Exciting news. As of September 2022, I am moving to a wonderful new publishing company. WELBOOK BOOKS!

Could not be happier.

HOW I CAME TO WRITE CHERRY MOON

(WITH HELP FROM A SMALL SNAIL)

One day when I was little, I went for a walk with my father in the woods. It was May. Sunset. Looking up, the sky slid into wisps of pink while the trees turned a strange incandescent green. Some birds flew off, shaking the leaves as they went. A grey squirrel raced up one of the trunks.

I noticed a full moon overhead. It was pink. Like a distant ripe cherry. I took my father’s hand. Nothing had ever seemed so perfect to me. So mysterious. Or so powerful.

I never forgot that walk in the woods; that electric sense of oneness with nature I had felt so many years ago. And a long time later, when those memories flew back into my head, I just had to write them down. I wanted to experience all over again the sense of joy and wonder I had felt in the woods that twilight. Naturally, the book had to be called; Cherry Moon.

But on the very day I sat down to write poems for this book, a snail began a slow tour up the glass door in the kitchen where I was sitting. ‘What’s he doing here?’ I mused, taking my eye off the ball for a moment. Maybe it is a sign. I like signs. I turned around again and the snail had vanished. Where had he gone?

Of course, you must be wondering why in the world is Zaro talking about snails; such strange flat-footed little things.  And really, Zaro, what in the world do wandering snails have to do with poetry?

OK, here goes… Snail… special moments… signs… and the mystery of rituals. Imagine yourselves five years old. Your pet hamster dies … or you find a dead bird … what do you do? You make a parade. Maybe you create a burial ceremony. But whatever you decide to do, it is because you have a deep-seated need to create something special.

Or perhaps you are older, and you spot a racing hare or a totally orange sky or something that looks like a dinosaur print. You want to capture the excitement, the awe, the fluttering pulse you have at that moment. It feels only right to give shape to that powerful feeling that jumps into our hearts when we experience some beautiful, wild or extraordinary thing in nature.

Now if I were to ask that very BIG question, ‘What is poetry?’, my guess is that many of us would say that poetry has a lot to do with discovering meaning through an unusual, heart-throbbing placement of words. Attaching meaning to things, people, plants, animals, planets etc. is the way we humans come to see ourselves. For we do not know who we really are in some kind of vacuum. No, we ‘get’ who we are in relation to the world around us; particularly, the natural world.

Not only does poetry – that unusual and often definitely heart-throbbing placement of words – allow us to be who we are, but it gives us the opportunity, through vivid language, to be many of the things that we cannot imagine ourselves to be. And nature is the everyday that children are closest to. But more than that. Nature is key to the wildness, mystery and magic which every child yearns for.

Now little Snail was surely a sign of how I wanted to start my book. I realised I wanted to write not just about the big things in nature – skies, clouds, trees and moons – but I needed to pay attention to the little things – fireflies, ladybirds, pebbles, fleas, perhaps even snails.

And because childhood is precisely about growing up and learning who we are, poetry and nature speak directly to children. But not only that. They encourage them to get to terms with those things in the world which make us happy or sad or anything else we humans feel or do. For the child’s first task is to grow into their true self.

And what more mesmerising way is there to begin to know what we are all about than through the warm embrace of poetry? What other way of using language breaks the mood of the everyday so powerfully and pitches us into new and show-stopping ways of experiencing and re-imagining the world?

There you have it; why writing about nature is the most exciting thing I can do as a poet. And, of course, many thanks to Snail for helping me to understand that. I just had to read the signs!

I leave you with the first and the last poems from Cherry Moon:

MORNING

I want to be

where wild things are

and be part of

well

everything

TWILIGHT

go gently

and let your eye be caught

by little things

KIDS WRITING POETRY

I have explored this topic for many years in loads of creative arts and writing classes and workshops around the USA with both teachers and kids. Here is what I think is a simple and fun way to get started.

