Poetry Friday--Bite-Sized Poems

I'm one for terseness. I think a writer should say what she wants in as few words as possible. That's one of the reasons why I love haiku--there is an absolute minimum of words used to capture a moment.

There are some writers for children who have also undertaken to write with a minimum of words. They write what I'll call bite-sized poems. I suppose the queen of the bite-sized poem is Valerie Worth who came out with four collections of small poems. They've been collected in All the Small Poems and Fourteen More. In Peacock and Other Poems, she continues with the small poems. Here's one to whet your appetite:

lunchbox

They always
End up
Fighting--

The soft
Square
Sandwich,

The round
Heavy
Apple.

Can't you see a kid relating to this little bite of life? I can. I've found many a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my lunch bag. The bread battered, the impression of the offending fruit surrounded by the jelly squeezing through. Everyday life painted in a mere 13 words! Wonderful.

Here are two other writers of bite-sized poems for you to explore:

James Stevenson and his corn collections--Popcorn, Corn Flakes, Sweet Corn, Corn-Fed, Corn Chowder, and Candy Corn. Stevenson's illustrations are sometimes an intricate part of the poem, one doesn't make sense without the other.

Kristine O'Connell George and her Little Dog books--Little Dog Poems, Little Dog and Duncan, both of which are utterly delightful! (And I'm a cat person!)

The Poetry Friday Round-Up is happening at www.missrumphiuseffect.com. Check it out.