Today we studied Francisco X Alarcon’s poem: Words are Bird as our mentor text. My students noticed that way words were described as birds, something that was new for them to think about. It took a bit of work and experimentation for the kids to find their own metaphors. Some that they came up with included: hand sanitizer is a warrior, trees are magical, and words are gum in your hair. I was a bit skeptical about that last one–and expressed that while I wouldn’t rule it out, it seemed like a difficult one to write for a word lover like me (and this student happens to be a word lover). While I don’t have the text in front of me to share with you all, let me tell you that she did manage it…in some interesting ways!
I may have taken the easy way out, writing my poem about poetry. Here’s the draft I wrote with my students today:
Poetry is Sunshine
Poetry is sunshine
that brightens each day
shining its light
on words
emotions
new ways to think
about the world.
Some poems reach deep
burning a little
touching on something
tender and sore.
Sometimes poetry
warms us from the outside in
when we’re struggling
to warm ourselves from the inside out.
Poetry blazes
even when we don’t see it.
Covered by clouds
it waits,
until we’re ready
finally burning its way through
the thick marine layer.
It’s the center
of our solar system
the gravitational pull of words
that express
our humanity.
®Douillard
Thinking Through My Lens 