Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.30

Zipper animated
Animation by DemonDeLuxe (Dominique Toussaint), from Wikimedia Commons


Z IS FOR THE END

The month has zipped by,
although some days
the writing was
much zippier than others.

Like the teeth of the zipper
we writers came together,
locking ideas to make a chain.
The prompt was our slider.

I thank you, fellow poets,
for joining me
in binding word to word, 
thought to image.

This common daily work,
putting one word after another,
has brought us close,
will link us forever.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013




The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project was 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


I used the media to inspire my poetry, but I invited my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Here are some of my students' creations:

Inspired by the fire breather

Inspired by the fire breather

Inspired by the fire breather


Volcano cake inspired by the fire breather



The above three inspired by Le Silence

Foodscape/sculpture of the Broadway Tower with an imaginative landscape surrounding it!



To go with the Rubik's Cube animation

And the poems that were inspired by the harp music:


that sound calms
me down every
time I hear
it going past
nice and fast
just the
way I
dream 
it

--B


SOUND OF BEAUTY

The brush of a harp.
The melody.
The sound.
The feeling.
The beauty.

--No


ANGELS

It feels like
angels are flying
over me,
playing their soothing harps,
sounds relaxing.

--Na


FLOWERS AND HARPS

When I think of flowers
    I remember the
sound of harps. They are
    both peaceful and
relaxing. They make me feel
              safe.

--Jo


peace    harmony

freedom
happiness

Litmus
Lozenge

vengeance    sorrow
pain              agony

honor    courage

respect

--Re


TWOs

Two harps
play
two beautiful
sounds

like two flowers
twirling around and
around

like two friends
caring for
each other

like two blue jays
singing
sister and brother

like two people
giving gifts on special days

like two children
wanting 
to play

like two angels
watching 
for us

like two harps 
playing
two
beautiful 
sounds.

--Ra


Had to remember
A loved one.
Running my fingers on the strings making 
Peaceful music.

--M


NICE SOUNDS
That sound, what is that
it's so...peaceful.

It makes me calm down,
overjoyed, I went to where
it came from.

It was at a church
it was a girl playing 
her harp.

I walk in and 
she stops, she looks
at me then looks away
and starts playing
again.

--G


HARPS

The music from heaven
letting us know the right way
like a rainbow in the clear sky
it is quiet music that
makes us feel safe.

--Y


HARP

The music is peaceful
like crickets making music.

All the sounds come together
like every feather of a bird.

This piece had harmony
like a two instrument symphony.

Playing my harp
making beautiful music.

Plucking the strings,
playing something inspirational.

Inspiration,
that made this poem.

--J


no stopping

back and forth, forth and back.
no stopping; for there is no
time in this new world.

back and forth, forth and back.
as i lean against ellis,
i try to remember those days.

back and forth, forth and back.
one year more until
this war is out of my head.

back and forth, forth and back.
my life is full of melodies,
and i need them to live.

--S




Monday, April 29, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.29


Photo by Sara&Joachim, from Wikimedia Commons

MEERKAT JUMP ROPE RHYME

eenie
meenie
miney
mo

three little meerkats
all in a row

one looks left
and one looks right
and the third won't 
let you out of his sight

three little meerkats
all in a row

eenie
meenie
miney 
mo

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013




The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.28




Photos by Gideon Pisanty (Gidip) גדעון פיזנטי, from Wikimedia Commons

This photographer has five photos of this female long-horned bee collecting nectar and pollinating this flower. Yesterday's photo prompted poems about work, and perhaps today's will, too. That seems fitting, because today is Workers' Memorial Day, "an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work."


BEES

clamber
climb
pry

nectar 
pollen
sky

home 
hive
fly

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013





The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.27


Breakfast Break of the Scaffolders
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-09409 / CC-BY-SA

Work and rest. That's what's on my mind today.




The trick 
is learning to rest
in the midst 
of your work.

That,

and balance.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013








The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.26



Creative Commons photo by Brocken Inaglory. The image was edited by user:Alvesgaspar
From Wikimedia Commons Featured Images: Natural Phenomena

BUBBLE

thin 
skin:
just
water 
and 
soap

clear sphere:
a vessel 
of hope

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013







The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.25


Broadway Tower, Cotswolds, England (Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year for 2007)
Creative Commons photo by Newton2 (cropped by Yummifruitbat
)

FAIRY TALE

Once upon a long ago,
I stood before a tower.
Magic blew in from the east;
the hero met the coward.

Obstacles were overcome,
the happily came after.
Evil withered, crumbled, turned
the page to the next chapter.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013






The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.24



Moving Sushi by Deror Avi on Wikimedia Commons


In science we learned about food chains
but clearly that does not apply
to sushi, which comes on a food train
chew-chewing as it passes by.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013






The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.23






"Bird songs recorded in the forest of Fontainebleau (France). You can especially hear some wrens." 
The author, barracuda1983, has released this work into the Public Domain. It can be found on Wikimedia Commons.


BIRDSONG

The leader of the early morning bird walk was a quiet-spoken angular man.
He led us across dew-soaked grass to the forest's edge.

Robins and Bluejays were spotted in the October sky;
Carolina Wrens sang way too loudly for their diminutive size.

Rarely were there surprises.
I remember mostly the comforting sameness of the walks.

Sassafras leaves, worm castings, 
and the sound of the woods waking up with a song in its heart.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013






The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 

Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.22


Irises by V. VanGogh
Painting in the Public Domain, from Wikimedia Commons

IRIS

When I close my eyes,
I can smell their spice,
see the one white --
"Fire and Ice" --
my mother's pride.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013







The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.21

PocketCube (small)

By Silver Spoon (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons


I have a couple of students who are obsessed with Rubik's Cubes and who are AMAZING at solving this puzzle. They study videos, learn algorithms, and work with a timer to improve their times. This kind of thinking is completely outside my skill set. I am in awe of them. Here is a video one of these Rubik's Cube experts made of himself solving the cube in under 20 seconds:



Video used with the permission from mariojj123Cubing


RUBIK'S CUBE

Rotate layers -- twist twist spin --
Up and down -- twist twist spin --
Backwards, forwards -- twist twist spin --
It's solved! ...How did you do that?
Kindly repeat, but
Slower this time...

Clickclick twisttwist spinspin
Updownaround, faster than you can follow.
Believe it...because you see it happen before your very
Eyes.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013






                                                 

The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!