One of my favorite things about teaching Reading and Writing to elementary gifted students is our weekly poetry reading and writing. We’d gather around the center table and read a poem together, talk about it, annotate, and write “like” the author. While it looks different this year, I have not given up teaching poetry. This week we worked with Teach this Poem and Joy Harjo’s poem Perhaps the World Ends Here. I love this poem, the universality of it, the simple profound language, and its accessibility to young students.
When Jaden suggested we steal a line, I knew exactly which one I wanted to steal: “This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.” After a few false starts, I am pleased with my poem. I am also posting Jaden’s because it shares wisdom beyond his 10 years.
The Writing Table
At this table,
dreams are written
in decorated notebooks.There’s a pocket for poems
and clean blue lines open
to ideas.At this table, there are
scraps of paper,
colored pens in a coffee can,
a tube of glitter-glue.Today, this table is empty.
A screen glows
while children type
& breathe through cloth.Words still float onto an empty page.
Poems still light a spark.This table is a house in the rain,
Margaret Simon, 2020
An umbrella in the sun,
a dawn in the darkness.
Come taste the sweetness.
Why all
the gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table.
So has it been since creation, and it will go on.
The gifts have been laid out through history
traveling through our mind.
The table of gifts has been the energy of life in our heart.
The gifts of the table have been tampered with.
The gifts in our heart have been bruised.
The table is the immune system
shielding the gifts of the earth.
Jaden, 5th grade
Reflections on the Teche 
What a wonderful take on Harjo’s poem. Absolutely lovely — all those materials we can see and feel in our mind for the purpose of children’s writing. I love the colored markers in the coffee can. And, “breathing through cloth” brings that shade of darkness to the poem that needs that umbrella. A terrific poem.
Jaden really has some wisdom….wow! The idea that the table has gifts that haven’t been treated well. Wow. This is a poet I want leading my future. I think Jaden will work to cherish the gifts.
Dang, Jaden! I may steal this reversal: “the table of gifts/ the gifts of the table”.
Thanks for always sharing the work with and by the kids–it’s so uplifting! What a model you are: “clean blue lines open to ideas.”
Your poem & Jaden’s create gifts at our own tables, Margaret. I’ve said it before, but at your table you’ve created ao many loving gifts for your students. They’ll carry poetry with them all their lives!
Wow, I love your poem and also the remarkable one by your student. Thank you for sharing these! I pray we’ll all be able to gather around tables elbow to elbow again soon! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Nice job Jaden. I love the way this poem was written and the figurative language.
I just love it when teachers share their student’s work. It gives me hope to see how creative young people are. There is sadness, but much hope and gratitude in yours.
The entire concept of writers and poets sharing is brought to life in your post and the resultant poems. The notion of lifting a line and expanding ideas frequently reveals a rich harvest of thought. Both poems, Jaden’s and your own are prime examples of the wonderful outcomes that flow from these essential conversations. Great post.
Thanks for sharing your lovely bittersweet poem–Margaret, and for inspiring your students to create words that float onto their page, and “Poems” that “still light a spark.” And what a deep and moving poem Jaden penned.
“Poems still light a spark”–thanks for inspiring your students and for sharing your work and theirs. “At this table,/ dreams are written”–that should be hanging on a plaque over your writing space at home and/or at school.
I love everything about this post, Margaret. Joy Harjo’s poem is a wonderful mentor text, and the poems it inspired you and Jaden to write are treasures. I know I’ve said this before, but your students are so lucky to have you lighting the writing spark in them.
Wow. These are fabulous. And I love Jaden’s table being an “immune system.” So much to absorb here.
Margaret, I have had a ringside seat at your table for several years and it is always filled with poetic delight. Your students also have received many gifts at your table that is inspiring. Your poem ends with a delicious invitation to join: “Come taste the sweetness.”
Jaden’s poem has lifted me up with his compelling words. If any of your children have a poem for Abundant Autumn Gallery, I am gathering poems that have not been showcased in Gallery 1 & 2 editions. Jaden’s poem might be interesting as a gifts of earth poem. Thanks.
PS: Please place my 92-yr-old uncle on your prayer list. He has COVID and pneumonia and has been transported to the hospital twice in 2 weeks. We are troubled since we thought he was in one of the most secure places to be. No one is allowed in but the staff who were all fine.
Carol, I will pray for your uncle. I’m so sorry. There doesn’t seem to be any “safe” place.
Thank you, Margaret, for your prayers. Happy Holidays to you.
Thanks for sharing this poem. I love the idea of stealing a line. And after reading your poem, I wish I was sitting at your table writing poetry with you, writing dreams in a decorated notebook. And Jaden’s poem is really moving. His line “the gifts in our hearts have been bruised” is beautiful and poignant. What lucky children who get to work with you.
Oh, Jaden. You are so very wise.