Howdy, Campers!
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I'm having the final word, I'm wagging the tail on TeachingAuthors' topic of the National Day on Writing, which was Wednesday, October 20th.
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My very smart mother-in-law always said, "It's not your birthDAY...it's your birthMONTH." I believe I speak for all six of us at TeachingAuthors: it's not National DAY on Writing but National LIFETIME on Writing! (I'd like to quibble about why they chose to use the word "on" rather than "of"...i.e, National Day OF Writing. I'd like to, but I won't. Not today, at least.)
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Ah...writing. Mary Ann wrote a brilliant piece on actual pen-and-paper letter-writing. I agree with her--there are some things that demand paper and stamps, like thank you letters.
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If you don't know what to say in a thank you letter, why not write a thanku? I love, love, LOVE Esther Hershenhorn's invention of the thanku.
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It's tougher to write a thanku than you'd think. It's a haiku with a built-in topic, right? Just three measly lines. HOW HARD COULD IT BE? I thought I'd pull one out of the nearby dog dish in five minutes.
THANKU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ME. LOVE, YOUR DOG #18
by April Halprin Wayland~
When you whistle, I
When you whistle, I
come. You smell divine—not as
good as dirt, but close.or..
THANKU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ME. LOVE, YOUR DOG #23
by April Halprin Wayland~
I love licking your
hand. It tastes great! Not as good
as cat poop, but close.
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Groan!
WRITING WORKOUT--THANKUs
Esther already explained how to write 'em and then encouraged you to write your own and post them at the National Day on Writing.~
It never hurts to repeat a lesson--it's all about practice. It took me four years of taking classes from Myra Cohn Livingston--four years of practice--before I understood and could hear poetic meter.
So...let's write more thankus--haikus that thank someone. Then share yours with the person you are thanking. Or with a child. Or maybe, with a stray blogger...or six. (If I can show you THOSE thankus...you can certainly show us yours! And now that I think of it, neither of those are real thank you notes except for the titles. Okay. So, show us yours!)
Remember to write with joy! And happy...
Poetry Friday is sponsored today by my close, personal,
never-met-her-in-flesh-and-blood-but-I-adore-her-friend,
Jama Rattigan at her fabulous food/words/poetry/photography blog, Jama's Alphabet Soup.
Jama Rattigan at her fabulous food/words/poetry/photography blog, Jama's Alphabet Soup.
poems and drawing (c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
Posts
10 comments:
Thanku for sharing that it took four years of practice to understand and hear poetic meter. It took me six novels of practice until I understood character arc and emotional turns.
And thanku for your hilarious (and true) doggy haiku -- you know, that second one. :)
But mostly thank(all of)u for sharing your expertise, great ideas and inspiration!
I wrote a Thanku yesterday for one of my friends on gather.com
Let's all cheer, Connie
Gather's writing essentials
Constant companion
It was a great way to thank her for all the hard work she puts into promoting gather writers.
Love your doggy haiku. Last evening my granddaughter helped me fix a poem. Here's my Thanku to Lindsay.
You oiled mired wheels,
pushed my poem from its rut.
Your words, my words-Wow!
This is a great idea. Thanks to Esther and you.
Arrrroooooooooo!
THANKU for the heelarious doggy poems. Can't stop slapping my knee (ow!).
Written in raisins:
Happy National Lifetime OF Writing April!
Hey, Donna (Wild About Words woman!)--thank U for sharing how long it took you took to understand character and emotional arcs...it gives me hope...!
And THANKU, Veronica (Hosking) and Joyce for sharing your thankus with us. They're wonderful (and not always easy—right?)
And Jama—I ate up all the raisins...(for my wedding anniversary last week, I wrote a note to my husband in Hanukah candles...)
A huge thankuuuuu to you too! What a beautiful reminder for us to always be grateful and thankful of just about anything and everything. Too little celebrating going on nowadays, as my mentor just told me a few days back. Let's celebrate with a thankuuu indeed. Loved the doggie poems.
Myra--you and I really need to go to bed now...I think my brain cells leak out when I stay up too late...!
my first thanku
to all who sit in
invisible rooms of words
posting through wee hours
and thanku Esther!
Oh, Heidi! This is my favorite thanku ever. Truly! So very, very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
xxx
Beaucoup de thanks
to April and our readers.
My Thanku form lives!
I would have shared the above Thanku earlier, but my AT & T modem died.
Sigh.
The warranty had just expired.
Now, I'm busily composing a Thanku for "Wilson," who resides in the Phillipines. He spent 90 minutes on the AT & T Help Line with me, helping me return to the Internet ...and April's Friday post...and all of you and your Kind Words.
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