Poems for Children

 

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.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

 

 

Writing with Rhymes

Since we’ve talked about rhymes before, you can find previous posts on the subject by typing “rhyme” or other key word in the Search box. Today, though, I’m thinking about the ongoing popularity of rhyming poems and what might be helpful in writing poems that rhyme. 

• Pick rhymes with ample word choices that echo the sound. For example, "care" has many options such as "bare," "dare," "fare," "hair," "lair," "mare," "pair," "rare," "share," "spare," "stare," "there," "ware," and"where."
•  
• Make sure the rhymes have the same rhythm, stressing the same syllable in both words. i.e. "AsPARaGUS" has the same syllabic emphasis as "don't DARE to FUSS," which might work in a humorous poem.
•  
• Whenever possible, use rhyming nouns you can picture or verbs that move those pictures along. 
•  
• Use strong rhymes at the end of lines to add emphasis to the overall poem. 
•  
• Avoid rhyming words that show no picture or movement. For instance, don’t end lines with identifiers such as “an” or “the.” Also avoid prepositions such as “of” for end-line rhymes. 
•  
• Like other words in a poem, rhymes must contribute something. For example, they can add drama, humor, or imagery, along with their interesting sounds. 
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• Read your work aloud and listen for its musicality. You can amplify the sound by looking for words within each line that have synonyms with similar consonants as the rhymes. 
•  
• Repeating vowels sounds can be effective, too, and is usually more subtle. 
•  
• Consider using a rhyming dictionary to get you over hard spots. Or test every letter of the alphabet with the main rhyming sound. Say, for instance, you end a line with the word “able.” Going through the alphabet gives you “cable,” “fable,” “label,” “Mabel” (maybe for a humorous poem or limerick), “stable,” and “table.” 
  
  

If you have questions about rhyming or other aspects of poetry, feel free to ask in the Comment section below, and, Lord willing, I'll respond in an upcoming post. Also, be sure to Subscribe so you don’t miss responses and other info you might want to know to improve the quality of your poems. 

Until next time…. 

 

 Mary Harwell Sayler

Honest poems have power, even at funerals!

 

Many of the earliest written poems commemorate a life or death that impacted the poet. Numerous examples can be found online, ranging from elegant eulogies to sentimental rhymes. For instance:

I’m There Inside Your Heart
Author: Unknown

Right now I’m in a different place
And though we seem apart
I’m closer than I ever was,
I’m there inside your heart.
I’m with you when you greet each day
And while the sun shines bright
I’m there to share the sunsets, too
I’m with you every night.
I’m with you when the times are good
To share a laugh or two,
And if a tear should start to fall
I’ll still be there for you.
And when that day arrives
That we no longer are apart,
I’ll smile and hold you close to me,
Forever in my heart.

 

That poem may be just the kind of poem you’d like to write, and many do, which is fine, but it doesn’t seem truthful to me. Like, do we really feel closer to someone who’s deceased? Is their presence felt as frequently as the poem suggests?  Or would you prefer for a poem to get “real” and be honest? I would. For example, consider this poem, also in the public domain:

Let Me Go
Author: Christina Rossetti (1830—1894)

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that once we shared
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

 

That example reminds us to ask:

 

• What do I want my poem to bring to others who also mourn?
• What characteristics or accomplishments can the poem commemorate?
• What factor caused the death? long or sudden illness? accident? age?
• What genuine comfort can my poem offer?
• What words might help build a bridge for estranged family or friends?
• What do I wish I had said or not said to the deceased?
• Will other people be likely to feel what I feel?

 

Years ago, I wrote the following “felt” poem, which was later read at my sister’s funeral. Then, last week, I read it at the graveside service for my daughter and her son.

 

Expiration Date

 

I can't seem to get over your dying like that.

Things I thought I knew about you

did not include this option –

not so soon.

 

No longer am I satisfied

with nebulous concepts

or indefinite infinities.

I want to know, precisely,

how much bone you have retained

and whether anything was gained

from being good.

 

Should I still hope you'll wait for me?

If so, where will I be inclined to find you –

behind which cloud or nebula?

 

Tell me, how does it feel

for each cell to unloosen

into dust?  And, for what

indeterminate time

does rust remain?

Will my foot still ache

from that day I walked,

barefoot and careless,

over a high threshold?

When I dare again to speak,

will everyone hear, exactly,

what I most meant to say?

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

[The first two poems are in the public domain, which means you're free to use them if you acknowledge the source. However, if you want to include my poem in a service or any printed matter, please ask first for my permission. Thanks and blessings.]

 

 

 

 

Writing a Sestina

After recently revisiting sestinas in an un-recent book of poems, I decided to give this rather complex form a try. In case you’d like to do the same, the unrhymed pattern goes like this:

• ·      Thirty-nine lines
• ·       Six stanzas (verses)
• ·       Six lines ending in six words that rotate in end-line position before completion in a tercet or envoy of three lines using all six words

Confusing? Yes, but seeing how the end-line pattern goes will help:

1. ABCDEF

2. FAEBDC

3. CFDABE

4. ECBFAD

5. DEACFB

6. BDFECA

7. (envoi) ECA or ACE

Since I decided to write a sestina about life in a more trusting time, I needed six words able to support the poem’s sounds, sense, and meaning, so I went into a stream-of-consciousness mode, let groups of relevant words come to me, then wrote them down without censoring myself. Any adjustments needed became obvious after the poem got underway.

If I had adhered strictly to traditional rules, the end-line words would repeat according to the above pattern. However, some poets (myself included) use occasional substitutes with similar sounds. Therefore, with slight variations, these six words got me going:

 

A – gathered, B – yard, C – over, D – song, E – laughter, F – home

 

Clover Chains

On Summer evenings when children gathered

like bees on white clover in our front yard,

we joined hands and sang, “Red Rover, come over,”

but I don’t remember the end of that song.

We played, and we sang amidst peals of laughter

until the stars flickered, and Some called them home.

 

Neighborhood kids showed up at our home –.

outdoors or in – where young children gathered

and even the shyest child dropped her guard.

A small record player turned out favorite songs,

and we danced until the music was over.

 

No one was eager for playtime to be over,

nor be in a rush to hurry on home.

I wish I’d remember the end of the song.

I wish I could be where young children gather

and play in white clover on their front yards.

I wish this deep hush would ring out with laughter.

 

But we grew up, unsure of what’s after

with our carefree hours of fun feeling over

and white clover wilting on Some other’s yard.

We bought our own homes, sought unlimited loans,

had children in game rooms where young adults gathered,

but few could remember the words to the song.

 

Discordant music seemed harmoniously wrong,

and sharp wit and irony dulled levity and laughter.

In polarized groups young people gathered,

wondering if, soon, the world would be over

or if someone would rob our well-guarded homes

where bees seldom wandered into manicured yards.

 

Sometimes the changes in life seem too hard

to remember the words to harmonious songs.

Yet love still abides in the happiest homes,

filled with good grace and mercy and laughter

until, silent, the breath of this life is over,

and we find peace where loved ones have gathered.

 

Surely, angels, with heavenly song, will gather

to welcome us home, calling out, “Come on over!”

as clover-filled yards await our sons and daughters.

©2025/04, Mary Harwell Sayler with photo of my very rough draft