Poems Can Be Memoirs

This time, Poetry Friday can be enjoyed with Elaine at Wild Rose Reader!

        I wrote a poem of introduction this week.

I’m teaching students how to write memoir,

to write their lines, a knit of who they are,

with tiny rows that knit one, then pearl two

in colorful skeins of yarn.  They can do

a word or more, sew them all together.

Lay the pattern well, it really doesn’t matter

what they choose as long as some truth weaves part

and most that’s kept comes finally from the heart.

There will be prose and poetry written in this class, and I wanted to share a few poems that I will share with students to show them possibilities.  We’ve started to find the seeds of what memories we want to write about.  Now we’ll write, but then choose the audience we’re writing for, and finally the style, or genre to use to communicate our choices. 

Here are some poems I’ll share with my students that have pleased me as memories of the poet’s lives, all different looks at someone’s tiny moments.

The Summer I Was Sixteen by Geraldine Connolly

The Turquoise pool rose up to meet us,

its slide a silver afterthought down which

we plunged…               The rest is here.

A Geography of Lunch by Mary Jo Schimelpfenig

My mother asks me if I like my sandwich.

I say I haven’t tasted it yet.

“What are you doing? Are you dreaming

off into space?” she says.

The rest is here.

Marcus Millsap:  School Day Afternoon  by Dave Etter

I climb the steps of the yellow school bus,

move to a seat in back, and we’re off,

bouncing along the bumpy blacktop.

          The rest is here.

Back In The Playground Blues  by Adrian Mitchell

Dreamed I was in a school playground, I was about four feet high

Yes dreamed I was back in the playground, and standing about four fee

high

           The rest is here.

              I hope you’ve had a few memories rise as you read these.  If you have favorites you can share with me, please do.  I will appreciate it!