…a poem. Don’t get me wrong, I love good poems as much as anyone. But writing them, well, no. Oh, I may have given it a go once or twice, but it’s really not my schtick, and I’ve discovered my creative energies are best focused elsewhere. So instead, I will share a few of my favorites with you…
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
#254, by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of Me.
It’s Dark In Here, by Shel Silverstein
I’m writing these poems
From inside a lion,
And it’s rather dark in here.
So please excuse the handwriting
Which may not be too clear.
But this afternoon by the lion’s cage
I’m afraid I got too near.
And I’m writing these lines
From inside a lion,
And it’s rather dark in here.
For more of what people would never write about, go here.
I loved the one about hope. And the last one really made me smile. :-)
I love Silverstein. And I have used that particular Langston Hughes poem many times in my work with disturbed kiddos. Thanks for sharing. (By the way, you reminded me that I would never write a poem with rhyme and meter, and I’m content with it staying that way.)
“Where the Sidewalk Ends†was one of my favorite books as a child. Dad use to read them to me. You brought many memories flooding through my mind today!
Silvestein is one of my favorite poets. Have every last book and have already handed down and read a few short one’s to my two-year old.
Love the Langston Hughes poem. There are a lot of kids in Yangier, Uzbekistan that know that poem — we did it in English class (along with “What happens to a dream deferred…â€) and they really liked both. And the Shel Silverstein one is a classic! That one, “I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor…†and “I will not go to school today…†were my favorites!
I love the collective childhood memories of Silverstein’s poems! I specifically remember having to memorize so many of his poems in school — in fact, I could probably still recite: “Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout would not take the garbage out…â€