For a whole month we have been reading and writing poetry in my first grade classroom. Poetry is not specific to April in our classroom, but the intensity increases as we participate in National Poetry Month. Yesterday we read some of the poems from the book, If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility, noticing that all the poems start with the word “if.” We focused our attention on the poem that book is titled for, noting the kind of information the poet included.

After the reading and the talking, priming the pump for these young poets, they opened their notebooks and began to write. I asked them to start with the word if…but the topic could be anything. I encouraged the use of metaphor, action, color, and senses, but didn’t require any particular approach. If students were stuck, I pointed them back to the beginning, “If I could choose the best day…”

There is something about this poem, written by a 7 year old that inspires me. And the young poet was so excited about the “unusual metaphor.” (If you missed it, it is the part about blowing up.)

If I could choose a best day

I would choose a yes day

My mom would say yes to everything

I would be so happy

I think I would blow up!

I love the rhythm of those first two lines…and the idea of that “yes day” sounds amazing. I asked the poet if he’d had a yes day, but no, it was something that came out of thinking about a best day.

I can’t get the idea of a yes day out of my mind. So I let some words pour into a poem of my own, inspired by this one written by a first grader. Maybe it’s a call to courage for myself. Here’s my unedited draft:

Say yes

to something that scares you

that makes your heart pound

and your breath catch

say yes

to an adventure

you couldn’t imagine

last week

last year

Will you jump from a plane

hike a hidden canyon

dance on a bridge

or sing outside the shower?

Say yes

today

tomorrow

right now

@kd0602

If you could choose a best day…or have a yes day, what would it be?