Write From The Soul

National Poetry Month

     Yup, April is the month dedicated to poetry. When I taught elementary school, I'd put out a huge plastic bin filled with poetry books in April and ask students to try out 3 or 4 books, find a couple favorite poems, then write them down. Next I'd have them pick one, copy it neatly [yeah, yeah, that's part of the teacher handbook to remind kids to write legibly], then illustrate the poem. 

Not only did it provide a beautiful bulletin board [hey, coming up with creative bulletin boards monthly was sometimes tough!] but it demonstrated the depth and breadth of poetry to kids who sometimes thought poetry was just nursery rhymes.

   Often the kids would ask me if I had any favorite poems. I would begin to recite a few verses from A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh. Such as:

Halfway Down 

by A.A. Milne

                                                                 Halfway down the stairs
                                                                 Is a stair
                                                                Where I sit.
                                                                There isn't any
                                                                Other stair
                                                                Quite like
                                                                 It.
                                                                 I'm not at the bottom,
                                                                 I'm not at the top;
                                                                 So this is the stair
                                                                 Where
                                                                 I always
                                                                 Stop.

That was my favorite verse. I even remember counting the stairs in our house so I could find which step was 'halfway down'!

Another favorite, also by A. A. Milne,  seemed to just roll off my tongue. [And watch the commentary about the title name!]
                                                                    Disobedience

                                                                    by A. A. Milne

           

                                                                    James James
                                                                    Morrison Morrison
                                                                    Weatherby George Dupree
                                                                    Took great
                                                                    Care of his Mother,
                                                                    Though he was only three.
                                                                    James James Said to his Mother,
                                                                    "Mother," he said, said he;
                                                                    "You must never go down
                                                                     to the end of the town,
                                                                     if you don't go down with me."

Now many kids might be perplexed that a three year old was taking care of his mother. I, on the other hand, thought it made good sense. After all, at a very young age, I demanded to know why everything had to done my parents' way, WHY couldn't it be done MY way?!!! 

[Okay, being in charge seem to be a genetic trait in my family.]

 

So did any poetry stick with you from childhood?