What's My Line? 2026

It's my turn to play. I can't wait!

Each year, beginning April 1st, POETRY FRIDAY friends and other poetry lovers are invited to join the fun, as a poem travels daily from blog to blog, with each host adding a line. A big thank you to poet Irene Latham for creating The Kid Lit Progressive Poem, which was a way to celebrate National Poetry Month (April) as a community of writers.

This year, I was assigned WEEK #2.

Exciting but scary—with only one line ahead of me, the possibilities are endless! I needed to really think about this.

Tabatha @ The Opposite of Indifference blog wrote the first line and chose the destination for our journey. Can you guess from this lovely watercolor where we are headed?

What an amazing opening line to kick this poem off. Thanks, Tabatha!

"On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,"

Ooh.... a field trip with a bus full of poets! I'm ready, let's go!

We're packed, and Tabatha is taking the first shift. Time for me to jump into the passenger seat and think of the next line.

All aboard!

Here's a bit of how I came up with my line.

Visualizing really helps me. So first, I sat down with a hot cup of tea and brainstormed about a trip to the land of poetry.

1. What would I pack?

2. Who would I bring?

3. What sights would I see?

Then I thought it might be fun to incorporate some of the tools we use when writing poetry:

• Meter?

• Repetition?

• Rhyme?

The wheels started turning and suddenly I had too much to say, and only one line to add!

Hmmmm...

Then I remembered:

Metaphor.

Metaphor is one of the most used poetic devices, both in literature and in our day-to-day speech. It compares one thing to something completely different to help the reader see the image in a new and unexpected way.

For example:

• Life is a rollercoaster.

  
  

• The classroom was a zoo.

  
  

• The moon was a silver lantern.

Yes! That's it! This could be fun.

What could the dock be made of? Pencils?

What kind of flags would welcome me? Pages of poems?

What would I hear? Lyrical wind?

But one image kept coming to mind...

Books of poetry - as tall as buildings!

I had my metaphor!

Doesn't this look like a cool place to visit?

So, here it is— the poem so far, with my line added in bold.

Time to pass it on to:

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Patricia Franz at Reverie to add a line. Here it is to copy for your blog, Patricia. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

On my first trip to the Land of Poetry,

I saw anthologies of every color, tall as buildings.

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Click on the links below to travel along with our April poem!

And much thanks to poet Margaret Simon, who organizes it each year.

April 1 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference

April 2 Cathy Stenquist at A Little Bit of This and That

April 3 Patricia Franz at Reverie

April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write

April 5 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse

April 6 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care

April 7 Ruth Hersey at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town

April 8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities

April 9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche

April 10 Janet Clare Fagel at Reflections on the Teche

April 11 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry

April 12 Linda Baie atTeacher Dance

April 13 Linda Mitchell at Another Word Edgewise

April 14 Jone MacCulloch at Jone MacCulloch.com

April 15 Joyce Uglow at Storied Ink

April 16 Carol Varsalona atBeyond Literacy Link

April 17 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge

April 18 Michele Kogan at More Art for All

April 19 Kim Johnson atCommon Threads

April 20Buffy Silverman at Buffy Silverman

April 21 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem

April 22 Karen Edmisten at Karen Edmisten

April 23 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe

April 24 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading

April 25 Tanita Davis at Fiction, instead of Lies

April 26 Sharon Roy atPedaling Poet

April 27 Tracey Kiff-Judson atTangles and Tails

April 28 TBD

April 29 TBD

April 30 TBD

Reconnecting with the Magic

A book is a magical thing. It can take you to places you have never been— tropical islands, outer space, foreign lands— all from the safety and comfort of your own bedroom. The picture books we discover as children and the novels we read as young adults tend to stay with us and hold a very special place in our hearts.

My sister-in-law Delle and I were chatting the other day about our favorite childhood books. Hers was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and mine was Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

There was something about "Island of the Blue Dolphins" that I loved—the island setting, a young girl (probably my age) stranded there alone for a number of years, and the fact that it was based on a true story. You can read more about the real story here. This is a brief video that shares more about Karana- the lone woman of Nicholas Island.

