Poetry Friday: Cardinals

In my blog post yesterday (I write daily here at The Apples in My Orchard), I wrote about a pair of cardinals that had been visiting our yard. You can check the post out here: Cardinal Story. My poem today focuses on the same pair of birds, just put into a poem.

Cardinal Story: A Poetic Version

Today I wrote a cardinal story
It told of these birds and all their glory

He has bright red feathers you can easily see
While she blends in very gently with the tree

Together they stay, a life-long pair
Raising their young through the duties they share

Cardinals might visit to see if you are doing okay
And, if they do, surely you will want them to stay.

© Draft, Carol Labuzzetta, 2022


After I wrote this today, I had a thought that this might be a good combined ELA lesson, most likely for middle grades. Students could write a short narrative about an observation and then pare it down for a poem, keeping the critical elements.   I might try it in the future if I have another writers circle!  What do you think teacher friends?
Cardinal pair visiting my yard. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2022

Congratulations are due to the three poets who had their poems selected for another anthology by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell aptly named Things We Eat! Current Anthology 201 students who are working on this anthology selected the poems from a plethora of entries for food poems named Orange, Udon, and Zucchini. It was fun to try and write poems for this anthology that will be on sale soon! All proceeds go to IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People. This is the second anthology in a series of three planned for preschoolers written by Wong and Vardell’s course participants and guided by their expertise in anthologies and independent publishing through Pomelo Books. For more information on the courses offered by these generous authors and publishers, please see Sylvia’s webpage at Poetry for Children on Blogspot or at Pomelo Books. As a past participant in Anthologies 101 and 201, with a poem called INVENT in the book Things We Do, I can highly recommend their course offerings!

Our host for Poetry Friday today is Dr. Patricia Stohr-Hunt at the Miss Rumphius Effect. Thank you for hosting, Tricia! Please visit her blog page for more wonderful poetry and inspiration!

8 thoughts

  1. Carol, you take beautiful bird photos! I love your poem: your first line hooked me! I love seeing and hearing cardinals in my yard or anywhere. I fact, I just heard one. I haven’t seen cardinals at or around my bird feeder too often this winter. I love how the male bird’s bright, red feathers contrast against the snow. Usually, the cardinals come as a pair one waiting until the other finishes eating. I often see Mrs. eating from the ground in warmer seasons. I have also enjoyed Janet’s and Sylvia’s workshop 101, 201, and 301. They are a blast! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I am so glad you liked the cardinal photos and poem! I am glad you enjoy them too! They are a great splash of color against the snow! It is very interesting how they take turns! I noticed that too. Maybe I’ll see you in the 401 workshop! 🙂

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      3. Yes, I have just completed the 201 Anthology class. Janet and Sylvia are amazing teachers! I am excited and happy that one of my poems was chosen for the forthcoming book THINGS WE EAT. I sent an email the other day to Janet and asked to take the 401 class this summer. She said she would send an invoice on March 1. That’s great that we’ll be in the same class. I’m better writing for older children and about nature. I’m curious to see what the book in the 401 class will be about.

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      4. I told Janet the same thing – this book is more for the age range I usually work with. I also take inspiration from nature. Maybe it will be something along those lines – we can hope! 🙂

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