Just 4 Kidz: A Poetry Primer
By Molly J. Anderson-Childers
"We’ll become Poetic Detectives,
tracking
down elusive rhymes and collecting
clues to better poetry!"
Hey, gang! I hope you’ve got a pen or a pencil handy, because I’m
revved up and ready to write! This month, I’ll help you understand
some of the more technical aspects of poetry and introduce you to some
new ways to play with words!
Haikus, calligrams, and acrostic poems may be a mystery to you… so
put your thinking cap on, and grab your magnifying glass! Today, we’ll
become Poetic Detectives, tracking down elusive rhymes and collecting clues
to better poetry! I will be your guide as we move through this amazing,
amusing, and often confusing realm.
The Mystery of the Missing Haiku
A haiku is a short unrhymed poem, with just three lines. Haiku originated
in Japan. Japanese poets of old counted the number of sounds in each line;
American poets of today commonly count the syllables in each line. The
first and last lines have five syllables; the second line has seven. Haiku
usually focus on one strong, clear image from the natural world.
Tanka, another Japanese poetic form, is similar to the
haiku. The tanka is short and sweet: just five lines! No need to worry — if
you’re
in a hurry, don’t take time to rhyme! Traditionally, the tanka is
an unrhymed poem; the first and third lines have five syllables each, and
the second, fourth, and fifth lines have seven syllables. The tanka was
usually written to express love or sadness, and to exalt in the joys of
nature, the seasons, and travel to faraway places. You can use the traditional
subjects for your tanka and haiku masterpieces, or branch out and use your
own fabulous ideas to create 21st century versions of the Japanese classics.
Calligram Poem "The River"
by Molly Anderson-Childers
The Crazy Calligram Caper
Like most people, you have never heard of calligrams. If you don’t
know what they are, read on! Calligrams are poems that are shaped like
their subject. For instance, a poem about soccer might be crafted in the
shape of a soccer-ball, or a pair of cleats. You can use different colors,
shapes, and lettering styles to create a calligram that is truly a work
of art!
The Amazing Acrostic Poem Mystery
These fun, fabulous poems are like a puzzle to solve. In an acrostic
poem, a series of letters vertically spells out a word, name, or phrase;
when writing an acrostic poem, you can even hide a secret message “between
the lines.”
First, start with your name. Write one letter on each line of your paper,
so that your name is spelled out vertically along the left or right hand
margin of the page. Each letter will be used to begin (left margin) or
end (right margin) a line in your poem.
Here is my acrostic poem:
Marvelous Molly, a poetess grand
O! Beauty, walking fair by night
Luscious, sweet-lovely,
Little girl gone wild…
Yes! Yes! Yes!
To create a secret message, embed a word or phrase in your poem in a more
subtle way. One cool trick, used since the days of Edgar Allan Poe, is
to use the first letter of a name to begin a line. The second letter of
the name should be the second letter of the second line; the third letter
of your name should be the third letter of the third line, and so on. This
way, the name appears hidden on a diagonal, and cannot usually be detected
by a casual reader.
Have You Seen This Missing Persona?
A persona poem is an interesting way to experiment with different poetic
styles and voices. Persona poems allow your imagination to run wild! You
can create a poem from the perspective of another person, an animal, an
inanimate object, or even your favorite cartoon character!
Try this… Close your eyes. Imagine you are a tiger. Every detail
is important… what do you see, smell, taste, fee, and hear? When
you have formed a clear picture in your mind, write about it. I’m
guessing you’ll find a poem hidden somewhere!
The Case of the Lost and Found Poems
Sometimes I lose a poem. This is sad, but when your house is full to
bursting with journals and notebooks, it happens more often than I’d
like to admit. I’m willing to bet that the same thing happens to
all poets once in awhile, no matter how careful they are. Poems are tiny,
slippery creatures, prone to disappearing at the first opportunity.
And sometimes, if I’m extremely lucky and observant, I can find
a poem out in the world, just waiting for me to discover it. What is a
found poem? Good question! I don’t mean copying someone else’s
work — that’s plagiarism, and no self-respecting writer does
it. No, I’m talking about finding poetry hidden in the random words
you see every day. Grocery stores, coffee-shops, newspaper ads, dictionaries,
phone books, and junk mail contain tiny bits of poems for the Poetic Detective
who is willing to dig a little deeper to solve this tricky case.
Look around and find some interesting words, phrases and names. Re-arrange
them, throw some out, add a few favorites from your Word-Pool, and soon
a found poem will emerge like magic!
Creative Ways to Share Your Work
Last month, we explored book-making as
a way to combine poetry and visual art and share your work with others.
Here are a few more marvelous ideas… enjoy!
There is great satisfaction in knowing that your poems are out there in
the wide world, having adventures of their own and giving the reader unexpected
gifts.
- Write or type your poems on sheets of construction paper. Decorate
them wildly, then fold each piece into a paper airplane. Then, find a
parent or adult friend to accompany you to a tall building on a busy
street. Let your words loose upon an unsuspecting world as you pilot
your poem-planes towards the pedestrians below!
- Write some short poems on index cards, and put a message on the
back of each one with your name and address, asking the person who finds
the poem to send a postcard, telling how far it traveled. Place each
card into a sandwich bag, attach each one to a helium balloon, and set
them free in your backyard or a nearby park. This is fun to do alone
or with a friend; it’s also a great activity for a party, or a
writing workshop!
- Write a haiku on ten postcards, and send them to random people in
the phonebook.
- Instead of a lemonade stand, sell cool, refreshing poems at a booth
in your front yard!
- If you have a school paper, share your poems with the editor and
see if you can get published!
- Make fliers full of your poetry and art, then hang them everywhere… stapled
to bulletin boards and telephone poles, rolled up and stuffed into someone’s
bike basket, or under a rock at the park.
- Donate a book of poems and artwork to a local charity or non-profit
organization. For example, if you like to write poetry about animals,
donate your work to the humane society, or a local wildlife refuge.
- Using wildly colorful chalk, decorate the sidewalks in your neighborhood
with your original artwork and poetry! •
© 2006 Molly J. Anderson-Childers. All rights reserved.
We hope you enjoyed this feature, which is copyright © Molly Anderson-Childers and not available for reprint on your Web site, blog, or publication. Please respect the creator's copyright by not duplicating this material elsewhere. Thank you.
About the Author | More by Molly Anderson-Childers
Molly J. Anderson-Childers is a wildly creative soul living in Durango, CO. She is a writer, artist, and creative arts instructor. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fort Lewis College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and successfully completed their Elementary Teacher Education Program. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The Durango Telegraph, Southwest Colorado Arts Perspective, Images, Voice Be Heard, The Four Corners Business Journal and On the Wings of Poetry. To contact Ms. Childers, please email her at: stealingplums[at]yahoo.com or send a snail mail to P.O. Box 4281, Durango, CO 81302-4281.
06/26/06
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