LESSON PLAN 1 FOR KIDS WRITING POETRY

IDEA BANK 1 OBJECT: VISUAL FLUENCY LANGUAGE APPRECIATION and SIMPLE WORD PATTERNS It seems tough at first – writing a poem – and getting started is the tricky part. A good idea is to create a poetry culture in your class/school. Read poems together. Put some on walls. Make music and drawings with some. Make a poetry tree. Hang up favorites. These activities create a natural transition towards getting kids of all ages writing their own.There are a number of interesting and wonderful poetry anthologies for young readers out there as well as books for teaching kids to write poetry, and also a few fantastic poetry websites. If you want any recommendations, just email me. I have created a few beginning exercises which build a structure so that kids can start creating their own mental pictures and begin finding their own voices. This is important. We are aiming always for concrete visions. I remember my poetry teacher at Washington University, Donald Finkle, saying over and over: “make it concrete … make it specific ….” Special Note: make a ‘keep off’ sign for a selection of lazy words that don’t contribute much to describing things – words like beautiful, nice, cute, awesome, cool, bad, wow, etc. Later we can find ways to use them and even have fun with them, too. PROMPT 1: Each student makes a list of all the things s/he can remember from her/his home. This can take 5 minutes, with the class writing without stopping. I use this technique a lot to encourage writing fluency. NEXT have each student find a hole in space to say a word out loud and individually. At first this may be chaotic, but classes quickly get there and exercises like this encourage both a secure sense of self and a collegiate atmosphere. Depending on age, these things can then be written down on the board or on paper. Special note: this exercise can be done with all kinds of other environments, depending on age. For instance, in the garden, in the woods, outdoors at night, on the beach, under the ocean, up in space, in another time. PROMPT 2: Together with the class, make a long list of descriptive words including: SIZE WORDS: e.g. big, small, tiny, thin, enormous, long, short. COLOR WORDS: e.g. red, blue, orange, yellow. Later you can have a day of fun with lists of great words for colors like azure, marine blue, sea green, poppy red…. SPACIAL WORDS: e.g. high, low, fat, skinny, crooked, straight, curvy. TEXTURAL WORDS: e.g. soft, hard, scratchy, velvety, sharp, smooth, gentle, sticky. MOVING WORDS: e.g. wiggly, slow, fast, whizzing, whirring, running, hopping, jumping, strolling. SOUND WORDS: e.g. loud, noisy, banging, quiet, whizzing, ringing, tapping. This is a good moment to introduce alliterative sound words that sound like what they really are … buzzing, whirring, whooshing. SMELL WORDS: e.g. sweet, sour, disgusting, moldy, perfumed. APPEARANCE WORDS: e.g. shiny, dirty, grungy, smudgy, clean, neat. This can be an ongoing class list that can be added to every day as new descriptive words are found – a good way to spin your poetry thread through other curriculum areas. PROMPT 3: Ask the class to write 3 descriptive things about each object with a color always included. This is a good moment for students to start their own favorite word notebooks, which can lead to favorite phrase notebooks, etc. Now use three of those words in a phrase to describe something in your home. The bed is blue, big, bouncy OR The bouncy, big, blue, bed OR The bed Bouncy Big Blue NOW Choose the same objects and make the descriptions the OPPOSITE of what the object is really like: The dog is orange, quiet, and hopping OR The velvet purple jumping plate OR The table Curvy Red Running NOW Have the class write out a group long list of house things with crazy descriptions in 7 minutes. Then you can play the ‘hole in space’ game and they can call out things from their lists. Much fun. NOW Make up a list of verb or doing phrases about things the kids do everyday in their homes. This can be either written or oral – or even done as a charade. Eat breakfast Read a book Laugh with my sister Listen to a story NOW Insert any 2 crazy descriptive words from your list in the phrase. This is best done individually on paper. Eat a wiggly pink breakfast Read a huge curly book Laugh a scratchy laugh NOW FOR THE FINALE Make up a zany way of putting all the words together in 3 lines. You might at this stage want to do a few group examples before heading the class off to work on their own. They can start with one which they recite to each other. Then they can go on do create more of their own. Line 1 Descriptive: My wiggly soft yellow shoe Line 2 Action: Ate a huge shiny breakfast Line 3 Action using the prompt ‘and then’: And then Listened to a whirring fat story And there you have it. Not really a poem as such. But totally fun for kids. They are now on a great course for developing a fluid stream of mental imagery, appreciating language, and developing simple word patterns. Of course, there are a million and one variations to this theme which you can play with, based on the age range of the class, their particular interests and your own predilections. So remember, have fun and follow the path less taken. Stay tuned if you like this. Idea Bank 2 will deal with strengthening the imagination.

