Helping children count

By Barry Vitcov

Here’s a Valentine’s gift for your children, grandchildren, and maybe great grandchildren: a counting poem. It’s also a gift for all of us who love rhythm and rhyme. Perhaps, you might also imagine all the birds paired with each stanza. Better yet, print out the poem and find pictures with your loved one to paste next to each bird (or dog, leaf, or bee) mentioned.

Thanks to those of you who have already submitted poems to the Poetry Corner. Your support has helped to expand the reach of poetry throughout Southern Oregon. And, from what we’ve heard, even beyond!

Recently, a local poet, suggested that we might help celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with poetry. Of course, we are fortunate to live in a community rich in theater offerings: OSF, Rogue Theater Company, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Camelot Theatre, Collaborative Theatre Project, Barnstormers Theater and other smaller theater companies, including our university and high school programs.

So, how about it? Let’s use OSF’s 90th Anniversary to celebrate the richness of live theater in Southern Oregon.

Submissions may be sent to haikubjv@gmail.com

Early Birds

by Shona Allen

As the sun rises up,
it all looks quiet.
But then, oh no!
the birds begin to riot.

One little Nuthatch
was hanging upside down.
Along came two Juncos,
all the way from town.

Three merry Tit-mice
looking around for fun,
While four brown Towhees
were basking in the sun.

Five crowned Sparrows
kicking up a fuss,
Because six blue Jays
started to cuss.

Seven spotted Flickers
came looking, just like thugs.
So, eight Mourning Doves
got the jitterbugs.

Nine old Buzzards
searching for a mouse,
As ten wild Turkeys
went skulking by the house.

The dog begins to notice,
He begins to shout.
He wants to join the fun,
he’s insisting to go out.

So, the door is opened,
The dog, he leaps outside.
But all the birds can hear him,
They quickly flee and hide.

A yellow leaf is falling,
beneath the walnut tree,
All that’s heard for now,
Is the buzzing of a bee.

Shona grew up in La Jolla, California, and played in the tidepools below the pier. Her father, an oceanographer, brought the family along with him to live in Peru and later to France before she finished high school. She and her husband immigrated to Canada in 1971 and lived there for over 30 years. Adventures in white water rafting, teaching at an independent school, ranching in the far north country on 7,000 acres, building homes in the US, Canada, and Japan, including a lifelong pursuit of Art and Music, continue to inspire both her poetry and photography. Settling in Ashland 2001, she and her husband started a small vineyard in 2007 in the hills by Agate Lake. Surrounded by birds, deer, strutting turkeys and even a coyote or two. Every day, she is captivated by all that Rogue Valley offers.

Poetry Submissions Welcomed!

You are invited to submit original work to the Poetry Corner. There are only two restrictions: First, poems need to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose! Second, poems need to be aligned to the left margin. The publishing platform used by Ashland.news has issues with the creative use of space! There are no length restrictions but try to keep your poems to no more than 30 lines. Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns.

To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at haikubjv@gmail.com.