Poetry Friday round-up is with Donna at Mainely Write
This week there was a big moon event: the second full moon in January called the blue moon as well as a lunar eclipse that caused the moon to appear reddish and the fact that the moon was closer to the Earth than usual making it a super moon, thus blue blood super moon.
What better reason do we need for writing poems?
Prompted by NASA images and Laura Purdie Salas’s book If You Were the Moon, my students and I wrote moon metaphor poems.
Lynzee watched and wrote as slides of moon photos rolled across the screen.
Super Blue Blood Moon
Two birds, side by side,
front row seat
for what happened
in the early hours of the morning.Birds flying in front of the moon
like sparkles on a disco ball,
they see, too, what happened.Plane flying, too,
over the skies of Britain
like the moon’s huge moving tattoo.Lynzee, 3rd grade
Chloe is new to writing poetry. She’s a second grader. She seems to be grasping the idea of metaphor in her poem. She was so proud of her poem, she typed it in all caps.
THE MOON IS BRIGHT LIKE A STAR
IT IS NOT A STAR BUT IT IS FAR
THE MOON IS A BABY FOR EARTH
Chloe, 2nd grade
Madison is becoming quite a poet. Her poem is one I used in other classes to model the use of metaphor.
Peppermint Moon
Red Splashing Shadow
Take a White Pearl
In The SkyPeppermint Swirling
Shadow,
Flaming From
Embers
To White and Red Tongues,
Licking the Dark Coals
Of the NightA Flame
Red and White
Sends Embers Scattering Across
The Deep Black, Overhead
But A Golden Flame Rises,
A Bonfire To Cast
Shadow Around
The Gem.A White Diamond Revealed,
A Golden Bonfire Raging
It Is Time For The Moon
To Rest,
Forever The White Diamond
Of the Night Sky.Madison, 4th grade
Eclipsed moon hides in the trees.
And here is a draft of a poem I wrote alongside my students. I wrote two poems and combined them to make draft #3.
We all see the same moon.
All over the world,
Prague, Athens, Rome,
yellow, red, blue
sphere in the night sky.I walked early this morning
watching the eclipse
of the full supermoon.
Minute by minute,
pieces fell from sight
like a giant hand
turning off the light.In the shadow of a church steeple,
over desert hills,
setting behind our Lady Liberty,
a super moon eclipsed by our own
planet Earth.As the moon set below the trees,
I thought of you
far away
seeing the same moon
in the same sky.Margaret Simon, (draft) 2018
Yesterday I posted “Moon Wisdom” for Spiritual Journey (first) Thursday which included a poem by me around a painting by Michelle Kogan.
My post for #TeachWrite Chat this month is about sustaining a writing life by joining Poetry Friday. See the post here.
Reflections on the Teche 
I love reading your students’ poems, and marvel at their young ages! They are each developing their own voice in poetry, and it is inspiring. I have yet to use metaphor in my poems. I feel like I need tools to guide me. In February, I want to experiment with this.
I know we are kindred spirits now. I love the moon and was excited about the very moon experience you wrote about today. However, I am a late riser, so I had to settle for the sight of the largest moon I’ve ever seen at the top of my road as I drove up the hill at sunset. I was bowled over by how large and luminous it was. I get very excited about astrological events. I love your students’ moon poems and the fact that you shared your enthusiasm about natural events with them. I used to assign star or moon-gazing events to my English as a New Language students to encourage them to become more engaged with the world. Bravo, teacher!
It is so clear these students are boosted by working with a poet, disguised as a compassionate teacher, Margaret.
The young poet with the idea that the Moon is the Baby for Earth has shared a
Great Idea. All the student poems you’ve selected are luminous.
“a poet, disguised as a compassionate teacher” can’t help but swoon over this description. Thanks!
Your students’ poems are always so refreshing and inspiring. How fortunate they are to have you! I put pics of the same moon I was seeing on my blog today – and some of the poems it inspired from me. 🙂 I’m sure you’ll recognise it – though it looks a little bit different…
I love the way you enrich your students lives, Margaret, and then enrich ours with their work. What a wonderful cycle!
Wow! Each of your students created fabulous word paintings of the moon. For them, this super-blood moon will be something they remember forever because of the writing they did. Who knows what will come of it? Research? Books? Grandparent stories so far into the future we cannot imagine it. I’m so impressed with all the poems….we all see the same moon…..such a foundational idea for a peaceful world. Thank you.
Wonderful, that “red splashing shadow” and “white pearl”. You are sharing much poetry love with your students, Margaret. It’s so terrific!
Those are some sparkling words strung together… I envy your position among these stellar students. What a treat each day must be!
Metaphor is something I have long struggled with, maybe I should sit in on your class with Madison! I could learn from the both of you.
Wow! Your students blow me away with their poetry.
Oh, to see the moon again with a child’s eye. My teenage daughter was so busy with schoolwork – she nearly missed this – my husband had to drag her (and me) outside to gaze at the moon.
Your students are so lucky to have you as their guide into poetry. Their poems are wonderful! I love Madison’s metaphors, and your poem is simply lovely.
Such bright poets!
It was great to immerse myself in all these wonderful moon metaphors. We’re fortunate to have such a beautiful moon to inspire us at any time of year!
Beautiful collection of moon poems Margaret. I like how your poem ends,
“As the moon set below the trees,
I thought of you
far away
seeing the same moon
in the same sky.”
What can tie us all together more, thanks!
Margaret, you are a magician. Your poem captures what I love most about the moon. I also love seeing your students’ work and watching them play with language, trying out different effects and reveling in their opportunity to make words impact their readers in different ways. Just lovely. Honored that IF YOU WERE THE MOON got to be part of the inspiration:>)