Tag: love

Poetry Friday: “Zombies in Love”

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry22 Comments

With everything going on in the world – and the fact that today is Friday the 13th – it just feels like we need something completely preposterous. Allow me to present…
.

Zombies in Love

My girlfriend’s a zombie.
Our true love is grand.
Whenever we’re walking,
we always hold hands.

When she first caught my eye
I knew we’d never part.
She gave me her love,
and I gave her my heart.

– © 2026 Matt F. Esenwine, all rights reserved

.
(And just in case you didn’t catch the double-entendres, you might want to re-read that.) 😉

Happy Valentine’s Day, though – I hope you liked it!

Speaking of love, I do want to take a quick moment and send some “love” to the folks at the Children’s Department of the Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library in Philadelphia. They showed some “love” for my book Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) by sharing the book on their Facebook page.

I also want to thank our Poetry Friday friend Jama Rattigan for sharing the news about MY friend, Charles Ghigna, and his new book The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Poems (World of Eric Carle, 2026), featuring illustrations by (of course) HIS good friend, the late, great Eric Carle.

(Charles and I wrote Once Upon Another Time (Beaming Books, 2021) and have collaborated on several of my anthologies)

From subjects like baby animals and rainbows (YAY!) to fun, toddler-appropriate activities like hand-clapping and swinging, this board book is a colorful addition to the youngest libraries.

Be sure to check out Jama’s review today, and for even more poetry, check out the complete Poetry Friday Roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge, where Robyn Hood Black is hosting the festivities with an original haiku borne from her love of retreats, collages, and journals!

Find me on IG!

(If we’ve not yet connected on Instagram, please find me! I’d love to keep in touch. From new releases to blog posts to poetry and more, Instagram is a great way to learn more about your interests, and to connect with the folks who interest you.)

~~ I am booking school visits for the 2026 Spring Semester! ~~

I love chatting with students about creativity, poetry, the writing process, dinsoaurs, and lots of other things! So if you think you might be interested in having me visit your school – either in-person or virtually – check out all the presentations I offer below, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be showing students rainbow-colored bacteria, discussing dinosaur breath, or crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • How a Child Saved a Book
  • “Once Upon Another Time”
  • The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
  • “I Am Today”
  • “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
  • “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”
  • “A Universe of Rainbows!”

Adult presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
  • Free Yourself with Free Verse
  • Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book
  • The Journey of a Children’s Author

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

=====================================================

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m also on BOOKSHOP:

And I’m very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family, too!

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

======================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud

Poetry Friday: “Finding” a Valentine’s Day poem!

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry, Uncategorized14 Comments

Last week, Carol Varsalona hosted Poetry Friday with a pre-Valentine’s celebration at her blog, Beyond Literacy Link, and after reading all the love thoughts and heartfelt quotes folks had left on her padlet, I got myself an idea –

to create a found poem from famous quotations about hearts!

So I got right to work, seeking out all sorts of famous quotes from authors, musicians, and other well-known folks – and then pulled just the few words from each that I needed to cobble together a little Valentine’s Day poem.

I hope you like it!
.

Heart

Listen to the compass.
It whispers, “You cannot run away.”

Like the sea, it has its storms,
            tides,
                        pearls –

it sees what is meant for you,
knows how to give
and still keep.

The greatest mystery?

Beautiful things
never harden, yet still
must be felt.

© 2025 Matt F. Esenwine, all rights reserved

.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, here are all the individuals whose quotes I’ve borrowed from in order to make this poem:

Photo courtesy FreeImages.com/jeti87, click to enlarge

Charles Dickens
Zig Ziglar
Mary Anne Radmacher
Helen Keller
Johnny Depp
Vincent Van Gogh
Lou Reed
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
Helen Simonso

Love is in the air at Teacher Dance, too, where Linda Baie is hosting today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup with a found poem, of sorts, of her own!!