 

ZAZAKIDS BLOG

• Hooray! A lovely review of Cherry Moon from WRD Magazine.
• WOW! What a joyful review of Cherry Moon from BookTrust. Thrilled.
• SO LUCKY! Guest Poet on the wonderful Brian Moses’s Blog Spot
• NATIONAL POETRY DAY BLOG!
• HUGE thank you to Jill Bennett for this thoughtful review of Cherry Moon
• Huge Thanks to Carousel for the wonderful Interview!
• THANK YOU…THE SCOTSMAN FOR THIS KIND REVIEW OF CHERRY MOON
• JUNE 2019…BEAUTIFUL REVIEW FROM ARMADILLO MAG FOR FIRECRAKERS!!!
• JUNE 2019 WHAT A WONDERFUL REVIEW FROM ARMADILLO MAGAZINE FOR CHERRY MOON
• FIRST AMAZON REVIEW FOR CHERRY MOON.

BLOG for Poetry Summit A Glimpse… Adult Poetry and Children’s Poetry

A Glimpse

Adult poetry and Children’s poetry

A few years ago, after a talk about children and poetry, I was asked about the difference between adult poetry and kid’s poetry.

A cheshire cat grin rolled over me. I didn’t have to think twice. ‘There really is none,’ I replied with a smile. ‘A good poem is a good poem is a good poem. Of course themes and language will be different. Age and emotional suitability may vary. But poetry for children is not – at it’s heart – different from other poetry.’

Let’s take a glimpse at the basics. Just a glimpse.

What is it we expect when we read a poem?

The first thing is simple. There is an invitation. Something in the title or opening line says, Come on in. I have an idea you’re going to like.

Sounds good. We decide not to close the book or turn the page. We read further. The poet is communicating a vision we intuitively like. He or she is talking to us the way a friend might.

From that first invitation a good poem offers, the child is often more than willing to suspend what they already think and allow themselves to be transported into another world. Indeed, kids are often more eager and open than adults to step inside and treat the poet as a new friend.

But the words themselves must also spark magic; the swing and sway of the rhythms, meter and sound need to be dynamic. And feel right. It is the poet’s craft with words which creates excitement and meaning for us. Because our brains buzz and light up when the exact right words both sound great and go together. Like they were meant to be.

As for sound musicality and language aquisition, these are the child’s very own domain; one filled with the joy of rhyme, the thrill of rhythm and the love of onomatopoeia to name a few.

And what is it the poet says to us? Is it clear and sunny enough that we can relate? Are the words bright enough in the lines we read for us to ‘get’ it.

Next we ask if this poem inspires us. Do we feel the poet’s unseen presence in his words? Does the poem burrow down to ignite those misty moon-lit thoughts we have but don’t know very well? The thoughts that are deeper and richer than our everyday words and ideas. The ones that allow us to imagine a new way of seeing things.

For imagination relies upon the senses; of what we have seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled and remembered. A good poem creates the words and sensations that call upon reader’s personal memory store and then graciously offers up the possibility to re-imagine, re-pattern and re-position the reader’s own understandings.

Children grow in the ambiguity of light and dark. In the bright logic of facts and ideas about the world. But they also grow in the belief that there is something else. Something unknown, dark and uncontrollable. Being close to and accepting the mysterious plays an important role in a child’s development. A child is open to being moved by a poem.

And precisely because children play and because imagination is the currency for this play, a good poem can ignite a child’s mind. And as children are both close to their sensory understandings and memories, a good poem has the potential to fly them into a universe pulsing with possibility.

To finish my reply to the question, I think we all, at every age, respond to the same human impulses; the ones which lead us to better understand and illuminate the world we find ourselves in.

And that is why my cheshire cat can’t help but smile.

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