Fryeem’s Weblog

So many breezes

wander through my summer room:

but never enough

Issa 

hibiscus flowers

munched up in the horse’s mouth

eaten one by one

Basso 

Boneless, translucent,

We undulate, undulate,

Gelatinously.

Jack Prelutsky   

What do you notice about Haiku? I notice how the poet expresses his feelings about something in nature; how he creates a visual image from a natural scene, usually through personification; I notice the precision of word choice and the succinct language–the Japanese refer to this as “wa” or harmony; I believe that the Japanese poets of long ago frowned on verbosity or wordiness; I see who or what, I see what they are doing, where it is happening, and how or why it is happening. 

Okay; so I have certainly alluded to the “virtues” of vulnerability and humility in teaching and learning; more specifically as Dan Liston would argue, that vulnerability is an inescapable condition of teaching and learning. I fully acknowledge that we teachers should experience the joys and the delights, as well as the discomforts and tensions of vulnerability and uncertainties in our teaching. So, I am embracing this today by sharing a draft of a manuscript. Please know, this is only a draft! However, I do believe it may provide you with a more specific instructional and theoretical framework for writing informational poetry with your students. Enjoy : )Please see attached manuscript. Also, please use Writing Circle 3 to guide your discussion tonight.

How to Eat a Poem

Don’t be polite.

Bite in.

Pick it up with your fingers and lick the

juice that may run down your chin.

It is ready and ripe now, wherever you are.

You do not need a knife or a fork or a spoon

or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core

or stem

or rind

or pit

or seed

or skin

to throw away.

- Eve Merriam

the drum

daddy says the world is

a drum tight and hard

and i told him

i’m gonna beat

out my own rhythm

by Nikki Giovanni 

Burrows

Out in the country I walk across towns

        I'll never see:

mazy metropolises

        under the earth

         where rabbits hide from foxes

             foxes hide from dogs

             full-bellied snakes sleep snugly

               worms work uncomplaining

Where what you see is nothing--

what counts is what you smell

        or hear or feel

I try to tread softly:

        a quiet giant

           leaving only footprints

               on the roof  

                                      Marilyn Singer