Wallow in Wonder Day #4 - What Makes Glitter Sparkle?

Welcome to Day 4 of Wallow in Wonder!  For my 2016 National Poetry Month project, I will celebrate learning and writing from learning, writing poems from each daily Wonder at Wonderopolis.  As I did with my Dictionary Hike in 2012, I am looking to surprise myself with new inspiration daily.  This year, such inspiration will show up in my inbox each morning.  I will print it and carry each Wonderopolis Wonder around all day...and in the afternoon or evening, I will write and post the poem for the next day.  

I invite anyone who wishes to take this challenge too.  Just read today's wonder over at Wonderopolis, and write a poem inspired by it for tomorrow.  Share it tomorrow at your own site, and if you wish to link in my comments for others to find (or share your poem there), please feel free to do so tomorrow, the day after the Wonder is published at Wonderopolis.

My April Poems Thus Far

April 1 - So Suddenly - a poem inspired by Wonder #1659 

April 2 - Thankful Journal - a poem inspired by Wonder #1660

April 3 - The Storm Chaser - a poem inspired by Wonder #779

And now for Day 4!

Wonder #641 - from April 4, 2016

Glitter Always Helps

by Amy LV

Students - I am a glitter fan!  So it was neat to read yesterday's Wonderopolis post, to find out more about glitter and how it is made.  Honestly, I have never thought about a whole factory devoted to glitter.  The world is a weird and cool place, that's for sure.

For today's poem, I visited a few places in my mind before settling here.  

First I thought about writing about how some people are glitter-lovers and some people are glitter-haters,  It might have been fun to write a sort of compare and contrast poem about these two types of people.

Then I considered writing about how glitter stays behind for a long time after you sprinkle it.  I imagined writing a poem about remembering someone who'd moved away after finding glitter he or she had left behind. After all, sometimes when I open a glittery card, I have glitter on my hands or face (from touching my face with my hands) for quite a while.  

I even went back in time, remembering one particular Christmas ornament we hung on our tree throughout my childhood - a light pink paper bell with a pipe cleaner loop, all squirted with glue and golden glitter.  I made that ornament when I was in kindergarten or first grade, in 1976, and I felt tender toward it every year when I hung it on the tree, thinking, "I made this!"

In the end, I decided to write this poem about a jar of secret healing glitter.  Today's poem was going to be all free verse, no rhyme at all.  But at the end, I could not resist.  Perhaps this month's poems will go back and forth between a few rhyming poems, then a few free verse poems.  We'll see.

Do you notice anything unusual about some of the words in this poem?

What do you observe about the last line?

Remember - If you ever find a writing technique you like in someone else's poem...consider that an invitation to try it yourself!  

I have written another poem about glitter, back in 2010, and it will appear in my forthcoming collection with Clarion (date TBA) titled WITH MY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT MAKING THINGS.

You can read poem inspired by glitter if you visit Wonder Lead Ambassador, literacy advocate, teacher, and writer Paul Hankins at his Wonder Ground blog where he, too, is writing daily poems from Wonderopolis wonders.  He and I are in this together daily and some other writers are joining in on the fun sometimes too. All are welcome to wonder through poems with us, and you may even find some links to other glitter poems in the comments below...

Happy Day 4 of National Poetry Month 2016!

Please share a comment below if you wish.