Christian poet Mary Harwell Sayler invites you into poetry
Holiday Movie in Haiku Sequence
They
commercialize
Christmas until
the only
One not sold is
Christ.
Some do mention
Him
in passing, but
let’s cast Him
in the Leading
Role.
Jesus is God’s
Son
born to bear
our sins and bring
to Life our
Spirits.
Celebrate
Christ’s birth!
Give a standing
ovation!
Lights! Camera!
Action!
Write on a
billboard:
“Jesus Christ lit
up the stars.
This Child shall
lead us.”
Regardless of the age of your readers, poetry techniques generally apply. When you write or select poems to read to children, consider these additional considerations with some examples I've written to illustrate:
Children often like cheery poems such as this haiku.
Autumn air creates
wispy streamers of white clouds
like strings
from a kite.
Children like poems that express their feelings such as fear.
When thunder rumbles,
I scramble under my bed
and cover
my head.
Nature poems help children enjoy the natural world.
Uncut grass tickles
the tummy of a squirrel.
He leaps
like a deer.
Children like poems reflecting their experiences such as a pillow fight or a flannel board!
Pillows fill the sky –
Waiting to be tossed around.
That’s how angels fight!
…
Someone tossed cotton
balls against a blue flannel
sky! See
how they stick!
Children enjoy word games and puzzles.
Two months sound airy.
Three cool months end in embers.
Most months stop on “Y?”
…
“Three Clichés in Three Lines”
Night: On the window
frog Prince Elmer sticks like gum,
waiting for a kiss.
Playful poems appeal to kids and also help them learn.
Hey, Magellan!
What’ you smelling?
Did you sniff the sea?
You found the Pacific!
Oh, how terrific!
Now you’ve made history!
…
“Starting an Alphabet Poem in All Caps”
A = Side view of a roof or a swing set in the park.
B = Owl eyes staring sideways in a cartoon in the dark.
C = Pour that much into my cup and please add nothing more.
D = This whitener made my teeth so bright, I'm giggling on the floor.
That last poem came from my book The
ABC’s of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun, which, according to my research, is the
only poetry dictionary for kids out there. In this tech-oriented society, creative arts are needed more than ever!
Children are meant to be
creative!
And it’s up to us to encourage that creativity. For example, you might order poetry books as Christmas gifts for classrooms, creative kids, or poets of all ages. They might also welcome The ABC's of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun. To find out more, visit my previous blog post about the poetry dictionary, which includes its Introduction page and several examples from the book.
When I asked a group of poets about their favorite poets, I started by naming those who meant the most to me:
Mary Oliver, who keenly observed and wrote about the intricacies of nature (human and otherwise), got me back to writing poems after years away!
Wendell Berry, whom I had the privilege of meeting, inspired and challenged me with his poems about basics and community.
After struggling in high school to understand T.S. Eliot, I devoured his amazing comparisons and exquisite phrases, wrought, no doubt, by time and insightful observation.
Other favorites include the wry humor of Billy Collins, down-to-earth haiku of Richard Wright, powerful reflections and assessments of Langston Hughes, and, oh, too many poets to name, for many were my teachers-in-print.
Then, a group of poets shared their favorites, such as Emily Brontë, whose work I’d never read but wanted to after hearing the poet’s reason for choosing her: “The way she sees the world in such a unique and almost haunting way makes her writing stand out for me. I feel very inspired reading her poetry.”
Another poet didn’t give reasons for the choices, but provided specific titles: Wislawa Szymborska, “Four in the Morning,” Yusef Komunyakaa, “Ode to the Maggot,” and Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art.”
Yet another said, “Of course, the great Pablo Neruda. Soft heart for Galway Kinnell as well,” but most of the poets merely listed their favorites, each of whom is worth looking up online and reading a poem or two. To ease your research, just copy and paste each name of interest into your browser’s Search box.
Allen Ginsberg
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Anna Akhmatova
Czeslaw Milosz
Denise Levertov
Dylan Thomas
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Emily Dickinson
Francis Thompson
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
John Keats
John Donne
John Milton
Lord Byron
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Robert Browning
Robert Frost
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Blake
William Stafford
William Wordsworth
Walt Whitman
I’ve omitted some of the favorites because of space and also because I wasn’t familiar enough with their poems to recommend them here, but I hope you’ll add your favorite poet(s) in the Comments section below.
Posted by Mary Harwell Sayler, who would be ecstatic for you to buy numerous gift copies of A Gathering of Poems!
