Poetry in Motion
On October 28, 2005, representatives of the International Library of Poetry (ILP) were invited to Graceland Park Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland in order to participate in the school’s annual poetry fair. The school has approximately 200 students in the kindergarten to fifth grade program. Each year, the poetry fair introduces the younger students to poetry, showing them that it can be fun, as well as encouraging the older students to write and recite their own poems. Organized by Ms. Rita Mullalry and the other faculty members, the poetry fair is aimed at preparing students for their annual testing in a fun and interesting way, and hopefully introducing them to an art form that they can embrace throughout their lives. Many weeks of preparation were involved in this three-hour event. ILP was more than happy to get involved and give a presentation on various forms and themes of poetry the children may enjoy or write on their own.
The fair started in the early afternoon. The students and teachers were brimming with excitement to be out of the classroom and experience poetry in a new environment. Graceland Park’s auditorium was packed nearly to capacity with fidgety children, parents, aides, and teachers. Every student was eager to learn something new about poetry, and ready to participate in their very own poetry contest and performances after the presentations.
Janna Tanner of ILP led the presentation, assisted by Meghan Quinn, Charlene Stokes, and Bernita Gholston. It centered on teaching the children various forms and elements of poetry that they could easily understand and hopefully enjoy. The presentation and its exercises were based on Len Roberts’ book To Write a Poem. The book’s goal, as stated in the forward, is “to help teachers teach their students to write poetry—quickly, simply, effectively, and enjoyably.” With this useful tool, she began the poetry exercises by displaying them on an overhead projector.
The presentation began with an exercise about imagery, introducing a “cardinal on a desk” as an image. The students were then asked to name a bird. Hands sprang up, and students threw out answers from "pigeons" to "bluebirds." Clearly delighted by the students’ enthusiasm, Ms. Tanner requested locations, and soon birds were soaring past the school, landing in trees, and settling on city streets. It was remarkable to see young minds so eager to create, and with so little prompting.
The next exercise featured alliteration as a fun sound device. Alliteration is the repetition of a sound or type of sound at the beginning of many words. The simplest form of alliteration is the repetition of a certain consonant in a line of poetry. Ms. Tanner drew her example from the Len Roberts’ text, reading Diana Silva’s “purple passion fruit tree in Portugal,” focusing on the P sound in her pronunciation. She then challenged the children to come up with words beginning with the letters D, M, or L. Again, the hands that were raised were numerous, and the suggestions could hardly be contained. The children seemed to particularly favor the letter D, with words like “dancing,” “design,” and “dog.”
Simile, a comparison using like or as, and metaphor, a comparison of two unlike things using the verb “to be” and not using like or as, were then touched upon. To help illustrate the difference between simile and metaphor, and to show the students how each can be used in poetry, Ms. Tanner read “American Poetry” by Louis Simpson:
“American Poetry”
Whatever it is, it must have
A stomach that can digest
Rubber, coal, uranium, moons, poems.
Like a shark, it contains a shoe.
It must swim for miles through the desert
Uttering cries that are almost human.
After the recitation, Ms. Tanner noted how the poem began and ended with a metaphor, and contained a simile in the middle. She then asked the kids, “What is American poetry to you? Do you see it in your neighborhood, in your house, or in your school? Can you write a list of images you see in your environment and use them to describe what American or Baltimore poetry is to you?” Her questions were intended to stimulate the children’s observational and analytical thinking skills, and clearly impacted the oldest students the most. The lesson served to help them think about poetry in the context of their lives.
The next poetic idea Ms. Tanner introduced focused on the famous poem “This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams:
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
The poem is structured very much like a note to a loved one, but is broken into very short lines of no more than three words. The poem was displayed in its original form on the overhead, and then presented to the children as if it were a letter:
Dear Mom,
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox, and which you probably were saving for breakfast. Forgive me, they were delicious, so sweet, and so cold.
Ms. Tanner emphasized that anyone can use this simple format to create poetry, and that it is a fun and easy way to experiment with language. She encouraged the children to try their hand at writing a brief note to a friend or parent, and then transforming it into poetry. She hoped that those students with the greatest desire to write would try various line breaks when writing poetry and see the effect the breaks have on the poem.
What followed was the most entertaining part of the presentation. Ms. Tanner simply placed Lewis Carroll’s famous poem “Jabberwocky” on the overhead and recited it aloud. “Jabberwocky” is a strongly rhythmic poem that plays with the idea of sound and language, employing nonsense words throughout. The children simply giggled as she carefully pronounced words like “jubjub,” “bandersnatch,” and “galumphing.” The students and teachers were clearly entertained, and the poem served to remind everyone that poetry is an open, experimental form. Words do not have to be “real” to have an effect on their reader or listener.
Lastly, Ms. Tanner introduced one of the deceptively easy forms of poetry: haiku. She highlighted that haiku typically is a three-lined poem, the first line having five syllables, the second line having seven syllables, and the third line having five syllables. This form is intended to mimic the original Japanese form. The traditional haiku is about nature, and she highlighted one of her own as an example:
In the lily pond
the ducks swim past the sleeping
bullfrogs in the sun
She then explained the concept of senryu to the students. It shares with haiku a similar format, but it's about human nature:
Mike McGee’s tummy
rolls, dials the pizza button
on the hotel phone
Using these examples, Ms. Tanner showed the students how simple it is to understand basic haiku, down to the simple counting of syllables, and emphasized that the form can increase children’s vocabulary and understanding of numbers.
Ms. Tanner then stood aside and introduced Chris August, a spoken-word poet who has performed in front of audiences around the country. Many of his poems appeal to children. He began his performance by running up and down the auditorium’s center aisle as he recited “Playground,” a poem expressing the pure joy of pushing children on a merry-go-round. As he described the action in the poem, Mr. August began to spin in the aisle, going faster and faster until he could push no more, and then threw himself to the ground! The audience applauded his antics with joy. Asking his audience for silence, Mr. August completed the poem, spinning in the aisle many more times until the piece’s conclusion: he pushed the merry-go-round because it made him feel truly alive. He then followed with a poem about having sock fights with his sister, balling up socks into huge wads and throwing them at each other. It was a wonderful crowd-pleaser, and even the teachers smiled and clapped their hands throughout his performance. He ended with a poem about playing with his mom’s good scissors, dreaming about silly things like attempting to cut the dog in half before his mom caught him and he was forced to put them back before he got into trouble. He received thunderous applause. After school let out, many students would not leave his presence . . . they were so eager to talk to him!
The afternoon drew to a close with the students’ own performances. The older children were entered into a competition, while the youngest recited poetry in groups. Chris August and all of the representatives from the International Library of Poetry stayed for their performances, and even helped judged the contest along with the teachers. There were many recitations of famous poems, as well as original pieces read from books or memorized. Several classes and groups of students did elaborate readings that included props and movement. Others developed poetic skits. Contestants were judged on their clarity, volume, and stage presence. All of their performances were truly wonderful, and the members of ILP were proud to be invited to their fair and to meet so many students interested in poetry.
When the fair ended, students were led out of the auditorium one class at a time, and each student was given an ILP T-shirt, journal, and canvas bag to reward them for their hard work and dedication to poetry. Additionally, the faculty was given copies of Len Roberts’ To Write a Poem for use in the classroom. ILP’s representatives left with the students, thrilled to have encountered such enthusiasm. Most importantly, Graceland Park Elementary School brought poetry into the lives of their students, and that is truly a wonderful thing!