Friday, April 9, 2010

Poetry Friday - Shape Poems

The March 2010 issue of Appleseeds Magazine celebrates "Poets and Poetry." I am thrilled to have my work included in this exciting issue! My shape poems and an article "Get Your Poems into Shape!" begin on page 10.  I think that teachers will find this issue to be a useful resource to accompany Poetry Month celebrations.



Appleseeds March 2010
Poets and Poetry
(c) 2010 Carus Publishing Company.
Used by permission.

Here's a close-up of my poem "Snail Speed" from page 12 but I'm still not sure it will be big enough to read.
Here are the words:

Snail Speed

Fast is fun!
Fast is fine!
But sometimes S-L-O-W is just divine:
sipping icy lemonade
stretching back in willow's shade
searching for the perfect shell
lifting pine cones up to smell
hanging from a maple tree
swimming backwards, floating free
waiting for the fish to bite
holding steady on my kite
watching sunsets from the shore
gazing up at stars galore
hugging by the fireside
dreaming of a turtle ride


Poetry Friday Roundup is at Paper Tigers. 

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27 comments:

  1. Stephen AitkenApril 9, 2010 at 10:17 AM

    Congratulations Sheri,
    These look great and I think that it is fab that Carus gave you permission to post these and to link to their site. Thanks for writing out the snail poem , one of my personal favourites, as it does make it easier to read.

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  2. AnonymousApril 9, 2010 at 11:58 AM

    Sheri, I love your poems. You are so talented and an inspiration to future poets around the world.

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  3. Sheri DoyleApril 9, 2010 at 12:42 PM

    Thank you so much Jenny and Stephen!
    I'm so happy that you stopped by.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeannine AtkinsApril 9, 2010 at 4:15 PM

    Sheri, Congratulations on this lovely piece in Appleseeds! I wrote for them a few years ago, and working within the small word count was very very hard. Of course I mean very hard. I mean hard. This is wonderful!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog, especially on a day when live journal was giving people trouble. I'm glad you found a reminder about the goodness of mistakes. And I'm going to take your message: S-L-O-W is just divine.

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  5. Sheri DoyleApril 9, 2010 at 5:37 PM

    Ha! Yes - working within a small word count really IS very very very hard.
    Thanks,Jeannine!

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  6. MarjorieApril 10, 2010 at 4:11 PM

    Thank you, Sheri, for sharing your article - I love shape poems though I've never thought about writing one myself - but reading your hints, well, you never know - maybe one day! In the menatime, I'll enjoy reading yours.

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  7. Sheri DoyleApril 11, 2010 at 5:59 PM

    Hi Marjorie,
    If you ever do write a shape poem, I hope you'll share it with us.
    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OliviaFebruary 18, 2011 at 4:26 AM

    This is very beautiful Sherie,

    I just googled Shape- Poems to see what all pops up! It amazes me how you type- I mean I haven't tried it yet and wonder how you take the cursor to shape up.. like say kite or bulb!

    I loved your snail paced life.. :D
    Congratulations on your achievement!

    Wishing you more success and over- flowing creativity.. Love xxx

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  9. AnonymousMarch 4, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    Hi Sheri,
    I'm an English teacher in a secondary school in Majorca and I bumped into your snail shaped poem looking for materials for my class blog. This morning we had been doing science and I felt the weekend deserved some poetry. I hope you do not mind my showing it to my students. I have asked them to post comments to your blog. I really liked your snail paced life too. Here's a link to my class blog. Thanks again. http://2esoe1011.wordpress.com/
    http://1esoe1011.wordpress.com/

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  10. Sheri DoyleMarch 4, 2011 at 10:13 AM

    Thank you so much for stopping by! I look forward to seeing those comments from some of your students. I will be heading over to visit your class blog soon.

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  11. Sheri DoyleMarch 4, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    Thanks, Olivia! The magazine worked out the layout based on my designs of the shaped poems for the kite and the light bulb. For Snail Speed I actually used scissors to cut up the words of the poem then shape them into a snail and that is what appeared in Appleseeds. talk about a s-l-o-w process! But very fun! Thanks again!!

