Old Gray Ladies
Photo by Amy LV
Oh, this time of year! I love the dandelions in spits and spots, on roadsides and decorating whole meadows. Years ago, I didn't like them. Now I do. Part of this change is due to my husband's love of nature (which has rubbed off on me), and part of it is because we live in the country where all kinds of flowers and animals roam free. And of course, now I see dandelions as food. Our family has not made fritters yet this year...maybe tomorrow.
Students - this poem grew from our current yellow polka dot world! And it also grew from somewhere else. Years ago, I read a first grader's poem which will always stay with me. Her poem compared a dandelion to a lion throughout the lion's life, ending with a "gray mane/the hairs blowing off." This young child's image has rested in my heart for a long time, and yesterday it returned as I looked at dandelions and thought, "They're like little grandmas!"
It's a funny thing about writing. We never know when an image, a memory, a word, a dream, or a line from a poem or book will appear across our mindscreens, when it will whisper to us from years past, when such a surprise will echo, "Write me! Write me!" As writers, it is our job to listen and to write what we hear. So students....listen. Always listen.
For anyone who might have missed last week's announcement, many congratulations to J. Patrick Lewis, our 2011 Children's Poet Laureate. Author of more than 50 children's poetry books and winner of the 2011 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children for the body of his work, we are lucky to have J. Patrick Lewis at our helm!
This week's Poetry Friday is at The Drift Record with Julie Larios. Puff your way on over, wishing all the while, and visit poetry growing in the KidLitosphere!
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