~~ I am booking school author visits for Spring 2025! ~~

I love chatting with students about creativity, poetry, the writing process, dinsoaurs, and lots of other things! So if you think you might be interested in having me visit your school, please check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaur breath or crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • How a Child Saved a Book
  • “Once Upon Another Time”
  • The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
  • “I Am Today”
  • “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
  • “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”

Adult presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
  • Free Yourself with Free Verse
  • Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book
  • The Journey of a Children’s Author

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

=====================================================

Order PERSONALLY-SIGNED copies of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

My very first poetry anthology, A Universe of Rainbows (Eerdmans, 2025) arrives April 1, 2025 –
but you can pre-order NOW!

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

=====================================================

I’m also very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

======================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: “Platypus”, a love poem

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry16 Comments

I don’t do things the way most people do. I don’t know if it’s the autism or genetics, but I always try to look for different ways of doing the same old thing.

This holds true in writing, especially. With Valentine’s Day just a couple days ago, I was thinking about my wife and the fact that here she is married to a guy who writes poetry all the time, yet he hasn’t written her a love poem in at least a couple of years. What kind of a hubby am I??

So I thought about it and thought about it. True, I could write a typical, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s rose?” kind of thing, but those have been done. I decided to do something different.

Now, before you read this, you should know the backstory. Shortly after we’d gotten married, my wife Jen asked me, “If I was an animal, what kind of animal do you think I’d be?”

Without hesitation, I replied, “A platypus.”

Dec. 28, 2023
Dec. 28, 2023

(Yes, these photos were taken on the same day – within minutes of each other.)

Needless to say, she was shocked – not only at the speed with which I replied, but the fact that I hadn’t responded with an animal more beautiful, like a swan or a gazelle or a sturgeon or something. But then I explained my rationale.

I told her that she was a multi-faceted person made up of all sorts of disparate traits that really shouldn’t go together – but they do! Her musical tastes run from Pantera to Brittany Spears to Andrea Bocelli. She’s a brilliant APRN but can be a ridiculously silly goober at home. She’s a vegan who loves bacon.

Manuel ROMARIS/Moment/Getty Images, for Mental Floss

In that respect, I explained, she’s just like a platypus: a web-footed mammal with no stomach and no nipples that lays eggs and uses its duckbill nose to sense the electric fields of other animals like fish and shrimp. What kind of mind-altering herbs was God smoking when He came up with the concept for this creature, anyway?

Fortunately, after some thought and contemplation, Jen has somewhat embraced the idea of a platypus. She’s owning it, actually, as she plans to get a platypus tattoo in the near future!

And with that, I present to you – my love poem:
.

“Platypus: A Love Poem”

An enigma, you are
equal parts mammal, bird,
reptile, and yet your very own
creature, unique among the
kingdom. Born of an egg more leather
than porcelain, raised on milk
that pooled in your mother’s skin, you
defied all manner of convention
as a legitimate member
of the zoological scene.

No desire to slap the pond’s surface
with a beaver-borrowed tail,
no need of teeth (as gravel suffices),
your eyes and ears let a duck bill
do the hunting, sensitive to seeking
out the electric field of a nearby crayfish,
soon to be deep inside a stomachless gullet.
A conundrum, you are
equal parts beauty, brains,
brawn, loving mother,
fierce protector,
perfect partner,
all the best parts
of the kingdom
in one.
.

  • © 2024 Matt F. Esenwine, all rights reserved

.

Margaret Simon is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup and has her grandson, Mardi Gras, and winter all on her mind. Head on over to her blog Reflections on the Teche for more poetry and all of today’s links!

~~ SCHOOL VISITS still available! ~~

I’m booking author visits for the 2024 spring semester and still have a few dates available. If you think your school might be interested in having me visit, check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!

I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students’ ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I’ll be discussing dinosaur breath or crafting origami sea turtles!

Student presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • How a Child Saved a Book
  • “Once Upon Another Time”
  • The Most Imporant Thing about Writing Poetry
  • “I Am Today”
  • “A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human”
  • “Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages”

Adult presentations include:

  • The Making of a Picture Book
  • The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
  • Free Yourself with Free Verse
  • Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book

Learn more at MattForrest.com!

