The Apples in My Orchard

It’s Poetry Friday and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is our host on her website, The Poem Farm. Thank you for hosting, Amy!

Some of you know my love of words and poetry came from my mom. She was a third-grade teacher for over 30 years and had a huge vocabulary with a love for the written word. I feel strongly that I inherited this love for language from my mom.

Last spring, I shared some of my mom’s poetry after it was gifted to me on a visit to see her and my Dad. Last month, when I stayed with my Dad after my mom passed away, I came across the packet of poetry she had shared.

Today, in celebration of the school starting again, I picked a few more of her poems to share with you. I hoped to find a nature poem that I could put in my anthology with a photo (backward for Ekphrastic poetry, I know, but also posthumously for my mom), to whom the Ekphrastic Nature Poetry Anthology (Spring 2024) will be dedicated. I did not find one such poem.

It got me thinking about what inspires our individual poetry. For me, nature, color, and travel are my biggest inspirations, whether it is used for writing essays, poetry, taking photographs, or making jewelry.

As I read through my mom’s poetry, it was clear her inspirations were school, her students, and the funny things kids say and do. Her inspirations were not the same as mine, but I enjoyed reading her poetry nonetheless.

Her writing is the one place where I can still hear her voice and feel her sense of humor.

The one I like best is about seeing your teacher in the store – written from a kid’s perspective.

I Saw My Teacher in the Store

I saw my teacher in the store.

I whispered to Mom, “There’s my teacher!”

My Mom said, “Uh-huh,” as we went on our way

I felt like a two-headed creature.

I looked in our basket and almost died.

What will I ever do?

My mom has got some embarrassing things

Like figs and toilet tissue.

My teacher’s in shorts (I’m getting the giggles)

Please don’t let her see me.

“Hello, Miss Gimble. How are you?”

“Well, hi, Tommy and Mrs. McFee.”

I looked in my teacher’s basket.

Oranges and limes, and canned stew.

And oh, my gosh — I can’t believe it

She’s got toilet tissue, too!

© Jan Fritz

This poem just makes me laugh and laugh because it rings so true. Kids are funny when it comes to seeing their teacher in public (outside of the school building). And seeing a teacher in shorts just wasn’t a common thing fifty years ago when my mom most likely wrote this piece. Teachers are “real” people too, and sometimes kiddos don’t realize it until they “see the evidence” – which in this case was that toilet paper!

It’s Time For School

It’s time to go to school again,

And I’m a nervous wreck.

I loved my last year’s teacher.

Her name was Mrs. Beck.

But she stayed in the second grade

And I went on to third

And now I’m facing someone new

A dandy, I have heard.

Oh, woe is me, I think that I’ll

Get very, very sick.

But Mom says just to be myself

And not to pull that trick.

“OK,” I say, and off I go.

I walk into the room.

And there’s my name on that big desk.

Oh, thoughts of gloom and doom.

Then, in she walks, all happy smiles.

I give her a sideways glance.

I then decided that because I must

I’ll give her half a chance.

The day goes on. She’s not so bad.

She seems to know her stuff.

And even when I missed some words

She didn’t seem so tough.

And so third grade looks promising

And Mrs. Beck is fading.

I really like my new teacher.

I do not feel like trading.

© Jan Fritz

This poem makes me laugh as well for it hones in on how attached children get to their teachers over the course of a school year. I think there is a fair amount of trepidation when students move from grade to grade, especially if they felt close to or really liked their teacher in the previous year.

There are also things that get said about teachers that are absolutely not true. If we had listened to those when our boys were growing up, they would have missed out on having one of the most talented educators that our district employed at her grade level.

It’s also a reminder to parents to allow their children to experience different kinds of teachers and to give everyone “a chance” as the poem says.

I have more of my mom’s poetry to share but will save those for another day.

The End of the Summer Poetry Swap

The summer poetry swap ended a couple of weeks ago with two “Carols” swapping the joy they find in nature. Carol Varsalona sent a beautiful package with a butterfly theme to me. We both seem to run on the same timeline, posting later to Poetry Friday rather than earlier and mailing our swaps out to each other on the last day.

Just as I found with the other swaps from Denise, Jone, Linda, and Patricia, Carol put thought and intention into what she chose to send me. And, just as with the other swaps, there was a high degree of creativity as well – bookmarks, a book for my nature noticing, a large butterfly embellishment, and butterfly stickers all to adorn my wondering from my wanderings. I wanted to publicly thank Carol for such a wonderful swap. I was touched by hers, as well as all the other swappers this summer.

Anthology Reminder

Details about the Ekphrastic Nature Poetry Anthology and Call for Submissions can be found at the following link https://theapplesinmyorchard.com/ekphrastic-anthology-submissions/

which is also always available on the the main page of my blog’s menu which runs horizontally across the page.

Submissions are open until November 1st. Please feel free to contact me with questions. There has been a great deal of interest but not too many submissions (yet).

Thanks for your consideration.