulips and daffodils, please,
to brighten our joyous, incontinent fling;

for springtime is here! Let’s clap and let’s sing!
Let’s tumble and tussle and green-up our knees.
It’s time for a party to celebrate spring--
a boundlessly joyous, incontinent fling.


B.J. Lee 2014 All Rights Reserved

Please stop by and vote for your favorites! Here is the direct link to my match: http://www.thinkkidthink.com/incontinent-vs-kerfuffle/ Thank you #MMPoetry