I have been writing a lot of poems lately with my students as we respond daily in our notebooks and with a Facebook group for Laura Shovan’s February Poetry Project.
The picture above was shared by Kay McGriff. She and her family participate in a twice-a-year river clean-up. I haven’t done this yet, but living near the bayou, we see all sorts of things drift by. This picture inspired me to look into this project.
Armed with an article, I decided to create a Bop poem. I was introduced to this form by my friend and critique partner, Linda Mitchell. Here’s a link to the form: https://poets.org/glossary/bop
The quote comes directly from an article about the cleanup. http://www.therepublic.com/…/river_society_hosting…/
People are messy.
Rivers are easy to access.
Everything can be found–
shoes, tires, buckets, balls–
whatever falls in
sinks to a watery grave.“You wouldn’t believe the stuff we find.”
Someone found a car,
an old boat motor, ten feet of rope.
It’s all trash pollution
and doesn’t belong here
buried in our drinking water.
Imagine what the fish are thinking.
People are crazy!
Let’s get out there and clean it up!“You wouldn’t believe the stuff we find.”
So share in the fun
of the Annual Spring River Cleanup.
There’s something for everyone to do.
Volunteers will collect whatever they find
walking the bank or paddling a canoe.
Together we can save the river.“You wouldn’t believe the stuff we find.”
Margaret Simon, draft 2020
Reflections on the Teche 
I love this Margaret. Thank you for highlighting the work of Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society with your poem and sharing the article.
Bop, eh? Variation: Be-Bop
😉
Kevin
Yes! People are messy! It’s an alarming picture. It’s inspiring to see this man making a difference.
Love your willingness to dive right in and try out a new form. There are ways to make a difference in our world. Thanks for being an ambassador for poetry in your classroom.
I love the Bop form. It’s one of the forms I proposed in December when I hosted Sarah Donovan’s monthly poetry challenge on Ethical ELA.
You picked a wonderful subject, and don’t you love that an argument can be a poem. I find this form perfect for speech class as part of the persuasive speech unit w/ its problem/solution format.
Glenda, I had forgotten that was where Linda first heard about the form.
I’m off to check out more about the BOP poem. That’s a format I’ve never heard of before!
Love the form and what you did with it …fun, but with some haunting shadows. I am most intrigued by what the fish do think, and what they’d say.
Your poem makes me want to join in the clean up! I must try this form of poetry. I’m intrigued.
I still haven’t attempted a Bop poem but I’m starting to think I need to give it a whirl. Your refrain is sadly perfect.
I don’t know much about this form, but now I’m compelled to check it out. And… I’m planning a persuasive writing unit next – I’m with Glenda: this would make a good example of a poem as argument. Would you mind if I shared?
I’d love for you to share. Let me know how it goes. I haven’t tried the form with my students yet.