Percy (passionate promoter of poetry) pens a farewell post!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by

  Two Writing Teachers.

Hi, I'm Percy, the poetry loving penguin.
I couldn't resist this opportunity to pen one more post about

my adventures in Washington because today I fly to Utah!

Tuesday I visited Ms. Moore's and Ms. Gaffney's classrooms.  Every student shared a poem they finished for the Poetry Box.  Wow!  I loved listening to their contributions to the growing collection of poems traveling around the country.

Thursday I discovered this Carl Sandburg quote about poetry:  "Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air."  I was perusing the pages of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong (hey, I met her last month)!  This book has many poems by poets who contributed to The Poetry Box.

Monday everything was a flurry of activity as Mrs. B. sorted poems by author, located air pillows to cushion me for this adventure, and readied the box for today's travels.  

But Saturday was the high point of the week!  I spent the afternoon at Island Books with poets and poetry lovers.  Mrs. B. kept reminding me that it was the day after Halloween so there might not be a huge turnout for my farewell party.  (She keeps reminding me that it was the Poetry Box's party, not my party.)  But remember, I did have a cameo appearance on the flyer!

Three student poets and their families arrived to share poems.  Two of Mrs. B's teacher friends who love poetry stopped by.  I was introduced to Nancy and Lori, children's booksellers and passionate advocates for poetry at Island Books. I met Vikram Madan, local poet and illustrator of The Bubble Collector.  I giggled at his poem "Ogre's Meal (a.k.a. The Toad Not Taken)."

The best moment of the afternoon?  Listening spellbound to Vikram's sonorous words as every person in the bookstore paused to listen to "Curses:  A Villain-elle," perfect for the day after Halloween. 

The icing on the cake for me?  Discovering Vikram's playful business card that features a penguin and a little person savoring a cup of hot chocolate.

And so my friends, adieu.  Hopefully you'll hear more of my

adventures with the Poetry Box in the coming weeks and months.  

 ~ Percy, passionate promoter of poetry