lill pluta lines our pockets

April 26, 2012September 8, 2017 ~ jama ~ 31 Comments

#20 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Okay, Cutie Pies — Do you know what day it is??!!!

Maybe I should say: What are you carrying in your pocket today?

I hope that along with a ripe mango, biscuit crumbs, 3 cabbage leaves, 2 chipotle peppers, a handful of lentils, apricot rugelach, 2 cups of oatmeal, 5 blueberry muffins, orzo, almonds and pecans, a bunch of grapes, plain yogurt, shrimpies, a carrot cupcake, wild asparagus, two frozen pie crusts, and a lamb who speaks Irish — there is at least one POEM!

Walla Walla Bing Bang, it’s Poem in Your Pocket Day! — The one day of the year you’re supposed to carry around a favorite poem, stop perfect strangers in the street and read it to them (with feeling). Or maybe impress the person behind you in the grocery checkout line with a little Billy Collins while you’re juggling a few cantaloupes.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE NOT CARRYING A POEM?!

*wrings hands, rolls eyes*

Sheesh! Have you learned nothing this month?

It’s a GOOD THING Lill Pluta is joining the Potluck today, because she has the perfect poem for those of you with empty pockets. Yes, I know that I listed Lill as “Kay Pluta” in the Potluck Menu. That’s because Ms. Pluta goes by a few different names — sometimes it’s “Lillian Pluta,” other times, it’s “Kay Pluta,” and today it’s “Lill Pluta.” You’re allowed to have different names when you’re that awesome.

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jill corcoran: dreaming of big things . . . and cupcakes!

April 25, 2012September 8, 2017 ~ jama ~ 28 Comments

#19 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Jill Corcoran wears many hats in the world of children’s books — she’s an award-winning author, poet, literary agent and editor who’s creating a new series of poetry anthologies for Kane Miller Books.

You may already know that the first anthology, Dare to Dream . . . Change the World, will be released this Fall, and I’m especially happy because it includes the work of many previous Poetry Potluck noshers, like Jane Yolen, Joyce Sidman, J. Patrick Lewis, Marilyn Singer, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Elaine Magliaro, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Laura Purdie Salas, Kelly R. Fineman, and of course, Janet Wong, who was just here yesterday. How can you go wrong with a line-up like that?

Since I first “met” Jill online years ago through Poetry Friday, when she shared a touching poem inspired by her sister, it’s nice that for her first visit to Alphabet Soup she’s sharing a poem that just happens to be the title poem from the new anthology, which is fully illustrated by J Beth Jepson. She’s also brought a special recipe that she enjoys making with her daughter. (Those who know me, know that I get a tad ecstatic at the mention of cupcakes.) If you need me, I’ll be drooling over by the dessert table.

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lesa medley: for the love of asparagus

April 17, 2012September 8, 2017 ~ jama ~ 35 Comments

#13 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Not too long ago, I met a kindred spirit while roaming the wilds of the internet. Perhaps it was the aroma of freshly baked bread or our mutual love of velvety chocolate pudding that drew us together. I’m sure a penchant for poetry and food memoirs also had something to do with it.

In any case, it’s been fun getting to know Lesa Medley, Legal Assistant/Office Manager by day, poet by night, and I’m happy she agreed to join our little Potluck. She’s brought along a touch of Spring today — a poem about the importance of honoring inklings and intuition, which was recently published in the anthology, Shared Light (Willow Glen Poetry Project, 2011), a funny-in-hindsight story about wild asparagus, and a favorite pasta recipe. I’d heard of wild onions before, but never wild asparagus. Clearly I need to get out more. ☺

Lesa: This was just one of those times where everything seems to come together effortlessly. Doesn’t happen very often, but when it does . . .

I lead writing groups and sometimes put together exercise sheets with prompts, phrases, poems and words. One day I pulled one of them out and a phrase and a couple of the words jumped out at me and I started writing. I have been working hard at making some changes in my life and I think that is where it started from and what was in the back of my mind at the time. It all kinda just flowed together from there. Man, I love when that happens, and it has only happened a couple of times or so for me. I can’t wait for it to happen like that again!

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friday feast: a special passover celebration with gail fishman gerwin

April 6, 2012September 6, 2017 ~ jama ~ 75 Comments

#6 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.

Today I’m very pleased to welcome New Jersey poet Gail Fishman Gerwin to the Potluck, the first of four guest poets who write primarily for adults rather than children. Whether you celebrate Passover or Easter, it’s likely you’ll be spending time this weekend observing holy rituals and sharing special meals with family and friends.

Gail is sharing a poem from her poetic memoir, Sugar and Sand (Full Court Press, 2009), a 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize finalist. “With or Without Rice, a Kitchen Ballet” is one of three poems comprising a segment about Gail’s mother, “Mastering the Art of Cele’s Cooking.”

Most of you know there’s nothing I love more than a recipe/cooking poem, and this slice-of-life beauty provides ample nourishment for body and soul, a delicious blend of family history and cultural heritage. We thank Gail for so generously sharing precious photos of her parents, sister, daughters and grandchildren, four generations in her family who’ve enjoyed stuffed cabbage at Passover. Gail has already made two batches for tonight’s Seder, which will include gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, brisket, spinach gnocchi, matzoh kugle, sponge cake, and veggies, among other special foods. Yum!

*Gail’s daughters, Karen (10) and Kate (7), at the Seder table.*

Now, let’s listen to the voices from Cele’s kitchen.

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a great way to help teen tsunami victims in japan!

March 13, 2012 ~ jama ~ 2 Comments

Wanted to give you the heads up about TOMO: Friendship Through Fiction — An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories (Stone Bridge Press, March 2012), that was published just last week to benefit teens in the Tohoku region on Honshu, the area hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake/tsunami disaster.

There is a wonderful interview with Holly Thompson, editor of this incredible anthology, at Debtastic Reads. You can learn more about the project and the Japanese and international authors who contributed their stories for this wonderful charitable initiative, and enter for a chance to win a free copy by leaving a comment no later than March 16, 2012.

“Tomo” means ‘friend’ in Japanese, the perfect title for a book that was created to let teenagers in Japan know that we haven’t forgotten, and want to continue to support them as they rebuild their lives.

Click through, read the interview, enter the giveaway, purchase a copy for yourself or the teens in your life, and help spread the word through all your social networks! TOMO is available at your favorite online bookseller or directly through Stone Bridge Press.

Check out the TOMO blog for even more about all the contributors and the 36 stories in the anthology.

Arigato!

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