If you or someone you know might be interested in having me visit your school, library, or other organization, please email me
at matt(at)mattforrest(dot)com!

=====================================================

NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE:
.

.

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of this or or ANY of my books
from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m now on BOOKSHOP!

=====================================================

I’m also very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

======================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A 10th anniversary of blogging? Can it be true??

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry26 Comments

Apparently…yes!

It’s hard for me to believe, but my first blog post was ten years ago on August 1, 2012. It was an introduction to me and why I had even begun the blog (to showcase my poetry and market my writing and voiceover business). I had just left my job in radio the month before and was eager to begin my new journey!

A few days later, on Aug. 3, 2012, I published my very first Poetry Friday blog post – a poem I had written as part of my wedding vows a few years prior:
.

Constancy
For Jennifer

How many have, before me, tried in vain
To capture beauty, constancy, and love
Through fluent phrase, in happiness and pain,
And simile of summer, star, or dove?
Their words so eloquent, imagery lush –
In perfect imperfection testify…

(you can read the rest HERE)
.

I made a promise that I would re-post that poem every year here at the ol’ Triple-R in order to celebrate our 14th anniversary on Aug. 10, and I’m honoring that today. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the support (emotional as well as financial!) of my bride, and I’ll never be able to repay her for it.

Another ten-year milestone was my leaving fulltime employment on July 5, 2012, which our local bookstore celebrated last month with a special one-day only book bundle. Five books out so far, 30+ poems published, and several more books on the way; it’s amazing hard work, perseverance, and a smidgen of talent can do!

Over the years: a few blog stats, by the numbers…

82,000+: total number of views
49,114: total number of visitors
1,024: total followers
674: posts published
176: number of distinct countries that have viewed my blog

Honestly, it boggles my mind that there are that many people who care what I have to say every week. But I’m grateful, nonetheless! And although I don’t focus so much on radio/media or even parenting quite as much as I did when I first began, I continue to post poetry and share interviews with children’s lit authors and poets – and will continue to do so as long as the blog keeps rolling along.

~ GIVEAWAY! ~

To celebrate my 10-year “blogiversary,” I’m offering a signed copy of any one of my five books! Just leave a comment below letting me know you’d like to be entered in the drawing – and if you’d like an extra entry, simply share this post on Twitter and tag me! I’ll pick one name at random next Thur., Aug. 11 and announce the winner here on Fri., Aug. 12.

Looking for more poetry? Molly Hogan is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, Nix the Comfort Zone with a couple of original baseball poems and all of today’s links!

Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!

=====================================================

Be sure to PRE-ORDER my upcoming new
creative nonfiction picture book,
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEING HUMAN
(Beaming Books, Oct. 2022)!

Order a PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of my latest picture book, I AM TODAY (POW! Kids Books),
or ANY of my books from my local independent bookstore!

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

Create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!

Find out more about BOOKROO here!

======================================================

I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click here to view all my books and to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

======================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: “The Echo of Hearts”

