These poetry anthologies for adults explore a diverse range of topics in a variety of poetic formats. They include a number of my poems, including award-winning entries. I especially enjoyed experimenting with free verse and concrete poems.
Fly is a collection of poetry with over fifteen contributors and four contest winners. The book was composed with the goal to help butterflies, more specifically monarch butterflies, thrive. Milkweed is the only plant that monarchs lay eggs on and that monarch caterpillars eat. Due to pesticides and development, their habitat is declining, which threatens the monarch population.

​Within this slim book, readers will find NEW poems and NEW poets. There are different forms of poetry, including haiku, concrete, free verse, tanka, sonnet, and acrostic poems. All of these work together to bring you closer to the butterflies and to assist in donations to organizations that support these beautiful creatures



Publisher: Hey Hey Books, LLC
Paperback: 106 pages
ASIN: B0CH1MYJ2P
ISBN-13: 979-8218227623
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches




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Joannie’s poems: 

Monarch Caterpillar
  • A short, concrete poem that playfully shares scientific information from the caterpillar’s point-of-view as it chomps through a milkweed leaf.
The Journey
  • I love the challenge of shaping poems by syllable count. I chose haiku for this one, to capture the monarch butterfly migration, and the image of them blanketing a tree.
Nature’s Mixed-Up Miracle
  • I had fun with this one, wanting to show weird things about the life cycle of monarchs, using a sassy, first person point-of-view of the insect. A lot of research went into this poem, especially while hunting for details about what happens inside the chrysalis. I finally found a great YouTube video from Insider Science.
  • I wrote this as free verse, initially justifying lines to the left – but it pays to experiment with format! I ended up centering everything because I liked how the poem looked. The publisher thought the stanzas were shaped like scales (since I wrote about them), and that it was a concrete poem. I love this poem because it has a subtle message about accepting who you are, quirks and all.
The Butterfly Net  
  • This was my first experiment mixing a concrete poem with the SWISHHH of the net and free verse. It won the publisher’s contest to write a poem using that title!
From owls and bears to mushrooms and oak trees to wolves and waterfalls, Wild will bring to you a diverse array of styles, subjects, and poets. With over twenty-five contributors and three contest winners, this poetry anthology was composed with the goal to help benefit wildlife of all kinds.
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Within this book, readers will find NEW poems and NEW poets. There are various forms of poetry, including haiku, concrete, free verse, and acrostic. These poets work together to bring you closer to nature and to assist in donations to organizations that support wildlife.
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Publisher: Hey Hey Books, LLC
Paperback: 154 pages
ASIN: B0CM77KW1L
ISBN-13: 979-8218300890
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches





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Joannie’s poems: 
 
IF TREES COULD TALK
  • I added a touch of magic and imagination to this poem, starting with the question, “What if?” It’s written as a series of cinquains, with each stanza following the pattern of 2/4/6/8/2 syllables.
TINY TRACKS
  • This poem reinforces the importance of keeping files of your work. It started as haiku about red squirrels in winter that I ended up not using for another project. I expanded it for the Wild anthology, and created a concrete poem, with words circling around just like tiny tracks.
SILENT SOUNDS
  • This free verse poem started with the title. I loved the alliteration and concept of not only hearing the sounds of nature around you, but also becoming more mindful, hearing the silent sounds of nature going about its daily business.
THE CAMPER
  • I wanted to capture the quiet a camper experiences at the break of dawn. My free verse won the publisher’s contest to write a poem using that title!