Poetry Friday round-up with Tara at A Teaching Life.
Over at Holly Mueller’s blog, Reading, Teaching, Learning, a group of us are writing about the spiritual aspects of our OLWs. Last week, we wrote about the word Believe. Irene Latham’s creed poem inspired me. I posted it on my kidblog site and asked my students to reflect on the meaning and to respond with their own beliefs. Today I am sharing Irene’s poem and my students’ responses.
I Could Say I Believe in the Ocean
But what I mean is,
I believe in water:
leagues wide
and miles deep,
still-cool-cold on one shore,
warm-salty on the other.I believe in clownfish
and anemone,
riotous coral reef
and cruising grouper,octopuses origami-ing
themselves into
castaway bottles
and now-you-see-em-
now-you-don’t krill
diving into
the mouths of whales.I believe in turquoise
and teal, cobalt
and blacker-than-black.
In shipwrecks
and tsunamis
and deep-sea
luminescence.I believe in a world
with enough anything
for everyone
where I am a boat
floating quiet
as a moon jellyfish,weaving between sharks
and icebergs,
allowing the current
to carry me
wherever it will.
– Irene Latham
Student response poems:
I believe in life,
A world where nature blooms beautifully on the ground,
Where the sun is the light bulb of Earth,
Where animals are in love,
And a world where people are all treated equally no matter how different. –Kielan (6th grade)
I believe in unicorns,
dancing through the skies,
I believe in magic,
right before my eyes,
I believe in mermaids,
swimming through the seas. — Lynzee (1st grade)
And this response from Vannisa prompted me to look up the word sonder. I found an interesting YouTube video.
“I believe that you can’t judge a person when you first meet them, or barely know them. Every person you interact with or even just pass by, has a story and memories of their life that you know nothing about. I think it’s an interesting concept to think about. The word for this, which I think isn’t an actual word, is sonder. Some people live by quotes, but I think that sonder is a great word to live by. –Vannisa (6th grade)”
Reflections on the Teche 
Lots to think about here, especially from Vannisa. Thank you Margaret and Irene for starting the poetic discussion.
Irene’s poem is a wonder, something to remember every day. I love that you use mentor poems like this one with your students. How thoughtful they are. Vanessa might like to see this video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeXxkbgCVE I saw it on FB this week.
I love Irene’s ability to move between points of view so nimbly & vividly! The video you found is poignant & begs further exploration at his site. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for a new word for my vocabulary, and for Kielan’s post – wish he was in my sixth grade class.
I love Irene’s poem. So many wonderful, innovative, vivid lines like “Octopuses origami-ing themselves into castaway bottles”–Wow! what a great mentor poem. Thanks so much for also sharing students responses and the amazing word “sonder.”
I love Irene’s poetic response to “This I Believe.” The ocean. So many wonders. And I love your students responses as well.
I love Irene’s poem, and it’s so fun to read your students’ responses!
Irene’s poem yes, and Vannisa’s explorations bigger YES. I’m going to write to John Koenig to ask why so many of his newly catalogued feelings and their terms are not called JOYS, and why he thinks they are obscure–Vannisa and I and many others share them too!
Sondering is at the heart of my religious convictions, for example….
I often think of the saying, “…and a little child shall lead them” when I read the responses of your wise students–encouraged and nurtured by their wise and innovative teacher, of course.
Irene’s poem is gorgeous. You are so insightful to share it with your students and get their own unique perceptions. Beautiful work!!
[…] To view last week’s poem post by Irene Latham and my students’ thoughtful responses, click here. […]