I wore my poetry hat to the budget cuts protest in downtown Traverse City this spring. Art and public education funding has been hit again. A mentally healthy government always supports education and art. It should support its elders, the poor and workers, too.
All we know about people who lived 2,000 years ago is through their art; their writing, songs, paintings and architecture. Art is how the future is going to remember us.
April is Poetry Month. Poetry, like all art, expands the space in our minds for our thoughts to move around in. Writing a poem helps us think creatively, and tell our side of a story. In a poem words have power and energy, and similes are like swords. Poetry communicates awareness.
Our nation's children, imagination and knowledge are some of our most important natural resources.
To celebrate Poetry Month here are some young graduates of my free verse poetry boot camps.
Clumsy Swan
By Madison Kadlec
Bellaire Elementary (5th)
Sitting on the edge
of the canal behind my house,
grass still dripping
with succulent dew.
Observing the ducks
bobbing up and down in the murky water
like buoys on a calm lake
for a mid-morning snack
of worm-souffle'.
Water
bubbling and gurgling
like a river monster.
Out of the corner of my eye,
a graceful swan descends,
approaches the water.
The swan slips
on a puddle of goopy mud
dark as milk chocolate.
Summer-salts into muck.
He struggles,
orange feet flailing.
He regains his pristine grace,
stands up,
toddles off
into the bubbling,
gurgling
water.
The Cracking!!!
By Ryan Felton
Bellaire Elementary (5th)
Cracked my head open
like an egg.
Cried loud as a thunderstorm.
Mom heard me.
Rushed in fast as a bullet,
arms out like two large branches.
Tears in her eyes.
Picked me up and squeezed me hard.
Next thing I knew I was in the car
speeding down the road like a cop chasing a robber.
I passed out.
White was all I saw
when I awoke.
Mom! Where are you?
Am I dead?
Light filled my eyes.
The blanket over me had been lifted.
Saw mom
towering over me like a watch dog
assuring me I was alive.
I will always remember that day.
There is now
a scar in my eyebrow.
You can still see it.
Buffalo
By Mackenna DeVries
Willow Hill Elementary (5th)
A buffalo
walked into our neighborhood.
My sister
yelled from the yard,
"Buffalo, hurry quick!"
I ran like a rocket.
I saw buffalo
heads all furry,
bodies not so much.
They appeared
in a straight line
like soldiers going to war!
Leaving presents behind
while prancing along.
On the grassy hill they grazed.
Police soon approached the scene.
Funny to watch police chase
now furious animals.
METAL
By Parker King
Willow Hill Elementary (5th)
Clashing swords
loud as meteors crashing into steel.
Ducking, blocking
Romans invade Egyptian fort.
Roman centurion
leading thousands of troops.
Mysterious centurion
sets fire to farms,
smashes defense pillars.
Complete destruction
behind.
Minor scratches, bruises.
Poor servant of Pilot
wanted to be the centurion.
Bella
By Mikayla Marshall
Glenn Loomis Montessori (6th)
Little stubby legs
waddled over to me.
Wet nose touched mine.
I picked her up.
Bella my sweet basset hound puppy.
We brought her home.
My first real pet.
She's all mine.
Together in the backyard,
running back and forth
like a clown entertaining a crowd,
tripping over her basset ears.
She's all mine.
Grandma
By Gwendolyn Mollica
Glenn Loomis Montessori (5th)
T'was a warm and sunny day
when Grandma passed away.
Jerry went shooting
like a band of hunters.
Molly went screaming
like a banshee.
I stood still,
my eyes like the sky
before the storm,
dark, yet refusing to spill a drop.
Grandpa
By Nathan Phillips
Glenn Loomis Montessori (5th)
Finally, he's here!
I sprinted when I got to the drive.
He said one of his favorite poems to me.
Then I said mine to him.
"Roses are red, violets are blue,
you are my Grandpa
and I love you too."
The next night he died.
I loved him
more than Dora loves Diego.
