On Fridays, I usually post a poem for my students to read and discuss. This week we looked at Billy Collins’s poem Today. This has been a favorite of mine for a long time. When I looked back on my blog, I found a poem I wrote after Today in 2011. (See the post here.) My students were shocked by this because none of them were even born at that time.
Today begins with a wonderful line for getting into a poem, “If ever there were a spring day so perfect,” As the poem continues with two lined stanzas, there is no end punctuation until the last line, “today is just that kind of day.” The whole poem is one sentence. I love how this works to make the poem sound more urgent and energized.
I invited my students to use these lines to create their own poems about a perfect day.
Spring 2025
after Billy Collins
If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so full of bird song
that it made you want to join
with your own singing
and open your whole mouth
to the world of nature,
a day when dew drops cool grass,
and the garden roses popping
with red reflect the sun, so much light
that you feel like breathing,
releasing the grief you’ve held in
and cry real tears at the beauty
of it all, walk with light
pink and orange rising before
you, welcoming you with open arms
of rose and green and sky.
Today is that kind of day.
Margaret Simon, draft
As we head into spring, Avalyn and some other students are still dreaming about the amazing snow we had this winter. She asked if she could write about a winter day. “Of course, it’s your poem.”
If there were a winter day so perfect
so cold with icy air
Could I pretend to hunt ghosts
while drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate
Could I put on layers of clothes
and roll in the snow
Could I sit in my warm bed
watching TV and “being productive”
Could I play outside bands
performing plays
Could I read a book
my best days
Dreaming of presents can you imagine?
Well you can because today is that day.
Avalyn, 5th grade
Reflections on the Teche 