This fall has been slow in coming. The leaves are changing, the days are shorter, but the temperatures are not cooling off much. It makes it hard to get into the mood of autumn. I got a little help from Georgia Heard. She has a sweet poem from Falling Down the Page called Recipe for Writing an Autumn Poem.
Recipe for Writing An Autumn Poem
by Georgia Heard
One teaspoon wild geese.
One tablespoon red kite.
One pint trembling leaves.
One quart darkening sky.
One gallon north wind.
This is a wonderful prompt to use with kids.
I decided to combine this poetry prompt with the National Writing Project and NCTE’s Day on Writing prompt #WhyIWrite.
Recipe for Why I Write
One teaspoon clean paper
One tablespoon colored ink
One cup imagination
One pint relationship
One quart dedication
One gallon liberationAn empty page invites color, lines, words, sentences
Margaret Simon, (c) 2019
which become an expression of emotion
looking for connection. This relationship
is rocky, requiring dedication. But one thing is certain:
The freedom to write
belongs to everyone!
Jaden responded with a beautiful recipe for writing.
A Recipe for Writing a Poem
by Jaden, 4th grade
One teaspoon of creative minds
One tablespoon of repeating and rhyming words
One cup of a magic image
One pint of dazzled emotion
One quart of comparing things with like and as
And one gallon of my heart
Reflections on the Teche 
You always inspire me to write poetry with my students. This is a perfect mentor.
Love this! I also explore why I write using poetry for my slice today. I love your idea of liberation … and completely agree with relationship.
I toyed around with the word liberation but I wanted to express to my students that all of us are writers.
How wonderful to find two poems inspired by Georgia Heard. How wonderful that the post ends with “Ans one gallon of my heart.”
What a delight to read your recipe poem and Jaden’s too. Love the visual you included. And your post makes me want to pull Falling Down the Page off my shelf. Maybe I can get inspired to write a poem!
This is a wonderful mentor poem and I love the two poems you shared.Jaden’s poem (that “gallon of my heart”!!) is especially fabulous!!! Falling Down the Page is a favorite of mine, and like Ramona, I’m also inspired to dive back into it and look for some inspiration. Thanks for sharing!