A young poet,
eyes wide open,
breathed in the world.
She smiled.
Thousands of words,
filled with magic,
danced around her.
She whispered a spell.
The precious pearls,
she had been waiting for,
landed on her fingertips,
slid down a pen
and created beauty
on a page.
An enchanting poem,
a gift for readers.
became alive.
I was inspired to write this poem by my former student. I wrote it after reading her poem called
A Gift to Write
A Gift to Write
It is like a bridge you cross, full of different tales.
You can write what ever you want to, it is freedom.
It is like flying in the sky, feeling the cool breeze against your face,
Passing through puffy and soft clouds.
You can see your thoughts everywhere.
But to hold a pencil and write, you should enjoy it.
When Anjali was in fourth grade, she became the most productive writer for our class blog. She moved to fifth grade just next door from me. I invited her to speak to my new grade 3 and 4. She brought her journal and spoke about her writing life. After school I met her and her mom in the hallway. I thanked her for the visit and suggested that she could create her own blog to publish her work. Few weeks later she came to me and said she had already written three poems on her blog* that her brother had helped to set up. Throughout the year she has been adding poems to her blog. I have shared some of her writing (with her permission) before: a poem in April 2011 and a piece I used for a yearbook page in May 2012.
In addition to being a wonderful poet she is a marvelous artist and has a magical singing voice. It would be only fair to mention that she is an active and reflective learner and a very kind person.
* I haven't added the link because I don't have her permission to share her blog
I love the thought of those precious pearls waiting for her, Terje. You must have been part of her finding this passion. How great to hear your student's story. And, I like that final line of the 2nd poem, "But to hold a pencil and write, you should enjoy it." Thanks, & have a great weekend!
ReplyDelete"breathed in the world"
ReplyDeleteThat is a special line. I can see that line. I can feel that line.
It is no surprise that you were part of the world this writer was breathing in. How incredible that you inspired her to blog--what an impact on her life (her writing life and life in general) that will have!
I love the idea of having her return to talk to your current class about her writing life. I want to harness that sort of energy too.
The way you celebrate this student here is just another tangible bit of evidence that you focus on teaching students, not standards.