Thanks to everyone for joining in on Poetry Friday at Semicolon. I just heard the news that one of my favorite authors, Madeleine L’Engle, died yesterday in a nursing home in Lichfield, Connecticutt. This recap of Poetry Friday is dedicated to Ms. L’Engle, who I’m sure would have appreciated the idea of people celebrating poetry together on Fridays —or any day.

Sandhya Nankani at Literary Safari very appropriately has a poem by Ms. L’Engle herself.

Akelda the Gleeful is being inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope Is a Thing With Feathers as she copes with reality through storytelling. Not a bad way to cope.

At Maureen’s blog, By Singing Light, poet Wallace Stevens writes “delight . . . lies in flawed words and stubborn sounds.” I like that.

Kelly Fineman writes about the poetry collection, processional by Ann Compton, even getting the author’s permission to reprint two of the poems from the book on her blog.

Liz’s poem is Donal Óg by Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (Translated from an anonymous eighth-century Irish poem). It’s a sort of somebody-done-somebody-wrong song from the early middle ages.

Jules at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Web at Blog From the Windowsill are both featuring Leo and Diane Dillon’s new book, Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose.

Ipsa Facto has Pablo Neruda, as translated by Stephen Mitchell: “A child’s foot doesn’t know it’s a foot yet/ And it wants to be a butterfly or an apple.” Brand New Ending also shares a Neruda poem, Bird.

And Jenny’s into eagle poems for her little acorns’ bird study, by Tennyson and by Stacy Smith.

Adrienne is remembering, or forgetting, mnemonics in rhyme. Happy Smekday?

Farm School Becky features Back to School With Robert Browning. I wish my homeschool were as fun and educational as that of Browning and his scholar father. And Literacy Teacher at Mentor Texts has a poem about yet another father who knows how to teach and love at the same time.

Jama Rattigan and Sylvia Vardell (Poetry for Children) are celebrating Jack Prelutsky’s birthday (tomorrow). And Fuse #8 reviews a new picture book with text from one of Prelutsky’s poems: “. . . when I saw “The Wizard” by Jack Prelutsky in its full glory I realized just how ripe the market is for this kind of poetry picture book.”

John Mutford at The Book Mine Set says of poet Susan Musgrave that “after a very rocky start, I came to enjoy her poetry a lot.” The praise is somewhat lukewarm, but the appraisal and review of Musgrave’s poetry is thorough and intriguing.

Crispus Attucks at Dominant Reality posts a poem, “Who Are We?”, by Jewish poet Alan Kaufman.

Gina MarySol Ruiz shares Tennyson’s famous The Lady of Shallot. (I’ll always hear Anne-with-an-e giving her dramatic interpretation of this poem whenever I read it.) At Cuentesitos, Gina posts a poem by another favorite author, A.A. Milne:

Every one says, “Run along,
There’s a little darling!”
If I’m a little darling, why don’t they run with me?

Visit Kevin Slattery for an early poetry-friday morning poem, and welcome him to Poetry Friday for the first, we hope not the last, time.

Sam Riddlebarger’s book readings involve juggling and instant poetry? Here are some selections from the instant poetry portion of the show. WARNING: Strong stomach required—or else a poor sense of smell.

Look at the poetry postcards at Check It Out.

Child Moon by Carl Sandburg pays homage to six year old William’s love of the moon at Tricia’s The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Susan at Chicken Spaghetti says this book is the perfect Poetry Friday selection:

The Place My Words Are Looking For: What Poets Say About and Through Their Work
selected by Paul B. Janeczko
Bradbury Press, 1990
ISBN: 0-02-747671-5

Stacey the writing teacher gives us a pencil poem by a former student. Liz in Ink is a teacher, too, and she reads poetry aloud to her introductory poetry class. This week they read poems by Li-Young Lee.

It’s back-to-school time, and Becky’s Book Reviews has a couple of homework poems by Russell Hoban and Jane Yolen, two fine children’s poets. Laura’s celebrating the end of summer with a poem by that title by Jean Starr Untermeyer: “There were sights to be seen at the flaming end of summer/As we sped over the land like a flying scarf . . .” And Whimsy’s already entering into the fall mood with an autumn poem by, of all people, Jackie Kennedy(?). I didn’t know she wrote poetry.

Journey Woman Nancy, “single, sometimes poet with great friends,” has chosen a poem by Rae Armentrout, “full of interesting images and a stop-and-think-about-it concept.”

Franki at a Year of Reading has a fib, a haiku, a question poem and a contest —-all about root canals. Ouch! And MotherReader already has her teeth/cavity/rootcanal poem posted.

Thanks to Sara Lewis Holmes for her original poem, sweet nothings.

Those Wordy Girls have some cabin/camp poems and a review of Maria Testa’s book in poetry, Becoming Joe DiMaggio.

Charlotte posts on learning to ride a bike and the sometimes bloody consequences: some poems, a few stories, and a book or two. All inspired by a conversation about toothpaste and bicycles. (There’s that tooth theme creeping in again!)

Heather Walker (Life Lessons and Laughs) reaches back into Elizabethan England for a sonnet by Spenser imbued with timeless truth. Miss Erin visits the same time period and quotes the Bard’s famous words in Romeo and Juliet.

Last but certainly not least, Kelly’s looking for a host/hostess for next Friday’s Poetry Friday —and for subsequent Fridays as well. You, too, can have your own poetic moment of fame.

Don’t forget to come back to Semicolon tomorrow to leave a link to this week’s book reviews at the Saturday Review of Books.