I Am Offering This Poem To You: A Golden Shovel Poem (with template)

Golden Shovel poetry is a poetic form in which you borrow a line, or lines, from someone else’s poem, and use each of their words as the end words in your poem. Preferably, you write your poem in a way that feels like a continuation or a companion of the original. Personally, I struggle with this form. It’s challenging but I love that we get to celebrate and honor our favorite poets and their poems in this way.

Below you will find my poem and a template I designed to guide you when writing your Golden Shovel. Click here to learn more about the form.

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Happy World Poetry Day: Poem Parade

Remember the “old days” when you wanted to enjoy poetry? You’d find it in a book. These days, we often turn to the screen for our pop of poetry. This got me thinking that poetry in modern times is like a parade. Poems of every subject and tone march across the screen for all to see. And we, as readers, writers, and lovers of poetry, can join in the parade whenever we want (no shoes required). Of course, for me, random thoughts like this often turn into a poem. Cotton candy, anyone?

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Happy World Poetry Day!

Many of us read, write, and teach poetry every day, but did you know there is an official day to celebrate and support poets and poetry? As an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO), world poetry day is held every year on March 21st. So today, I want to reshare this post to celebrate with you and I’ve made a list (with links) of some fun ways you can celebrate poetry with your family and friends. And don’t miss my contribution to the official day in the form of a poem that turned out to be quite yummy.

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Poem Parade

Remember the “old days” when you wanted to enjoy poetry? You’d find it in a book. These days, we often turn to the screen for our pop of poetry. This got me thinking that poetry in modern times is like a parade. Poems of every subject and tone march across the screen for all to see. And we, as readers, writers, and lovers of poetry, can join in the parade whenever we want (no shoes required). Of course, for me, random thoughts like this often turn into a poem. Cotton candy, anyone?

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Celebrate World Poetry Day on March 21st

Many of us read, write, and teach poetry every day but did you know there is an official day to celebrate and support poets and poetry? As an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO), world poetry day is held every year on March 21st. I’ve made a list (with links) of some fun ways you can celebrate poetry with your family and friends. And don’t miss my contribution to the official day in the form of a poem that turned out to be quite yummy.

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Free Verse: The Birth of a Poem

There seems to be an influx of newborn babies right now, at least in my little corner of the world. I’ve enjoyed seeing the sweet little bundles of joy and their happy parents and grandparents on social media. So, I had the idea to write a poem about babies for this week’s post. Oh, the pressure of a poem! After many attempts, my focus shifted to the process of getting my thoughts down on paper. Giving birth to words is not nearly as exciting to celebrate, but the labor pains are real!

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Why a Poem? The Power of Poetry

Having written poetry all my life, I’ve often wondered why. Why did I pick up a pen and write that first poem when I was a child? Why did I continue to write (and read) poetry through adulthood? What makes poetry so special? We’ve all heard that poetry is a form of self-expression, but it’s so much more than that.

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Debut Pop: Welcome to Poetry Pop!

Thanks for popping in for Poetry Pop’s debut blog post! Some of you may know me as Children’s Book Author, Danna Smith, but writing poetry is where I got my start. I have loved words from the moment I met them. I visited them often and encouraged them to fill my head and heart. Before long, poems were spilling onto the pages of my notebook. 

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