And yes, it happened on a thursday.
My younger son is finishing up in the 4th grade at our local elementary school. His wonderful teacher allowed me to steal the spotlight on the classroom for nearly 2 hours today to run a workshop ending with a reading.
The budding poets worked through "The Magic Box" lesson I discovered on this wonderful website called Poetry Class.
I am hoping to be able to put together a mini website to showcase all the poems.
Stay tuned.
My example poem:
The Adventure Box
(after “The Magic Box,” by Kit Wright)
I will put in my box
the night winds that blow over Denali’s peak,
light, captured when the first star began to shine,
a campfire, marshmallows and a chocolate bar.
I will put in my box
zigzag stripes stolen from a tiger’s tail.
Strips of dried reindeer, a tub of walrus blubber,
an oil lantern and a shiny black rock.
I will put inside my box
a November blizzard and a snow day,
geese honking and one red maple leaf,
a book of maps with a crackerjack compass.
My box is a tent sewn from dried deer hides,
a teepee held up by antlers and elephant tusks
with a hole for the moon to breathe through.
At night, I snuggle into my box. Burrow
beneath a blanket woven from wild alpaca.
Before the sun rises over the summit,
I will fold my fear into a backpack and climb.
ljcohen, 2006
as i sit here in my favorite coffee shop and read this, your workshop with 4th graders and then your words...something touches me so that little tears jump behind my eyeballs. i love this image of what you would put inside your box...and thinking about what the box would be made of. yes. thank you for this.
ReplyDeleteI was reading this, resting my head on a bent arm and I finished and said aloud (New Zealand accent) 'Man, I love this!'
ReplyDeleteAnd I do.
You caught me with Denali, and made me smile with 'then I climb'.
Liz and Wandering woman--thank you for your lovely comments. When I ran the group of 4th graders through this exercise, I had no idea where it would take me. The poems the children wrote were completely magical--I'll see if I can get their family's permissions to post some of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Once in a Blue Muse!
Best,
ljc