Redecorating

I thought this would be an appropriate poem for Labor Day weekend because so many people do home projects over those three days.  

Redecorating  By Janet Sobczyk, 2011ⓒ

Her favorite colors were blue and green,

they added calm to her home and décor.

She saw a photo in a magazine

that gave her eyes a lift and her heart soared.

A kitchen dressed in bright yellow and red,

not her favorite colors but a change

for the room that kept her family fed,

it would wake them up and feel slightly strange.

So she bought light yellow paint for the walls,

a collection of red glass for the shelf,

bright red towels, and soon she was enthralled.

She did it alone just to please herself,

but when people walked in they loved it too.

She was surprised at the praise the room got,

much more than when it had been green and blue.

Should she change the bedroom too?  Maybe not.

 

The Daily Treadmill

Now that school has resumed, this poem seems appropriate.  

When Andrea read this, she said it just looks like a to-do list in ryhthm.  Well, yeah, that's kinda the point. 

The Daily Treadmill

By Janet Sobczyk, 2010ⓒ  

Up at daybreak

Step in shower

Dress and make-up

Time for breakfast

Prepare lunches

Lug some laundry

Check the schedule

Scoot kids to school

Stop to get gas

Waltz through workday

Run an errand

Pick up kids now

Calm a quarrel

Whip up supper
Feed the dog, too

Hug a hurt child

Bandage boo-boo

Help with homework

Play a board game

Tuck the kids in

Read a story

Pray a blessing

Dash through dishes

Sweep the kitchen

Lug more laundry

Answer emails

Laugh at late show

Turn off TV

Kiss my sweetheart

Collapse in bed

Repeat tomorrow!

                              So why am I overweight?

Orphaned Bunny

This poem seems to follow naturally after the last posting about saving a butterfly. The reality is, not everything can be saved and not all endings are happy.

As children, when this happened, we didn’t know that wild bunnies are incredibly difficult to raise without a mama (who was found dead.)  We were sure we had loved it to death.

 Orphaned Bunny by Janet Sobczyk, 2012ⓒ

Dad found a baby bunny

With no mama around.

Scared and alone in the tall grass,

It didn’t hop away.

Dad brought it home to his daughters,

We thought it was so cute.

We took turns holding it gently

And took lots of pictures.

We named it and loved it so much,

Our sweet baby bunny.

But all babies need their mothers

As this one surely did.

Without its mom it wouldn’t eat

No matter what we gave.

It was tired and fell fast asleep,

But never did awake.

We gave it a sad funeral

And cried for our bunny.

We only had it for one day,

It was here and gone quick.

Forty years have now passed us by,

We still remember it.

The Broken Butterfly

This is not a photo of the preserved monarch.  It wasn't very photogenic.  :)

At the time this happened I was too young to know  that Monarchs migrate, live through the winter in a warm climate, and migrate back in the spring like birds.  I thought it was nearly a miracle that it lived so long and felt like it was a special gift.  In fact, after it died the next spring, we put it in an empty toffee tin and I still have it, almost perfectly preserved. 

The Broken Butterfly  By Janet Sobczyk, 2012ⓒ

I found it on the ground

With a bent, broken wing

Still alive and strug’ling.

I scooped it gently up

And carried it to school.

Monarch survived the day

In my small wooden desk,

Then I carried it home.

Fed on sugar water,

Let loose in my bedroom,

It rested and then crawled

And fluttered its good wing.

It sat by the window

To enjoy the warm sun.

My pal all winter long.

Andrea at age 10 looks a lot like I did when this story took place.

Fairy Tale Riddle Poems

Carolyn & Andrea as blue fairies in 1993

I learned about cinquain poems in a Children’s Literature course this spring and had a lot of fun writing them in class. A cinquain is a five-line poem.  One easy format starts with a noun, then 2 adjectives, then 3 verbs, then a phrase, and finally a noun.

I decided to write cinquains about fairy tales and use them with my first-grade students when we have a little time at the end of reading groups.  Solving these riddle-like poems is great for critical thinking in primary grades.  Some of the words may need to be defined and discussed, though.

Fairy Tale Riddle Poems

By Janet Sobczyk, 2012ⓒ

 Guess the 15 tales from these poems & check the answers at the bottom.

1. Pea

Small, hard

Hiding, proving, sleep- stealing                                                  

From Royalty

Princess

2. Cottage

Unusual, sweet

Entices, deceives, traps                                                              

Into the oven

Witch

 

3. Shoe                                                                                   

Small, glass                                                                                                   

Lost, found, fits
Upon a lovely maiden
Fits                                                                                                                        

4. Queen

Vain, evil

Plots, poisons, pursues                                                            

To the dwarves’ house

Apple

5. Girl

Blond, curious

Breaks, sleeps, awakes                                                             

To a fright

Bears

6. Daughter

Beautiful, fishy

Swims, sings, deals                                                                   

To win her Prince

Human

7. Castle

Enchanted, gloomy

Despairing, waiting, hoping                                                    

For a young lady

Beast

8. Wolf

Hungry, sneaky

Chases, disguises, awaits                                                       

Until girl with basket arrives

Hunter

9. Wheel

Useful, dangerous

Pricking, sleeping, waiting                                                     

For true love’s kiss

Prince

10. Pigs

Happy, builders

Working, running, hiding                                                        

From the wolf

Home

11. Cobbler

Gentle, kind

Working, sewing, sleeping                                                 

During the night

Elves

12. King

Vain, foolish

Wanting, waiting, parading                                                    

Without any clothes

Thieves

13. Boy

Poor, foolish

Selling, planting, climbing                                                            

To find a fortune

Giant

14. Frog

Green, enchanted

Hopping, hoping, asking                                                                             

For a kiss

Princess

15. Maiden

Carolyn & Tom as Cinderella & Prince Charming, 2001

Lonely, bored

Brushing, braiding, Waiting                                                  

To be rescued

Hair

Answers:

1. The Princess and the Pea

2. Hansel and Gretel

3. Cinderella

4. Snow White

5. Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

6. The Little Mermaid

7. Beauty and the Beast

8.  Little Red Riding Hood                                                                 

9.  Sleeping Beauty

10. The 3 Little Pigs 

11.The Elves and the Shoemaker

12.The Emperor’s New Clothes

13. Jack and the Beanstalk

14. The Princess and the Frog

15. Rapunzel