Thursday, April 04, 2013

Poem in Your Pocket!



Do you remember when you started loving poetry? Do you remember when you forgot about that love? The first poem I ever memorize was Fog by Carl Sandburg;

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on. 

I remember learning what siting on your haunches meant and then getting up from our desks and doing it. I think it was second or third grade. 
When I was 9 my dad bought me Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. I loved that book! It still lives on my living room bookshelf.  Now my kids love it!
In high school I fell in love with The Bard so my kids are subjected to that too!
Well April is national poetry month and just this week I learned about a totally fun day to go along with it! April 18 is Poem in your Pocket day! So keep a few short ones in your pocket and share them!! Here is a cute printable to write your favorites on to share!!
I love the idea of a Common Place journal, I've kept one on and off for a few years for poems that strike me. 

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks;
And what a wave must be. 

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in Heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given. 
~ Emily Dickinson