Poem #29 - Poem in Your Pocket?

Pocket Poem

Photo by Amy LV

Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day!  If you have not already done so, you may wish to find a poem you love and tuck it inside your pocket, pulling it out to share with friends throughout the day.  Or you may want to make extra copies and just give them out.

The poem I have in my pocket today is Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye; this poem has changed me, and I am grateful to Naomi for her wisdom.  Our children's school has a grandparents' luncheon this morning, and I plan to leave a stack of copies of this poem somewhere in the building for people to find.

Yesterday, my friend Katie directed me to the International Digital Children's Library, an online library with a mission to provide free access to the best children's literature in the world.  Here you can find complete books in many many languages for reading at home or in school.

Sometimes I think about children learning to read, about what a miracle it is to suddenly understand all of those small squiggly lines and dots.  I can't remember not knowing how to read, but I do remember the early days of our children learning.  They'd point out letters in books and would call out the names of signs along the roadway.  Each new word was a victory, an entrance into the secret and beautiful world of language.

Tomorrow I am grateful to have the opportunity to spend a Poem in Your Pocket Day with the children of Country Parkway Elementary in Williamsville, NY.  For tomorrow (sigh) is the last day of National Poetry Month, the last Poetry Friday of April, and the last day of NaPoWriMo too. 

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