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry25 Comments
This post was originally published 6 years ago in April, 2016. While my mind is reeling from the events of this past week, my head itself is reeling – literally – as I battle Covid. Yep, it finally hit me! Other than a slight cough, a heavy head, and aching muscles, I’m doing ok, so no worries; but with so much going on right now in the world, and with my wife and I in the process of trying to buy a house, a brand-new post is not happening this week.                                                                                                                                                               . This is a favorite poem of mine, though, which I’ve never shared since it first debuted on Michelle H. Barnes’ blog, Today’s Little Ditty. It is a reverso, and was a difficult one to write, at that. I hope you like it! Linda Mitchell is also processing the senselessness of this week’s news by sharing a golden shovel she wrote in the wake of the events in Uvalde, TX. You can find her poem as well as the complete Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, A Word Edgewise.                                                                                                                                                 . Have a wonderful weekend, folks – and be sure to give your kids an extra hug. ======================================================== national-poetry-month 2016 Never one to shy away from a good challenge, I had to respond to my friend Michelle H. Barnes’ “Ditty of the Month Challenge’ for April…a reverso! What is a reverso, you ask? It’s a poem that is written in two sections, with each section comprised of the exact same lines but in the opposite order. In other words, the first line of the first section is the last line of the second section; conversely, the last line of the first section is the first line of the second section. Ideally, each section should say something different, rather than simply repeating the feelings or images of the other. In the case of my reverso, I wanted to show that the different feelings and memories of each speaker are actually quite similar – two heads of one coin, so to speak. I hope I accomplished that. poetryfridaybutton-fulllYou can read more about reversos and the amazing books that poet Marilyn Singer has created using them – like her newest, ECHO ECHO: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths (Dial Books, 2016) – by visiting Michelle’s interview with Singer. At the end of the interview, Singer challenges blog readers to come up with their own poems about echoes – and because I love going out of my way to make things harder on myself, I decided to write my poem as a reverso. I hope you’ll check out the poem and let me know what you think! You can find it posted HERE at Michelle’s blog, Today’s Little Ditty. Hope you like it! And for all of today’s Poetry Friday links and hi-jinks, Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup is the place to be! ========================================================

Be sure to check out all the cool new picture books arriving this year from my PB22Peekaboo partners!

=====================================================
I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!
Create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators! Find out more about BOOKROO here! ======================================================
I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website. =====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of! Click any of the covers below to order – pre-orders are available for “Beginner’s Guide!” 9781506481739
Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?) ======================================================
Thank you to everyone for your support! FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:
DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR: ======================================================
Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers! To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: A 7th grader’s “lost” poetry is found

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry9 Comments

Last Friday, I shared a poem written by a 6th grader – aka, my son – who has always said he didn’t like poetry. I found it surprisingly good, which is why I wanted to share it here.

Then I got back to business – the business of moving my office/studio from our upstairs loft area to an actual office space downstairs, in a former spare bedroom. Having been working from home for nearly 10 years, it’s a slow-going project, as I’m constantly finding papers and correspondence I’d set aside for safe-keeping and am only now rediscovering.

As luck would have it, in the midst of moving papers and books and folders and equipment, I discovered a poetry project my son’s older sister had written several years ago, when she was only one year older than he is now. And one poem in particular caught my attention.

It was written while my daughter was in middle school and going through a big change: her mom and I had divorced one year before and I was now engaged to the woman who would become my second wife.

This sort of emotional upheaval is difficult for anyone, let alone a young girl barely into her teens. She was trying to sort out her feelings and this book of poetry was what helped her get through it.

She wrote several poems for this little books of hers, more senryu than haiku, but they were heartfelt and honest and earnest and I had to take a moment and sit down and read each one.

I then texted her to let her know I’d found it, and she told me she’d let me share the poem, but that she’d be confiscating the book the next time she visited! I said, fair enough.

© 2008 Katherine B. Esenwine, all rights reserved

During the divorce, I had told my daughter and her older sisters that although it wasn’t very much fun, they would likely soon realize that, as far as divorces go, ours would not be a terribly bad one; we had both been friends since 3rd grade and were fortunately able to remain friends through the divorce and up to this day.

My ex even caught the bouquet!

Anyhoo…this is all to say that my daughter’s fears and worries and concerns, while valid, were somewhat abated once she learned how well her parents – all of us – got along with each other. We put the well-being of family first, which made it easier for her and her siblings.

Looking back at this poem, I’m glad we all got through what could have been a much more difficult situation. And even though, eight years ago, she told me that she was officially handing over the title of “Daddy’s Little Girl” to her new baby sister, I told her there was no need to do that; I was pretty sure there was no limit to how many “Little Girls” one daddy could have.

I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) is available for pre-orders everywhere books are sold – but if you order from my local indie bookstore, I can personally-sign it and have them in the mail within 12-24 hours!

In advance of the official publication of my newest picture book, I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) on Feb. 8, we’re all keeping fingers crossed it actually happens! (What’s that? You hadn’t heard it’s been delayed a FIFTH time? Yep, it’s true!)