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  12. AnonymousMarch 6, 2011 at 1:42 AM

    Hi, I'm Claudia and I'm a student of the school Ramon Llull in Majorca. Your snail poem is nice! I like it a lot because I like the quiet moments like the walks on the beach, watch the stars in summer, watch how the rain falls...
    I like too your poem snail because when you read it, you have to twist the head and it is so fun.
    Thanks for this nice poem, it's fantastic.

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  13. AnonymousMarch 6, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    Hi, Sheri I'm Lovepreet a student of 2nd Eso year of Ramon Llull's highschool.
    Ypur poems are very nice, amazing, not all can write poems such as you did, really I like it very much... Yuu have a Don.
    They are very nice, and thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMarch 8, 2011 at 7:33 AM

    Hello, I'm Sarah, a student of 2nd ESO of Ramon Llull too.
    I think your poems are very originals and nice. I like the originals things.
    I admit that I struggled a bit to read.
    Thanks for the poem!

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownMarch 8, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Hello, I'm a student of 2nd ESO of Ramon Llull.
    I think your poems are very nice and fun, congratulations.
    Your poems inspire me to write a shaped poem of a thing related with the nature.
    Thanks for your fantastic poem!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sheri DoyleMarch 8, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    I would like to thank all of the students from Ramon Llull who have posted such great comments here! If any of you are inspired to write shape poems (or snail-inspired poems) of your own,I would love to read them. Please let me know if your teacher plans to post your poetry on your class blog.

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  17. AnonymousMarch 8, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    Hello, I'm a student for 2nd ESO of Ramon Llull's highschool. I like very much your interesting and original poems. The idea for do the poems in different shapes I liked.
    Thanks you ery much for do this nice poems.
    Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Peptoni FontMarch 8, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    I'm a student of the hihg school Ramon Llull in Majorca.
    It's spectacular! I like very much your shape poems because you have to twist the head.
    Thanks for write beautiful poems.

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownMarch 9, 2011 at 8:35 AM

    Hello Sheri, I'm Xisco a student of 2nd ESO of the highschool Ramon Llull in Majorca.
    Your poems are fantastic! With the shape of snail, guitar... Are very original. With this shapes the readind is more amusing and fun. I like very much.
    Thanks for the poems, are so good.

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  20. UnknownMarch 10, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Hi Sheri! I'm Aina,a student of Majorca.
    In our English lessons we saw your snail poem, and I think that It's very original and inventive.
    We hope that you continue writing nice poems like this:)

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  21. saraMarch 10, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    Hello Sheri! :) I love the poetry, sometimes I write poems.
    Is incredible your snail poem! Its a very good idea to write the poems in different shapes, I like that, is fun.
    PD; Your blog is fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  22. emilMarch 12, 2011 at 1:41 AM

    Hello Sheri. I am Emil from Ramon Llull ,Mallorca, Spain
    Your poems are amazing. I love all of them. Not everybody can write poems like you.
    The snail poem it`s very good and funny. I liked it very much.
    You are incredibble writer and your blog is fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  23. UnknownMarch 13, 2011 at 1:28 AM

    Hello Sheri, I'm Rodrigo, a student from the high school Ramon Llull in Mallorca, SPAIN!
    The shape poems are nice, congratulations!
    Your blog is very good and cheerful, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  24. AnonymousMarch 13, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    Hi, Sheri!!
    I'm Jilin, a student from the Ramon LLull high school, Mallorca.
    Your shaped poems are too great!!!
    I liked very much your poems, especially the snail shaped poem, it is very original and nice.
    Thanks for your poems!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousMarch 13, 2011 at 2:43 PM

    Hello Sheri, I'm Angel, a student from the high school Ramon Llull in Palma.
    Have grest congratulations for your work: shaped poems.
    We are doing in class the same like you but with different shapes.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Kelly GraeberMay 3, 2016 at 6:53 AM

    Hi Sheri, I'm a music teacher in Cambridge, MA. My kindergarten students are singing a concert all about tempo! I'd like to include your snail poem in the program. Would you give me permission to do so?

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  27. Sheri DoyleMay 3, 2016 at 7:43 AM

    That sounds wonderful, Kelly! Thank you for getting in touch... Please contact me at
    sheridoyle(at)rogers(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

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