Poetry Friday–New Year, New Book, New Card!

Year of the Rabbit, © 2023 Michelle Kogan, pen and ink digitally toned drawing.

Happy Poetry Friday!

I’m sharing a New poem celebrating the Year of the Rabbit, a New Anthology Book I’m in, and a New Valentine’s Card.

LUNAR SOLAR

Lunisolar
year of the rabbit
year of the cat
celebrate the

animals in
Lunisolar.
Rabbit’s kindness,
empathy, and

patience, symbols
of feminine
Lunisolar
yin forces. Don

new clothes, haircuts–
wish good luck and
fortune throughout
Lunisolar!

© 2023 Michelle Kogan, Draft

I’m very happy to be featured with a handful of poems in this new Poetry Anthology, SO MANY ANIMALS! A Child’s Book of Poetry, Edited by M.R. Street and published by Turtle Cove Press! It came out late in 2022 and also includes many Poetry Friday poets including Margaret Simon, Irene Latham, Jan Annino, Linda Mitchell, Buffy Silverman, and the editor M.R. Street along with eight additional poets. It also picked up a Kirkus Review. Each poem has an accompanying lively line art drawing that children can color, and there’s also room in the back of the book for them to write their own poem and make a drawing. In addition, many of the poems also include the poetry form used and a bit about it.

Margaret Simon’s poem TURTLES AND GATORS feels like it wants to move right off the page as her critters, “Bump / Bounce / Boogie / on a wayward log.” and physically down the page in her fun concrete poem. Editor M.R. Street offers us a warm and snuggly view in her poem of an Okapi and her new calf “(a relative of the giraffe),” “A long tongue reaches behind / Pink, new-born ears of her.” Linda Mitchell shoos away any rainy-day-blue feelings with her endearing BLUE OX poem, “Today, I wear my blue coat / and nibble cakes of sweet oats / Even if there are rain showers.” I love the playfulness in Irene Latham’s poem A DREAM OF SHEEP, “I like their wooly coats, / the way they bleat / and how they eat/whenever they please.” Buffy Silverman gives us a quick glimpse into summer evening fireflies with her poem, NIGHT ARTISTS, “Windows are washed / with splashes of light / with flashes of green.” As the book closes Jan Annino gathers many of the animals in her delightful poem ANIMALS ALL AROUND, “Giraffe, bear, ostrich, moose. / So many animals running loose.” And here’s one of my poems,

HERON’S HOME

My habitat’s in Caldwell Pond

by bullfrogs, ducks, and butterflies.

I fish, I fly, not far beyond

my habitat’s in Caldwell Pond.

Don’t get too close, sit by that frond

or SKEOW you’ll soon hear my cries–

My habitat’s in Caldwell pond

by bullfrogs, ducks, and butterflies.

© 2022 Michelle Kogan

SO MANY ANIMALS! A Child’s Book of Poetry
Edited by M.R. Street
Turtle Cove Press
© 2022

Here’s a new Valentine’s card available in my online Etsy Shop, Michelle Kogan Fine Art!

Marcie Flinchum Atkins at her blog of the same name, is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup, thanks Marcie! She’s sharing a bevy of dormancy nature books including one of her own, be sure to stop by!