Have you ever been fully absorbed into a book

and feel like you are there?

I tried to describe this feeling in the poem below. If I am really enjoying a novel, it is so hard for me to put the bookmark in place, close the book, and walk away. I imagine the characters frozen in time, exactly where I left them—each of them hoping I will pass by the couch again, pick up the book, and set them free. This closeness with a character is such a gift. When the lasyt page is turned, I want to feel sad that I need to leave them behind.

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For Poetry Friday this week, I chose the color:

• Blue

I thought a list poem would be a good approach for this poem.

Here is a little about this form, from Poets.org.

"A list poem is a deliberately organized poem containing a list of images or adjectives that build up to describe the poem’s subject matter through an inventory of things.

List poetry, also known as catalog verse, is a widely used form and device, with roots dating back to roughly 100 AD. There is no specific rhyme scheme or meter for writing a list poem, and it often features repetition, particularly anaphora."

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One last thought...

For my husband's birthday, I tracked down a book he had talked about since we were married, An Otter's Story by Emil E. Liers. He remembered is so affectionately from his childhood. There was something special about the otter family's perspective and he had never forgotten about it. When he opened the birthday present last week, the expression on his face was priceless. That little boy, curled up on his bed reading way past "lights out," came back for an instant. But best of all, the last few days, he has been reading it nonstop and rediscovering the magic he felt as a child. Books can do that.

My husband Scott, connecting with his inner child again.

What is your favorite childhood book?

Maybe it would be fun to rediscover it as an adult.

Thank you...

to author and poet, Marcie Flinchum Atkins, for hosting this week's Poetry Friday round-up. Hope you'll stop by to get a delightful taste of some lovely and thoughtful words.

New Book Recommendations:

Be sure to check out these amazing new books by my poetry friends:

• "When Twilight Comes: Animals and Plants that bring Dawn and Dusk to Life," a picture book by Marcie Flinchum Atkins. Available for pre-order here,

• "Some Starry Night"a novel by Irene Latham. Available for pre-order here

See you next week!

Color My World

Happy Spring, everyone! This year, the change in seasons has been a long time coming. But this week I saw little buds starting to form on skinny maple branches—their red color popping against the blue sky. It made me so happy! And then the surprise of a single crocus flower in my snowy backyard inspired this little ditty!

The promise of growth, new life, and the resurrection of plants from their winter beds fills me with hope. Color is about to explode in the coming weeks, announcing spring.

Bring it on!

Thank you to poet Alan J. Wright, who mentioned Petula Clark's song, Colour My World in his comments last week. Such a fun song that takes me back. Crank it up!

In honor of spring, these are the colors I chose this week:

• Dandelion

• Wild Strawberry

• Spring Green

Dandelion

When I saw the name of this golden color, I did some research and was fascinated to learn about the dandelion's history. For gardeners, it is a great companion plant, as its taproot brings up nutrients for shallow-rooting plants. Maybe we should see this little herb in a new light.

Wild Strawberry

"It's the berries!" is a 1920s slang phrase meaning "an event that's highly enjoyable or desirable." The color, Wild Strawberry, reminded me of Kevin Keanne, a cute little blonde fellow who attended my licensed daycare years ago. He disappeared on a field trip to a local U-pick farm and was found with a smear of berries on his face. The cutest thing I ever saw. How could I be mad?

Spring Green

On a walk one spring day, I noticed new baby maple leaves that had just unfurled, hanging wet and limp from the branches. It reminded me of butterflies' wings, which need time to dry and inflate so they can fly. I called the poem, Eclosion, which means "the emergence of an adult insect from a pupa or a larva."

Thank you to Tanita S. Davis for hosting POETRY FRIDAY Round-up on her blog SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME this week. Be sure to stop by to check out the other poetry links. Tanita has a powerful video about the power of poetic words in songs. Seeing people coming together in peace to sing of a better way moved me so. Spring is a time of new life, new beginnings and hopefulness. Let's "Hold On" and sing our way to love and peace.

Happy Spring Everyone!