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Write an acrostic poem, using your favorite day of the week as the base word.

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Why Thursday? with Anna J. Small Roseboro
Half-way! Congratulations and welcome to Day 15 of Verselove. Please share a highlight from your Verselove experience thus far!
Anna J. Small Roseboro is a wife and mother, poet and writing coach, and National Board Certified Teacher with over forty years of experience. She has taught English and Speech to students in middle school, high school, and Literacy in the Content Areas and Curriculum Design to students in college, in public, parochial, and private schools in five states. She now is directing her attention to online ministries, coaching new writers, and mentoring early career classroom teachers in middle schools, high schools, and colleges.

She has self-published books in various genres. Rowman Littlefield Education has published ten of Anna's textbooks for teachers. Anna has been an active member of this writing community for a number of years and eagerly joins the conversations each month. Poems she has written in OPEN WRITE have been published in multiple publications, including BRIDGE THE DISTANCE: An Oral History of COVID-19 in Poems (2020) and RHYME & RHYTHM: Poems for Student Athletes (2021). Stay tuned for information about her new book and collaboration with Verselove poet, Nancy White, Rainbow Reminders.

Inspiration
A Good Day!
For those of the Christian faith, today is Good Friday. For some faith's this is the weekly Sabbath. For all of us today is a good Friday because it's Friday and a good day to write! Reflect on the days of the week. Generally, which is the "best" day of the week for you?

Process

Let's write an acronym poem about our good day. That means, write the letters of that day of the week down the right side of your document. Then using words that begin with that letter, write lines in your poem that show and tell why that particular day of the week tends to be GOOD FOR YOU. Or challenge yourself and write the letters in that day of the week on the right side of your paper and make those letters the LAST letters in the words in that line.

If you prefer, write one line of poetry for each letter in that DAY OF THE WEEK that includes that word. So, if Monday is your day, include Monday in your six-line poem.

Aim to write short and tight poem of 6-9 lines, based on the number of letters in your GOOD DAY. As always, you are welcome to write what comes to you and share it.

Have a good day!

Anna's Poem
Why Thursday?

Thursdays are my best days
How can that be you ask? It's about finalizing an assigned task.
Under the gun to finish a project, I have one more day.
Rest and relaxation for the weekend are on the way.
Sunday's coming! That's my day to worship and pray.
Doing my work by Thursday to turn it in on Friday
Always seemed to climax on this blest day
Y ielding to tasks that must be done, then comes the weekend of fun!

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That's okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming.

Also, in the spirit of reciprocity, please respond to at least three other poets today.

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Why Thursday? with Anna J. Small Roseboro Verselove Highlight Half-way! Congratulations and welcome to Day 15 of Verselove. Please share a highlight from your Verselove experience thus far! Anna J. Small Roseboro is a wife and mother, poet and writing coach, and National Board Certified Teacher with over forty years of experience.

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"Something You Should Know" by Clint Smith.

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"Something You Should Know" by Clint Smith.

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Notice how Clint Smith begins with ordinary events and characteristics and then explains why they have more significance.

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is that as a kid, I once worked at a pet store.

I cleaned the cages

of small animals like turtles, hamsters,

rabbits, and hermit crabs.

I watched the hermit crab continue

to grow, molt, shed its skin and scurry across

the bottom of the aquarium to find a new shell.

Which left me afraid for the small creature,

to run around all exposed that way, to have

to live its entire life requiring something else

to feel safe. Perhaps that is when I became afraid

of needing anything beyond myself. Perhaps

that is why, even now, I can want so desperately

to show you all of my skin, but am more afraid

of meeting you, exposed, in open water.

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American Poetry Review - Clint Smith - "Something You Should Know"

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Published in American Poetry Review - Volume 45 | No. 06

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When You Need a Break, Go to a Place of Comfort with Leilya Pitre

Welcome to Day 21 of Verselove. We are so happy you are here, however you choose to be present. If you know what to do, carry on; if you are not sure, begin by reading the inspiration and mentor poem, then scroll to the comment section to post your poem. Please respond to at least three other poets in celebration of words, phrases, ideas, and craft that speak to you. Click here for more information on the Verselove.Share a highlight from your experiences thus far here.

Leilya lives in Ponchatoula, LA, which is known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University and coordinates the English Education Program. As teacher educator, she is passionate about helping her students to become nourishing, devoted, and effective teachers in the classrooms. She is one of the co-editors of Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literatureand one of the curators of Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Weekend Picks. She loves to learn about people, cultures, and rich traditions all over the world. In her free time, she reads, writes, listens to music, visits her children and grandchildren, or travels with her husband.

Inspiration

It's the second half of April, and most of you are tired, if not exhausted, of daily work, responsibilities, and multiple commitments. It is challenging to juggle our lives at times. We all need a break. That is why I invite you for a walk. A walk to your place of comfort.

A walk is time for reflection and relaxation. It is time to accept, forget, and forgive. It is time to recharge and restore your balance.

An inspiration for today's poetry writing comes from many poets, among those are a few favorites: Elizabeth Bishop's "The End of March," Robert Frost's "A Late Walk," Gary Snyder's "A walk," and Theodore Roethke's "A Field of Light."

