A Poetic Search for A Special Class

          Today’s Poetry Friday as hosted by Becky Shillington of Tapestry of Words.

       I've recently been asked to take over a classroom at my school, and as I've written before, I'm much, much busier than I was two weeks ago. Serendipitously, I'm in the same classroom that I was when we first moved to this building, and have the same age students, a mixed group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It's a terrific class and I've loved my time so far. With any class, getting to know the students is key, and finding ways to broaden their outlook in literature is a special pleasure for me. I've shared several poems already, have favorites, and we'll be doing more creative writing soon. Starting with only a few weeks before Thanksgiving, then a few weeks until the longer winter break is also a challenge. What to do, what to do in this brief time? 

  

       Here's a poem I'll share with students soon, and thought you'd enjoy it also. It's one our head of school shared during the staff days before school. It's a good look at telling a story, at inviting everyone into the group, and it's a way for us to respond to a poem that I hope will touch the students in a variety of ways. I'm looking forward to what the students will share about it.

My Mother's Uncle Had A Horse

The best time of a delay relatives' Sunday

was to walk with him to the stable

and watch him feed the quiet animal,

to give it sugar from my own hand

and jump back away

from the big warm tongue, 

to smell the hay and manure, to see

the white horse in the next stall,

with tail and frame like yellow silk.

You can find the rest here, 

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving filled with good people and good pie!