The Blog Tour:

THIS COMING TUESDAY, Feb. 1, my friends at KidLitTV will host the official national COVER REVEAL of my NEXT picture book, The Beginner’s Guide to Being Human (Beaming Books), which comes out this October! I can’t wait for you to see it!

.

Only a few days left!

How’s THIS for irony (or is it coincidence?): Irene Latham is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, Live Your Poem, where she is celebrating the importance of the virtue of Patience – which just happens to be the name of my ex-wife, who I was just telling you about!

Weird how things come together sometimes, eh?

From Connecticut to Calgary…next Wednesday is going to be a busy day for me!
Very excited to be part of my new 2022 picture book marketing team!

=====================================================

=====================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

Create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!

Find out more about BOOKROO here!

======================================================

I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

=====================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

Arriving Jan. 25, 2022! Pre-order now!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

======================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

======================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

“Constancy”

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry119 Comments

This post was originally published August 3, 2012. It was my first poetry post on this blog, and only my second post ever, following my introduction. But I repost it every year at this time, as my wedding anniversary is August 10 and the poem was part of my wedding vows. Would I write this poem quite this way today? Probably not; the sentiment certainly hasn’t changed, but the word choice could be improved, as the poem feels too formal and overwrought. But I can’t really revise a poem titled “Constancy” now, can I?

My friend Christie Wyman is hosting Poetry Friday today at her blog, Wondering and Wandering, so be sure to head over there for all of today’s poetry links and fun!

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poetryfridaybutton-fulllThis is only my second posting on this blog, and although I knew I wanted to do something for Poetry Friday, it took quite a bit of deliberation to decide which poem of mine I should spotlight.  Children’s poetry or adult poetry?  Published or unpublished?  Happy or sad?  Funny or serious???

After careful consideration, I decided I would post an unpublished poem I wrote a few years ago for the one person in the world who has done the most for me in my quest to become a published children’s author:   my wife, Jenny. Through her unwavering support (emotional, physical, AND financial), I’m able to pursue this dream along with all the other people who have been so helpful to me, like my kids, friends, and fellow writers.

This is a traditional Elizabethan sonnet (three quatrains with an a/b/a/b, c/d/c/d, e/f/e/f rhyme scheme followed by a rhyming g/g couplet) which I wrote as part of my wedding vows.  No, it doesn’t read as a contemporary poem; it was deliberately written in a sort of old-fashioned, classic sort of style. I wanted to express the thought that even though poets throughout history have written words of undying love and immutable steadfastness, my love for her surpassed all their metaphors, all their similes, all that they could ever have imagined.

Yes, I’m a romantic; I make no apologies.

I conclude my poem with a suggestion for them as to what they should compare their love to…but it’s not a rose or a star.

Looking back on it (indeed, even shortly after I’d written it), there are several things I would have changed, edited, or revised – but I was under a deadline, of course, and this was what I came up with.  Unlike my other poems, “Constancy” will never be put through revisions, however. These were the words I spoke to my wife on August 10, 2008 (in a voice loud enough that the entire state of Massachusetts could hear) and so they shall remain.  These words were part of my vows and are as unalterable as my love and gratitude for her.

I wouldn’t be able to do what I do were it not for Jenny.

Thanks again for saying “Yes,” Honey.

Constancy
For Jennifer

How many have, before me, tried in vain
To capture beauty, constancy, and love
Through fluent phrase, in happiness and pain,
And simile of summer, star, or dove?
Their words so eloquent, imagery lush –
In perfect imperfection testify,
For seasons change, the steadfast heavens rush
To swirl about themselves, and doves will die.
How best to show the one whom I adore
The fullness of my amorosity?
I fail to find a finer metaphor
Than that true love which you have shown to me.
The poets fail! Their thoughts do not dismiss;
‘Tis better they compare their love to this.

– © 2008, Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved

=========================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!


  (coming Sept. 25, 2018!)

