JUNE POET'S PEN SUMMARY & NEXT MEETING
Poet's Pen is a dedicated time to share our own and other poets' works, to allow time for writing/workshopping, and for closing with reading of works in progress. Six people met on June 29 to listen, write, and read a variety of poems - and have a ton of fun! Please join us on Monday, July 27th at 4:30pm for our next gathering. Check lopezlibrary.org or email Beth for more information.
Poetry Bingo!
Beth handed out bingo sheets for a fun summer activity. You are welcome to print one for yourself or email Beth (Beth@LopezLibrary.org) if you'd like one. At our June meeting we were able to cross off: "Attend a poetry program at the library" and "Write a poem on a postcard."

Poems Shared
The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America's Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders
by Book Author

The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America's Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders is edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, and David Hassler with a Foreword by Dr. Phil Levin. Published by Paloma Press in association with Poets for Science, Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, and United By Nature as a companion to the first national assessment of U.S. lands, waters, and wildlife, the anthology features over 200 poems that speak to the immense value of nature, and that show new understandings of what it means to co-exist in it. --Provided by publisher

Beth shared "The Grief of Dandelions" by Cindy Veach. 
Mother & daughter Kristi & Ella (2nd grade) shared their co-written poem, "My Green Home" which was inspired by meeting a woman at Weeks Wetland who recited her own poem to them.
 
My Green Home
By Ella Taran and Kristi DePaul
 
Crows caw in the wind
Unnamed birds sing to us
From the thorned bushes
Rose bushes that sway
In the light of the day
 
A light breeze tickles 
the tall grasses 
 
Houses stood up on either side of the bay
Sailboats with towering masts 
stand before us
 
A hummingbird motors by 
on its quest for nectar
Jagged rows of evergreens 
reach for the heavens
as dawn descends
A seaplane rumbles overhead
 
Sticky mud makes a marsh beside the lake 
We look astonished while listening 
to birdsong
 
Somewhere, a woman sips her steaming coffee
A small boy playfully waits for the end of the day, 
climbing and jumping
A man speaks into a screen to a person 
thousands of miles from here,
with love in his eyes
 
Flower island nearby 
full of leaves and weeds
Tangly bushes hug 
while swaying in the wind
 
A breeze flies beneath 
kissing the meadows;
the indigenous island 
is preparing for guests.
 
Kathleen shared the short poem "On Turning Sixty-Four" by John Brehm:
The slowing down
is speeding up.
 
She also shared her own poem "Streamlet"
 
Ellen shared her poem, "The Journey Is Hard and Kinda Sucks Sometimes" which was inspired by "The Journey" by Mary Oliver.
 

Writing Time
PROMPT: Write a poem on a postcard. Beth brought a variety of picture postcards for inspiration. 
 
Ellen chose a Pacific Northwest trees postcard and wrote a rhythmic, humorous poem in blocks.
 
Heather selected a San Juan County orca postcard and wrote a poem comparing her own family pod, who lives on the south end of Lopez, to the Southern resident orcas.
 
Beth chose a postcard with books and wrote an acrostic poem: 
 
BOOKS
Beneath a copper beech, I
Open a new story and words
Occupy time, spinning it outward and inward,
Kinning me to strangers & trees, magpies & otters,
Streaming hunger into satiation.
 
Kathleen wrote a poem entitled "Harpy's Index" which included number facts about the Columbia and Snake River salmon.
 
Ella & Kristi selected a Camp Moran laundry line postcard and co-wrote:
 
Camp Laundry
By Ella Taran and Kristi DePaul
 
A laundry line clings 
to a wise old tree.
 
A quotidian chore
practiced regularly
becomes meditative.
 
But when in nature
it speaks of adventure, 
an artist's collage 
with imperfect designs.
 
Patterns project all over
the theme: the everyday
can be exceptional.
 
Pink flowers sprout 
as leaves are blossoming 
in the tree; a sign that summer 
is not far off.
 
The sun reveals a sweet twinkle 
as birds look beyond
Wishing they could join their friends
a long distance away.