A Poem by Heart

There was a game my sisters and I used to play on the hall way steps called, “Button, button, who’s got the button?”  We would start at the bottom of the stairs and the goal was to guess which sister had a button hidden in their hands behind their back.  If you guessed right, you moved up a step: if you were wrong, you moved down a step.  About the time I was halfway up the stairs, I’d break out into a poem.  A poem I knew by heart…

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn’t any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I’m not at the bottom,

I’m not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop.

Read the full poem HERE.

There’s something about poetry that can excite children in unexpected ways.  It has to do with the rhythm and the playing with words that requires them to pay really close attention to what the poem truly means.  There are poems written on just about any topic and in many styles – from funny, rhyming, in shapes, or with two voices! Best of all, poetry is the perfect size… It travels well and makes for a great reading between dashes to soccer practice or while waiting for the vegetables to cook before supper is ready.  Here’s a little poem to encourage you to savor some poetry.

How to Eat a Poem

By Eve Merriam

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that

may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.
You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

Here is a link to a website that has 12 links to sites filled with creative ways to encourage your child read and write poetry.  Check it out!