You can purchase personalized signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly ALL of the books or anthologies I’ve been part of!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH a note requesting the signature and to whom I should make it out to. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it for you, and then they’ll ship it. Try doing that with those big online booksellers! (Plus, you’ll be helping to support local book-selling – and wouldn’t that make you feel good?)

=========================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

=========================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

SCVBWI_Member-badge (5 years)
To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day)
 .
Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: “With her, at midnight”

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry30 Comments

This post was originally published way back in Dec. 2012, just 5 months after I had first started this blog. As our family gears up for our annual trip over to York Beach, Maine, I was contemplating my life, and my wife, and my kids, and Covid, and all the things we’ve gone through this past year…and I remembered this poem. With summer almost upon us, I felt like it was the perfect time to share it again, in case you hadn’t seen it the first time around!

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For my final Poetry Friday post of the year, I’m sharing a fairly new poem that I completed just a few weeks ago.  I wrote this for my wife, Jen, and since it describes a muggy, summer evening, I thought it might help to melt some of the heavy, wet snow that fell in this part of the country yesterday.

This is a tanka, pretty much the only surviving form of waka, a term that once encompassed many forms of Japanese poetry.  You may notice that the first three lines are similar to a haiku, with their 5-7-5 syllabic structure; however, haikus are a relatively new form of poetry, having been developed in the 19th century (haikus were borne of the original hokku form, which dates to the 1600s, but waka forms go back to the 6th century).

By the way, this week I learned that the Japanese word haijin means either a crippled person, or a haiku poet. Makes sense.

So now that your history and vocab lessons are over, on to the poetry! 

.

With her, at midnight

Within the warm, thick
soup of night clouds and orchids,
breaths heavy as air
silence jealous crickets; stars
glisten skin, damp and moonlit.

– © 2012 Matt Forrest Esenwine,
all rights reserved

.

How’s this for coincidence: Carol Wilcox is hosting today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup with a spotlight on poet Jeannette Encinias at her blog, Carol’s Corner – and would you believe it was Carol who was hosting Poetry Friday 9 years ago, when I first published this post! That’s right, I shared my post on her 2012 roundup! Crazy, isn’t it??

============================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

Create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!

Find out more about BOOKROO here!

============================================================

Talkabook is setting out to inspire children by connecting them with authors and illustrators! Click here to view my profile and learn more!

============================================================

I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

===========================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the following covers to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

============================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

============================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: “The Measure of a Love”

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry23 Comments

I hope you’ll pardon my absence for the past couple of Fridays; 2020, the year that will go down in infamy, officially ended with the death of my mother, Virginia, on New Year’s Eve.

She had been in a nursing home for the past 5 years or so, but began seriously declining over the summer, when she was placed on hospice; at the time, none of us thought she would make it to the end of the year.

But in true Mom form, she wasn’t going to go until she was ready – and that meant hanging on until literally the beginning of the new year, just minutes after New Zealand and the folks on the other side of the world were greeting 2021 for the first time.

“I’ll show them,” she must have been thinking, as she peacefully and quietly slipped from her sleep, my father by her side.

Mom & Dad at their 50th anniversary celebration, 2009.

It has been difficult saying goodbye these past few weeks, as I could only visit her in person twice, with full PPE gear on – but it’s been especially difficult for Dad, whose quarantined nursing home room now has an empty bed to remind him of what happened. But if there’s any good news in this – aside from the fact that she’s no longer in pain – it’s that she and Dad were able to spend an incredible amount of time together, holding hands, reminiscing, and reminding each other of their love.

Dad told me how hard it was to be there watching her slowly die each day, and I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, but I reminded him that it was a blessing in that so many of us regret we never had a chance to tell our loved ones what we should have told them; Mom and Dad had months to do that. I’m so grateful for everything they’ve done for me.

.

The Measure of a Love
……….for Forrest and Virginia

Love. How does one measure such a thing?
An inch is always exactly so long; likewise,
a liter always a liter. No more, no less. Circumference
of a circle, area of a rhombus – these things
we determine precisely with absolute specificity. No guessing,
no quandaries. Quadratic equations, memorized formulas
reassure us of certainty, definiteness. Everything
as it should be, ordered and cyclical. Yet, love…

How does one measure such a thing?

