Happy Poetry Friday!
I was very happy this week when I received my very own copy of the best of Today’s Little Ditty 2017-2018, compiled lovingly by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. The spot-on cover and inside art were created by Michelle’s daughter Miranda Barnes. Make sure to turn the book over where the art gorgeously continues onto the back. I love the celadon-mint green that the art bleeds into. Snippets of art from the cover and additional drawings continue into the book. The book is a poetry anthology, and the poems were created by prompts from well known poets and editors who were interviewed via Michelle’s Spotlight ON… interviews on her blog, Today’s Little Ditty. Thank you Michelle for this 2017-2018 treasured filled, the best of Today’s Little Ditty anthology!
As today is Thanksgiving I’m focusing my post on giving thanks. I’ve read just about all the poems once through and am sharing a couple poems of hope and thanks from the anthology. Thanks to Diane Mayr and Kat Apel for sharing your poems on a short request!
ADVICE TO A GARDENER
When in the garden
you have dug
and come across
a creature smug
remember this:
It captures bugs!
It slurps up slugs!
Just thank the toad––
no need for hugs.
© 2018 Diane Mayr. All rights reserved.
SEEDS OF HOPE
Words dig deep––
then germinate inside
the very pores of skin; flourish in the
softest tissue of the heart.
© 2018 Kathryn Apel. All rights reserved.
from “Truth” by Nikki Grimes
Here are a couple of #thanku haikus and art from this last week,
time looks close
time holds all parts
thanku point of view
© 2019 Michelle Kogan
inside garden
meanders in air
thankful moments…
© 2019 Michelle Kogan
thanku thanksgiving
for whittling away walls–
and families joined
© 2019 MichelleKogan
Wishing all celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving and weekend!
Thanks to Bridget Magee who is hosting our Poetry Friday roundup this week, from her blog Wee Words from Wee Ones. Bridget’s focusing this week on being “Thankful From Afar” and her afar is from Switzerland!
Visit Renée LaTulippe’s site No Water River to find out more about what Poetry Friday is.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Thank you for sharing your lovely illustrations! It’s lovely to remember flowers, gardens, toads and even slugs when it’s so cold outside. Have a great weekend.
‘Whittling away walls’- what a wonderful image for any holiday! Thank you for such a treasure filled post and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Thanks Sally, my thoughts and actions have me working and hoping for more balance. Enjoy your ventures into almost summer…
Love! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Thanks Ruth! 😌
I love the gratitude that fills this post. It overflows with thanks.
Thanks Kay, I’m hoping it’s there and ready to surface.
I’m with Sally, love those three words “whittling away words”, Michelle. The TLD book is a new treasure this holiday. Love the ones you chose from Diane and Kat, connected through that “digging deep”.
I love the hope and appreciative theme in your post today Michelle. Like Linda and Sally, I too am caught by these words, “Whittling away walls”
What a lovely post for Thanksgiving week — enjoyed the sample poems from the new anthology as well as your thankus and art! Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.
Dear Michelle, add my own gratitude to this lovely post of thanks-giving! Thank you for your review, for your appreciation of Miranda’s art, for sharing Diane and Kat’s poems, and for carrying that thanks and gratefulness beyond its covers. I, too, have much to be thankful for, not the least of which is your own contributions to the book—all the work you put into helping to choose the poems and your own luscious “Ode to Spring Soil”!
Thanks Michelle, I’m saving my poem “Ode to Spring” to share in the Spring on another Poetry Friday post, so we can spread the anthologies goodness out some more!
I can’t wait to dig in and read my copy cover to cover. Thanks for these peeks…and for the peeks into your sketchbook!!
This is a wonderful post, filled with such warmth and gratitude. I especially appreciated the sneak peek into your sketchbook. What a treasure! Hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend!
Great poems that you shared–and love your fall sketches too.
MHB really outdid herself with this collection! Wonderful.
“Time holds all parts” — an image to ponder and be thankful for. Really enjoyed the drawing above it, too. Thanks, Michelle!
You picked two of my favorites. So much to celebrate with this edition of TLD. And I agree, the fabulous artwork enhances it all. Cheers!