Writing From An Artist's Vision

         When I taught poetry I enjoyed taking the group to write at our art museum, searching for some work of art that sparked an idea to contemplate, a story to tell.  This also helped students start noticing details in their daily lives.  I enjoyed doing it with my students, and find it is a practice I still like doing.  It’s fun to imagine stories behind the paintings.  I wrote this poem after viewing Edward Hopper’s painting that you can view below. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago, and it hasn't seemed the right time to post for various reasons.  Then, one day, I checked the blogs on my reader, and found Storykeeper Ruth C. F's blog here, where she wrote a poem about another of Hopper's pictures, plus gave so many good links about this marvelous artist.  I hope you take your students to study different kinds of art, and to write about it.

Janie sat there sipping

dipping dipping

her mouth

into tepid tea while

waiting

waiting

alone-for me.

I would have gone to

see her yet

something

something

turned my path

It wasn’t the car

careening

careening

off its mark

although it could have

been

that

no-it wasn’t that at all

it’s just that seeing

seeing her from across the street

made me realize

she would never

love me enough

even to risk the first date
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And-Remember to check on the Poetry Tag Group shown at the right!  And look at Jama Rattigan's blog post at Jama's Alphabet Soup  to discover so many Poetry sites in the kidlitosphere doing wonderful things!  Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining Mary Lee, at A Year of Reading in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, and Donna at Mainely Write.