Hard enough to plot a point. How long the line radiates,
unfixed; mass, velocity, speed are subject to fluctuation. Never
straight, it twists and curls like a series of French curves
laid end-to-end, upside down and backwards, so that none
can claim an obvious theorem or divine proportion. Let this,
then, be the formulary: 2 hearts plus 61 years multiplied
by the grace of God, times infinite kind words and kisses, never
divided nor subtracted – always multiplied, multiplied,
multiplied. There is no taking away. This, after all, is love.

And how does one measure such a thing?

– © 2021 Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved

Today, Sylvia Vardell is our Poetry Friday hostess, so head over to her blog, Poetry for Children, for the complete link roundup AND a long list of all the cool new poetry books coming out this year for young people!

============================================================

I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

Children's Book Subscription: Bookroo - Sincerely Stacie

You can create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!

Find out more about BOOKROO here!

============================================================

Coming January 26, 2021! Pre-orders are available!

Children will love to follow along on a Goldilocks-like journey as Elliot searches for the perfect place to rest in this new board book! 

Coming March 2, 2021! Pre-orders are available!

Contrasting the past with the present, this picture book takes you through a lyrical exploration of the world as it was before humans made their mark.

============================================================

Talkabook is setting out to inspire children by connecting them with authors and illustrators! Click here to view my profile and learn more!

============================================================

I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

=============================================================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personalized signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly ALL of the books or anthologies I’ve been part of!

Click any of the following covers to order!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH a note requesting the signature and to whom I should make it out to. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

============================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

============================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!

Poetry Friday: Celebrating my father’s 84th birthday, poetically

On By Matt Forrest EsenwineIn poetry14 Comments

Dad, circa 1995

In honor of my father’s birthday, I was going to share a poem I’d written about him a few years ago that has never been published. But when I went to find a photo of him, a group of pictures featuring his carved signs appeared – and I just felt like I needed to do something with that.

You see, dad was quite the handyman; there was nothing he couldn’t fix, and if he couldn’t fix it – well, he’d make a new one. He even had a carved sign business for much of his life, and when we were in the process of clearing out the house to put it up for sale last year, I found several photos he had taken of his signs and decided to hold onto them. (to see their detail better, just click either photo to enlarge)

When I saw these last night, I knew I had to write something about them; the other poem was just going to have to wait. So I thought about it for awhile and decided a tanka form might work well – which I present to you here. Hope you like it…

Letters

smooth oak plank, held fast
between clamps, suffers the bit –
router touches down
wresting rising last words, life
renewed for a sawdust soul

– © 2020 Matt F. Esenwine, all rights reserved

.
For more poetry, please visit Pleasures from the Page, where Ramona is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup – and what a special, significant week it’s been for her!

And if you haven’t had a chance to catch the sneak-peek at Lee Bennett Hopkins’ next anthology, Night Wishes (Eerdmans), be sure to visit last week’s post, which features a review from Kirkus and two smaple poems from the book: mine, and the very first one, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich.

Did you know that Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme is one of the TOP 20 children’s poetry blogs, according to FEEDSPOT? That’s right – I’m scratching my head, too! FEEDSPOT is an app that allows you to combine all your favorite news feeds, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. into ONE newsletter. Be sure to check it out!

=========================================================

I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

=========================================================

Coming Sept. 15, 2020!

 

Coming Spring 2021! Pre-orders are available:.

=========================================================

What is Talkabook? Details coming soon!

=========================================================

Ordering personalized signed copies online?
Oh, yes, you can!


     

You can purchase personalized signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly ALL of the books or anthologies I’ve been part of!

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH a note requesting the signature and to whom I should make it out to. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

=========================================================

Thank you to everyone for your support!

=========================================================

Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

SCVBWI_Member-badge (5 years)
To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day)
 .
Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!