real characters

You could pal with Huck and Tom
Skipping stones across the
Water and laugh out loud

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb where she used a quote from Mark Twain.

What is a sherku?

mark steve

Let us endeavor so to
Live that when we come to
Die, the whole sky will cry

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb where some of these words appeared in a quote from Mark Twain.

What is a sherku?

Mark Twain

He told stories of people
That plumbed the depths
Of American life

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb where where she quoted from Mark Twain.

What is a sherku?

Privilege

When we lose the right to be
Different we lose the
Privilege to be free

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from a quote attributed to Charles Evens Hughes in Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

2 questions

Image by Maximo Lopez (netsella) via Flickr

What do I want the people
To think and say when I
Have left this world behind?

...

What do you want the people
To think and say when you
Have left this world behind?

What is a sherku?

your friend

No person is your friend
Who demands your silence
Or denies your right to grow

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are contained in a quote from Alice Walker and found in Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

remembering mother

I find it hard to believe
That I am older than
My mother lived to be

What is a sherku?



In Memoriam: Rita Sherlock, June 1929 - November 1983
We will celebrate the 25th anniversary of her passing in November.

touchstone meals

Who are the people making
These touchstone meals
That drove Proust to memory

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

turn signals

What I do affects you
What you do affects me
We are interconnected

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

Topolobampo

Go slowly, eat a good meal
Served well, at a place
Like Topolobampo

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

PS - Yes, Topolobampo is a real restaurant. The name just forces your mouth into wonderful sounding gymnastics! Next time I get to Chicago, I need to find this place.

this old train

From hours of rolling
Travel station to station
Form fitted naugahyde

What is a sherku?

Close the boardroom door

The endless list of things
To do; don’t let it get
In the way of living life

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

getting started

Tess just needed some help
Getting to sleep, a story
A song, a restful word

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

love

Love means for you to love
that which is unlovable
or it's not love at all

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

some blues

I merely gathered the
Energy it takes to pout
And wrote me some good blues

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

lost learning

Sometimes getting lost creates
The learning but you have to
Get off the ship first

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

snake skin

Sometimes letting go is
Just shedding like a snake
Sheds its skin in times of growth

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

shadows

Most of the shadows in this life
Are caused by us standing
In our own sunshine

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

seatmates

On this flight we call life
Choose your seatmates wisely
Sit with folks you would embrace

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

tiny ninjas

See the tiny ninjas!
Sometimes life comes down to
An effort to just show up

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

productive day

Productive day? Yes, good
Work at work and more sherkus
For Life is a Verb done

What is a sherku?

desire lines

Landscape architects have a
Name for dirt paths that
Take us where we want to go

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

leave a trail

Do not go where the path may
lead go instead where there is
no path; leave a trail

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

signal poles - 2

Signal poles spaced one hundred
Feet apart, no wire to
Carry, tracks run seamless

What is a sherku?

signal poles - 1

Signal poles spaced one hundred
Feet apart, no wire to
Carry, cross to old ways

What is a sherku?

migrant birds

Migrant birds hear a
Voice within; if only we
Would listen to it also

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

After W.C.W.

This is just to say
Grapes would be a good snack
If not left in my car today

For William Carlos Williams and his classic simple poem

special occasion

What is a special occasion
But one reason to get
Yourself all dressed up

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

the highest task - 2

This, the highest task for
Two people, protect the
Solitude of the other

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb where these words appeared in a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke.

What is a sherku?

the highest task

For two people to bond
They need to protect the
Solitude of the other

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb where these words appeared in a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke.

What is a sherku?

your voice

In these typed text the symbols
Could be any ones but it
Is your voice we hear

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?


for PD

beyond comfort

Pushing yourself past that
Envelop of comfort is
Where the big stuff happens

This is a "found" poem, that is the words from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.


What is a sherku?

portfolio

You should be very proud
Of every thing you put
In your portfolio

This is a "found" poem, that is the words from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.


What is a sherku?

those jeans

Full circle around the globe
That denim, those rivets
That distinctive red tag

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

something in the sunrise

Something in the sunrise
On the horizon says
Wall Street is not a concern

What is a sherku?

yardstick

What is the magic yardstick
Against which we measure
Our true worth in this world?

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

waiting to hear

So many feel like they’re
Waiting to hear “Your good,
I give you permission”

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

just in case

I have “Awesome God”, “Here I am
To worship”, bring
Everything just in case

a "found poem"

Overhearing this phone conversation on the train, I found the juxtaposition of what was in hand with bringing everything else, just in case, worthy of smiling about

toast rules

They’re all made up. Some so
Ingrained that we can no
Longer see they are toast rules

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

creativity

Creativity is breaking
Out of old patterns to
See things in new ways

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

reality

Is my reality
Any more real than yours?
How long is Britain’s coast line?

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

go to where they are

When they don’t get it, try
Going to where they are, see
Things from their perspective

This is a "found" poem, that is the words are from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.

What is a sherku?

Happy Birthday to JJL

There is a group of learners
Joyful, jubilant, yearners
Seeking for the way
To make their work pay
Or convert their readers to returners


Originally posted at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog

love what you do

We should love what we do
And I mean be truly
Deeply passionate for it

This is a "found" poem, that is the words from Patti Digh's book Life is a Verb. I gave them the format for sherku.


What is a sherku?

legwarmers

Time to bring out those Jane Fonda
Legwarmers you keep in
The basement dresser

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

granting dignity

He gave cash to those in need
By pretending to find it
Granting dignity

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

What about Wall Street?

It’s autumn, trees blaze with
Color then drop their leaves
In spring buds will sprout again

What is a sherku?

rethinking right

The attachment to being
Right is as much a sin
As lusting for something

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

golden grain

Seeing a still picture
Of wheat is not like a
Field of wheat in the breeze

This was inspired by Patti Digh and her new book Life is a Verb.

What is a sherku?

slip stream

Back from swimming in words
On the train to Boston
Finding the current for work

What is a sherku?