Read "A Late Walk" here: https://poets.org/poem/late-walk

Process

There are different ways to write a walk poem:

You may write about different things that attract your attention during the walk;

You may write about the walk that resulted in some important personal revelation;

You may write about the walk into the past-a place or time-that brings you comfort, delight, or help face struggles;

You may write a poem that mirrors the length, style, and shape of the actual walk.

Choose your approach based on the suggested ways or invent your own.

There is no specific pattern, count of syllables, or rhyme requirements. Freestyle!

Today's writing aims to clear your mind of frustrations, annoyances, and anxiety. Let go of your stress by walking and visiting your place of comfort. You may take us to any place, a dear moment in your life, or walk us through your favorite food preparation.

For me, this place is my childhood home in Crimea, Ukraine.

Leilya's Poem
Finding Peace
by Leilya Pitre

When I need a break,

I walk home-to my haven,

a place where my soul finds peace-

Mom's soothing voice shields me

from all the pain in the world.

I close my eyes and see

an old Post Office building-

newspapers, greeting cards,

envelopes, stamps, and

faint scent of sealing wax.

An acacia tree alley outside with

delicate fragrance of white blossoms

trails up to the central square

opening to the movie theater on the right,

Court House and the department store on the left.

Seven minutes along Matrosova Street-

Daisies, roses, lilies, and zinnias in front yards-

quilted blankets of red, yellow, orange, blue,

and every color in between followed

by vibrant greenery of apricot, peach, and cherry trees.

Here is a special corner whirling

toward my favorite place-

a bench under the patulous mulberry tree,

where neighborhood kids gathered

to share stories, jokes, and songs.

A few more steps, and I breathe in home,

lavish grape vines over the tall iron-wrought arch

meet me with clusters of purple cabernet.

Mom turns her head, eyes wide, smiling:"Daddy, look who is here!"

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That's okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming.

Also, in the spirit of reciprocity, please respond to at least three other poets today.

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When You Need a Break, Go to a Place of Comfort

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When You Need a Break, Go to a Place of Comfort with Leilya Pitre Welcome to Day 21 of Verselove. We are so happy you are here, however you choose to be present. If you know what to do, carry on; i...

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Mirroring Sandra Cisneros’ structure, I chose to organize my stanzas by the meaning of my name, the connection to my family, how the public sees my name, and how I might rename myself.

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Mo’s Poem

What’s In a Name?

By Mo Daley

Have you, like Juliet, ever wondered

what’s in a name?

Take my name, Maureen…please!

I know it’s Gaelic, and I remember the priest

whispering reverently, “Maureen means little Mary”

as if the ten-year-old me might be a reincarnation

of the Virgin herself.

He failed to mention that Maureen also means

bitter.

When people hear Maureen, they think

classic

mature

formal

wholesome

refined

serious.

Let them.

As a child, the only other Maureen I knew

was my kindergarten teacher.

My name reached its peak popularity

between 1946 and 1955-

a full decade before I was born.

Even then, it was only the 88th most popular name

in the U.S.

By 2013, the last year anyone even cared

to track Maureen data,

only 43 of two MILLION babies born

were saddled with the moniker Maureen.

Apparently, I haven’t stood the test of time.

So, is that it?

Am I doomed to a life of irrelevance

because (I suspect) my parents needed a rhyme for Christine and Arlene?

Can I, in fact, smell just as sweet by any other name?

Maureen, Star of the Sea, beloved one

can change her modus operandi

and be who she wants to be.

She can be mo’ if she wants.

She can be like molybdenum-Mo-

a transitional metal essential for life and resistant to corrosion.

She can just be Mo.

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Something You Should Know

By Mo Daley 4/8/23

Something you should know

is that I love regaling new friends and old

with stories of the things I can’t smell

like middle-school farts,

cottage water reeking of rotten eggs,

and skunk-drenched schnauzer

or the foods I can’t taste,

like long-forgotten garlic,

a sharp cheddar,

and the subtle oaken notes of a buttery chardonnay.

But what I don’t share are the stories about

the bedsores awarded me from an incompetent surgeon

as I lay immobile for twelve days,

or the fear in my son’s eyes when he was asked

if he wanted to learn how to inject me with antibiotics,

or the months of rehab that shattered my body

so that I could put it back together again,

Humpty Dumpty like.

And I definitely don’t talk about

the terror in my husband’s eyes

as he tried to picture a life without me.

Because that would be unbearable.

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On Wednesday, London's city government marked the UN's Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition. Judge Patrick Robinson from the International Court of Justice gave the keynote address and called for reparations. It follows a report by the Brattle Group that puts into numbers how much the UK owes for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The World's Marco Werman spoke with Coleman Bazelon, an economist with the Brattle Group, about the report and how much the UK actually owes.

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London recalls trans-Atlantic slave trade

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On Wednesday, London's city government marked the UN's Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition. Judge Patrick Robinson from the International Court of Justice gave the keynote address and called for reparations. It follows a report by the Brattle Group that puts into numbers how much the UK owes for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

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The elements of a story | Reading | Khan Academy