The theme for today’s Spiritual Thursday round-up is love. At first I thought, “This is easy.” However, the more I thought about it, writing about love is hard. What do I have to say that is new and refreshing or inspiring? When I have a difficult writing assignment, I often turn to form. Today I turn to Kwame Alexander and his amazing 2015 Newbery Award book in verse, The Crossover. In The Crossover, the character writes definitions in a particular form. My blogging friends, Michelle and Holly, each used the form (vocabulary poems) this month. I haven’t tried it with my students yet, but I usually like to practice before presenting them with an idea. Here’s my definition of love.
love
/ləv/
a person or thing that one loves.
as in: the curl of an infant’s
new fingers around your thumb.as in: looking through the open window
of our arms as we dance
the Lover’s Waltz.as in: let the soft body
of your heart love
what it loves.*as in: He gave his only
begotten son so that
you and I have eternal life.
* variation of a line from Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese, my all time favorite poem.
Well, that made me cry. Kwame’s mentor vocabulary poems seem so easy and effortless (much like the theme topic, love), but they’re hard, aren’t they?! They have to capture the essence of the word in simple phrases perfectly. You’ve done that brilliantly. Wonderful!!!
Very cool. I have Crossover on my list of reads for my upcoming holiday. Brown Girl Dreaming is first.
Margaret, this vocabulary form poem is a really special format in which you captured love’s essence. The photo solidifies the thought.
Very sweet Margaret. You chose some lovely images. My neighbors are waiting for their new baby to arrive any day now. They are ready for those ‘infant’s fingers”.
Your expressions of love are varied and each speak powerfully of the vastness of love.
I love it, Margaret!
You’ve captured beautifully the essence of love in these few words. I want to try the vocabulary poem too!
i will have to try the vocabulary poem. I still have to write my “L” post for the A to Z Challenge. I will se what I can come up with too. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love this vocabulary poem and the Mary Oliver variation. Must try.
Oh this poem celebrates so many kinds of LOVE!!! I LOVE it! 🙂 The form poems are a struggle for me too, but my students are FLYING with them! I am so impressed!!!