what is poetry?

I love this quote from the book Emily (about Emily Dickinson) by Michael Bedard.  In this tender children's book, Emily befriends a neighbor child who asks her father, "What is poetry?"  This is his poignant reply:

" 'Listen to Mother play.  She practices and practices a piece, and sometimes a magic happens and it seems the music starts to breathe.  It sends a shiver through you.  You can't explain it, really; it's a mystery.  Well, when words do that, we call it poetry.'"

On another occasion, a peer-educator was working with a young writer (elementary age).  She noticed that he'd stopped "working" and was sitting, staring blankly into space.  When she inquired as to what he might be thinking or whether he needed help he said, "No.  I've got the words.  I'm just trying to get the music in them."

Another artist, metal-sculptress, friend of mine was once asked how long it takes to create her pieces of art.  She thought for a minute then replied, "Depends on whether you want me to count the staring."

I so get this need for creative space, this kind of allowing something new, something that has never before existed in the yet to be manifested form to be born.  It requires a deep listening and long, fertile pauses.

In our culture of fast food, instant messaging, multi-media, and multi-tasking this kind of "being still to listen" is a skill that must be taught and nurtured.  And please do not make the mistake that children will learn this in school.  School is the anti-thesis to stillness.  Period.

So for today's prompt, I offer this suggestion:  take your child by the hand; set down the phone; shut down the computers (yes, the Mobigo too); turn off the radio and the television; go outside (away from the noise); stop.  Touch the bark of the elm; smell the river; stick your toes in the mud; name the clouds; mimic the bird calls; lie down on the grass and try to feel the earth spin.

Bring blank (I repeat BLANK not lined) paper and a pencil and some chalk pastel pencils or colored pencils with you.  Record what you notice:  draw an image or use lines and colors only (NO, we are not using the cell phone to record a photograph; we are drawing).  Now write (adults can act as scribe for younger writers), either on the image or on another sheet.  Use sensory words and strong action words to show us what you've seen, felt, heard, and smelled.

Now comment on this post with your work! I'd love to see it.

Pile Poems "Words of Love"

Prompt:  On slips of paper, jot down words or phrases with which you associate love.  Write short descriptions of things you love to do.  Or write words and phrases about people, pets, possessions, foods, nature, places you love, characteristics of love, and or experiences you've had or wish to have of love.  Include objects, smells, sounds, and tastes.

Let these ideas flow freely.  The words and phrases do not have to be categorized nor in any particular order.

Hint (my "Words of Love" pile): swim in the river, sit in a tree swing, sing, nap with my cat in my lap, lollygag, chew chocolate, listen, dance, cuddle, wish, kindness, fuzzy, comfort, sky, listening, smell of hay, stones, feathers, earrings, wet clay, cobalt blue bowl, musty, rosemary, autumn air, gardenia blooms, patchouli oil, Old Spice, silence, rapids, crickets, cat’s purr, heartbeat, wood flute,  sour, salty, buttery, tart

Try It:  Now place your "Words of Love" into a pile and play with the words and phrases, arranging them in different, unusual ways, adding descriptive or connecting words as you will until you find a poem you like in your arrangement.  Record your poem on blank paper.

Hint: Here's a poem created using some of the words from my words of love "pile" on this prompt page:

musty        stones

—silent as salt

cobalt bowl

blue         autumn purrs

crickets

feather passed

tales     to the night

rapids       and rosemary

wait—one

white     gardenia

blooms

P.S.   Try creating other poems from different combinations of your "Words of Love," simply by rearranging the word set.  Or, try making different lists of words you associate with other subjects, objects or experiences.  Then use the above process to compose poems from your piles of words.  The possibilities are endless.

Special Note to Teachers:  This is a great review, evaluation and enrichment tool.  For example, say you've taught a Science lesson on the rain forest.  As a review, and to integrate Science and Language Arts have students work in small groups to brainstorm a word pile from what they remember about the rain forest.  Then ask them to use this process to compose rain forest poems, one as a whole group and then one each individually. To integrate visual art, ask them to illustrate their poem.  This will make a gorgeous, informative, work-product evaluation wall for your classroom or hallway or you can compile the works into an illustrated classroom anthology!

from:  Young Writer's Idea Box, © D. Ellis Phelps (work in progress), 2013, www.dellisphelps.com.  You may use and distribute this page for educational purposes with the above reference.