Waxing Poetic
During the past year, our young writers have penned haikus, diamante poems, limericks, and acrostic poems. Summer’s a great time to wax poetic. Whether we capture a moment in haiku or run the word “fireworks” down a page and choose a descriptor for each letter, poetry is an art form that’s available to us all. Poetry challenges us to attend with all our senses. When we do, we can surprise ourselves with the beauty that flows through us.
Have a poem to share? We’d love to read it!
A taste of autumn is in the air—it’s a great time to be outside! What transitions do you experience as you walk outside? Evenings racing up on afternoons earlier every day? School buses replacing tour buses? Apples replacing watermelon? Working up to a sweat instead of starting out with one?
September’s Soul & Solace invites you to express a transition in creation through poetry: NO NOT FEAR—YOU CAN DO THIS! Choose a transition that intrigues you or start with one of the suggestions above. If you can, go out and sit with the transition and allow it to bless you. Then create a diamante poem (from If You’re Trying the Teach Kids How to Write, You’ve Gotta Have This Book! By Marjorie Frank).
Line 1: Name the initial experience (for instance, tour bus)
Line 2: Name two adjectives that describe the experience (sleek, sparkling)
Line 3: Name three participles (-ing verbs) that describe the experience (blaring, racing, soaring)
Line 4: Name two nouns for the first experience (travel, highways) and two that describe the experience it transitions into (travel, byways)
Line 5: Name three participles (-ing verbs) that describe the second experience (yelling, waving, yielding)
Line 6: Name two adjectives that describe the second experience (homey, yellow)
Line 7: Name the transition experience (school bus)
You now have a gem of a poem!
tour bus
sleek, sparkling
blaring, racing, soaring
travel highways travel byways
yelling, waving, yielding
homey, yellow
school bus
You can even play with words the can serve as two parts of speech, as with “travel” in this poem: it is written as a noun, and can also be read as a verb.