I’m pleased to host Poetry Friday this week! If you want to know more about what Poetry Friday is, check this post by author Renee M. Tulipee.
When I realized I’d be the host on the Friday before Halloween, I immediately turned to my Jack Prelutsky poetry book entitled, It’s Halloween (1977). This book is a treasure as it belonged to my late mother and her classroom library. Prelutsky is my favorite children’s poet.
But, as I paged through the poems didn’t find one that I could build a theme around for today’s post. So I started to brainstorm and came up with the subject of bats.
This week is International Bat Week <<<<<<< click for more info!
Why bats you might wonder?
Earlier this year, I presented to 75 first-grade students on bats for a local school’s environmental day. It was my first time presenting on bats and I learned so much in preparing for the day.
We need bats! They are important to us for insect control and pollination of several popular foods like bananas.
Then, I went searching for bat poems and found several. I’m sharing them with you today. You might recognize the authors’ names.
Bat BY D. H. LAWRENCE At evening, sitting on this terrace, When the sun from the west, beyond Pisa, beyond the mountains of Carrara Departs, and the world is taken by surprise ... When the tired flower of Florence is in gloom beneath the glowing Brown hills surrounding ... When under the arches of the Ponte Vecchio A green light enters against stream, flush from the west, Against the current of obscure Arno ... Look up, and you see things flying Between the day and the night; Swallows with spools of dark thread sewing the shadows together. A circle swoop, and a quick parabola under the bridge arches Where light pushes through; A sudden turning upon itself of a thing in the air. A dip to the water. And you think: "The swallows are flying so late!" Swallows? Dark air-life looping Yet missing the pure loop ... A twitch, a twitter, an elastic shudder in flight And serrated wings against the sky, Like a glove, a black glove thrown up at the light, And falling back. Never swallows! Bats! The swallows are gone. At a wavering instant the swallows gave way to bats By the Ponte Vecchio ... Changing guard. Bats, and an uneasy creeping in one's scalp As the bats swoop overhead! Flying madly. Pipistrello! Black piper on an infinitesimal pipe. Little lumps that fly in air and have voices indefinite, wildly vindictive; Wings like bits of umbrella. Bats! Creatures that hang themselves up like an old rag, to sleep; And disgustingly upside down. Hanging upside down like rows of disgusting old rags And grinning in their sleep. Bats! In China the bat is symbol for happiness. Not for me! D. H. Lawrence, "Bat" from Birds, Beasts and Flowers: Poems. London: Martin Secker, 1923. Public Domain. Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44574/bat
The Little Brown Bat
by: Edith Matilda Thomas (1854-1925)
Quoth the little brown bat: “I rise with the owl–
Wisest and best of the feathered fowl;
Let other folks rise, if they will, with the lark,
And be early and bright–I am early and dark!”
Quoth the little brown bat: “I’m awake and up,
When the night-moth sips from the lily’s white cup;
While the firefly lanterns are searching the sky,
I am glancing about, with fiery eye!”
Read the rest, here.
There is another poem about bats by Theodore Roethke, © 1938, which can be found here.
Bats can be scary to young children and even adults.
At Halloween, bats seem to make a reappearance in decorations. In addition, there is a lot of misinformation floating around (excuse the pun) about bats. One of my aims as an environmental educator is to offer up-to-date, correct information to our communities. This was certainly the objective of my bat presentation. My hope was that some of the children would go home appreciating bats, not fearing them.
Next year, I hope to incorporate a writing component to my bat presentation, if I can work with an older age group.
This week, give bats some thought.
Read up on them in the link I provided early in the post
Moving On…
This week was also important to me as I celebrated my 60th birthday on Monday! I’ve had many blessings in my life, not the least of which is my husband of 36 years and our three boys (ahem, young men). It is a milestone for sure to have lived so well and happy.
Ekphrastic Nature Poetry Submissions Soon To Close
And lastly, I am making one more announcement about the ekphrastic nature poetry book submissions. Submissions close on November 1st. There remains a tiny bit of time left to submit if you so desire.
https://theapplesinmyorchard.com/ekphrastic-anthology-submissions/
Thank you to those who have submitted. I am pleased with the variety of poetry and photos I’ve received. If you’ve recently submitted, I will be in touch soon with the status of your submission(s). Thank you, all, for your support and interest in this project!
I wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween! Thanks for visiting this Poetry Friday! Please leave your link on Mr. Linky and comment on today’s blog! Thank you!
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The Apples in My Orchard 
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