Here’s a confession: I love reading (you knew that already), but I’m on the fence about poetry. Sometimes I…well, I don’t know what it’s talking about. I do love rhyming kid poetry, but I feel like I’m supposed to love esoteric non-rhyming poems about fields of wheat also.
I haven’t told my kids about this. I don’t want them to think it’s not cool to love wheat poems. Like I talked about a few months ago on Nerdy Book Club, sometimes I hand them books I think they’ll like and walk away.
It seems to be working. Last week Henry got a bright look in his eye, grabbed a pen, and churned out this thing:
This poem I like. I want to hug it, even though it’s not a particularly huggable poem (also: paper is not very cuddly). This poem is the sum total of feeding your 4th grader a steady diet of books that he enjoys.
And yes, it’s bragging, but I’m super proud that he wrote this.
Happy poetry month, everyone!
Brag away, Julie. Henry’s poem is awesome!
I think we have similar opinions on poetry. I have never had much use for it. i can appreciate it, but never really find myself LIKING it. I really dig song lyrics though, so maybe I’m just not that bright.
This however, is a very cool poem, and hells yeah you should be proud and brag about it.
Absolutely love that he used o’er. That is awesome.
Thanks, Joanna! Also I was jealous that this is what his first drafts look like.
But what are song lyrics really, besides rhyming kid poetry? Ok, not all lyrics I guess. But they do rhyme usually.
And yes, I love that he used o’er too, and also that he wrote about ravens.
That is awesome! I love that he used o’er too. And thank you for saying that about poetry, because I’ve always felt sort of embarrassed that I don’t like it, or get it, or maybe both.
I’m really hoping the comments on this blog post turns into a confessional for people who can finally admit they don’t really get poetry.
That’s fantastic! I love it! I realize that my favorite poems are really stories that are quite understandable…Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, Mary Oliver, and Maine’s own Wesley McNair.
That is an amazing poem by a 4th grader! It’s a wonderful poem! I especially love it in its raw form – handwritten, on paper. It’s terrific!
AMAZING.
While not the identical imbedded rhyme scheme from Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening,” (a-a-b-a/b-b-c-b..etc) Henry’s a-a-b-a/c-c-d-c, etc…. echoes the master’s poem quite nicely, and his mood is amazingly parallel. An excellent job! 🙂
What an awesome song that would make!! Save these. (Knowledge level EXPERT by virtue of the fact that my son writes/sings) 😀 Very good job.
Really excellent pauses in this poem. Big fan of the use of “o’er” o’er and then o’er again. Also: perfect placement for that “And yet”. Well done, Henry!